What’s the Point of the Double Bounce Rule?

Wednesday, May 10, 2017
Nelson
Player Liaison


I’m sure there are a lot of people who only associate double bouncing with trampoline shenanigans, but those people have never played Pickleball. The double bounce rule is one of the most confusing rules in the sport. The rule states that each team must play their first shot of each rally off a bounce. This means that the receiving team has to let the serve bounce before returning it; then the serving team has to let the ball bounce before playing their next shot. Once each team has allowed the ball to bounce once on their side of the court, the game becomes a free for all and each return can be volleyed or played on a bounce.

The double bounce rule differs from Tennis where only the serve is required to bounce before being returned. With so many similarities between Tennis and Pickleball, you may wonder why the rule even exists. After digging through the International Federation of Pickleball website, I have the answer for you!

The double bounce rule was put in place to prolong rallies by eliminating the serve and volley advantage. For those of you who are not familiar with it, the serve and volley tactic is a common strategy in Tennis where the serving player runs up to the net immediately after serving and looks to end the point as soon as possible by volleying the return. Canadian Tennis star Milos Raonic is pretty good at it as you can see in this six-second YouTube video. By incorporating the double bounce rule, Pickleball players are guaranteed to have rallies last longer than six seconds. The rule allows each team to get into position at the net and play a longer and more tactical rally. Pickleball is a game of keen and cunning, not just sheer power.

So the next time you accidentally volley the first return, remember, the rule isn’t there to make you mad, it’s there to make the game more enjoyable.

Have fun out there!