Pickleball was invented 50 years ago, but it experienced a surge of popularity over the last decade or so, becoming one of the fastest-growing sports in the country. It combines elements of several different racket sports, including tennis. If you are new to pickleball, some of the elements may seem mysterious to you, particularly the differences between pickleball vs tennis.
What Are Some of the Most Important Differences Between Pickleball Vs Tennis?
If you are new to pickleball but familiar with tennis, it may be helpful to compare the two so that you can better understand the differences.
1. Court
A regulation pickleball court is 20 feet wide by 44 feet long. This is smaller than a typical tennis court, which measures 36 feet wide and 78 feet long. Some pickleball players use tennis courts if there are none dedicated to their own sport available, but it requires marking different boundaries.
Since a pickleball court is narrower than a tennis court, it follows logically that a pickleball net doesn’t cover as wide a span. A pickleball net is also shorter than a tennis net by 6 inches though, again, pickleball players who only have tennis courts at their disposal may have to make do.
2. Kitchen
In pickleball, the kitchen is a 14-foot area in the center of the court divided by the net into 7-foot segments on either side. Also known as a no-volley zone, the kitchen is intended to prevent spikes that are close to the net from hitting and possibly injuring players on the other side. Players cannot enter the kitchen to hit the ball until after it has bounced.
3. The Pickleball
If you have ever played with a wiffle ball, you have an idea of what a pickleball looks like. A pickleball is made of smooth plastic that is much lighter than a tennis ball. It is hollow and perforated with holes that cause it to create less drag. As a result, its movement in the air is cleaner than that of a tennis ball, but it doesn’t bounce as high.
4. Racquet
When pickleball was first invented, before it developed its own equipment, players used ping-pong paddles. Today, pickleball racquets still bear more resemblance to ping-pong paddles than to tennis racquets. Tennis racquets have strings woven together to create a particular pattern and texture. Pickleball racquets are flat and typically smooth to the touch, though some have air holes built in. To accommodate different playing styles, pickleball racquets can come in different thicknesses and sizes. In this, they are similar to tennis racquets. However, even though racquets for both sports come in different sizes, pickleball racquets are generally smaller than tennis racquets.
5. Serve
Tennis requires an overhand serve that involves tossing the ball up into the air and then hitting it with the racquet. Overhand serves are against the rules in pickleball, and underhand serves are required. The pickleball serve and the tennis serve are similar in that the direction is diagonal or cross-court, but for a pickleball serve to be valid, the paddle must make contact with the ball below the level of the server’s hip. It also has to clear the kitchen. Before volleying, i.e., hitting the ball back and forth without letting it hit the ground, can begin in a game of pickleball, the ball has to bounce twice after the serve: once on the opponent’s side and once on the server’s side.
6. Scoring
Tennis has a complicated system of scoring based on the various phases of the match, known as games and sets. Pickleball scoring is simpler, with no games and sets. Nevertheless, it has its own idiosyncrasies.
You can only score in a game of pickleball if you are the one who served the ball, another respect in which the scoring is different between pickleball vs tennis. A game of pickleball is played up to 11 points, but to win, you must exceed your opponent’s score by two points. When both of those conditions are met, a game of pickleball comes to an end with one side the victor.
7. Singles Vs Doubles
As with tennis, pickleball can either be played as singles or doubles. However, pickleball is usually played as doubles and singles pickleball is rare, whereas singles and doubles tennis are roughly equal to one another in popularity.