Pickleball Rules
SPORTS LEAGUE OFFICIALS ASSOCIATION
Official Pickleball Rules – Copyright 2020
OVERVIEW
Pickle-ball® is played on a badminton-sized court: 20’ x 44.’ The ball is served diagonally (starting with the right-hand service-square), and points can only be scored by the side that serves. Players on each side must let the ball bounce once before volleys are allowed, and there is a seven-foot no-volley zone on each side of the net, to prevent “spiking.” The server continues to serve, alternating service courts, until he or she faults. The first side scoring eleven points and leading by at least two points wins. Pickle-ball® can be played with singles or doubles.
Matches will consist of three games played to 11 (First team to 11 wins – you do not need to win by two – cap at 13).
Warm-up time will be included in the match time. The match should take roughly 1 hour to complete.
Forfeits: Matches will be forfeited 1 game for every 10 minutes past the designated start time that the legal amount of players are not present. If the legal amount of players is not present for a match by 25 minutes after the designated start time the entire match will be forfeited and the team/player that is present will receive all three wins of the match. *Teams/Payers that forfeit more than once will be removed from the playoffs and will not get their fees returned
BEGINNING OF THE GAME AND PLAY FORMAT
• The beginning of the match will start with the CSSC staff using an “odd/even”, or coin flip. The winning team will have one of two options: choose to serve first or choose which side they prefer to play on, (not both). Each match will consist of three (3) games played to 11, win by two, with a cap at 13. Each game will count in the overall standings for regular season standings. Each game will use the Side-Out Scoring System. That means that in all games, you must be serving to score a point.
TEAM SIZE
• Singles (One Player – no gender specifics)
– One player on the court at all times.
• Doubles (Two Players – no gender specifics)
– 2 player teams must have two players on the court at all times.
– In the Doubles league each team consists of 2 players on the court at one time. Teams with less than 2 players will forfeit their game unless the other team is willing
to play you with a minimum of one player. Teams may have as many players on their roster as they want. All rosters must be finalized by the second week of the regular season. Players added after the second week not on the team roster or waiver will not be eligible for playoffs.
REFEREES
• All games will be self-reffed. Teams will call all scores before each serve, and be responsible for calling the ball “in” or “out”. All players are expected to be honest throughout the league. If there is a situation where teams are having trouble with this, the CSSC staff member on site will help out if he/she can, or will call the game if needed.
FORFEITS
• Teams/Players will forfeit 1 game for every 10 minutes past the designated start time that they do not have the legal amount of players. If no players are present from a match by 25 minutes after the designated start time the entire match will be forfeited and the team/player that is present will receive all three wins of the match. Exception: Teams with less than the legal number of players may still play a “legal” game but only with the opposing team’s consent. All teams consenting to play a legal game with less than the allowed minimum waive their right to a forfeit win. Teams may pick up players during the regular season in order to field a full team. Substitutes will not be allowed during playoffs.
GAME TIMES
• Teams/Players will receive a schedule that will list when their team will play each week. Teams/Players will be given an allotted amount of time to play 1 match (anywhere between and hour and an hour and fifteen minutes depending on the facility). “Warm-up” time is to be included in the allotted amount of time that teams will have for their match. Teams/Players will decide if they wish to “warm-up” or not. The longer teams take/choose to “warm-up” the less time they may have to complete their match. Teams/Players will have 10 minutes to field a team before they receive their first forfeit.
SCORING
A team shall score a point only when serving. A player who is serving shall continue to do so until a fault is made by his/her team. If playing doubles, each player on a team shall keep serving until their team makes a fault, then the serve moves to the opposing team – this is called a Side Out. The game is played to 11 points, however a team must win by 2 points. There will be a cap at 13 points. THE PICKELBALL SERVE Serves are to be made diagonally, starting with the right-hand service-square and alternating each serve. The serve must clear the seven-foot non-volley-zone in front of the net and land in the diagonal service court.
SERVING
Serves should always be done underhand with the paddle below the waist, and the server must keep both feet behind the back line when serving. The ball should be hit into the air without being bounced. The serving side will continue to serve until the there is a fault on the service, at which point the service will be given to the opposing side. A serve in which the ball touches the net but still lands within the appropriate service court, is a good serve and should be played. The Server must keep both feet behind the back line when serving. The service is made underhand with the paddle contacting the ball below the waist. The Server must hit the ball in the air on the serve. The Server is NOT allowed to bounce the ball and hit it off the bounce. The service is made diagonally cross court and must clear the non-volley zone, including the line (A serve that hits the non-volley zone line is out) Only one serve attempt is allowed. At the start of each new game, the 1st serving team is allowed only one fault before giving up the ball to the opponents. Thereafter both members of each team will serve and fault before the ball is turned over to the opposing team. When the receiving team wins the serve, the player in the right hand court will always start play. VOLLEYS To volley means to hit a ball in the air without first letting it bounce. In Pickle-ball®, this can only be done when the player’s feet are behind the non-volley zone line (seven feet behind the net). Note: Is is a fault if the player steps over the line on his volley follow-through
DOUBLE-BOUNCE RULE
Also called the Two Bounce Rule, each team must play their first shot off of the bounce. That is, the receiving team must let the serve bounce and the serving team must let the return of the serve bounce before playing it. Once these two bounces have occurred, the ball can either be volleyed or played off the bounce.
FAULT
A fault is committed when the ball: • Touches any part of the non-volley zone on the serve (including the line). • Is hit out of bounds • Does not clear the net • Is volleyed from the non-volley zone • Is volleyed before a bounce has occurred on each side Player Position for Doubles At Start Of Game
Double Play Positioning Movements In Image A below, you can see that Server (player 1) serves from the right hand side of the serving team’s court diagonally across court to the Receiver (player 3) in the opposite right hand side of the court. The receiver (player 3) must let the ball bounce before returning the serve. The serving team must also let the return bounce before playing it (the Double Bounce Rule). After two bounces have occurred, the ball may then be either volleyed or played off the bounce until a fault is made.
In Image B below, you can see that after a fault is made by the receiving team, and a point is scored by the serving team, the serving team’s players switch sides of court and the same player will continue to serve. When the serving team makes its first fault, the serving team’s players will stay in the same side of the court, and the second partner will then serve. When they make their second fault, they will stay in their same court positions, and turn the ball over to the other team. Players switch sides of the court only after scoring.
COURT DIMENSIONS
LEAGUE POLICIES
GAMES:
Matches will be played within the allotted time, (warm up time included). All matches are a one, 10 game super set (do not need to win by two).
REFS:
ALL GAMES WILL BE SELF-REFFED. There will be a CSSC staff member on-site to help interpret rules or if there are any discrepancies between the two teams that need to be addressed. Captains are responsible for recording the results of their game. Clipboards will be provided on each court to record the scores. Our staff will provide constant reminders with regards to this process.
FORFEITS:
If your team forfeits a match during the season, the following rules apply:
First Offense: Loss of match.
Second Offense: Loss of match and staff reserves the right to remove team from playoffs.
Third Offense: Removal from the league.
Any team that forfeits more than once also forfeits any guarantee or right to a certain number of guaranteed games.
If you know in advance that your team is going to forfeit a game, we encourage you to call our office, at 312.850.8196, so as to help us schedule your opponent a game however this does not mean that your team will not receive the loss as a forfeit.
During the regular season teams will forfeit 1 game for every 10 minutes past the designated start time that they do not have the legal amount of players. If no one is present from a team by 25 minutes after the designated start time the entire match will be forfeited and the team that is present will receive all three wins of the match. Teams without enough players may still play a “legal” game but only with the opposing teams’ consent. All teams consenting to play a legal game with less than the allowed minimum waive their right to a forfeit win. Teams may pick up players during the regular season in order to field a full team. During playoffs teams will receive one forfeit every 10 minutes that they are unable to field a “legal” team. After they forfeit their second game the winning team will advance to the next round of playoffs. Substitutes will not be allowed during playoffs.
STANDINGS:
The updated standings will be posted weekly. The standings will display each teams rank within its skill level. Rank is based on points/winning percentage.
PLAYOFFS:
Playoffs will begin immediately following the end of the regular season and will typically last between 2 and 3 weeks. After teams have been seeded according to their records all captains will receive an email with the 1st week of playoff game times roughly 3 days before their league. Teams will not receive an email/call for any other weeks of playoffs! It is ALL TEAMS’ responsibility to check the playoff brackets at the league or online to find out what time they will be playing the following week if they win. In playoffs it is not uncommon, (and in some cases will be necessary), for teams to have more than one match in a given night. No substitues will be allowed during playoffs. All players must have signed the waiver by the second week of the season in order to be eligible for playoffs. All eligible teams will make the playoffs. Playoff eligible teams will be determined on a league by league basis. Teams that have violated the forfeit policy during the course of regular season will not be eligible for playoffs. In certain situations teams at or near the bottom of the standings may not advance to the playoffs. Check with CSSC league coordinator to see if this applies to your league. Playoffs are single elimination. During playoffs teams will receive one forfeit every 10 minutes that they are unable to field a “legal” team. After they forfeit their second game the winning team will advance to the next round of playoffs. Substitutes will not be allowed during playoffs.
Seeding: Teams are seeded according to points/winning percentage and strength of schedule.
Teams may be dropped from their regular season level based on the above criteria. Teams may be moved to a higher division during the playoffs only if permission is granted by the CSSC full time staff. Skill levels may be divided into separate divisions based upon size of level. Teams may play more than one game per day, and/or play games on days/nights other than your regularly scheduled league day/night if necessary.
CSSC reserves the right to schedule playoff games on days other than teams regularly scheduled league night. Any questions regarding rules, policies, or eligibility of players must be addressed before the start of the playoff game. Any team that would like to challenge the eligibility of an opposing player must do so before the start of the playoff game. No protests will be considered valid after a game has started.
WAIVERS:
In order to participate in the league, each participant must sign the team waiver. Waivers are provided and must be completed and handed in no later than the first night of play. Players not present the first week of play will still be required to sign a waiver with our staff before participating. Players must sign the waiver in order to be eligible for playoffs.
PLAYER ELIGIBILITY:
Players who have been placed on the roster and signed the waiver are eligible for playoffs. A formal protest may be filed before a game if an opposing player’s eligibility is in question for the playoffs. The player in question will be required to provide his/her player information (name, address, phone #, signature) in writing to a CSSC staff member prior to the start of the game. This qualifies as an official protest. Any protest made during or after a playoff game will NOT be considered a formal protest. The game will then be played in its entirety as scheduled. Teams will be notified of all rulings on the identified eligibility discrepancy by the following business day – decisions will not be made on site. If the protest is proven to be legitimate, it will result in the forfeiture of the game in question. Games subsequent to the protested game may be rescheduled. The above procedure will also apply for any other “logged” protests. All rulings by CSSC staff are considered final.
SPORTSMANSHIP:
The idea of CSSC is to have fun. We hope that all participants keep that in mind when becoming involved. Although the games may become intense, you still can be competitive while maintaining good sportsmanship. With this said, any behavior deemed unacceptable by staff may result in suspension and/or ejection from a game or the league. Abuse of staff will not be tolerated. CSSC reserves the right to remove a player from a game or a league if they are considered to be bringing down the quality of the league. CSSC will not
tolerate fighting! Fighting will be an automatic ejection from any game and in most cases ejection from the league for the remainder of the season.
STAFF:
To coordinate and run the league, the officials and/or staff will be available at all times to help the league run as smoothly as possible. If you have questions regarding schedules, policies, rule interpretations, directions to the bar, etc. please ask.
LEAGUE CANCELLATION/RAINOUT:
Please call our weather hotline for the most up to date information on any cancellations (312.773.7100)
Leagues may be cancelled due to existing weather conditions, dangerous or unplayable field conditions, facility constraints, etc. CSSC staff makes every effort to play all scheduled games, thus we will not cancel games until absolutely necessary. Therefore, if you are calling concerning a decision on a cancellation, remember we will not have an answer until close to the start of the league.
If the league is cancelled, CSSC staff will change the weather hotline immediately. CSSC will then text/email all of the captains to let them know when possible. It is then the captains responsibility to inform all teammates of the cancelation. If a league is cancelled on site, CSSC staff will attempt to contact those teams still scheduled to play the remainder of the league day/night. Depending on the time of cancellation, some teams will have to be notified on site. If we do cancel, follow next week’s schedule (ex. If April 13 is cancelled teams should follow the April 20 schedule for their next game). The games that are cancelled will be made up towards the end of the season if time allows. In extreme circumstances, CSSC reserves the right to run a shortened season without a refund. CSSC reserves the right to move games or weeks to an alternative location when deemed necessary without compensation. CSSC also reserves the right to schedule games on days other than your regularly scheduled league day/night if necessary.
PRIZES/ JERSEYS:
Each team will receive a pre-bundled set of colored jerseys with various sizes at the first night of the league. Additional shirts and sizes can be purchased from the CSSC for an additional charge. The top teams in each division will receive a prize of great emotional, spiritual, and most importantly, social value.
These policies are designed to make the league run as smoothly and safely as possible, and provide continuity for its participants. Each player in the league is responsible for this information: please advise your team of these rules and thanks for playing.
These policies are designed to make the league run as smoothly and safely as possible, and provide continuity for its participants. Each player in the league is responsible for this information: please advise your team of these rules and thanks for playing.