Pickleball in Mexico: a beginner's guide from scratch

Pickleball is the fastest-growing racket sport in Mexico. It started among the American and Canadian communities living in San Miguel de Allende, Chapala, Puerto Vallarta and Los Cabos, and within a few years it reached padel clubs, public sports centres and residential developments across the country. If you have never played, this guide tells you what it is, where it is played, what you need and how to take your first steps without getting lost.

What pickleball is, in a minute

It was invented in 1965 on Bainbridge Island, near Seattle, when three fathers — Joel Pritchard, Bill Bell and Barney McCallum — improvised a game for their families with wooden paddles, a perforated ball and a badminton net. The idea stuck, and today it is one of the sports with the most new players in the United States.

The basics:

• The court is small: 6.10 m wide by 13.41 m long (20 by 44 feet), the same size as a doubles badminton court. Up to four pickleball courts fit on one tennis court.
• The net is low: 91.4 cm (36 inches) at the posts and 86.4 cm (34 inches) in the middle.
• You play with a solid paddle, no strings, bigger than a table-tennis bat and lighter than a padel racket.
• The ball is perforated plastic, similar to a wiffle ball. Outdoor balls have about 40 small holes; indoor balls have fewer, larger ones.
• It is played mostly as doubles, although singles exists too.

Why it is so addictive

Pickleball is easy to learn and hard to master. The serve is underhand, below the waist, the ball is slower than in tennis or padel and the court is short, so in your first hour you are already rallying and playing points. At the same time it is full of strategy: the kitchen (the 2.13 m, 7-foot non-volley zone next to the net), the two-bounce rule and dinks turn every point into a game of patience.

It is also very social. Games to 11 points last about 15 minutes and much of the play is in a rotation format, so in one afternoon you play with ten different people. That is why it draws every age group: it is common to see young players coming from padel and retirees coming from tennis on the same court.

Where it is played in Mexico

Destinations with foreign communities came first: San Miguel de Allende, the Lake Chapala shore and Ajijic, Puerto Vallarta and Bahía de Banderas, Los Cabos, Mazatlán and Mérida. There are groups there that play almost every day, many in the morning, and newcomers are normally welcome.

The big cities followed. In Mexico City, Monterrey, Guadalajara and Querétaro there are more and more courts at sports clubs, padel clubs that have painted pickleball lines and new venues dedicated only to this sport.

Converted tennis courts are very common: pickleball lines are painted over a tennis court and portable nets are used. It works well to get started, although the two sets of lines can be confusing at first.

In Cancún and the Mexican Caribbean the sport is growing at hotels, residential clubs and padel clubs. On MeetAndPlay you can see each city's pickleball courts and the open games near you.

What you need to start

Very little, which is part of the appeal:

• A paddle. To begin, an entry-level, mid-weight paddle with a fibreglass or graphite face is enough. Many clubs rent or lend paddles, so there is no need to buy one before your first lesson.
• Balls. If you play outdoors, use outdoor balls; they are harder and handle the wind. Normally the club or the group provides them.
• Court shoes. This is the one place not to save money: pickleball has a lot of lateral movement, and running shoes do not hold the ankle well. Tennis or padel shoes work perfectly.
• Comfortable clothes, a cap, water and sunscreen if you play on an outdoor court.

If you want to compete later on, check that your paddle is on the USA Pickleball approved equipment list, the reference most tournaments use.

Your first month, week by week

Week 1: an introductory lesson. Many clubs run beginner clinics. In an hour you learn the serve, the return, how to call the score and the two key rules: the two-bounce rule and the kitchen.

Week 2: beginner open play. Look for an open-play session or a reta for beginners. Do not worry about winning: focus on getting your serve in and returning deep.

Week 3: learn to play at the net. Pickleball is won at the kitchen line. Practise dinks — soft shots that land in your opponents' kitchen — and learn to wait for the right ball to attack.

Week 4: learn the third shot. The famous "third shot" is the one the serving team plays after the return, and it is the key to getting to the net. When you can play it, you are playing real pickleball.

Keeping score, painlessly

This is what confuses people most at first. In traditional doubles scoring:

• Only the serving team scores points.
• Games are played to 11, win by 2.
• The score is called with three numbers: the server's points, the receiver's points and whether this is the first or second server on the team. For example, "4-2-1".
• At the start of the game the first serving team has only one server, which is why it is called "0-0-2".

Some tournaments and leagues are trying rally scoring, where every point counts whoever serves, but almost every Mexican open game uses the traditional system. Our pickleball rules guide covers it in more detail.

Court etiquette

• Wait your turn in the rotation and respect the venue's system: paddles in a row, a whiteboard or a list.
• Do not walk behind a court while a point is being played.
• Call the lines on your side honestly. When in doubt, the ball is in.
• If one of your balls rolls onto another court, call out and wait for the point to end before asking for it.
• Introduce your partner and meet at the net when you finish. The community is small and everyone knows each other.

In short

Pickleball is cheap to start, easy to learn and very social. Take a lesson, get a good pair of court shoes, sign up for beginner open play and within a month you will be playing open games with people at your level. If you come from padel or tennis you will progress quickly; if you have never played a racket sport, it is probably the friendliest way in there is.