Stop by any pickleball court, and you probably won’t see many games of singles. Most players over 50 tend to prefer doubles; it’s less physically demanding. If you haven’t played singles before, I think you’re in for a treat. It’s fun, good for your footwork, and improves your doubles game.

If you’re not sure that pickleball singles is the right game for you, start with a modified version called skinny singles.

In skinny singles, you use half the pickleball court at a time. It improves a variety of skills; strategy, ability to pre-plan, accuracy, and physical conditioning. You’ll find many of the shots you need will be similar to those you use during a doubles game.

First, let’s review the rules for pickleball singles, and then I’ll give you three fun skinny singles games.

The rules for singles are the same as the rules for doubles, except for serving and calling the score.

Rule 4.B.5  if the players score is even (zero, two, four….), the serve must be made from the right/even serving area and be received in the right/even service court by the opponent.

4.b.5.b  if the players score is odd (one three, five….), the serve must be made from the left/odd serving area and be received in the left/odd service court by the opponent.

4.b.5.c after the server loses the rally or faults a side-out will occur, and service is awarded to the opponent.

One last thing you need to know is how to call the score in pickleball singles. It’s merely two numbers, the servers score first and the opponents second.

One point of clarification. The two bounce rule which states, after the ball is served, each side must make one groundstroke prior to volleying the ball, is still in effect for pickleball singles. Which means different from tennis, there’s no serve and volley.

There are several variations on skinny singles, but these are three that I like the best.

Down the Line

One player stands on their even side, and the other player stands on their odd side. Strategy-wise, this might make you hit some new shots. Typically in doubles, because the net is lower in the center, players hit a higher percentage of cross-court shots. One additional variation is to serve cross-court and then play the rest of the point down the line. Some people like this better since you always serve cross-court in pickleball.

Cross-Court

When your score is even, serve from the even side when your score is odd serve from the odd side. The same goes for your opponent. Cross-court makes you play and defend from different angles. Of all three versions, I think it’s the one most similar to doubles.

Combination Down the Line and Cross-court

Perhaps my favorite way to play is a combination of both. The game begins with both players on the even side of the court. The server will switch sides if they win a point. The minute the server loses the rally, the opponent begins serving from the position they’re currently standing in

As an example, if I’m the first server of the game, and I win the point, I move to the odd court for the next serve. My opponent stays in the same place, and now we play down the line. I lose that rally, so my opponent now serves from the position they are standing in, which is their even side of the court and we play that point down the line. They win the point so the move to the odd court and now we are cross-court again.

One of the things I like about this modification is it makes you pre-plan. A good shot on the last point might be out this time.

Conclusion

Pickleball singles will improve your accuracy, challenge your shot-making abilities, and boost your fitness. Start with some skinny singles and see where it leads you.

CJ Johnson Better Pickleball Age Well with CJ Train Smart · Live Bold · Age Well

Email: CJ@BetterPickleball.com

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