AY Honors/Pickleball/Answer Key

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1. Learn and share these historic facts about pickleball:

a. Give a brief account of the "birth" of pickleball, how it came to be created, the philosophy of the sport, and how the rules were designed to reflect that philosophy.

Some families were vacationing on Bainbridge Island in the summer of 1965. One of the kids, Frank Pritchard, said he was "bored2 so the dads, Joel Pritchard and Barney McCallum, went out on their badminton court, lowered the net, cut some paddles out of plywood, and found a wiffle ball, and that was the birth of pickleball! As the kids started playing, the parents started making the rules as they went. Some adults joined in and clearly had an unfair advantage against the kids, so they came up with rules that neutralized the advantages bigger adults had, like serving underhand, the 2-bounce rule, and the "no volley zone" (to keep this one tall adult away from the net!). This game was designed for kids to play and the rules reflect that. Since then, the rules have benefitted people of ALL ages, fitness levels, and abilities. It focuses on control, patience, and finesse more than power.

b. Give the two different stories on how this sport received the name "Pickleball."

Joan Pritchard is credited with coming up with the name. The 2 versions are that she said it represented a term from the sport of rowing, while the more popular story is that she had a dog named Pickles who liked to chase after the ball, so they called the game "pickleball."

2. Pickleball is often described as a mixture of tennis, badminton, racquetball, and ping pong. Explain at least three rules or aspects that make pickleball unique from these other sports.

1. Two-bounce rule: The ball must bounce on the receiver's end of the court and then again on the server's side of the court before the ball can be hit in the air.
2. No-volley-zone: This is the 7 ft. area on either side of the net where you cannot touch, during or after a volley.
3. Serve: Has to be underhand, contact below the belly button, paddle head has to be below the wrist at contact.
4. The paddles have to be smooth and can’t have any material on them that makes them grippier than what is allowed by the USAPA.
5. Dinking is a unique stroke in pickleball and is based on control, touch, finesse, and patience. Higher level players can hit many dinks in a rally.

3. Scoring is different in pickleball and can often be confusing for beginners.

a. Describe each of the three numbers in the score and what is different about the team that serves first in a game.

The first number refers to the score of the server, the 2nd number refers to the score of the receiving team, and the 3rd number indicates 1st or 2nd server of the serving team.

The team that serves first in a game only gets ONE player to serve, so that player would say at the start of the game, "0-0-2" even though he is the 1st server, he refers to himself as the "2" or 2nd server. Since it’s the start of the game, no one has scored any points so it’s 0-0, thus, 0-0-2.

b. Describe how many points is played to in most normal games.

A normal game is played to 11 points and only the serving team can earn points. If the non-serving team wins the rally, they do NOT get a point. Either the 2nd player on the serving team will serve OR it will be a side out and the receiving team now becomes the serving team.

You must win by a minimum of 2 points.

4. Demonstrate how to assemble and set up a portable net, and how to pack it back in the bag properly.

Watch this tutorial video on how to pack a net:

Watch a tutorial video on how to set up a portable net.

7. While pickleball is a low-intensity and safe sport for someone who is currently unfit to try, people do get injured playing. Describe at least two types of injuries seen in pickleball and what can be done to prevent those injuries.

1. Ruptured achilles tendon
2. Pickleball elbow
3. Rolled/sprained ankle
4. Hamstring injuries
5. Eye injuries
6. Shoulder injuries
7. Injuries from falls
8. Plantar fascilitis

PREVENTION: Specific dynamic (active) stretching to warm up BEFORE playing. Static stretching after play. Avoid over-playing when first starting out. Doing proper strength training outside of playing and using proper clothing, especially eye protection. Court-type shoes are important--NO running shoes as their flared sole makes it easy to roll an ankle or cause a fall. Go back to return a lob sideways instead of just backing up, falls are prevented this way.

8. Demonstrate stretching and proper warm-up exercises to prevent two of the injuries above.

Show dynamic and static stretching of the shoulder, hamstring/glute, core, and ankle.

9. Describe at least three aspects of the game that reflect Christian values and list a Bible text to support that value.

1. Patience, James 5:8
2. Communication with your partner
3. Good sportsmanship (calling lines, keeping score), Prov. 25:27; 1 Cor. 10:31; Gal. 5:22- 23.
4. Calling out "ball on court" (preventing others from getting hurt), Phil. 2:4; Luke 6:31; 1 Cor. 10:24.

10. How can pickleball be part of "exercise evangelism" and used by a school or church for community outreach?

People are looking for fun ways to exercise that are easy to do and fun! A church can set up a court in their blocked off parking lot and invite the public to play there, giving free lessons. Hopefully they will enjoy it very much and keep coming back for more. This will give you an opportunity to develop friendships and relationships. As trust grows, this can lead them to open up in other areas of their lives, giving you opportunity to meet additional needs.

References

• Pickleball Fundamentals, by the USA Pickleball Assoc., with Mary Littlewood
• History of Pickleball, by Jennifer Lucore and Beverly Youngren.