On Sunday 26th May, four players from Leamington and Warwick Pickleball Club partnered up with players from Rugby and Stratford Upon Avon to form a Warwickshire team to take on Shropshire in a friendly Rally 21 Tournament in Walsall Wood.
Photo of the participating teams. Image by Heart Of England Pickleball. Retrieved from https://www.facebook.com/heartofenglandpickleball
Despite having only played the game for under a year, they held their own against more experienced players. Shropshire were the overall winners, winning 2788-2694. A wonderful experience for our players including the challenge of learning an unfamiliar scoring system. Many thanks to Graeme Smith and Gillian Hogan for organising the event plus the Staffordshire and Warwickshire teams.
Graeme Smith
Pickleball England's Warwickshire representative and IPTPA coach
Gillian Hogan
Pickleball England’s volunteer county representative for Staffordshire
Leamington & Warwick players (left to right) : Cameron Snook, Duncan Snook, Emma Webber & Saskia Leppard
What is Rally Scoring
In Pickleball the standard scoring is known as Side Out Scoring where points can only be won off the serving player / team. Rally Scoring means each rally results in a point regardless of whichever team is serving. Whoever wins the rally wins the point and will serve the next point. Players nominate a side of the court they'll play for the whole game with no need for switching sides. If the serving team's points score is on an even number (0, 2, 4 etc.) the player on the right will serve, if the point score is odd (1, 3, 5 etc.) the player on the left will serve.
Games are played to 21 , but must win by two points. When a team reaches 20 they can only win their last point off their own serve. This is known a 'Freeze'.
Rally scoring results in fast-paced games and every point and mistake matters, this presents a different challenge to side out scoring, often resulting in different tactics and court positioning.
Pickleball - the fastest growing sport in Leamington and Warwick.
Leamington and Warwick Pickleball Club was only set up in September and it’s already got over 50 members. Pickleball has come over from America where it is the fastest growing anticipation sport and it’s looking to do the same in the UK.
It’s a great cardio workout and helps you stay sharp. It can relive stress but above all it’s a very sociable sport. Leamington and Warwick Pickleball Club meet every Tuesday and Thursday at St Nicolas Park Leisure Centre, Warwick 6-8pm. If you are interesting in playing please get in touch.
