Pickleball is making its way to Borneo

THE Malaysian Pickleball Association (MPA) - which is based in Miri - is looking to expand the sport of Pickleball into Brunei.

Pickleball has started in Sarawak, Sabah and Kalimantan and is currently played in Miri, Kuching, Sibu, Tawau and Balikpapan.

“Pickleball is a great sport for pople who are looking for a healthy and active lifestyle,” said Farrell Choo, the MPA President and IFP World Ambassador.

“It is a sport with short learning curves. Racquet players can easily start and play the sport after 1-2 hours of lessons.

“It is a sport that doesn’t require strenuous jumping, hard smashing and hectic running,” he added.

“At the same time, it is a sport for competitive players who wold like to demonstrate their technical and tactical skills and put them to test against their opponents,” continued Choo.

The MPA has already made plans to hold several major tournaments in the nar future including the Miri Open in 2022 and Malaysia Open in 2023 in Miri.

“We are inviting players from all over Malaysia, Kalimantan and Brunei to participate,” said Choo.

"Currently we are looking for people or organisations in Brunei who would be interested to learn and promote the sport in their country,” he added.

In Miri, the sport is currently played at Gymkhana Club Miri, Naim Clubhouse and Piasau Boat Club. It is also played by several institutions of higher learning and secondary schools.

Interested parties can reach out to Choo by call/whatsApp +6017-8671203 or email fktchoo@gmail.com for further information.

What is Pickleball?

Pickleball is a fun and exciting sport that combines many elements of tennis, badminton and ping-pong. It can be played both indoors or outdoors. For indoor, it can be played straight away on a badminton court.

A Player needs a ball and a paddle to start playing the sport. It can be played either as doubles or singles. Pickleball is a great sport which can be enjoyed by all ages and skill levels.

Pickleball was invented in 1965 in the US and is one of the fastest growing sports around the world. The International Federation of Pickleball (www.ifpickleball.org) is the world governing body and currently has membership of 46 countries - which is still growing.

The Asia Federation of Pickleball was recently established and it currently has seven Associate Members and six Affiliate Members.

How to Play Pickleball

Pickleball Fundamentals

Pickleball is a sport that combines badminton, tennis and table tennis. It was created in 1965 in the United States.
Pickleball can be played outdoor and indoor
The game is played either as doubles (two players per team) or singles; doubles is most popular.
The game has become very popular as it beautifully combines fitness, friendship, and FUN! It’s a game for all ages.

Scoring

Points are scored only by the serving team.
Games can be played to 11, 15 or 21 points, win by two.
The server calls the score before serving.
The score is called out as three numbers: 1) serving team score 2) receiving team score, and 3) server number (one or two).
To start a match, the score is called out as “zero-zero-two” (note on the initial serve, only one member of the serving team serves).
At the beginning of the game, the player on the right side of the court serves.
If a point is scored, the server moves to the left side of the court and serves again. The serving team continues alternating as points are scored.
The receiving team does not alternate sides.

Serving

The serve must be made underhand.
Paddle contact with the ball must be below the server’s waist (belly button level).
The serve is made diagonally cross court and must land within the confines of the opposite diagonal court.

Service Sequence

Both players on the serving doubles team serve and score points until they commit a fault (the only exception is noted in the next bullet point).
At the beginning of each new game, only one partner on the serving team serves before faulting, after which the service passes to the receiving team. Subsequently, as noted above, both players serve.
The first serve of each side-out is made from the right-hand court.
If a point is scored, the server switches sides and the server initiates the next serve from the left-hand court.
As subsequent points are scored, the server continues switching back and forth until a fault is committed and the first server loses the serve.
The second server continues serving until his team commits a fault and loses the serve to the opposing team.
Once the service goes to the opposition (at side out), the first serve is from the right-hand court and both players on that team have the opportunity to serve and score points until their team commits two faults.

Double-Bounce (2 Bounce) Rule

When the ball is served, the receiving team must let it bounce before returning, and then the serving team must let it bounce before returning, thus two bounces or the “double-bounce” rule.
After the ball has bounced once in each team’s court, both teams may either volley the ball (i.e. hit the ball before it bounces) or play it off a bounce.
The double bounce rule eliminates the serve and volley advantage and extends rallies.

Non-Volley Zone (NVZ)

This zone is also known as the “Kitchen”.
The non-volley zone is the court area within seven feet on both sides of the net.
Volleying is prohibited within the non-volley zone. This rule prevents players from executing smashes from a position within the zone.
It is a fault if, when volleying a ball, the player steps on the non- volley zone, including the line and/or when the player’s momentum causes them to touch the non-volley zone including the associated lines.
A player is allowed to enter the non-volley zone anytime other than when volleying the pickleball.

Serving

Contact between the paddle and ball MUST be below your waist. Again, no tennis type serves or pseudo-underhand serves where you come around the side of your body and make contact above the waist.
Foot Faults: Both feet MUST be behind the baseline for the serve. Neither foot may touch the baseline or the court area until AFTER the ball is struck.
Unlike tennis, you only receive one chance to get your serve in without faulting.

Volley

A volley is simply a ball hit out of the air that hasn’t bounced.
You cannot hit a volley while standing inside of, on the line of, or moving into the non-volley zone (also known as the kitchen).
It’s a fault even if you hit a volley outside the kitchen but your momentum carries you into the kitchen

Dinking

A soft and controlled shot that is intended to move downward shortly after it clears the net, landing in the non-volley zone (ideally at your opponents feet). Generally utilized when standing at or near the non-volley zone