Pickleball Vs Racquetball – The Main Differences
If you want to stay in shape or simply want to connect with your buddies and enhance your social connectivity, pickleball or racquetball might provide you with an amazing headstart. In fact, there is no better substitute since their lenient rules and swift get-going mechanics cater to almost anyone.
However, if you aren’t familiar with any of these sports, it might feel like I made up those names or are synonyms of the same terminology but to your surprise, they are in fact different sports with their own unique appeal and are quite polar opposites in nature.
Speaking of which, to provide a vivid glimpse of these sports I have curated an article that compares Pickleball vs. racquetball through a perspective that is easier to understand by comparing their key elements.
Taking A Jab At Pickleball Vs Racquetball
Blink and you may miss, here are some key differences you might want to take a look at to better understand how they are played out.
1. Nature Of these Sports
Played in both outdoor and indoor settings, the dynamics of Pickleball are as flexible as they can possibly get to cater to almost any demographic which is why it has a higher compatible ratio resulting in its exponential growth over the years.
Pickleball offers a linear scoring system and can be played in both casual and competitive formats with a maximum score of 11 to conclude a session. Each team in this game supports a maximum of two players on each side sharing their own corresponding court.
However, in the doubles format the service has to be initiated in a diagonal formation instead of a straight line as compared to the singles format.
Racquetball, on the other hand, is a different beast and follows a three consecutive inning system for a match to be concluded, henceforth, it is much more complex than a pickleball game.
For starters, the first two innings have a maximum point limit of 15 while the third inning has a score cap set up to 11 points. Keep in mind the playstyle is also considerably faster and instances of the ball reaching speeds up to 100 miles per hour aren’t rare, so players have to raise their skill bar by tenfold if they want to keep up with their opponent.
2. Equipment Assortment
Pickleball players have to use wooden paddles which may or may not have a rubberized lining to enhance their shots and spins or even complement their serves. As the name suggests, Pickleball uses a ball with around 20 small holes and with hollow plastic shell which has its trajectory manipulated with the wind when played outdoors.
Racquetball on the other hand is similar to squash but uses a racquet that measures up to 22 inches in length and weighs no more than 200 grams. And just like the game squash itself, the balls are made from solid rubberized composite which are hit with force by the player as it reaches 70-80 miles per hour on average.
Henceforth, it is no wonder that the ball of these sports corresponds directly to their playstyle and strategies which further determine how they are played out. In simple and profound words, Pickleball uses a plastic hollow ball that holds lesser momentum, henceforth this game is categorized as a slow-paced court game.
Racquetball uses rubberized balls to propel or execute shots and weighs up to 40 grams tends to be much speedier and requires stringent reaction times, henceforth, deemed a fast action-paced sport.
3. Court Zones
Unlike Pickleball, Racquetball lacks a Kitchen zone which means players can hit the ball regardless of the spot they are standing on without running into penalties of any sort. Pickleball on the other hand has a 7 Feet Non-Volley Zone which restricts players from directly volleying across the net to balance out both sides.
On the flipside, Racquetball uses four walls which are known as “Front wall, Back wall, and side walls” which can be actively used in the game to bounce balls off it. Each player uses their own “Box” where they are assigned to execute their service shot.
Bottom Line
The point of writing this article “Pop Tennis vs Pickleball” is to spread awareness about them all while illuminating fundamental core mechanics and their essential features so anyone who is captivated reading this article can get into these aforementioned sports without having any sort of confusion in their mind.
Nevertheless, if you still have any form of doubt or want assistance regarding its basic or advanced techniques and strategies, especially in Pickleball, feel free to comment below, I would be much obliged to help you out.
