When we play clubhouse pickleball, and by that I mean “out to have fun and not in a tournament,” it is always good to keep the play lighthearted.

I am a concrete sequential person and I like things to be done in a certain way and in a certain order and BY THE RULES, BUT…when we are having fun on the pickleball court, I wonder if we can RELAX a bit.

I don’t mean ignore the rules. Rules are there for a reason and they keep the game standardized, etc., but in a crowded gym with balls flying all around I think we can all agree to make certain allowances.

Perhaps you know, or maybe not, that if a player is waiting to receive a ball and the server hits the ball in the receiving-partner’s side of the court and the ball hits that partner or he touches it, TECHNICALLY this is a fault and a point for the serving team.

Here is the rule from Section 7.F. of the IFP Rulebook:

“In doubles, if the serve strikes the receiver’s partner, it is a point for the serving team, providing it is not a let serve or a fault serve.”

I should think, however, that in the scenario mentioned above (i.e. crowded gym), if the receiving player’s partner deliberately reaches out to catch the ball so it doesn’t go willy-nilly all over the place and head for another court thereby disrupting play, we can BEND that rule just a bit.

What do you think?