Never played pickleball singles before? I think you're in for a treat,
but you might be better off if you start with playing skinny singles.
Hey everybody, I'm CJ Johnson and welcome to better pickleball.
We're dedicated to helping players over 50 live their best lives on and off the
courts.
I know that for some of you,
the only way you'll be able to get back out on the pickleball courts is by
playing singles. What's the best way to do that?
My suggestion is that you start by playing half-court or skinny singles.So,
today I'm going to go through some of the basic rules to pickleball singles as
well as some suggestions for some fun skinny singles games.
Singles can help you to improve a variety of skills,
your overall strategy and pre-planning your accuracy as well as your physical
conditioning.
The first thing you need to know are the rules for singles are the same as the
rules for doubles with the exception of serving and calling the score.
4.B.5 States, if the player score is even zero, two, four etcetera,
the serve must be made from the right/even serving area and be received in the
right/even service court by the opponent. 4.b.5.b
says, if the players score is odd one three, five etcetera,
the serve must be made from the left/odd serving
area and be received in the left/odd service court by the opponent.
4.b.5.c
says,
after the server loses the rally or faults a side out will occur and service is
awarded to the opponent.
So how do you call the score in singles?
It's simply my score and your score.
And one side note and clarification.
The two bounce rule is still in effect for pickleball singles.
Which means different from tennis, there's no serve and volley.
There are several variations on skinny singles,
but these are three that I like the best.
You can play the entire game straight on or one player standing on the even side
and the other player standing on the odd side. Strategy-wise,
this might make you hit some new shots.
Typically in doubles because the net is lower in the center,
we hit a higher percentage of cross-court shots.
Some people like to play this variation,
but they don't like to serve downline so they serve Cross-court and then move
into the opposite court to play out the rest of the point.
You can play the game cross court.
When your scores even serve from the even side when your score is odd serve from
the odd side. The same goes for your opponents.
Cross-court makes you play and defend from different angles.
Perhaps my favorite way to play is a combination of both.
The game starts on the even side of the court.
The server will switch sides if they win a point.
If I serve and win the point,
I move to the opposite side of the court for the next serve and now we play down
the line. The minute the server loses the rally,
the opponent begins serving from the position they're currently standing in.
One of the things I like about it is it makes you think ahead because what was
in for the last point might be out this time.
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I've got some upcoming strategy videos to help you to learn how to play better
singles and ultimately become a better doubles player.
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friends because together we can Train Smart, Live Bold, and Age Well.