Select Page

Playing Paddleball Without Refs By David Siegel

As most of you are aware, the PFA Rules Committee has just updated the paddleball rules and I urge all of you to read and understand them. During the last couple of years, as I read the dialogue on the PFA Facebook page, the extent of diverging interpretations of the rules has really surprised me. That having been said, the proper application of the rules depends upon the referee and lines-persons. However, think about it, where do we have these officials? In tournaments, of course. 99% or more of all paddleball is played at local parks for fun, exercise and friendly competition, without any refs or lines-persons. We call our own games – and we have arguments! What follows are some guidelines on how to play games without officials for maximum fun and less disputes.

First of all, let’s make an important assumption: Paddleball players are fair and don’t cheat. They are all good sportspersons and understand that everyone occasionally sees a play incorrectly, and that means everyone! They know that accusing players of cheating or insisting “you saw it wrong and I saw it right!” gains nothing except ill-will. In the course of a game or a day, they understand that the incorrect calls will even out. Furthermore, paddleball players all willingly accept a do-over for all disagreements and never let it escalate into an argument. Maybe this is naive, but it is crucial to having a good fair game. If you don’t buy into this, give it a try, but please stop reading this blog and check out my future blog on How to Out-Cheat Cheaters!

Perhaps the biggest source of arguments are line balls. Was it inside or outside or did it hit the line? Well the only way to fairly call lines is for the players with the best view to be the only ones who can make a call. That means the two left side players call their sideline and the right side call theirs. The server’s partner calls the short line and the serve returner’s partner calls the long line. Long lines during rallies should be called only by the deep players. The one that irks me the most is the short line, where it has evolved to the point that the returning team is given equal authority to call shorts, but this is ridiculous. The partner of the server (not the server) has by far the best view of the line. Similarly, the partner of the returner sees the long line best.

Outside callers can be used to help facilitate line calls. When players are not sure, or there is disagreement, and there is an outside observer with a good view of the play, this person’s call should be solicited. However, both teams should agree in advance that they are willing to take this person’s call. Outside callers should understand not to make a call unless asked. If an observer sees a play where a seemingly out ball is missed, bite your tongue unless asked! If outside callers disagree, and both have equal views, call a do-over. And don’t ask an outside caller standing 10 feet behind the long line for a call at the short line!

Call it immediately! If a situation arises during the course of play that would require play stoppage, don’t wait until the play is over. It must be called right away and play stopped. Belated calls breed arguments. Among these are:

  • Struck by backswing or forward swing.
  • Illegal body contact.
  • Illegal movement. A player who took position improperly or crossed the ball is more likely to understand what he or she did wrong if it is pointed out immediately.
  • Ball on court. Remember, it’s primarily for safety. If it interferes with play, it should be called immediately by any player, but players who decide to go for the shot and then call it if they miss will have a difficult time justifying the call. By the same token, don’t wait until your opponent is lining up a set-up to call it!
  • Obstruction with a player on an adjacent court. Don’t take a chance on hitting an unprepared player. And don’t abuse this by making a call on a ball you had almost no chance to reach, much less return it to the wall.
  • “I wasn’t ready”. If you weren’t set for the serve, don’t return the serve anyway, then say you weren’t ready. If you had time to swing at the ball, you had time to call “not ready”.

Watch what you say. Follow the rules prohibiting unnecessary talking during a rally. Only give instructions to your partner such as “I got it”, “let it”, “play”, or make block or out calls. Never say “out” as instructions instead of “leave”. And never say “good”. A call of good can stop the play. Play it out and if there is a question after the play, state that you saw it good. Similarly, don’t say “long” until a served ball bounces. A long call stops the play and if a player returns it on the fly it was an unnecessary stoppage. After the rally, don’t engage in lengthy or unnecessary conversation. This can be interpreted, rightly or wrongly, as psyching your opponent or stamina relief. Play on! And lastly, there is no place for trash talking in paddleball.

Learn what a block is. This is one of the greatest sources of dispute. The new rules clearly specify the conditions for a valid block call, but paddleball is a long way from everyone understanding and adhering to a uniform standard. Also local parks adopt their own block rules, such as through-the-legs is automatic. There is no easy answer, but the best advice is for players to read, understand and discuss the conditions for a valid block call and to err on the side of safety. If a player was caught in a situation where he or she was afraid to hit an opponent with the paddle or nail a player with the ball, the block should be granted.

Outside callers in general. Besides helping in the calling of lines, knowledgeable outside observers should be used where available for calls if there is dispute, such verifying a block call, killer good or not, did ball graze the person or not, was movement illegal? Accepting the outside call should be mutually agreeable in advance and players should not gripe if they disagree with the outside caller. Remember, paddleball players don’t cheat and it will all even out in the long run!

It’s also OK to adopt friendly liberal application of the rules, but don’t change them on the spot. For example, foot faults are rarely called in park play. If you observe a player abusing the foot fault rule to gain an advantage, inform him/her of the transgression as a warning and request the server’s partner or an outside observer to call foot faults afterward. Another example is catching an obviously long or outside ball on the fly. If this is the accepted application of the rule at your park, stay with it, but expect to be called out if there is a “checked swing”. Be aware that it can become a bad habit and come back to bite you in a tournament. Safety. Always keep safety in the forefront. It’s better to lose a point than to hurt someone or get hurt. Abide by the “Code of Conduct”. Everyone will enjoy the game more.

Above all, don’t cheat, or if you do cheat, don’t get caught!

 

Brian Newson – PFA Weekly Player Profile(6/25/17)

Brian Newson Weekly Player profile(6/25/17)

Brian is a left handed player that has been playing paddleball off and on since the late 70’s. He is a very humble and liked by the paddleball community. He has been working with NYC for the past 32 years. He also has been a volunteer for the past 6 years with NYC Office of Emergency Management Community Emergency Response Team(CERT). Like many of his paddleball peers he picked up the game quickly because he transitioned from handball to paddleball. He started playing paddleball on 134th Street at St. Nicholas Park in Manhattan. He then took his game to 135th street by Harlem Hospital in search of tougher competition. As his game improved he once again moved on to Lenox Avenue and 113th street in search of tougher competition. Currently his home outdoor park is Sayers and Juniper park and Zerega in the winter. He normally plays twice a week, Saturday & Sunday. In the summer he travels with his friends and fellow paddleball players Alex Cherry and Marian Quinn around the Tri-State area in search of tough competition and meet new friends. His favorite paddleball shot is the spike. He does not have a favorite player. However, he does watch and pay attention to a lot of players/games to learn and possibly incorporate a shot or a particular strategy. He loves paddleball, he said “it’s a great way to keep active, better your health (my doctor is always surprised at my heart rate) and you meet great people when you travel to different parks.”

I asked him what he thinks is needed to grow the sport? His response,  “It’s great that the Paddle Family Alliance is actively engaging kids, you may want to reach out and convert current handball players”. His advice to his paddleball peers is “Just to have fun, respect each other and the calls that are being made and let your play decide the game”. He believes there is “Nothing to change about a sport that is great to play with other players who are inclusive of others no matter the skill level.”

CONGRATULATION Brian

PFA 2017 Youth Summer Paddleball Clinic Schedule

PFA Summer Kids Paddleball Clinics schedule confirmed so far:

Starting  July 10, 2017 & Ending August 5, 2017

Kids Registered – 20 per session – Total 40 per day.

MondaysSession #1 10:30 to 11:30 – Session #2 11:30 to 12:30

TuesdaysSession #1 10:30 to 11:30 – Session #2 11:30 to 12:30

If you, or someone you know ,is interested in having their kids attend the clinics send email to Paddleball.family@gmail.com or call Mike Melendez at 917-306-0542

Thanks, Mike

 

 

 

Paddleball Head Referee & Lines-Person Workshop

We are all set to kick off the first session of our Referees & Line-Person workshop. The workshop will take place at Colucci park in the Bronx on August 6, 2017 from 11:00 AM to 1:00 PM. Refreshment will be served for the participants in the workshop. At this time 12 individuals have registered for the workshop. If you are interested and can make it please submit your request via the website blog’ comment.
Reminder,  the objectives of the workshop is to make sure we all read the PFA’s paddleball rules version and interpret them correctly and spread the word across the paddleball community. More important, make us all better Head Referees & Lines-Person and help us improve the quality of tournament officiating!
                     WE GOT NEXT!

Thanks
Mike

Paddleball Editorial – To Travel or Not?

Paddleball Editorial – To Travel or Not?

A large number of paddleball players do not like to travel to other parks throughout the Tri-State area. For many there are legit reasons why they cannot travel, physical limitation, financially, family, too far, just to mention a few. Personally, I live in New Jersey and any travel to anywhere in NY is at least 100 miles round trip. So, I carefully plan my trips to NY and make sure paddleball games are included in my trips. I cannot travel to NY more than twice a week. If I could I would LOVE to visit different parks at least 3 times a week.

I’ve noticed a number of teams have dropped off the upcoming tournament scheduled for July 22 at Van Cortlandt Park in the Bronx. Originally this tournament was to take place across the Tri-State Area at different locations and the number of teams registered in advanced was significant in a short period of time. Now that the tournament format has changed due to the lack of participants in some of the boroughs, a number of teams have dropped off. As I said above, in some cases there are solid reasons why people cannot travel and that is fully understood. But in many cases is just that people do not want to travel because they feel more comfortable playing in their local parks.

In my opinion, it is critical  we(paddleball players) travel across the Tri-State Area to showcase our talents and support our tournaments. The handball community does a heck of a job in this area and I believe this is one of the reasons they are growing so fast. We, Paddleball players, need to do more of this. There are more pros than cons in doing this. Four important PROs, just to mention a few, when we travel to support the sport are:

  1. Expose the game to the young generation.
  2. Help grow the sport by showcasing our talents.
  3. Large gathering sends a family message to the community where people bring their kids to watch and have a good time, i.e., PFA PowPows.
  4. Large players turnout at tournaments, NO BETTER FORMULA TO ATTRACT POTENTIAL SPONSORS.

Your thoughts?  – Please lets use our energy on the POSITIVES thoughts instead of the negatives.