I was watching my favorite player at last week’s Fanatics PPA tournament in North Carolina and I saw *Anna Leigh Waters get called for a foot fault at the NVZ line twice. Each time she only had a mere toe nail on the line :-)

 

Kitchen violations happen more constantly in recreational pickleball. Everyone steps on the line at one point or another, but somehow no one believes they’re ever guilty. It’s a weird phenomenon where by the time your eyes look down at your shoe, it’s magically slid backward off of the line and provides justification for your defense. One common debate is when a pickleball player’s shoes is slightly curl up in the front of their shoe; was there an actual foot fault?

 

Because of this phenomenon, calling kitchen violations in recreational play is just plain awkward. Unless egregious, it almost always results in a discussion or hurt feelings.

 

You could argue that the spirit of the rule is to keep members away from the net, so unless they are stepping fully into the kitchen it’s not that big of a deal. An ALW toe on the line isn’t going to make that big of an impact.

 

So what can you do to fix the problem and keep things friendly with our fellow members on our Glen Park courts?

• Let the offending player know after the point without making a call, preferably a point you won anyway.

• Let your partner know to keep an eye out. If both of you catch the infraction it’s easier to believe and can squash a rebuttal.

• Officially the rule is all NVZ violations are faults. You lose the point!

 

                               Below are Eight Brief Summary of the Rules

• Both feet must be outside of the volley zone; including the kitchen lines while volleying. 

• The act of volleying includes the swing, the follow-through, and the momentum of the action. So, you cannot enter the non-volley zone even after the ball has been returned to the other side of the net or becomes dead. 

• It is considered a fault if the volleying player, or anything that has contact with the volleying player; such as a paddle, hat, eyewear, hair tie, etc. while in the act of volleying, touches the non-volley zone. 

• If a paddle touches the non-volley zone during the volley motion, before or after contacting the ball, it is a fault. 

• There is NO violation if a player volleys a ball while their partner stands in the non-volley zone. However, it is a fault if the volleying player’s momentum causes the player to contact anything that is touching the non-volley zone, including the volleying player’s partner. 

• You may enter the non-volley zone at any time, including before and after returning any ball that bounces. A player may stay inside the non-volley zone to return a ball that has bounced. There is no violation if a player does not exit the non-volley zone after hitting a ball that bounces. 

• However, to begin volleying the ball again, you must “re-establish your feet.” outside the non-volley zone and its lines. Once both feet have been reestablished outside the non-volley zone, you are free to begin volleying. 

• You may jump in the air over the Non-Volley Zone, without touching the court surface of the Non-Volley Zone to volley a pickleball. This shot would be called an Erne.

 

 

 * PS: ALW won her 100th gold medal at 17 years of age & got yet another triple crown.