Such a shame The leader should be teaching the instructors how to teach. They dont anymore and it shows. Just watch Beginner Open Play and see the danger there. Not the players fault if they are not shown the right way to play the game

On court, in person, always...... NOT a Video.......

The problem with individuals who don't have a teaching background, they often don't realize when you teach a group of people, you must teach to the lowest level student in the class;trying to impress with knowledge instead of teaching is of little value to a student;if you have extra knowledge of the subject being taught, yes you will feel the instructor did a good job, however if you are at the low end and lack extensive knowledge of the topic being taught and instructor is trying to impress, then you have the right to be frustrated;it is nice they volunteer their time, but they do need feedback to help both them and the student.

The video was created because classroom instruction was not allowed in rec centers. The video fills that space so that the on-court instruction could begin. The classroom instruction is required before a student can take on-court session.

Is the video as good as classroom instruction? Of course not. But it was a way to re-start the classes here in The Villages. Once classroom instruction is permitted, it will return.

As a lifelong tennis player I don’t know why they didn’t just use tennis scoring. That would have made much more sense. However to answer your question each player on a side serves until they fail to win the point. Then the serve goes over to the opposing team. Since each team can only score points while they are serving stating whether you are server number one or server number two enables correctly keeping track of when the serve goes over to the other team and keeps each team from serving more times than they deserve. As someone who has played a lot of pickleball I can tell you after some long points that move you all over the court with lobs and dinks and volleys it’s easy to forget which team member served first if you aren’t disciplined in saying the score correctly before each serve. I hope that helps.

Now on to the comments by a few people about instructors that were perhaps being a little too “energetic” in their efforts to discourage backpedaling on court. Your instructor may have been a complete pompous self consumed jerk. If that was the case please please either try a different class with a different instructor or find out when one of the courts near you has open beginner level play and just show up with your pickleball paddle. Introduce yourself to those waiting on the next game and ask them to help you learn the game. You will find the overwhelming vast majority of beginner level players will be very friendly and almost excited to include you and to help you learn the game of pickleball. It’s an awesome way to meet and make new friends!

Ok that being said the advice you got about not backing up or backpedaling as you play pickleball is probably the most valuable thing you (especially if you are a senior citizen) can ever learn about pickleball. If you are in your late 60’s and certainly if your are in your 70’s or even 80’s losing your balance while backpedaling on the pickleball court and falling backwards onto the hard unforgiving surface will almost certainly put you at significant risk of breaking a hip or an arm or of getting a concussion. For the most part pickleball is a fun social completely safe game/sport no matter what age you are and you don’t have to be super agile or in the peak of fitness to play but backing up should be avoided.

I too had a dreadful experience in a beginner PB class
 

I took the course to see if I LIKED PB, and had no idea after my "lesson". He stopped us from actually playing every 10 seconds to impart more information, yak yak yak. I walked away and never went back. Sticking to golf.

Yes, that does help. Thanks!

So, I can understand not back pedaling as it is very dangerous. Falls with head injuries are one of the top ten killers of those over 65. What is the correct way to get to back court in a hurry? Say, in case of a lob shot?

Because that’s how you keep score in pickle ball. Each player gets to serve before it’s a side out. The only difference is opening the game, there is only one server before side out. That’s why that person is considered server 2, or start. If you don’t know the basic scorekeeping, you clearly don’t know how to play pickle ball. Can only imagine your lack of understanding and knowledge about the kitchen

There is no five serving three. What does that even mean. Pickle ball has server one and server two on each team.

It has nothing to do with forgetting and age. It is a rule of pickle ball that player states score before each service, otherwise it is considered a fault. Server will lose their serve for that. Just like stepping over the line when you serve, stepping in the kitchen for Volley, being hit with the ball or catching the ball before it bounces. Also, no serve ball contact above the waist is allowed. If you’re gonna play, learn correctly

I turn around and run. My husband stands there and yells "Yours!"


If I get there in time, I hit the ball back. I'm successful about half of the time.

Who are you talking to?

Turn and shuffle forward or sideways. Keep your eye on the bar at all times.

Really? They serve drinks there as well?

I’m guessing you were born knowing how to play? You don’t know jack about what I know about PB! Just because I find the three number scoring weird doesn’t mean I haven’t learned about other aspects of the game.

At which court do you mostly play?

Back in July, before our visit, we were researching TV as a place to which we might want to move. We hadn’t ever heard of PB! The one thing we did learn in our early research was to NOT buy a house near a PB court.

So, I am going from that point of reference.

I need to start coming again, Saddlebrook is where I first learned how to play and can honestly say I was never treated like I did not belong on the court even though I had never played a sport in my life.
Learning playing is so much more fun then watching it in a video. Personally I have no desire to ever be a 5.0 player and hate playing with those that take the game so seriously that they get angry or emotional about it, I enjoy playing with others that just are there to have fun.
Santiago courts are the same in that everyone is welcome after 10 and it's all for fun.
Would live to find out other times and courts that play for fun and everyone is welcomed!

You don’t have to have short term memory lost to forget the score. It happens all the time even saying the score every time. No different than tennis where you can have long rally and May change Positions.