Ambassador Retreat - Rule Changes

Rules were made to be broken, no, what???

I attended the 2018 USAPA Ambassador Retreat in Port St. Lucie, Florida last week. The USAPA staff offered 9 seminars at the retreat. I wrote of one last week in the article Ambassador Retreat - Referee Certification Process. 

One of the more anticipated seminars was on the subject of the recently announced rule changes. This was validated by attendance at the seminar. The attendees were divided into 4 groups who were to rotate among 4 different seminars scheduled simultaneously. That means the rules seminar was scheduled for 4 different sessions. However, the room was full for each session while attendance at the other seminars was less than full. 

Before I start, let me add another note about the seminar structure. There was very little formal presentation. It consisted mostly of questions and answers. The following notes are only from the single session that I attended. Other sessions may have covered different topics. Christine Barksdale led the discussion and was assisted by Jim Hackenburg. Both were on the committee that wrote the rules.

Palm Up - Palm Down

Christine was chuckling as she called this "Byron's Rule" because the sole intent of the definition change was to validate the backhand serve as legal. This aligns with my post from January 19 - Rule Changes - Serve (Update). Despite its frequent use, the backhand serve has been a bone of contention because some believed it was not specifically allowed in the rules. The new definition stating that palm may be down while serving makes clear that the backhand serve is legal. In other words, the new definition changes nothing.

As a reminder, I highlighted Byron's backhand serve in Service Yips - a Novice Opinion.

Offbeat Sunday - Another Pickleball Song

Music is the medicine of the mind...

If songs about a single subject correlate with the subject's popularity, pickleball is trending up. Here is yet another - The Pickleball Song.

Rule Changes - More Player/Referee Interactions

Rules were made to be broken, no, what???

The USAPA recently announced the availability of the 2018 USAPA\IFP Official Tournament Rulebook. The rulebook contains some significant changes that we have been and will discuss over the next several weeks. We will continue today with rules regarding interaction with a referee. This is the part on this topic. The first was Rule Changes - Player/Referee Interactions.

Line Appeals

Previously, players could not appeal to the referee to make a call for a ball they did not see. A player had to first make a call, then any player could appeal to the referee. The old rulebook stated:

6.D.5. No player should question an opponent’s call unless asked (except that any player may appeal a call to the referee in an officiated match).6.D.10. In doubles play, if one player calls the ball “out” and the partner calls it “in,” then doubt exists, and the ball must be declared “in” (except that any player may appeal a call to the referee in an officiated match).

Ambassador Retreat - Referee Certification Process

There is nothing better than a good, blind referee...

I attended the Ambassador Retreat in Port St Lucie, Florida this week. Several seminars were offered. The first that I attended was Christine Barksdale discussing the process to be a certified referee. She went through 15 steps fairly quickly. Since there was no handout, I took notes as fast as I could. I did not capture her exact words but the gist of the step is shown below.

1. Play pickleball and be a member of the USAPA.
2. Download and study the rule book.

Controllables - Height

Don't let opponents control you...

This is the fourth in a series from DJ Howard, an IPTPA instructor in Michigan. This post will include 2 of his Forum tips about the controllables of a pickleball. The first is an introduction to the series and the second focuses on the fourth controllable - height.

Net Cord Game

Make practice fun...

Continuing the series Jordan Briones Primetime videos, today is an unstructured drill that works on dinks, volleys, reactions, and footwork, at a minimum. The video is called Pickleball Game | FUN Net Cord Game. The name is associated only with the start of the drill. 

The drill starts by holding the ball on the top of the net and tapping it with a paddle. The player on whose side the ball falls must dink the ball to their partner. After the first dink, players are free to any shot they choose, including lobs. After a dead ball, the play restarts the same way.

The drill (game) is not complicated and no further explanation is necessary. Enjoy the video and go practice.

East Naples Winter Classic

The wind is the same for everyone...

Yesterday's post was about the facilities at the US Open site in Naples, Florida. I mentioned that there was a tournament taking place during my visit - the East Naples Winter Classic. I will cover it in any detail but will show photos of NC players and friends. Most of these are from men's doubles play. I was not available for the entire tournament so some players were missed.

Paul Coletta, bronze medal winner, and Inga Carr, referee

Naples - the site of the US Open

From The Villages to pickleball mecca...

Eight days ago, I left pickleball heaven in The Villages, as I wrote about in Saturday's post The Villages.  After zigzagging around Florida - South Beach, Sarasota, and Naples - I visited pickleball mecca at East Naples Community Park, the site of April's US Open. The East Naples Winter Classic was being played and I got lots of photos of NC friends...and others. Check back tomorrow for those. Today's post is about the facility.

The walk from the parking lot is dominated by the huge tent-like canopy over a section of courts.

Offbeat Sunday: Peppy and Pickleball Experience

Pickles never change...

It has been a while since we heard from Peppy. Today he talks about his pickleball past.

The Villages

Retirement or pickleball heaven...

Last weekend I visited friends in The Villages, Florida. They are pickleball players and I was anxious to check out the reported enthusiasm and courts in the "city". It was all true. I was there for 3 nights and 2 days. In those 2 days, I played at 3 different facilities. Don't even think about asking me which of the 50 or so sites that have courts - they all looked alike to me.

Each set of courts on which I played had 6 courts - 2 rows of 3 courts each. The rows were divided by a net but there was no divider between the 3 courts in each row. That resulted in a lot of play stoppages but it was nothing I wasn't used to.

Rule Changes - Player/Referee Interactions

Rules were made to be broken, no, what???

The USAPA announced last week the availability of the 2018 USAPA\IFP Official Tournament Rulebook. The rulebook contains some significant changes that we have been and will discuss over the next several weeks. We will continue today with rules regarding interaction with a referee. The first is a repeat from Rule Changes - Serve due to its relevance to both topics.

Service Motion

For the first time, the rules have defined the defined the service motion and, specifically when the service motion starts. From the definition section (Section 3):

Service Motion – Begins when the player’s arm moves to initiate the swing backward or forward to contact the ball.

Controllables - Spin

Don't let opponents control you...

This is the third in a series from DJ Howard, an IPTPA instructor in Michigan. This post will include 2 of his Forum tips about the controllables of a pickleball. The first is an introduction to the series and the second focuses on the third controllable - spin.

Lateral Shuffle Exercise

Its called muscle memory...

Yesterday's post included a lot of lateral movement. It was not only extensive but it required quick foot movement. The motion may not be natural to all players and practicing proper technique can help. Besides, even someone as fit as Marcin Rozpedski seemed to get a little out of breath. A little exercise can't hurt, right?

Basic Lateral Shuffle Technique

A Drill to Create Space

One, two, hit...

Today's post brings another Jordan Briones Primetime video where he works with Marcin Rozpedski on a volley drill. The video is called Pickleball Volley Drill | Creating Space on your Volleys with Marcin Rozpedski. The drill consists of 2 players hitting volleys directly to each other. But the receiving moves side to side to rotate the volley from forehand to backhand. The partner does not vary the location of his volley - it always be directly at the player.

There are 2 points of emphasis in this drill. First, foot movement is critical. Marcin focuses on sliding and not not hopping. His feet move quickly with foot opposite the direction he wants to move sliding to to the foot on the side of desired direction. Then the second foot quickly moves his body in that direction. 

Second, the volley must be controlled. Again, the target is directly at your partner. In order for the drill to be effective, the player should move around the ball and not to the ball. The combination of the points of emphasis is "one, two, hit".

Third Shot Drop Success by Skill Level

Everything has a purpose...

We have spent a couple of days discussing what defines a successful third shot drop. But what are the expectations for success? As you might guess, the expectations vary significantly by skill level. The International Pickleball Teaching Professional Association has established standards for their ratings system. Their ratings closely correspond to USAPA ratings, although the USAPA standards for each shot are not as specific. The IPTPA standards are shown below.