As we move into our second full year of Pickleball, everyone should be familiarising themselves with the rules now.

Our aim as well should be to try and split our play between Rally scoring, which we have used from the beginning, and the Official Pickleball scoring method. Rally scoring has now been incorporated into the Official Rules for 2025 but only provisionally. Rally Scoring has the advantage of simpler to master scoring method and quicker game turnaround but as a group we aim to play other u3a teams soon and many of them will be using the original Official scoring method.

Brush up on the Rules! I'm regularly getting queries about the Rules of Pickleball during sessions - which is OK, as I'm always happy to clarify if I can - but everyone should be aware that the Official Rules are updated every year and the Pickleball England website always has a copy on hand. A copy of the official basic rules is here. A copy of the Rally scoring basic rules is here.

Don't forget to 'call out the score' during play! I watched games being played the other day and noticed that all groups should be doing something at every service that will improve play (and get you used to using the official Pickleball scoring method) and that is to 'call out the score' before every service. It's a useful confirmation and reminder for all the players in case they are not sure of the state of play. Some players easily 'lose track' which can lead to confusion over who should be serving at a 'side out'. It part of the 'etiquette' of playing the game.