Closed pickleball courts are beginning to reopen and in some areas, singles may be the only option. I know most of my YouTube Channel subscribers don’t play any form of singles.
Which has made me curious about singles…
What percentage of your TOTAL pickleball play is some form of singles?
I NEVER play singles
less than 10%
11%-25%
26%-50%
51%-75%
I ONLY play singles
0voters
I’d love to have you reply to this post and share your thoughts on playing any form of singles (full or skinny) Love it , hate it , whatever you think!
BTW if you don’t play and would like a primer, I released this skinny singles video today.
I only play singles if there aren’t enough people in my group to play doubles. Most community courts that I play on have a 4 on, 4 off rule during peak hours of play— that’s when I usually play. I haven’t really thought of just playing singles because doubles offers a really actioned pack style of play that I really enjoy. I can’t say that I am against playing singles though. Should I be playing more singles? What are the benefits?
@frankanthonydavis I read that article and loved it! I love going all over the court and am getting better at my singles. I have a few people here that like to play singles and so I get to play a few times. I have not had the skill to be good at it, but have been working on it and I was ready to do some damage at mountain regionals this year…now that got moved…
I concur with @frankanthonydavis. It improves my footwork and strategy. I’m not sure why but I start to see the angles more clearly which helps me to adjust my shot planning. It also helps me to see what patterns other people use. As an example the other day it was obvious that my drilling partner was focused on hitting down the line forehands to my backhand, trying to stretch me and create a pop up off my block. That puts me into a problem-solving mode. Can I see the paddle angle early, what about her footwork or body position gives it away, what do I need to do to defend it better, what can I do to keep her from hitting that shot, things like that.
But frankly the biggest draw for me is the exercise. I usually end up playing skinny singles more often because I have a harder time finding people willing to play full-court but I enjoy them both.
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I don’t play singles if I don’t have to. I only play skinny singles while waiting to play doubles.I feel since I do not have a tennis background I am at a disadvantage when playing singles as a lot of players are former tennis players and a lot are younger and more mobile and are hard hitters.
That’s interesting MiMi. When you play singles what do you struggle with the most? Did you have a chance to read@frankanthonydavis blog post on singles? What did you think?
I love singles but I don’t get to play it often, except when there is a tournament I will be playing in that has it, and I talk some guys into playing it with me (none of the ladies in our group like singles). My husband and I play skinny singles right now at our church gym since no one else is there. It is a carpeted basketball court floor, so we don’t play full court because it is easy to trip on. When the weather is nice and courts are open, we will play singles outside again.I like only being accountable to myself, and not having a partner to let down
I really enjoyed tennis until I had 2 knees replacements 4 years ago at age 70 and lost a step or 2. Taking up doubles pickelball was my fallback. Doubles has been enjoyable but I still loved the ground strokes of singles. I have played some singles pickleball but have found covering the court very difficult and the points don’t last long. Playing on one side of the court only has never been quite the same. Last year the Maryland Seniors tournament was played on a badminton court and I noted that their were lines for singles and doubles just as tennis. When the virus shut down doubles pickelball here in Naples but allowed singles playing with your spouse, I decided to mark our doubles court for singles just as tennis and badminton have done. It’s been great and more enjoyable than skinny singles as they call it. It plays like tennis, the points are long, coming to the net has to be strategic. You have to hit all the shots. I have previously written USAPA about this but have never received a reply. Singles is fun. Let’s push to make it more fun and have tournaments with singles lines. Singles will become more popular if we do. Anyone have any access to the USAPA to have this considered?
Marshall Steele
@frankanthonydavis@betterpickleball You both are a singles people. I kind of want to hear your thoughts on this? I haven’t been playing singles very much to have a strong opinion about this. I totally see the appeal of playing on a sightly smaller court for singles play though.
I love singles it’s where I started in this sport and I agree best exercise. The only sad thing is as I’ve aged it’s gotten a lot harder for me to play it for hours on end & I get injured. What do you use to keep your engery up and to keep from pulling something?
@msteele326 brings up some great points.
I agree with Marshall and think that the rallies would probably last longer if the court were smaller. It would give less agile and older players a chance to get to balls that they might not be able to reach. Not a benefit to the top guys and gals who work so hard on their quickness.
The other thing that could be interesting is if the court were a little smaller would more people be attracted to singles?
Jennifer Lucore and Beverly Youngren co-wrote a book on the history of PB. Now I’m curious… @Lucore was there ever a consideration to having a different set of lines for singles play?
Wow thank you for taking the time to give me such detailed advice and help. I’ll take what you said and apply it. I can see why you are on top of your game you are a wise player.
Hello CJ! Thanks for the history question The founders, who were also the creators of the rules, never considered having different lines for singles play. From day one they have always been about keeping the rules SIMPLE. There are a few entertaining pages of this exact thing in my history book - for all rules had to fit on ONE PAGE. No need to have meetings or heated debates about changing things - just get out there and play!
@betterpickleball This week have scheduled a few more singles sessions into my pickleball game play. I am four sessions in, including a couple of singles games that I played last week, and am already noticing improvement in my ability to hit groundstrokes and drives. At this point the main thing that I am noticing is I am having to move around the court a lot more being the only one on my side. It is definitely helping my footwork.
I completely agree with you. Singles is great for the footwork, and the cardio! Personally, I’d rather play singles then doubles. One of my favorite singles partners is coming back from AZ and we are playing Sunday. Can’t wait!
Especially now with there being virtually nobody at the court, I often find myself playing Singles against whoever came with me. I definitely feel like my Singles game helps me get those great, hard-to-reach balls, some that I have to run for.
The biggest thing I’ve been focusing on recently is “If I’m serving and my opponent comes to the kitchen, how do I respond…?” I like to control the kitchen when I play Singles, since it allows me to get deadly shots both powerfully and softly, and from that, here’s what I’ve found…
Third Shot Drops are tricky to pull off without getting caught in a tricky position, but if you do an angled one near the corner, you can position yourself to get any response they hit at you.
Third Shot Drives I typically use to make them hit back a simple, under-powered return, which allows me to hit a shot into the kitchen from inside the court and move the rally there.
Lobs can have two outcomes; either 1.) They hit overheads that I continue to controllably feed until I get one that bounces just too high where I can drive a low, just-above-the-net shot at them, making them either hit it into the net or hit upwards where I play the point from there; or 2.) I wait until they turn around to move back, sprint up to the kitchen line, and hit volley returns.
Sometimes, however, I’ll try for a tricky approach: Hitting a fast, deep shot near the lines. I either rip a shot just along a side-line, or try to use spin to curve it from just off the court to landing in. These are very hit-or-miss, so whether I try to rip one, spin one, or try this option at all completely depends on me and my opponent’s positions on the court.
I’m going to a pickleball camp hosted by Engage Pickleball next weekend, so can’t wait to see what it does to my game…!
, hate it 
, whatever you think!
The founders, who were also the creators of the rules, never considered having different lines for singles play. From day one they have always been about keeping the rules SIMPLE. There are a few entertaining pages of this exact thing in my history book - for all rules had to fit on ONE PAGE. No need to have meetings or heated debates about changing things - just get out there and play!