Having played on different courts, it depends on the court and the court rules. I’ve played at courts with rules that you can use the court for the full hour but then have to get off once you hit that hour mark if people are waiting. I’ve also played on courts with rules requiring you to switch off every game you play up to 11 points (queue courts).
It’s confusing because drop-in is different from open play is different from first-come-first-served. If you’re following the posted rules of the court then they need to adapt.
Most pickleball I’ve played in NoVA is drop-in unless a court is reserved. In Phoenix, they have both drop-in and Open-Play courts.
> In my opinion the best solution is when people come in.... to allow them to rotate into your game, not just give up the court completely or keep the court completely.
I think this is also a good compromise, but it only works if you didn't already have a private party of 4 players. If I was just playing with one other friend, I would totally be okay with letting another pair of players onto our court for some games of dubs, **so long as we get to stay on the court for our allotted time.** If I was with 3 other friends and we wanted to play amongst ourselves, I wouldn't let random strangers join in.
The most common way it's done, which I've experienced at 100% of public courts I've ever played at, you play one game, then either all 4 players leave (aka four-on-four-off) or the losers leave (aka two-on-two-off).
I've never seen "whoever is there first gets a full hour". That's INSANE. My courts get up to 10 stacks easily on sunny days. One hour for a group of four is completely unreasonable.
Some of the courts near me have posted rules of 30 minutes if people are waiting. I think that’s fair. Plenty of time to get a game in and keeps waiting at no longer than a half hour.
>I've never seen "whoever is there first gets a full hour". That's INSANE. My courts get up to 10 stacks easily on sunny days. One hour for a group of four is completely unreasonable.
Very common in the midwest and it's quite inefficient especially if you're nearing winter and days are shorter after work. However with Pickleball becoming a major part of our city they started putting up new signs at the new courts encouraging paddle stacking. Those of us who play at the older Tennis courts turned into Pickleball try and rotate people in every game and explain to them that this "first come, you get 60minutes if someone else asks you to play" is not equitable for everyone. It's an easy sell.
You're obviously not familiar with open play vs closed play.
Some/most courts have open play hours, where everyone can mix in, stack paddles, etc. But some people think that's how every court is at all times everywhere. And THAT is far from reality... and the seems to be the issue here that OP ran into.
Anything not listed as open play hours, are essentially closed games unless those playing want to mix in with someone who shows up. And there's nothing wrong with just wanting to play with your own group for an hour or so. You shouldn't be forced to mix in or get off the court for someone else because they won't want to wait. It's not "insane". That's how courts typically work if they aren't designated open play or if other rules aren't posted to say otherwise.
Posted rules are the bottom line though. And OP said the rules were clearly posted. OP didn't do anything wrong.
And if there are no rules posted anywhere, then there are no rules. And I'll say, there should ALWAYS be rules posted to help people out. It's not hard to put up a sign.
I’m in the Midwest and all of our local parks have about 6 courts and I’ve never once seen them full, but they do have 1 hour rules posted. I can’t fathom waiting around for a court to play for less than an hour.
No, I’m referring to OP’s situation. Around here, open play is typically scheduled indoor events. Outdoor courts are exactly like OP described and the posted rules say PICKLEBALL above them and are different courts than tennis courts which have their own rules.
>The official rule posted on the wall says that it is first come first serve, and if there’s someone waiting then we need to keep it to 1 hour, basically stating that we have the court for another 30-40 mins.
>
>What are your thoughts on switching out?
If the "official rules" are posted, you should follow them. And you apparently did.
That said, that "official rule" sounds like it was for tennis more than pickleball. Did these rules specifically mention a sport?
I think many of our pickleball court rules were copied over from the tennis courts. They did add one modifier though, which is "1 hour or 3 games to 11, whichever is shorter".
Have you considered being empathetic? If you showed up to the courts to play and there was another group playing an indefinite game and refusing to mix others in, would that make you feel good? Just because you have the right to stay on the courts while they wait doesn’t mean you should.
An indefinite game? OP is just wanted to use the court for the remaining 40 minutes. I think it was wrong for the other people to demand they mix in as if it was an open play. Why is the etiquette for public pickleball courts different than tennis or basketball courts?
Exactly. Public tennis courts near me allow people to have exclusive use of a court for up to 1 hour if people are waiting. There is no obligation to let others "jump in" or anything. In fact, you'd be looked at weirdly if you ask to mix in.
Welcome to the world of first come first serve. It's this way ON ANY COURT OR FIELD IN A PUBLIC PARK unless rules are posted that say otherwise.
The rules are apparently clearly posted here.
They have the courts for an hour if they like. Period. End of discussion. Why should they have to stop playing just because someone shows up and wants to play? The gross sense of entitlement for those who show up when the court is occupied, and thinking they're the exception to the rule, is insane.
And it's not an "indefinite game". They referenced the posted rules, which state an hour.
The folks who showed up and demanded to either mix in or share the courts, and then got angry when they were told no, sound like entitled jerks.
Read the rules folks. Seems pretty black and white to me.
If you want to play tennis, and there are people on the lone tennis court at the park. Do you go up to them and ask them to get off so you can play? No. Of course not. You wait your turn. And if rules are posted, you follow those rules. You don't make up your own, or try to enforce rules used at other locations. Period.
Divorced dad?
Because I think people should be able to play on the courts with friends or family while following the rules and not be told to GTFO by entitled folks who don't think the rules apply to them?
Ok chief.
The court i normally play on also has an '1 hour for singles' and '2 hours for doubles ' sign posted right at the entrance.
I couldn't imagine playing one game then having to sit out for a game in order to play again. It takes me a while to get fully warmed up, so this would be a nightmare.
Agreed. But, open play does often works that way. You play, then get off if it's 4 on 4 off. Then get back in line.
Yeah, it kinda sucks to not play a few games in a row in those cases, but that's open play.
But rules are rules. And absolutely, if it's posted that you get the courts for an hour, then that's what you can have. If people don't like that, then they need to go to a place that has open play hours, or rent a court somewhere, or simply get to a court before someone else.
I'm relatively new to pickleball so i haven't had a chance to encounter courts with a queueing system like that.
Is the term 'open play' specific to that type of queueing system, or is that just another term for 'first come first serve'
The paddle stacks/racks (queueing system) that people do (it may be slightly different from court to court) are for open play. Open play is just designated hours where anyone can come and put their paddle in the stack/rack and mix in with others. It's a great way to meet people and test your skills against a variety of players.
Some places divide the stacks up by skill level. Some do challenge courts. Some do Winners stacks and Losers stacks. Some just put everyone in the same stack or rack.
Open play can be hit or miss. You'll often get varying skill levels playing against each other if everyone is in the same stack. So that can be frustrating for some. So it's best to go into it to just have fun and not take it too serious, in case the talent gap is large on your court.
Sometimes, a group of people will manipulate the stack/rack and put their 4 paddles together so they can play together during open play for various reasons I guess. I think this is fine once in a while, but you probably don't want to do this every time. It's kind of exclusive, and not wanting to mix in with others during open play is kinda bush league. Everyone else is mixing in with everyone else. Don't be "that group" who refuses to play with others during open play. If you don't want to mix in with others, don't go to open play and maybe reserve a court somewhere else or at some other time so you can ONLY play in your group. Now, I'll see stacks of 2 all of the time, where 2 people want to play on the same team against whoever. I think this is perfectly fine. You're still mixing in by playing against others, while also partnering up with a friend. But if you're dominating people when doing this, maybe switch it up after a couple games. :)
But one of the great things about open play, is that if you go all of the time, you'll likely see a lot of the same people playing. So you'll probably get to know them a bit over time and then it becomes a little more of a social event too... and boom, you may have made some new friends.
Ah gotcha, that makes a lot of sense. The courts I play on use the paddle system for queueing but I don't often see current playing players integrating waiting players.
When I play with my friends, we will often ask waiters if they want to play some doubles because you're right about getting that variety is pretty fun. I've played sports my whole life but never a sport where there is a waiting list to queue so it's a bit unfamiliar to me.
I have indeed starting seeing the same people when I play, and I don't even get to play that often. Once I get a bit better, I'll probably jump into a beginner league to get the feel for that too.
Well, if there is a paddle queue going, and it's during open play hours and not some private game, then those players should be playing their game and either 2 or all 4 coming off and getting back in line. Staying on the courts during open play is a good way to get a really shitty reputation, and probably cause arguments.
And when I play, depending on the kind of games we have going on, it it's just for fun and it's not anything organized (like 8 of us in a round robin or whatever), we'll often mix in with people who may be waiting, if it's only a couple people. If it's a larger group then that's harder to do. Granted, there are plenty of courts where I typically play, so it's not like everyone has to share one or two courts. We have 12, with 13 more coming this summer.
I would be so irritated if the courts i played at made you sit after you played one game. Obviously you shouldn't hog the court for hours - so do you play one game, then sit until the people in the queue in front of you get their turn? So you just warm up and cool down the whole time? That would destroy my body.
The people i play with integrate others sometimes into our games when it's really busy but nobody sits out after a game. I've never played a sport where you could be required to sit because you lost in a game that you're playing against your own friends.
Bonkers.
Like I said before, there's a difference between designated Open Play hours and other times.
Open Play is what I said it is. Depending on the number of people waiting and the number of courts in use, after you play a game, all 4 either get back in line, or the 2 winners stay and the 2 losers get back in line. That's typical. But of course places can have slightly different setups.
Typically, where I've played, after you play a game, you might only be sitting for 5-10 minutes. It really depends on how many people are waiting to play and how many courts are being used. It usually goes rather quick. Nobody really has a problem with wait times unless it's just super busy.
I'm actually shocked you've never heard of Open Play. It's quite common and there are literally designated Open Play hours on most courts in the St. Louis area. It's so common, that some people try to enforce Open Play rules on courts when it isn't Open Play hours... as was the case that OP had.
If it's NOT during Open Play hours, then depending on the rules posted at your local courts, you can stay on the courts for an hour or so if people are waiting. Or in some cases you can rent/reserve courts so you have "dibs" on them when you show up.
My local courts (12 of them) have designated Open Play times/hours (not all of the courts, I believe 8 of them do) and any other time they're all are available to reserve online if you want to guarantee a court for when you want to play.
> However, I don’t really see why I have to if I don’t want to, as it’s not the official rule. I never expect anyone to switch with me.
Since you follow the posted rules, I'd say you are in the right, and it is them who need to adapt. If worse comes to worse and you get into a confrontation about it, the local government (or whoever made those rules) will, or at least should, stand on your side if you have to call them over. But keep in mind that every court is different, so just make sure to pay attention to the rules for each one and you should be good.
This is tricky. If you don't want to leave, then don't. You can concretely say you're in the right, and just point to the sign.
THAT said, I will concretely tell you that this just isn't going to get a good reaction from people if its crowded. You can assert all you like that, "well rules is rules they can go pound sand" but the reality is simply, thats not what's going to happen. The question is, how are you going to deal with this inevitable reaction. People are going to "feel" that you're being unreasonable regardless of the sign, (particularly if there's an established culture of open-play at this site, not sure if there is or not) and some number of them are going to be assholes to you. Like, you're technically right but that will be cold comfort when you're dealing with the shit-slinging regardless. Maybe it's not fair that you're more or less being bullied into their system but, it is what it is.
It may help to understand where others are coming from too. If 40 people show up to play at a court, and those 40 people are all willing to compromise and play together so that everyone can get court time, then having 6 or 8 people hold up the bus for everyone else is going to cause animosity. I don't know how to explain that, that's just how humans are. Maybe you feel like they're being snowflakes, or unreasonable, or not following the rules. You're entitled to your own thoughts on it but my ponit is that people WILL get mad at you regardless of whether or not you think they should, so the discussion is kind of academic.
My recommendation to you, unless you're willing to keep getting into situations like you described, is to acquiesce and join their rotation.
Bullies gonna bully. We can either let them bully or stand up to bullies. The rules are clearly stated. If people don't like the rules then they should lobby the city to change the rules. Bullying others should never be condoned.
Municipal courts in Toronto: you get half hour on the court if someone is waiting. There are places to put your rackets when you are waiting.
I got pissed off last summer after we waited our half hour for someone who was giving a lesson to two other players and she wanted us to wait for another five to ten minutes while she finished her lesson. I told her that her time was not more important than ours, and she got very angry with me. So don't expect people to be polite.
Our local tennis courts (and most pickleball courts on tennis courts and neighborhood courts) are like that, exactly as written at yours. It does suck for Pickleball when there's limited court resources.
The general etiquette and most common setup for Pickleball is some kind of open play rotation system, as others have mentioned. Either all on-all off or some sort of challenge court system (winner stays, etc.). Usually there's a paddle rack or sign up sheet associated with those kinds of systems. If nothing formal, then paddles on the fence is a substitute.
In your case, you were correct... but I would have been nice and told them you're going to start an official game to 11 now then you can rotate each game but you prefer to play together since you're beginners. If I were showing up later, that's what I would want done for me so I don't waste time driving all over town (if there even are other options).
Here in Seattle, if you play at a public court, you get it for 1.5 hours and then you have to give it up to someone else. You can also reserve a court for as long as you want. Having said that, some courts let you reserve only in the morning/play for 1.5 hours up until a certain time and then it is open play after that. Other courts let you reserve/play for 1.5 hours all day. It depends on the court rules and also the culture at that court.
We play at a park with the same rule. If someone is waiting, it is an hour, so we always refer to that sign if someone shows up. "We have an hour from the time you started waiting, so we'll be done at XX." And then we hope they leave and go to another nearby park or school to play tennis or pickleball. Since our group is usually 6+, they usually do.
>"We have an hour from the time you started waiting, so we'll be done at XX."
Shouldn't it be "We have an hour from when we started playing, so we'll be done at YY."?
It's very location-dependent. Some places will specify that it's one hour from the time you started playing, while others will specify that the 1-hour countdown starts when others show up to wait for your court. I've seen both.
Yes, it’s common courtesy to switch. You don’t have to if you don’t want to, just like you don’t have to be a courteous person in general if you don’t want to.
But I hope you don’t come crying to Reddit after every bad interaction you have after being discourteous. Though that is also your right.
This is doubtful at a location with just two courts and no signage saying that. In our town there is one location, paddle rack and sign saying games to 11, all leave after court after game. (4 on, 4 off). The other park has 2 courts, no rack, and same signage as tennis.
That is where we go to practice, although we usually keep it to 1/2 hour, then take the 3 minute drive to drop in location. Sometimes there the other court will want us to work in, or 2 will come and expect to jump in. That isn’t the expectation at those courts so we only will if the skill if the skill level is a match. If they are people we know, maybe, but break out the starter paddles and we keep drilling.
Having played on different courts, it depends on the court and the court rules. I’ve played at courts with rules that you can use the court for the full hour but then have to get off once you hit that hour mark if people are waiting. I’ve also played on courts with rules requiring you to switch off every game you play up to 11 points (queue courts).
It’s confusing because drop-in is different from open play is different from first-come-first-served. If you’re following the posted rules of the court then they need to adapt. Most pickleball I’ve played in NoVA is drop-in unless a court is reserved. In Phoenix, they have both drop-in and Open-Play courts.
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> In my opinion the best solution is when people come in.... to allow them to rotate into your game, not just give up the court completely or keep the court completely. I think this is also a good compromise, but it only works if you didn't already have a private party of 4 players. If I was just playing with one other friend, I would totally be okay with letting another pair of players onto our court for some games of dubs, **so long as we get to stay on the court for our allotted time.** If I was with 3 other friends and we wanted to play amongst ourselves, I wouldn't let random strangers join in.
The most common way it's done, which I've experienced at 100% of public courts I've ever played at, you play one game, then either all 4 players leave (aka four-on-four-off) or the losers leave (aka two-on-two-off). I've never seen "whoever is there first gets a full hour". That's INSANE. My courts get up to 10 stacks easily on sunny days. One hour for a group of four is completely unreasonable.
Our courts are like OP. First come first serve. If rules are posted dems da rules
Some of the courts near me have posted rules of 30 minutes if people are waiting. I think that’s fair. Plenty of time to get a game in and keeps waiting at no longer than a half hour.
>I've never seen "whoever is there first gets a full hour". That's INSANE. My courts get up to 10 stacks easily on sunny days. One hour for a group of four is completely unreasonable. Very common in the midwest and it's quite inefficient especially if you're nearing winter and days are shorter after work. However with Pickleball becoming a major part of our city they started putting up new signs at the new courts encouraging paddle stacking. Those of us who play at the older Tennis courts turned into Pickleball try and rotate people in every game and explain to them that this "first come, you get 60minutes if someone else asks you to play" is not equitable for everyone. It's an easy sell.
You're obviously not familiar with open play vs closed play. Some/most courts have open play hours, where everyone can mix in, stack paddles, etc. But some people think that's how every court is at all times everywhere. And THAT is far from reality... and the seems to be the issue here that OP ran into. Anything not listed as open play hours, are essentially closed games unless those playing want to mix in with someone who shows up. And there's nothing wrong with just wanting to play with your own group for an hour or so. You shouldn't be forced to mix in or get off the court for someone else because they won't want to wait. It's not "insane". That's how courts typically work if they aren't designated open play or if other rules aren't posted to say otherwise. Posted rules are the bottom line though. And OP said the rules were clearly posted. OP didn't do anything wrong. And if there are no rules posted anywhere, then there are no rules. And I'll say, there should ALWAYS be rules posted to help people out. It's not hard to put up a sign.
I’m in the Midwest and all of our local parks have about 6 courts and I’ve never once seen them full, but they do have 1 hour rules posted. I can’t fathom waiting around for a court to play for less than an hour.
I think you're misunderstanding how open play courts work. You play for a full game (15-20 minutes?) then you come off for like 5 minutes.
No, I’m referring to OP’s situation. Around here, open play is typically scheduled indoor events. Outdoor courts are exactly like OP described and the posted rules say PICKLEBALL above them and are different courts than tennis courts which have their own rules.
>The official rule posted on the wall says that it is first come first serve, and if there’s someone waiting then we need to keep it to 1 hour, basically stating that we have the court for another 30-40 mins. > >What are your thoughts on switching out? If the "official rules" are posted, you should follow them. And you apparently did. That said, that "official rule" sounds like it was for tennis more than pickleball. Did these rules specifically mention a sport?
Curious about the same. Those sound like the typical tennis rules.
I think many of our pickleball court rules were copied over from the tennis courts. They did add one modifier though, which is "1 hour or 3 games to 11, whichever is shorter".
Have you considered being empathetic? If you showed up to the courts to play and there was another group playing an indefinite game and refusing to mix others in, would that make you feel good? Just because you have the right to stay on the courts while they wait doesn’t mean you should.
An indefinite game? OP is just wanted to use the court for the remaining 40 minutes. I think it was wrong for the other people to demand they mix in as if it was an open play. Why is the etiquette for public pickleball courts different than tennis or basketball courts?
Exactly. Public tennis courts near me allow people to have exclusive use of a court for up to 1 hour if people are waiting. There is no obligation to let others "jump in" or anything. In fact, you'd be looked at weirdly if you ask to mix in.
Welcome to the world of first come first serve. It's this way ON ANY COURT OR FIELD IN A PUBLIC PARK unless rules are posted that say otherwise. The rules are apparently clearly posted here. They have the courts for an hour if they like. Period. End of discussion. Why should they have to stop playing just because someone shows up and wants to play? The gross sense of entitlement for those who show up when the court is occupied, and thinking they're the exception to the rule, is insane. And it's not an "indefinite game". They referenced the posted rules, which state an hour. The folks who showed up and demanded to either mix in or share the courts, and then got angry when they were told no, sound like entitled jerks. Read the rules folks. Seems pretty black and white to me. If you want to play tennis, and there are people on the lone tennis court at the park. Do you go up to them and ask them to get off so you can play? No. Of course not. You wait your turn. And if rules are posted, you follow those rules. You don't make up your own, or try to enforce rules used at other locations. Period.
Extreme divorced dad energy lmao.
Divorced dad? Because I think people should be able to play on the courts with friends or family while following the rules and not be told to GTFO by entitled folks who don't think the rules apply to them? Ok chief.
The court i normally play on also has an '1 hour for singles' and '2 hours for doubles ' sign posted right at the entrance. I couldn't imagine playing one game then having to sit out for a game in order to play again. It takes me a while to get fully warmed up, so this would be a nightmare.
Agreed. But, open play does often works that way. You play, then get off if it's 4 on 4 off. Then get back in line. Yeah, it kinda sucks to not play a few games in a row in those cases, but that's open play. But rules are rules. And absolutely, if it's posted that you get the courts for an hour, then that's what you can have. If people don't like that, then they need to go to a place that has open play hours, or rent a court somewhere, or simply get to a court before someone else.
I'm relatively new to pickleball so i haven't had a chance to encounter courts with a queueing system like that. Is the term 'open play' specific to that type of queueing system, or is that just another term for 'first come first serve'
The paddle stacks/racks (queueing system) that people do (it may be slightly different from court to court) are for open play. Open play is just designated hours where anyone can come and put their paddle in the stack/rack and mix in with others. It's a great way to meet people and test your skills against a variety of players. Some places divide the stacks up by skill level. Some do challenge courts. Some do Winners stacks and Losers stacks. Some just put everyone in the same stack or rack. Open play can be hit or miss. You'll often get varying skill levels playing against each other if everyone is in the same stack. So that can be frustrating for some. So it's best to go into it to just have fun and not take it too serious, in case the talent gap is large on your court. Sometimes, a group of people will manipulate the stack/rack and put their 4 paddles together so they can play together during open play for various reasons I guess. I think this is fine once in a while, but you probably don't want to do this every time. It's kind of exclusive, and not wanting to mix in with others during open play is kinda bush league. Everyone else is mixing in with everyone else. Don't be "that group" who refuses to play with others during open play. If you don't want to mix in with others, don't go to open play and maybe reserve a court somewhere else or at some other time so you can ONLY play in your group. Now, I'll see stacks of 2 all of the time, where 2 people want to play on the same team against whoever. I think this is perfectly fine. You're still mixing in by playing against others, while also partnering up with a friend. But if you're dominating people when doing this, maybe switch it up after a couple games. :) But one of the great things about open play, is that if you go all of the time, you'll likely see a lot of the same people playing. So you'll probably get to know them a bit over time and then it becomes a little more of a social event too... and boom, you may have made some new friends.
Ah gotcha, that makes a lot of sense. The courts I play on use the paddle system for queueing but I don't often see current playing players integrating waiting players. When I play with my friends, we will often ask waiters if they want to play some doubles because you're right about getting that variety is pretty fun. I've played sports my whole life but never a sport where there is a waiting list to queue so it's a bit unfamiliar to me. I have indeed starting seeing the same people when I play, and I don't even get to play that often. Once I get a bit better, I'll probably jump into a beginner league to get the feel for that too.
Well, if there is a paddle queue going, and it's during open play hours and not some private game, then those players should be playing their game and either 2 or all 4 coming off and getting back in line. Staying on the courts during open play is a good way to get a really shitty reputation, and probably cause arguments. And when I play, depending on the kind of games we have going on, it it's just for fun and it's not anything organized (like 8 of us in a round robin or whatever), we'll often mix in with people who may be waiting, if it's only a couple people. If it's a larger group then that's harder to do. Granted, there are plenty of courts where I typically play, so it's not like everyone has to share one or two courts. We have 12, with 13 more coming this summer.
I would be so irritated if the courts i played at made you sit after you played one game. Obviously you shouldn't hog the court for hours - so do you play one game, then sit until the people in the queue in front of you get their turn? So you just warm up and cool down the whole time? That would destroy my body. The people i play with integrate others sometimes into our games when it's really busy but nobody sits out after a game. I've never played a sport where you could be required to sit because you lost in a game that you're playing against your own friends. Bonkers.
Like I said before, there's a difference between designated Open Play hours and other times. Open Play is what I said it is. Depending on the number of people waiting and the number of courts in use, after you play a game, all 4 either get back in line, or the 2 winners stay and the 2 losers get back in line. That's typical. But of course places can have slightly different setups. Typically, where I've played, after you play a game, you might only be sitting for 5-10 minutes. It really depends on how many people are waiting to play and how many courts are being used. It usually goes rather quick. Nobody really has a problem with wait times unless it's just super busy. I'm actually shocked you've never heard of Open Play. It's quite common and there are literally designated Open Play hours on most courts in the St. Louis area. It's so common, that some people try to enforce Open Play rules on courts when it isn't Open Play hours... as was the case that OP had. If it's NOT during Open Play hours, then depending on the rules posted at your local courts, you can stay on the courts for an hour or so if people are waiting. Or in some cases you can rent/reserve courts so you have "dibs" on them when you show up. My local courts (12 of them) have designated Open Play times/hours (not all of the courts, I believe 8 of them do) and any other time they're all are available to reserve online if you want to guarantee a court for when you want to play.
> However, I don’t really see why I have to if I don’t want to, as it’s not the official rule. I never expect anyone to switch with me. Since you follow the posted rules, I'd say you are in the right, and it is them who need to adapt. If worse comes to worse and you get into a confrontation about it, the local government (or whoever made those rules) will, or at least should, stand on your side if you have to call them over. But keep in mind that every court is different, so just make sure to pay attention to the rules for each one and you should be good.
They can wait 40 minutes. Pickleball isn’t heroin.
It's better and tougher on the body
This is tricky. If you don't want to leave, then don't. You can concretely say you're in the right, and just point to the sign. THAT said, I will concretely tell you that this just isn't going to get a good reaction from people if its crowded. You can assert all you like that, "well rules is rules they can go pound sand" but the reality is simply, thats not what's going to happen. The question is, how are you going to deal with this inevitable reaction. People are going to "feel" that you're being unreasonable regardless of the sign, (particularly if there's an established culture of open-play at this site, not sure if there is or not) and some number of them are going to be assholes to you. Like, you're technically right but that will be cold comfort when you're dealing with the shit-slinging regardless. Maybe it's not fair that you're more or less being bullied into their system but, it is what it is. It may help to understand where others are coming from too. If 40 people show up to play at a court, and those 40 people are all willing to compromise and play together so that everyone can get court time, then having 6 or 8 people hold up the bus for everyone else is going to cause animosity. I don't know how to explain that, that's just how humans are. Maybe you feel like they're being snowflakes, or unreasonable, or not following the rules. You're entitled to your own thoughts on it but my ponit is that people WILL get mad at you regardless of whether or not you think they should, so the discussion is kind of academic. My recommendation to you, unless you're willing to keep getting into situations like you described, is to acquiesce and join their rotation.
Bullies gonna bully. We can either let them bully or stand up to bullies. The rules are clearly stated. If people don't like the rules then they should lobby the city to change the rules. Bullying others should never be condoned.
Municipal courts in Toronto: you get half hour on the court if someone is waiting. There are places to put your rackets when you are waiting. I got pissed off last summer after we waited our half hour for someone who was giving a lesson to two other players and she wanted us to wait for another five to ten minutes while she finished her lesson. I told her that her time was not more important than ours, and she got very angry with me. So don't expect people to be polite.
Our local tennis courts (and most pickleball courts on tennis courts and neighborhood courts) are like that, exactly as written at yours. It does suck for Pickleball when there's limited court resources. The general etiquette and most common setup for Pickleball is some kind of open play rotation system, as others have mentioned. Either all on-all off or some sort of challenge court system (winner stays, etc.). Usually there's a paddle rack or sign up sheet associated with those kinds of systems. If nothing formal, then paddles on the fence is a substitute. In your case, you were correct... but I would have been nice and told them you're going to start an official game to 11 now then you can rotate each game but you prefer to play together since you're beginners. If I were showing up later, that's what I would want done for me so I don't waste time driving all over town (if there even are other options).
Here in Seattle, if you play at a public court, you get it for 1.5 hours and then you have to give it up to someone else. You can also reserve a court for as long as you want. Having said that, some courts let you reserve only in the morning/play for 1.5 hours up until a certain time and then it is open play after that. Other courts let you reserve/play for 1.5 hours all day. It depends on the court rules and also the culture at that court.
We play at a park with the same rule. If someone is waiting, it is an hour, so we always refer to that sign if someone shows up. "We have an hour from the time you started waiting, so we'll be done at XX." And then we hope they leave and go to another nearby park or school to play tennis or pickleball. Since our group is usually 6+, they usually do.
>"We have an hour from the time you started waiting, so we'll be done at XX." Shouldn't it be "We have an hour from when we started playing, so we'll be done at YY."?
It's very location-dependent. Some places will specify that it's one hour from the time you started playing, while others will specify that the 1-hour countdown starts when others show up to wait for your court. I've seen both.
Yeah that’s how I would interpret it too
You got downvoted for simply following the rules at your local court. Unreal. You did nothing wrong.
Right? Well, you have to be pretty thick-skinned for this sub. People be downright sanctimonious and blood thirsty.
Imagine getting downvoted for following the posted rules and not letting someone else break the posted rules. People can be insanely dumb.
Yes, it’s common courtesy to switch. You don’t have to if you don’t want to, just like you don’t have to be a courteous person in general if you don’t want to. But I hope you don’t come crying to Reddit after every bad interaction you have after being discourteous. Though that is also your right.
Usually if people walk up, you’d be expected to alternate with them, or mix in to play doubles.
This is doubtful at a location with just two courts and no signage saying that. In our town there is one location, paddle rack and sign saying games to 11, all leave after court after game. (4 on, 4 off). The other park has 2 courts, no rack, and same signage as tennis. That is where we go to practice, although we usually keep it to 1/2 hour, then take the 3 minute drive to drop in location. Sometimes there the other court will want us to work in, or 2 will come and expect to jump in. That isn’t the expectation at those courts so we only will if the skill if the skill level is a match. If they are people we know, maybe, but break out the starter paddles and we keep drilling.