Let’s Learn to Play Paddleball

Some games don’t need to be in big group to be fun. Paddleball is the next favorite beach activity every summer months. It has serious set of rules and regulations that make it more competitive, challenging and exciting.

To be ready with the game, read on to learn about the basic strategies of the game and hit the beach.

Learning the Basic Skills
Practice with an attached-ball paddleball.
First, attached-ball paddleballs are a great tool to enhance coordination between you hand and eye and learned to be comfortable with the paddle.
• Hold the paddle using your dominant hand with your wrist facing up.
• Move your wrist upward to keep the ball on the top of the paddle.
• Continue flicking your wrist to bounce the ball off the top of the paddle and keep the ball bouncing on the paddle without the ball falling.

Now, to practice hand-eye control, try doing alternative motion bouncing on the underside and the top of the paddle.

Remember this, shorter paddle strings means hitting the ball easier. On the other hand, longer strings give you hard time controlling the ball.

Knowing the Rules
Take a paddleball set consisting of a ball, two or four paddles and a net.
Every paddle should be at least 18 1⁄2 inches (47.0 cm) long and no longer than 20 inches (50.8 cm).
Choose a location on a beach and other location such as a playground or a beach volleyball court and even grass, concrete, sand or snow. Draw a rectangle in the sand with measurement of 15 feet (4.6 m) by 48 feet (14.6 m) for a singles court. Then for doubles court, the measurement of 26-1/4 feet by 52-1/2 feet should be followed.

Prepare your net
Don’t worry if you don’t have the official net for playing paddleball. You can have any available and similar sports net with the measurement of 5 feet 1 inches that is above a ground of a hard surface like grass and 5 ft. 7 inches off of the ground on a soft surface such as sand or snow.
Pick your teams. First decide whether you want to play singles or doubles.
Learn to score. Paddleball has the same scoring system with tennis and is played in sets of 1, 3, or 5.
• The game starts with a score 0 or love. One point is equals to a score of 15, then the second point for the same team is 30, and the third point is given to the same team is 40
• When a team gained 40 points, that team wins the game if they win one more point. If the score has reached to 40-40, the next point wins that game.
• Paddleball can be played in sets of 1, 3, or 5. A team can complete a set by winning 6 games but they must secure a win by a two-game margin.

To decide which team will serve first, do either flipping a coin or conducting a volley war.

A volley war simply means volleying the ball across the net between teams until a player misses and the team that didn’t miss will be the rewarded with first serve.

Developing a Strategy
• Don’t forget the basic goal is to win the points by forcing the opposing team to either miss the ball or hit it into the net or the ground.
• Make it difficult for your opponent to return the ball by hitting the ball away as long as it is within the boundaries.
• Keep the ball in play and be patient for a chance to get an attack shot for a perfect timing.
• Establish a verbal communication with your partner if playing doubles. Use phrases and expressions such as “mine” and “I’ve got it”.