Should Certain Pickleball "Customs" Stop?


I'm fortunate to get to play pickleball frequently.

So, I think about the game a lot.

I think about shots, tips, strategies, etc.

I also think occasionally about what things might need to change.

In my opinion, here are a few customs that might need to stop.

1. Saying "Sorry" when everyone knows you're not.  You know what I mean.  Your opponent hits a topspin drive that contacts the net so hard it almost stops its entire momentum, but it ultimately just dribbles over the net landing on your side, and you can't reach it to return it. Their point! I get it, and I'm cool with it. Sometimes, you get the lucky net love, too.  But the custom is to say you're sorry or to hold your hand up as if to say you didn't mean it.  And you usually didn't mean it. You intended to hit a hard drive to the baseline or to your opponent's dominate shoulder but hit the net instead. Yet, you won the point. And you are NOT sorry!  I've even gotten to saying, "I'm sorry" and then laughing with my regular rec center pickleball friends who know I'm not sorry. But, in tournaments, I comply with the custom just like you do.  But why?  It's the custom, and we don't want to appear as a poor sport.  Should this "custom" be stopped?  Does it make you feel better that your opponent is sorry you lost that point? Do you believe they're sorry?  I don't either.



2. Not replaying "Let" balls in rec and tournament play.  You know what I mean.  When you watch the pros on the MLP or PPA Tour, if the serve hits the net and then lands in the legal playing surface, a "let" ball is called, and the server re-serves the ball. I've seen it happen two times in succession in the pros, such that the server actually ended up serving a third time, because the first two were "let" serves. But, in rec play and in the tournaments I have played in, in more than one state, those serves are considered good and the rule is to play through it. Why?  The pros don't.  Have you ever been unable to play a "let" serve in which the trajectory of the ball was totally altered by hitting the net, yet it still landed in the legal playing surface? Me too!  We follow most, if not all other rules of the pros. Why this exception?  Should this "custom" be stopped?



3.  Arguing about the appropriate beginning score.  When you are the starting server of a match, do you call out the score as 0-0-2?  Or do you say 0-0-Start?  I have read player's comments about this subject and have been shocked at how adamant some are about which one is right.  Does it matter?  Either way, the match begins. No one wonders what was meant by either means of calling the initial score.  I guess the purists say the "right" call is 0-0-2. I understand their point of view. But to say 0-0-Start is "wrong" is too much for me.  In some sense, I like 0-0-Start better for one reason.  If you are fortunate enough to win a match with a golden pickle, saying you won 11-0-Start makes what really happened clear to everyone, whereas 11-0-2 doesn't.  That's my one reason, and I'm sticking to it!  Should this "custom" of incessantly arguing about this topic be stopped? 

What do you think about these customs?

Any more you would add to this list?

I don't for one minute think any of these things will change anytime soon, but I wanted to share my thoughts and see if I'm the only one wondering about these customs.

Let me know your thoughts.

My email is:

Ben@pickleball-living.com


Ben Holt
​CEO, Pickleball Living