Pickleball Rules Question/Answer....Pickleball Ratings....USAPA

Our Paso Robles Pickleball Club Website:  www.pickleballpasorobles.shutterfly.com  Join us for some fun play whenever your are in our area.  We have loaner equipment.

Let's answer yesterday's question.  Ruling:  Violation of the No Volley Zone by the hitting team.  Even though the player who stepped into the NVZ did not hit the winning volley, the mere touching of his partner's paddle (or any part of his partner) makes his partner susceptible to a violation call.  In essence, the two became one and any contact with the NVZ by either player is just that....a violation.

Here is some information on Pickleball skill ratings.  Many of our players ask about this....

1.  You can self-rate yourself.  This is usually done so that you can enter a skill level tournament.
2.  You can have your local ambassador suggest a rating so that you can enter a tournament.
3.  After you play in a tournament, it is not uncommon, although not required, to have the tournament director give you a rating.  Many do, many do not.
4.  To get on the "ratings radar" for an advancement in your ratings, you generally need to medal in a skill level tournament.
5.  Most often, you will need to medal twice--usually Gold-- (in two different Skill Level tournaments) to be advanced to the next level.
6.  Quality of tournaments, recommendations from highly skilled players and/or tournament directors, size of the event, more than one event performance....are other factors used to rate players.
7.  Ratings changes are now being done three times a year on April 1, September 1 and December 1.  In special cases there are exceptions.
8.  USAPA ratings may be quite different from self-ratings.
9.  USAPA ratings will be posted on the official National website.
10. Remember, Skill Level tournaments (3.0-3.5, 4.0-4.5, 5.0) are different from Age Level tournaments (50-54, 55-59, 60-64, etc.).  You need not be rated to play in Age Level tourneys.

To join the USAPA go to this website.  Your membership helps our National Organization and also helps our local Club:  http://usapa.org/memberships/index.php  $25.00 a year is one less bottle of good wine, two less pizzas, lunch at home once, no blue-ray DVD, a week without lattes (you know what they say....they take a 'latte' time to make and they cost a 'latte' money).

15 players today on a busy weekend.....

The Question:  "How Did The Ball Come Off Your Paddle Today?"