Fall & Winter Rules
~ Nooo Monkey Business ~
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We play the traditional pickleball format (not paddlewars style).
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Play to 11. Win by 2 points. Stop at 13. (Whoever gets to 13 first wins.)
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The same four players from each team must play the entire match unless someone gets hurt or has heat exhaustion.
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There are three rounds. In each round, each team fields two pairs, and each pair plays the same opponent pair twice.
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For each of the three rounds, the pairs will play different opponent pairs. See the scoresheet which is available on the Documents page on this website.
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In each round, for the first game, the visiting team chooses side or serve. For the second game, switch sides.
- If rounds one, two and three result in a 6-6 tie, play a one-game tie-breaker. Each team chooses any two players (who have already played at least one full round). The visiting team chooses side or serve. At 6 points, switch sides. Play to 11. Win by 2 points. Stop at 13.
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Players may call any number of 20-second breaks to drink water and/or wipe off.
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Each pair may call a 2-minute time-out 1 time during a game, and more if the heat is extreme.
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Any player or captain may call a 15-minute time-out if a player is injured or feels heatstroke. If the player does not return to play, another player may sub in for the remainder of the game / round / match. The removed player may not play again that day. If no sub is available, we prefer that the teams reschedule to finish the match. If that is not possible, the team forfeits that game and any other games for which there is no sub. The team may still play a tie-breaker if necessary.
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If a team does not start the match with four players, it automatically forfeits any tie-breaker.
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We follow the USAPA official rules: https://usapickleball.org/rules/. If those rules conflict with the Estero Sisters’ rules, go with the Sisters.
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Partners may talk to each other anytime, including during games. Nobody else may talk, coach or give advice during a game. This includes captains, teammates, and the crowd saying things such as, "Do that play again," “Great idea to lob it” or “Nice hitting it to her backhand.” No monkey-butt comments. :)
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At the end of the season, if there is a tie for the winning team, we will look at (1) which team won when those two teams played each other (2) number of games each team won throughout the season not including tie-breakers and (3) TBD. Thus, it is important that all teams finish all rounds and games.