I was playing pickleball yesterday when my opponent airmailed a shot that hit me by the back fence. I was out of bounds by 5 to 10 feet. He claimed that it was his point since it hit me before the ball bounced. Where I or the ball was did not matter. We had to check the pickleball rules and according to Rule 7(h), if the ball hits someone outside the court lines in pickleball, it is a fault on the player who was hit, resulting in a loss of the rally and the point going to the opposing team. The ball is considered live and in play until it bounces out of bounds, so contact with a player before the bounce is always a fault, regardless of their location.
We all felt this is rather a harsh rule since many times we would catch the ball when it was clearly out in an attempt to keep the game moving. When there is no physical way that the ball can land it and it hits a player, it just seems manifestly unfair to call that ball a fault.
We ended up reaching out to others and people all agreed that was the specific rule but most people do not play it that way. It is sort of like in golf when you take a mulligan, move a ball away from a root or when someone picks up the ball on the green since it is a foot away from the cup. None of these actions are in accordance with the rules and in fact, would likely result in a penalty for the player taking such action.
In golf, there is an allowance for bending or breaking certain rules in a recreational game. Basically an acknowledgment that we are out on the course to have fun and strict adherence to the rules would negatively impact that kind of fun. Why is it that in pickleball there is no recognition of the fact that we are playing to have fun?
In my normal rec league, we do not follow the rules so religiously. For example,
- We do not challenge certain serves even if the server’s arm is not moving upwards when they hit the ball.Â
- We also actively discourage lobs over people who are elderly since they do have the same mobility and this feels unsportsman like.Â
- If someone is not ready for play, another court distracts us or a previous ball ruling is in doubt, we opt to replay the point as a do over.
- We avoid calling a foot fault for either a server or someone at the No Volley Line unless it is a blatant violation.
I guess the strict adherence to the rules in rec play are impacted by the people you are playing with. We do not have money on the line or even a trophy for our Saturday morning games. We find the flexible rules to be more fun and in the spirit of the game. We would like to follow this example and avoid people who suck all the enjoyment out of the game by their strict adherence to the rules. Next time, I think that we will push to exclude these types of people.