Paddleball vs pickleball, is there a the difference?
Due to the hype of pickleball popularity, this could be often seen that people compare “paddleball vs pickleball” or games that look similar to pickleball. Some people also used to write it as “paddle ball” and some go with “paddleball”. The only difference between them is a space. But due to the majority for both sides, we can say that both are correct.
The questions from people are like (is paddle ball and pickleball the same or games like pickleball). So, in this article we will cover everything elated to pickleball vs paddle ball and also don’t worry about the variations of word paddle ball or paddleball both are the same thing.
Let’s differentiate between pickleball and paddleball and learn differences between them.
Paddleball vs pickleball (Overview).
Let’s start with a simple overview of both games that will help you to understand step by step without any confusion. For this purpose let’s talk about the pickleball first.
The pickleball is only one of its kind the only difference is the place you choose to play like indoor or outdoor. Balls with different number of holes are used to play like for indoor pickleball ball have 26 holes in it and the outdoor pickleball ball have 40 holes. This difference is due to different air pressure/speed on both places.
A simple answer to “What is paddleball” paddleball has two variations and both are from different timelines (will discuss later in-depth). The first one is one-wall paddleball and the other one is four-wall paddleball. Both types have only the difference of one rule due to the number of walls of the court.
What is paddle ball?
To differentiate, we first need to know what these both games are so we will talk about “what is paddleball” first. Paddleball is a sport that involves plastic or rubber ball (but plastic balls are the most popular) a court that has either one wall to hit the ball or four walls (enclosed court) a solid paddle that has holes in it for the players and court lines (similar) in both courts.
Paddleball could be played as one on one (singles) or in a team of two players. Players are used to hitting the ball towards the wall from behind the service line. The ball must have bounced once before hitting back on the wall. The one-wall paddleball was founded by Christopher Lecakes inspired by the handball in the year 1957. This version is mostly famous in the USA.
The four-wall paddleball was indeed invented before the one-wall paddle. Earl Risky is known as the founder of this game who was first a physical-education instructor and later promoted as Director of Intramural Sports at the University of Michigan. This variation of the paddleball is inspired by racquetball (a sport that involves racquet and a hollow rubber ball).
Although paddleball is one of the games like pickleball as mentioned above, paddleball was invented in the 1930s whereas pickleball came into existence in 1965. Their court structure and rules are also completely different in pickleball opponent stands on opposite sides of the courts while in paddleball they play by standing side by side.
One-wall Paddleball.
As already mentioned that this version is mostly famous in United States and been played against a single wall means you have to hit ball more accurate than in four-wall version. A standard paddleball court is 34′ feet in length 20′ feet wide. The height of the wall is 16′ feet from the ground.
First person or team who won the toss serves the ball by hitting it on the wall after a bounce on the court. The paddleball rules are quite easy to learn if you are a sports related person or play other paddle sports. Here is a picture of paddleball court to make it easy to understand.
One thing that make it easy as compare to four-wall paddleball is you always know the direction or wall from where the ball will return. But the hard thing is you also have to hit the ball on same wall in a way that it lands back inside the court lines.
Four-wall paddleball.
As the name shows clearly this court have four walls that means an enclosed court. This version of paddle ball also have same rules as one-wall with with little differences. The four walls of court make it differ in terms of rules and in strategy of playing a game as well.
A player can hit the ball at front wall after that if ball bounces on other wall and then on the ground this will not count as fault. This rule make it hard to track the way of ball to hit it back and only players with fast response time manage to hit it back. The four-wall paddle ball court looks like the image given below.
The rules of Four-wall paddleball are little different from one-wall so consider to learn first before playing or switching from one version to another.
Introduction to pickleball.
Pickleball is a pure family game that means you do not need to spend a lot to master it. This game was also designed by fathers who were out with there family on a picnic. The reason behind its creation as known they don’t have equipment to play a game with family at picnic spot. The only things they found is tennis court, ping-pong paddles and a wiffle ball.
The children’s were unable to play so with some modifications like lowering the tennis net and reducing the court size they made it easy for everyone to play and enjoy. As time passes the game evolves into a professional and know been played across the nation and also the trend is increasing in other countries like Canada, Australia, Russia, and South Korea.
The rules of pickleball were changed time to time until know like the rule for a Let is recently changed in 2021. These changings were made to make this game fare for everyone and avoid players to trick others (if they found loop holes).
Similarities (Paddleball vs Pickleball).
If you planning to switch from one of them to another or just want to give a try, the first thing to do is comparing paddleball vs pickleball. There are many tings that looks similar in both games but are different like,
- Paddles: The pickleball paddles have a solid surface where a paddleball paddle has holes in it.
- Both games requires the fast reaction means you have to be quick on your feet and focused on the ball to not miss it.
- Players: Both games could be played as singles (one player at each side) or doubles (two players in each team).
- Winning: To win a game the score mechanism works the same. You need to reach 15, 21 or 25 score with a lead of 2 score to win a match. If a team reach at 15 points first with lead the will will end and if there is no lead the game will continues to 21 points.
(Paddleball vs Pickleball) differences.
If we compare paddleball vs pickleball, there are lot of differences between both sports like rules, the equipment used to play, and court structure. In this paddle vs pickle debate, lets talk about difference in equipment’s first.
In pickleball a soft plastic made ball is used to play game. The ball is hollow from inside and have holes in it for aerodynamic purposes. As compare to paddleball a pickleball ball moves slow. In paddleball a rubber ball that is a little smaller in size from a pickleball ball is used. this rubber ball moves faster because of the elastic properties of rubber.
If we talk about the paddles pickleball is little strict in this sense. The customization on the surface of a paddle is not allowed, like applying a sticker or sticking any other substance. This is due to control the over spinning method used by many players, these stickers or produce friction that help to spin the ball when a player smash it at a specific angle and movement of hand.
On the other hand paddleball don’t have any rule like. Instead most of the players have holes in their paddles and extra features for grip which is prohibited in pickleball.
If we talk about the Scoring mechanism in paddleball vs pickleball it is also different in both. The way of serving is also different, in pickleball a player serves a ball it’s side to opposite side of diagonal court hitting the ball from bellow the waist line. In paddleball players bounce a ball on the ground and hit it on the wall overhand that allows to hit with more power.
The size and structure of the court in pickleball and paddleball is also different if we talk about size of outlines the width of the courts is same but in length a pickleball court is 44′ feet long means 4′ feet long then paddleball court. A pickleball court is also divided by a net and a paddleball court does not contain any net in it.
The level of difficulty can not be determined because its not same for every player some players are good at pickleball and others at paddleball.
End line.
There are a lot of paddle sports that are confusing players and one of them is paddleball vs pickleball and we hope we covered it by all aspects. If you have concerns about any of the points written above you can simply get in touch with us by contact us option.
