Rule Submission TitleRule 13.D.1.b
USAP Board Voting StatusNot voted upon
USAP Rules Committee Voting StatusFail
IFP Voting StatusAverage: 0.1 Detail:1,0,0,0,0,0,0
Existing Rule #Rule 13.D.1.b
Proposed Rule Change

ELIMINATE this rule.

 

Or perhaps consider wording such as "In the spirit of good sportsmanship, players may only make line calls (ball or foot) on their OWN side of the net. They may ask for the opinion of an opponent and must then accept their ruling.

 

 

Original Rule Text

Players may call NVZ faults and service foot faults on the opponent's side of the court. If there is an disagreement among players about the called fault, a replay shall occur.

Reasoning Behind Suggested Change

EVERYWHERE in the rule book it talks about sportsmanship where a player MUST rule in OPPONENT's favor when in doubt or when deciding whether to make a call. EX:  "this means players must give the opponent the benefit of the doubt on close line calls and foot faults (service line and no-volley zone) and call faults on themselves that may not be detected by the opponent or officials." and also NEW Rule 13.D.1.c starts with "in the spirit of good sportmanship, players are expected to call faults on THEMSELVES! 

To me, there is NOTHING about Rule Rule 13.D.1.b that suggests good sportsmanship (and, in fact, seems exactly the opposite) and is, to me, the antithesis of everything we purport our sport to be.

We only call LINES on our OWN side of the net.  It seems incredibly silly to me that a receiver can legally call a foot fault on a server even though they are a full court length away from the play.

I truly believe players should make calls about anything ONLY on their OWN side of the net. Of course, they can ask for input from opponent and then must accept that decision. EVERYWHERE in the rulebook it talks about sportsmanship and calling your own lines and calling a foot fault on ourselves or partners when aware of the infraction. ONLY in this rule is it EVER suggested a player  should make a call on an OPPONENT. In practice, I have ONLY seen this done as "gamesmanship" and it has ALWAYS led to bad feelings and ugly scenarios. Also, since the newer version of this rule states that if one party disagrees, it's a replay then, at best,  it's just a delay of game tactic. I believe it goes against EVERYTHING we believe about the sportsmanship of pickleball to allow a player to make ANY call on opponent's side.

Rule Book Year2022
Rule Change ID100
Date CreatedJune 23, 2021
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