Pickleball rule about a double-hit or a carry

[jordan (Jordan Dayton)]

That’s a great video. Thanks for sharing, @smcshinsky

In that thread it looks like Don also mentioned Rule 3.A.1. which defines what a “carry” is, in pickleball…

@donstanley7189

3.A.1 Carry

Hitting the ball in such a way that it does not bounce away from the paddle but tends to be carried along on the face of the paddle.

I wonder if @donstanley7189 could clarify something here…

In that video Don shared, it seems to imply that it’s considered a carry if you “catch” the ball, with a backward motion and then carry it into a forward motion.

What if the motion is always forward. I’ve seen and even had a few hits where the motion was always forward, but the swing of the paddle definitely carried the ball, in that the ball stayed on the surface of the paddle for longer than just the tap, of a standard hit.

I appreciate Don’s additional sentiment from that Facebook thread, here:

@donstanley7189

In My Opinion, I strongly believe that the addition of the rule for carries and double hits was put there to allow for the these accidental and unintentional types of hits that happen out of the basic nechanics of the game. I DON"T believe the intent of the rule is there for players to use as a protective covering so they can “practice finess shots” or exploit the usage of the rule by being “just outside the narrow definition” of the words used in the rule. Again, my opinion.