McGaw Court Usage Rules

Before we Begin

You don't actually have to digest all of these rules. Players at the court are happy to explain what you should and shouldn't do.

Summary

When courts are crowded, use a paddle saddle to wait for your turn. Play 1 game, then relinquish the court.
You are free to choose not to play and to instead remain queued in the paddle saddle or re-queue at the end of the paddle saddle.
All sorts of players are welcome -- beginners, advanced, competitive, social, families, friend groups, strangers, etc.

Why are these rules here?

McGaw uses a few rules in order to avoid conflicts. Recognize that there are all sorts of players at McGaw that may have different approaches to pickleball. Some that play purely for the social experience, some for exercise, some that enjoy being active outdoors. Others focus on competitive play and are "students of the game", constantly trying to practice and improve their skill set. Some players are brand new ("newbies") to pickleball, others have played many games and others are experts. Some people are intimidated by hard-hitting bangers. Experienced players may hesitate to play with hard-hitting beginners who may not exercise enough control to avoid face shots. Very athletic players may not want to share a court with less mobile players.

At McGaw, you can play with the type of people you prefer to play with. Everyone that wants to play should get court time. It is entirely appropriate for newbies to learn to play on one court while advanced players compete on another court. And it's also fine for players at different skill levels to play together if they choose to. Simply be aware of what's going on around you!

If there are a bunch of highly capable players on an unreserved court and if you're not at their level, understand that they might not want to play with you. If you really want that challenge, it's fine to ask as long as you're willing to gracefully accept any answer. Many skilled players simply enjoy playing and are happy to spend some time "playing down".

The major objective of these rules is to ensure that all types of players are welcome and able to enjoy pickleball in the way they prefer. On days where everyone is satisfied, there's no need to follow any rules. These rules are here to provide guardrails -- concrete statements that are useful for conflict resolution, especially on busy days.

Who has priority access to courts?

players/instructors attending a large event that was scheduled through the City of Fitchburg
players with formal reservations through the City of Fitchburg
drop-in players
Singles players get lower priority than doubles players during scheduled drop-in open play
players that are part of a group with reserved courts have lowest priority to additional unreserved courts and should avoid playing on unreserved courts unless they would otherwise be unused.

Drop-In Play Organization

Most of the time, there is no large event and few, if any, courts are reserved. So there are a bunch of courts available for drop-in play. If there is sufficient court space for all drop-in players then no coordination is needed! But there will be times -- especially during scheduled drop-in play hours -- when there are so many players that they cannot all get on court simultaneously. That's when we need some basic rules for sharing.

If a Facilitator is on duty, whatever the facilitator arranges takes precedence over all other guidelines. Otherwise.....

During busy times, the courts are divided into 3 types, corresponding to types of players (see terminology):

advanced: competition-oriented; seeking competitive games with challenging, skilled players
newbie/novice/beginner: mostly social players; looking for opportunities to learn and play; may feel intimidated; avoids competition
intermediate/mixed: mixture of attitudes and skill levels; some seeking social play; others seeking practice; others looking for competition

There is a separate paddle saddle -- separate queues -- for each of these. On a typical day, there might be 1 or 2 advanced courts, 1 or 2 beginner courts and the remaining 4-6 mixed/intermediate courts. The precise definition of "advanced" depends on exactly who is present at the courts. If a bunch of players show up that are beating you on the advanced court(s), then maybe you are not an advanced player at that moment; so step down to mixed/intermediate!

How to use the Paddle Saddles

Drop-in players from various social groups (e.g. a family, group of coworkers, group of friends) must share limited court resources. If everyone is willing to mix and mingle, that's fantastic - it's one of the joys of pickleball! But suppose a group of 4 wants a court to themselves and all courts are busy. They should wait -- by putting their paddles in a suitable paddle saddle -- for a court to become available. [If there is 1 or more beginners in their group, they should queue up in the beginner saddle; if all members of their group are advanced players, they should queue up in the advanced saddle; otherwise, they should use the mixed/intermediate saddle.] Whenever there are people waiting to play, court time is limited to one standard game (or about 15 minutes). As soon as on-court players finish a game (or reach their time limit), they should wave their paddles high in the air and shout "Open court!". This alerts the next waiting group from the paddle saddle that it's their turn on court (and their 15 minutes begins). Players from the foursome that's leaving may each re-queue, in any open paddle saddle slot. As a matter of etiquette, the winners of a game are usually offered an opportunity to re-queue before losers.

Level-up

In general, it's fine to try to level-up. But pay attention to what's going on around you and listen to other players! If there are 12 advanced players on 2 courts, it's probably not a good time for an intermediate player to level-up. On the other hand, if there are only 7 players, this might be a great opportunity! If you are playing on advanced courts and you are losing much of the time, step back to the intermediate courts. On the other hand, if you've been playing on the beginner courts and you've won some games and you want more of a challenge, go ahead and move up to mixed/intermediate play!

There is nothing that forces other players to play with you, even if it's your turn! If you step on court and nobody rushes to join you, accept this non-verbal cue that you probably waited in the wrong paddle saddle! There was no shame in trying and you should not be offended; but you may need more practice. This tends to happen with Intermediate players that are unwanted on the Advanced courts and with Beginner players that try to play on Intermediate courts before they have fully mastered the basics (e.g. serve reliably, maintain a short rally, understand most rules, understand basic player positioning, properly keep score).

Challenge Court

During scheduled drop-in open play hours, an intermediate/mixed court may be designated as an Intermediate Challenge Court. Winners on the Challenge Court may remain on court for the next game. After a third consecutive win, they must relinquish the court (along with the losing team). Three-time consecutive winners on the Challenge Court should consider leveling-up to Advanced court(s)! During open play, advanced players should welcome these players for at least a game or two. The Challenge Court may be viewed as a gateway to the Advanced court(s).

If you find yourself at the head of the mixed/intermediate queue when the Challenge Court opens, you may choose to remain at the head of the queue and allow the next players to bypass you onto the Challenge Court. In fact, if you don't feel like you can offer a serious challenge, you ought to pass on the opportunity to play on the Challenge Court.

Note that on the Challenge Court, games are intended to be more competitive than social, so targeting, extreme poaching, stacking, body shots, offensive lobs, hard serves, heavy spin and other competitive tactics are expected.

Avoid Poor Behavior

A player cannot use more than 1 paddle at a time. A player's paddle is used for play or it marks the player's position in a paddle saddle. You cannot be queued more than once nor can you be queued while playing.

When court demand is high (i.e. when players are waiting), players are encouraged to mix together and play doubles games rather than singles or drills. If someone insists on singles or drills they are limited to one standard game or 15 minutes. During scheduled drop-in play, doubles games take priority! People may play singles or drill only if there are excess courts.

When a paddle saddle is in use, it's fine to move your own paddle to any open slot (e.g. in order to play on the same court as -- or to avoid -- specific players or in order to avoid repetitive matches with the same foursome). It is never acceptable to touch someone else's paddle without their explicit permission. If a foursome wants to play together, all four players should put their paddles into the saddle together in the first available group of 4 open slots and wait for their turn.

If a foursome finishes and there are fewer than 4 players queued for play, one or more players may choose to remain on court for another game. [It's as if all 4 players grab the next 4 open saddle slots and then the first 4 queued players come on court.] Work it out fairly so that everyone gets approximately the same amount of play time. Repeatedly lingering on court after your game finishes is considered poor form.

Handle Confusion and Conflict

If there is conflict at the courts due to players that disregard, misunderstand or object to these usage guidelines please report details (including player names, if possible) ASAP. We can clarify/modify rules or have a friendly conversation to work things out and avoid future conflict. McGaw courts ought to be fun for all!