PICKLEBALL INSTRUCTION
HOW MUCH OF THE
COURT SHOULD
YOU TAKE?
BY STEVE PARANTO
T
his is a question that has
many answers depending
on several factors, such
as the skill level of the
players, recreational play vs.
tournament play and the age of
the players sharing the court. I am
going to give you several options
to help you learn how much of
the court you and your partner
should take. I will also explain the
advantages and disadvantages of
each of these options.
OPTION 1
You simply divide the court in half
using the service line. I’ve seen this
done often with beginners. You will
hear one player tell the other “I will
hit everything on this side and you hit
everything on that side.”
The only advantage of this system
is that it is an easy way for beginners
to determine if they should hit the
ball or if their partner should hit
the ball. This is probably the least
effective way of playing. This method
of dividing the court will cause too
many backhands to be hit and it
does not take into consideration the
location on the court from where your
opponent hit the ball.
OPTION 2
Pretty much the same as option 1,
but this time you hear one player say
30
“forehand has the middle.” Now, even
though this is a small difference from
option 1, it can have much better
results. The advantage of this method
is again simple, and allows both
players to cover a lot of court. This is a
popular way to play in recreation play
and it doesn’t cast the better player
as a ball hog. Now, if this is a serious
recreational game, this may not be the
best strategy for your team to win.
OPTION 3
The forehand player still has
the middle, but the middle isn’t
determined by the service line, rather
the middle is the area between the
two players with the players moving
side by side together. So, all the top
teams move together side by side
depending where the ball is. They also
make sure not to create a gap between
themselves and their partner. This
is what you will see with top teams
where both players have equal
athleticism. The disadvantage of this
formation is that it doesn’t take full
advantage of the higher skilled player,
if one player is weaker than the other.
OPTION 4
This is the situation where both you
and your partner have determined
that one player is stronger or quicker
than the other. In this case the
stronger player covers more than
TO SUBSCRIBE CALL 888.308.3720 OR GO TO THEPICKLEBALLMAG.COM
half the court. This is how you should
play in tournament play or serious
recreational play, if this describes
your team. Most top teams get
the most out of each player’s skills
by covering the court in this way.
Remember that in tournament play
and serious recreational play, the
weaker player will be hitting most of
the balls anyway because the other
team will probably be isolating their
shots to this player. It makes no
sense in that case for each player
to cover the same amount of court.
The stronger player needs to try
and disrupt the other team by being