Drop in Play in Pickleball

The entire magic and success of pickleball is the way it has been setup to be a welcoming sport in an informal setting.  Meaning, you can show up to the courts and pickup a game. It doesn’t matter what your social standing  is, your age, or your sex; you can just play. That is the beauty of DROP IN play.

I remember when I started playing and saw all the smiling faces. A great way to get some exercise, and it sure beats step class.  And I laugh every day when I play, even in tournaments. I always have a good time on the courts. Note to self: never take the game too seriously because you are playing with a wiffle ball.

As many of you know, I teach a lot of beginners, and we do go over court etiquette. Don’t argue with the opponents about line calls. Give your opponents the benefit of the doubt with ball calls if they are close to in. When you lose, say little, and when you win, say even less.  Don’t have a hissy fit when you miss a ball. Congratulate your opponents when they win, etc.

But I also have the STINKER talk. It goes like this. When you are on the pickleball courts, you will run into a stinker. A stinker is someone who argues on the line calls, fights with you about the score every time,  never smiles or says, “hello,” and rolls their eyes when you hit the ball into the net. What do you do about STINKERS? You ignore them. IGNORE!  Let them do their thing and move on when the game is over.  Arguing with a stinker or getting upset with one is not worth your time. I also tell my beginners…stinkers were bullies all their life and they are going to be bullies on the courts. You also have to have a thick skin to be able to play with so many different personalities.

Drop in play sometimes has drama going on, and it seems to center around the white boards when it is indoors. You would think that would be simple; you write your name in one of the squares until there are 4 names per square. A game finishes and the next 4 on the board play, and the players coming off the court write their names on the next available square. Simple right, NOPE! You have players skipping squares, or taking somebody’s name off and putting their name on in their place. All kind of shenanigans happen when an adult pickleball player gets a dry-eraser marker in their hands. OMG! The stories I hear.

So much B.S. was happening with the large, white board at the Venice Community Center that one of the employees was put in charge of writing the names of the players on the board instead of the players themselves. Now, that is downright embarrassing. We’re adults, people! (This was before COVID so I don’t know what the white board rules are now at VCC.)

There was the Y Berlin debacle. (Pre COVID) Where somebody had carefully handwritten the rules of the white board system on the board to try to bring some kind of understanding and compliance. Someone (and it still is a mystery as to who), erased all the rules when nobody was looking. Oh boy, that was an angry mess for a couple of weeks. Lots of finger pointing and “I know you did it!”

Then there is the problem of 2.5 players playing with 3.5 players, etc. Players grumble that so and so shouldn’t be on their court. They are not good enough. Well, the problem is, So And So believes that they are a 3.5 player and does belong on that court. Feelings get hurt. I’ve seen tears. I’ve cried tears.

I tell my non-playing pickleball friends about some of the drama that happens on pickleball courts and they usually answer, “You’ve got to be kidding me?” But I also hear from friends who play tennis that the same things happen. Manners are forgotten there, too. I’d say that 99% of the people I play pickleball with are wonderful, however there is always going to be that 1% that aren’t. So, you have to ask yourself, are you part of the 99% or are you part of the….

One day I came to join some players at one of the county parks, when I saw a couple of the players bent down looking at the pickleball on the side of the court line. One was saying, “No, that’s out!” The other one was saying, “No, according to the official rules, it’s IN!” When they saw me, and me being the local pickleball ambassador, asked me for my opinion. I said, “Well, this is recreational pickleball so let’s just call it in.” Holy moly, the look I got from the one that wanted it to be out was…scary. They said, “What’s that got to do with it?!” Um, like you’re being a wee bit serious for a game of rec pickleball I thought, but I could see things were already heated so I  just said, “Play ball!”

So, back to the issue of drop-in play and a mix of levels, and he doesn’t want to play with her because she is not good enough—malarkey. Stop it! That’s right. You do not own the county courts, or the city courts, or the Y courts. When it says drop-in play you must behave like an adult and play with whomever puts there paddle next to play, or writes their name on the white board next to yours.  If a weaker player is your opponent, take that opportunity to practice  some soft shots or your third shot drop. In other words, use them to drill without them even knowing it.  You don’t have to WIN EVERY GAME.

But Pickleball Terry, it says…

Even when the schedule says, “Intermediate/Advanced” someone who hasn’t read the skill level required or thinks they are better than they are will show up. It’s going to happen. I have tried different systems, for instance, GOLD (winners) and SILVER (losers) courts. If you win, you play on the GOLD court, and if you lose you go to the SILVER side. This works well when I am supervising, but the minute I leave the building…uh oh., it goes back to, “I don’t want to play with her!”  One player said that they only lost because their player sucked so they insisted on playing on the GOLD court. What the???  It’s all fun and games until someone gets their feelings hurt.

One way to eliminate who you play with is to organize your own foursome. Many private plays have started from COVID forcing players to play outside, and we found out we love it. Never again will I sit on the bleachers inside at Arlington for 45 minutes between games only to play 10 minutes. Those days are done. I now hardly have to wait anymore between games.  Private play is a way you can control who you play with for a couple of hours. Usually, everyone is at the same level with good, competitive and satisfying games for all. No fighting…well not much. I have heard that one private group fizzled out due to political discussions. Hey, keep politics off the courts.

One Sunday I came across a group of around 10 people playing on 2 courts in a undisclosed locations (I have been sworn to secrecy), and they said they get together every week then go out for breakfast. Wow! What a great idea and great group of players.

Let’s remember why pickleball is the fastest growing sport in the country. It is because of its inclusive atmosphere where anyone can play, and great for keeping seniors social and active. Make everyone’s time on the court a positive experience for you and the people you play with.

White board Rules

• 4 Names per square
• Write your own name
• Do not write someone’s name who is already playing just because you want to play with them
• If you want to get out of a rotation, sit down and wait until 4 names are in the square, then you can start a new one
• If you bring a dry eraser marker, share with everyone. Don’t hoard it for just yourself
• Put a line though the square when the 4 are up to play
• Pay attention and know when your name is up to play
• Smile

 

If you have any questions, please email me at dinkpickleball@gmail.com.

Thanks for reading!

Pickleball Terry

PPR Certified Coach
USA Pickleball Ambassador
CEO of Sarasotapickleball.com
Sarasota Pickleball Organization, LLC