How to play pickleball: a beginner's guide

Pickleball is one of the easiest racket sports to pick up. The court is small, the ball is slow, the serve is underarm and the paddle is light, so most people are having proper rallies within half an hour. In the UK it's mostly played in leisure centre sports halls, community halls and tennis clubs, and almost every session welcomes beginners.

What to expect at a leisure centre session

There are two common formats:

• Court booking. You book a court for two or four players, like booking badminton. Better's Edmonton Leisure Centre in north London, for example, runs pickleball in its sports hall on the badminton lines with a short net, in 40- or 60-minute slots for two or four players, and hires paddles and balls at reception (Better).
• Social or "drop-in" sessions. You turn up, put your paddle in a queue or rack, and get rotated into games with whoever is waiting. Games are short, usually to 11, and you play with lots of different people. This is the best way to start if you don't have three friends to bring.

Sessions are usually an hour or two. At a busy social you might sit out every other game, which is a good time to watch how experienced players position themselves. Levels are often mixed, and organisers sometimes split courts by ability once they know you. Nobody expects a beginner to know the scoring; someone on court will call it for you until you've got the hang of it.

Many clubs also run beginner taster sessions with a coach who will explain the rules and the basic shots. If you're nervous, ask for one of those, or just tell the organiser you're new. Pickleball players are famously keen to recruit.

What to bring

• Indoor court shoes with non-marking soles, such as badminton, squash or volleyball shoes. Running shoes will do for a first go, but they're not built for sideways movement.
• Comfortable sports clothes and water.
• A paddle if you have one, but most venues lend or hire them. See best pickleball paddles when you're ready to buy.
• Booking or membership details. Many leisure centres book through their app.

The basics in five minutes

• Serve underarm, diagonally, from behind the baseline. The ball must clear the kitchen and land in the opposite service court. You get one attempt.
• Let it bounce twice. The return of serve must bounce, and the next shot must bounce too. After that, anything goes.
• Stay out of the kitchen when volleying. You can't hit the ball out of the air while standing in the 7-foot zone next to the net.
• Call the score before each serve. In doubles it's three numbers. See pickleball scoring explained.

The full rules are in pickleball rules explained.

The shots to learn first

• The serve and return. Hit them deep. A deep return gives you time to move up to the kitchen line.
• The dink. A soft shot that drops just over the net into the opponents' kitchen. Because they can't volley it from the kitchen, it forces them to hit upwards. This is the heart of pickleball.
• The third-shot drop. After the serve and return, the serving team usually plays a soft, arcing shot into the kitchen so they can move up to the net. It's the hardest basic shot and the most important.
• The volley. Once both teams are at the kitchen line, short punches with a firm wrist. Keep the paddle up in front of you.

Simple tactics

• Get to the kitchen line. The team at the net usually wins the point.
• Be patient. Beginners lose most points by hitting hard and long. Soft and low wins.
• Move with your partner, side to side and forward together, like you're tied with a rope.
• Keep the ball low. Anything that bounces high gets smashed back at you.
• Aim at feet and the middle. A ball down the middle between two opponents causes hesitation; a ball at someone's feet is hard to return.

Pickleball is easy on the body compared with most racket sports, but warm up anyway. The most common beginner injuries are strained calves and falls from backpedalling for a lob. If a ball goes over your head, turn and run back rather than stepping backwards.

Ready to give it a go? Find pickleball near you, or browse every UK pickleball venue. In London? See pickleball in London.