SUGGESTED USA PICKLEBALL RULE CHANGES FOR 2024
Rule Submission Title | Service Fault for not calling complete score. |
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Existing Rule # | 4.A.1, 4.M, and 7.F |
Proposed Rule Change | Rule 4.A.1. The entire score must be called before the ball is served. A serve made before beginning to call the score is a dead ball condition, resulting in a replay. 4.M. Service Faults. During the service, it is a fault against the server resulting in loss of serve if: 4.M.13 The server serves the ball while calling the score. |
Original Rule Text | Rule 4.A.1. The entire score must be called before the ball is served.
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Reasoning Behind Suggested Change | There is a disconnect between Rule 4.A.1 and Rule 7.F. Rule 7.F says that any violation of Section 4 rules is a fault. One of the section 4 Rules is 4.A.1. "The entire score must be called before the ball is served." A literal reading of 7.F and 4.A.1 would then result in a fault condition if the serve is made before calling the score. That, however, is a dead ball condition, because the ball doesn't become live until the referee or server (or server's partner per rule 4.D.1) starts to call the score (Rule 3.A.19), so it can't be a fault. The small addition to 4.A.1 clears up any misconception. Current Rule 4.A.1 also does not say what happens if the entire score isn't called before the ball is served. New Rule 4.M.13 corrects that. |
Scenarios In Which the Rules Applies | Scenario A: Non-officiated match. The score is 6-5-2. Player A1, the server, begins to call the score and just before saying the server number "Two" serves the ball. This would result in a fault because the entire score was not called before serving the ball. Scenario B: The score is 6-5-2. Player A1, the server, mistakenly serves the ball before the referee calls any part of the score. This would result in a replay because the ball is not 'live' until the referee starts to call the score (Rule 3.A.19). |
Rule Book Year | 2024 |
Rule Change ID | 883 |
Date Created | March 5, 2023 |
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