Pickleball Safety and Court Etiquette:

Last Thursday Mila had a fall playing pickleball at ARC.  She had a complicated triple fracture of her left wrist and had surgery on Friday morning.  The injury had nothing to do with a collision. It was just a fall. However, players should be very careful about running into another court to return a shot for the possibility of crashing into someone  Two months ago Janet also had a fall and injured her wrist and it took two months to heal.

Pickleball Safety and Court Etiquette:

Check the playing area for uneven or wet surfaces, inadequate lighting, poor maintenance that could contribute to an injury.

Running backwards to get a ball should be discouraged. Instead, turning then running forward or arranging for the doubles partner to retrieve those shots is preferable.

Running to return a shot close to a fence, railing, wall etc. should be discouraged to avoid injury.

 A “Ball on Court” call should be standard practice to signal a stop in play so that an errant ball landing in the court can be returned to its respective court and avoid injury.

Running into another court to return a shot should be discouraged to avoid crashing into a player causing injury.

Do not roll or kick a ball out of your way, but walk to the back of your court with ball in hand, find out who's missing their ball and throw or hit it back to a player on the court from where it came.

 Players should be wearing court shoes with ankle support and a sole designed for the particular playing surface (indoor /outdoor).

Safety approved eyewear is recommended to avoid risk of injury and help protect a player’s eyes.

An opponent's skill level should be respected to avoid causing them injury.

Safety and etiquette rules should be communicated to players and form part of regular play.