Basketball What Is the Women's NCAA March Madness Tournament? Article / Updated 02-22-2024 Listen to the article:Download audio March Madness is the nickname for the National Collegiate Athletic Association’s (NCAA) Division I basketball tournament, one of the most exciting championship events in women’s sports. Happening alongside the men’s March Madness, the tournament always begins in mid-March. And like the men’s contest, it involves 68 teams (of the approximately 350 Division I women’s teams). Thirty-two teams are automatically entered into March Madness; the remaining 34 are selected by the Division I Women’s Basketball Committee, which bases its selection on how the teams performed during the regular season. The committee also seeds the teams, meaning they rank the teams and decide where to “plant” them within the tournament bracket. These rankings are announced on Selection Sunday. Four of these 68 teams are eliminated during the opening round of the tournament, called the First Four. The basketball committee then divides the remaining 64 teams into four regions of 16 teams each, and they are ranked 1 through 16. Each team’s rank is referred to as their seed. Where the games are played At the beginning of the tournament, the games are played on campus sites. The 2023 regional rounds — Sweet 16, Elite 8, and Final Four — will be played at two sites: Climate Pledge Arena in Seattle and Bon Secours Wellness Arena in Greenville, South Carolina. The championship game will be at the American Airlines Center in Dallas. Here is the 2024 schedule, for the women’s March Madness: Selection Sunday: March 17 (brackets, seeds, and team selections) First four: March 20-21 First round: March 22-23 Second round: March 24-25 Sweet 16: March 29-30 Elite Eight: March 31-April 1 Final Four: April 5 National Championship: April 7 You can watch games on ESPN and Sling TV. ABC will broadcast the title game. The 2023 top seeds The heavy favorite of the 2023 tournament is the top-ranked University of South Carolina, which beat Stanford for the 2022 title. The other number-one seeds, in order of best season records, are: Indiana University Stanford University University of Utah The number-two seeds are: Louisiana State University University of Maryland University of Connecticut University of Iowa There are many outstanding players in women's college basketball; here's a list of just ten who are considered some of the best today: Aliyah Boston, University of South Carolina Caitlin Clark, University of Iowa Haley Jones, Stanford University Ashley Joens, Iowa State University Elizabeth Kitley, Virginia Tech Cameron Brink, Stanford University Angel Reese, Louisiana State University Olivia Miles, University of Notre Dame Hailey Van Lith, University of Louisville Rori Harmon, University of Texas Origin of the women's NCAA March Madness tournament Although the NCAA Division I basketball tournament has been around since 1939, the women were not included until 1982. Women had a long fight with the NCAA before that, even after Title IX was passed in 1972, to realize this big change. Strangely enough, that first NCAA women’s contest in 1982 coincided with another championship tournament put on by the Association for Intercollegiate Athletics for Women (AIAW). (Incidentally, Rutgers beat Texas to win the AIAW championship, and Louisiana Tech beat Cheyney State to win the NCAA tournament.) Why were there two tournaments? Because up until the 1981-1982 school year, the NCAA was not interested in women’s sports championships. Those had been under the purview of the women-led AIAW, which had been governing women’s collegiate sports since 1971. Of the many ways it supported women’s sports, the AIAW played a role in the passage of Title IX in 1972, which prohibits sex-based discrimination in education programs or activities that receive federal funding. However, in 1981, when the all-male-led-NCAA added women’s sports to its championship program for the first time, it created an uneven playing field in the battle with the AIAW for the governance of women’s collegiate sports. That fight lasted for about a year, but ultimately, the power and money of the NCAA won out. The AIAW folded in 1982. Inequities within March Madness Unfortunately, the NCAA hasn’t valued women’s sports as much as men’s sports throughout most of its existence. However, that is beginning to change, and one of the most conspicuous examples came with the 2022 NCAA women’s basketball tournament. An outcry on social media during the 2021 March Madness tournament pointed out the stark inequities between the men’s and women’s practice facilities and amenities. This led the NCAA to hire a law firm to conduct a review of gender equity related to the tournaments in general. The resulting report uncovered many examples of inequities related to spending on marketing and promotion, players’ meals and services, event staffing, and more. The report led the NCAA to try to level the field in 2022. It expanded the number of women’s teams from 64 to 68, the same as the men, and used the “March Madness” phrase for the women’s tournament for the first time. The organization also provided the same gifts to the men’s and women’s teams in 2022, staged similar fan events, and paid the game officials the same. However, there still remained a large gap between the NCAA’s spending on promotion, TV coverage, and more. In a March 11, 2022, Washington Post article, Dan Gavitt, the NCAA’s senior vice president of basketball, wouldn’t comment on the gap in spending between the men’s and women’s tournaments. However, he did say, “The work is not done. There is more to do, and we look forward to doing more after this year’s championship.” View Article

Basketball What Is the NCAA's March Madness? Article / Updated 02-22-2024 The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) hosts a basketball tournament every year that begins the week of March 19. The tournament includes 68 men’s teams and 68 women’s teams. (The NCAA expanded the women's field from 64 to 68 in 2022.) The men’s tournament is televised on CBS, TBS, TNT, and TruTV network affiliate stations; the women’s tournament will be available on ESPN, the ESPN app, ABC (for the title game), and Sling TV. The schedule for the 2024 men’s NCAA March Madness tournament is as follows: Selection Sunday: March 17 (brackets, seeds, and team selections) First four: March 19-20 First round: March 21-22 Second round: March 23-24 Sweet 16: March 28-29 Elite Eight: March 30-31 Final Four: April 6 National Championship: April 8 The schedule for the 2024 women’s NCAA March Madness tournament is as follows: Selection Sunday: March 17 (brackets, seeds, and team selections) First four: March 20-21 First round: March 22-23 Second round: March 24-25 Sweet 16: March 29-30 Elite Eight: March 31-April 1 Final Four: April 5 National Championship: April 7 Selection Sunday Each year on Selection Sunday, 32 teams gain automatic entry into the tournament due to winning their conference’s championships. The remaining teams rely on a selection committee to be granted entry into the tournament. This process takes place on the Sunday before the March Madness Tournament begins and, therefore, is appropriately named Selection Sunday. It is also the day when the brackets and seeds are released to the public. Brackets are the format in which the tournament runs. For example, on the day of the First Four games, there will be four brackets and eight teams playing; the four losing teams will then be removed from the tournament and the four winning teams will move to their new brackets and prepare for the next round of games. After the First Four, the regular tournament begins with 64 brackets including the winning teams that played in the First Four. The winner from each bracket will move on to the next set of brackets until eventually all teams have been “weeded” out and only two remain to play for the championship game. Seeds are essentially committee rankings. The teams in each division are ranked in descending order, with the strongest team (or team most likely to win) ranked in the number-one spot and the weakest team in that division is ranked number 16. The brackets are split up accordingly so the tournament's powerhouse teams are evenly distributed within the 64 brackets. The First Four round The First Four refers to the number of matches/brackets played — not number of teams. The First Four includes the eight lowest ranking teams in the men's division that play against each other, and the four losing teams are removed from the tournament. This part of the tournament is also known as “First Four Out” since four of the teams will lose out of the tournament before it even has really begun. The First Four Out was designed to get the 68 men's teams down to 64 so that the number of teams is the same as in the women's divisions. The brackets and dates, therefore, can be the same for both the men and women divisions. This part of the tournament applies only to the men's teams. In the First Round, those 64 teams play against each other to move on to the Second Round. Second round In the Second Round, the remaining 32 teams play in 16 brackets, and the winners of each bracket then move on to the regional semi-finals (Sweet 16 round); the losers again are removed from the tournament. Sweet 16 and Elite Eight rounds The regional semi-finals, also known as the Sweet Sixteen, is where the final sixteen teams are set up in matches against other teams within their regional divisions. The divisions are broken up into geographical areas and listed as follows: East West South Midwest The winners of the regional semi-finals are then moved to the regional finals where only eight teams remain, known as the Elite Eight. These eight teams play head-to-head to determine the winners, and the remaining four teams from all regions are matched up in the national semi-finals. The Final Four After regional finals, the remaining four teams from all regions are eligible to play in the national semi-finals. These remaining four teams are known as “The Final Four,” and this is where many people start watching the tournament. The final four teams then play, and the two winners from the national semi-finals move on to the national finals. Championship game The national finals or championship game is where the final two teams play to determine the winner of the current year's March Madness tournament. The NCAA has changed the format of the game several times in its history, as well as the name. In recent years the name of the tournament has been simply “NCAA Division 1 Tournament,” but the more popular March Madness title will always remain. View Article

Fantasy Football How Fantasy Football Playoffs Work Article / Updated 01-03-2024 When you are approaching the end of your fantasy football season, if it has gone well, you may be in contention to make the playoffs. If that's the case, congratulations! Bragging rights are what this game is all about, and you are one step closer to achieving the ultimate prize. If not, don't feel bad. There's always next year, and most leagues include a consolation playoff so you can at least one up a few of your friends or co-workers — even if your season didn't go as planned. No matter how your season ended, you need to know how fantasy football playoffs work, so you can pursue a league championship. Credit: ©iStockphoto.com/zentilia Fantasy football playoff trophies await league winners. Fantasy football playoff rules and structure Generally, the teams with the best records will make the playoffs. In some leagues with divisions, that may not be the case. In leagues without divisions, the teams with the best records will advance to the playoffs. Leagues that include divisions will usually have two or three divisions and operate like the NFL to determine which teams make the playoffs. The team with the best record in the division will advance, even if it doesn't have one of the best overall records league-wide. In leagues with divisions, there will usually be one or two wildcard teams that will earn their positions from win/loss records among the rest of the non-division winners. Division winners always have a higher seed than wild card teams. The team with the best record will be the 1st seed in the playoffs. If your league has divisions, this team would have, coincidentally, won its division as well. Another divisional winner with the next best record will be the 2nd seed, and so on. If your league does not have divisions, the remaining seeds will be determined by overall win/loss records. In the event that two or more teams have identical win/loss records at the end of the fantasy football regular season, a tie-breaking system will determine their position. Most leagues use a standard tie-breaking system, and it goes as follows: Overall points scored Head-to-head record Division record Overall points against Coin flip Fantasy football playoff formats In a standard league, four teams will make the playoffs. In this case, the 1st seed will play the 4th seed, and the 2nd seed will play the 3rd seed. The winners of these two matchups will go on to the next week to play for the league championship; the losers will play for 3rd place. In some deeper leagues with 12 or more teams, 6 teams can make the playoffs, introducing the need for bye weeks. Bye weeks act similar to the NFL playoff bye weeks. The 1st and 2nd seeded teams will not have to play the 1st round; instead they automatically advance to the 2nd round and will play the winners of the 1st round. The consolation playoffs work similar to the regular playoffs in seeding and bracket style. In most leagues, the fantasy playoffs will begin week 13 or 14 of the NFL season. Standard leagues (four team playoffs) will use the following two weeks for the playoffs, and larger leagues with six teams may continue playing all the way through week 17. However, most leagues omit week 17 (and some even week 16) to prevent unfair play from NFL teams resting players for their real playoffs. Nobody wants to have their playoffs ruined by a resting player. For example, if Peyton Manning is on your team and has dominated the entire season, your fantasy football championship can be decided by having to scramble for a backup quarterback (QB) because Manning is resting during week 17. To best prepare for the fantasy football playoffs, be sure to read your league rules to understand how the playoffs are set up. Ask your commissioner if you have any questions such as the number of teams that can qualify, the playoff schedule, rules around wavier picks and trading, and so on. Strategies for winning fantasy football playoffs If you have made the playoffs, you will need to continue to monitor and adjust your lineup carefully if you want to win your league's championship. Weekly matchups, weather, and players on teams actually fighting for real playoff spots (or not) should be considered now more than ever. Late in the season, teams that play in the north will be playing in the cold and perhaps snow so certain positions should be chosen with caution. Games played with precipitation and/or extreme cold favor the running game, whereas games played in good weather or domes generally favor passing and kicking. Some players thrive in bad weather, though, so an in-depth knowledge of your own players will prove to be an advantage either way. You'll also want to familiarize yourself with your league's playoff rules if you haven't already. Many league's final trade deadlines are during this week, and it could be your last chance to really strengthen up your roster for a championship run. You could also try picking up free-agent players you think your opponent may want, to prevent them from filling holes in their lineup that may arise come playoff time. Finally, just continue to do what got yourself in this position. Don't overthink your decisions and just continue with the players that got you here, barring injury or other player circumstance. If you need to make starting roster adjustments, hopefully you have made good moves throughout the season and have viable bench players to replace any player that is inactive or consistently infective. Roster depth cannot be underestimated come playoff time so you should be actively trying to improve your team the entire season. View Article

Camping & RVs Cooking Essentials for Van Life Article / Updated 10-26-2023 Listen to the article:Download audio If you're planning to convert a vehicle for your van life adventure, you'll need to put together a cooking area, complete with a stove, cookware, and other supplies. What do you need for van life cooking? One of the most important decisions you’ll need to make is which type of stovetop (or burner) you’d like to use. Stovetops come in many different styles, types, and shapes. Here are three main types that I have used over my van life journey: Single-burner portable stove with gas cartridge: For many people who just take their campers out on weekends or on short trips, a one-hob burner for warming up soup or packet meals might well be enough. I’ve always carried one of these around with me just in case my main gas bottle runs out, and it’s helped out when I’ve boiled up pasta a few times. My main gripe with the single burner is that if you want to cook a meal with multiple parts, everything ends up taking a lot longer, as each component will need a separate turn on the burner. Two-burner gas stovetop with grill: The two-burner gas stovetop with grill system is a great all-around option. This was the first type of burner I had in my van, and it allowed me the freedom to whip up Bolognese on one hob and pasta on the other. (I do eat more types of food than pasta, I promise.) The grills on these burners can sometimes be a little hit and miss, so it pays to buy a reputable model from a company like Vango. I loved cooking sausages on my grill for breakfast on wintry Saturday mornings. Three-burner stovetops: As you might have guessed by now, my personal preference is the three-burner stovetop. I need all the pan space I can get when I’m making meals, especially when the Omnia Oven (more about this below) is taking up the middle hob. Gas drop-out vents: If you’ve got any type of gas bottle in your van — propane, butane, or LPG — then you need a gas drop-out vent as an extra and crucial safety measure. Because gas is heavier than air, if there is a leak, the gas will flow out through your gas drop-out vent and away from your van. I know it might seem like a little thing to overlook, but it’s so important if anything goes wrong with your gas setup. Cooking like a pro on the road Good workers never blame their tools, which is why I’m about to reveal some of the best gear for cooking on the go. The only thing you need to be blaming from now on is how tight your pants are after all the good food you’re going to be making and eating! XL RidgeMonkey: The XL RidgeMonkey compact sandwich toaster is possibly the most versatile piece of cooking equipment I’ve ever used on my van life adventures. This little piece of genius was originally designed for fishermen to cook up their catch on a jet burner at the side of the river. Omnia Oven: If you want to go one step further and bake bread and cakes, cook chicken thighs, or make incredible stews or roast potatoes, then you need an Omnia Oven. This doughnut-shaped stovetop oven changed everything for me, especially while living in a camper van during the COVID-19 pandemic lockdowns. The Omnia Oven works through convection. Heat is drawn up from the hob through the middle of the oven and passes up and over the food inside, providing heat all the way around the oven and creating an even bake. Nesting bowls: Mixing cakes and kneading bread can get a little messy when you’re trying to use pans and mugs. That’s why nesting bowls are such a great idea. Nesting bowls, as you might have gathered from the name, nest inside one another. Joseph Joseph makes a great set that includes a large mixing bowl, colander, sieve, smaller pouring bowl, and a set of cup measures all inside the largest bowl. The measuring cups are perfect for measuring (go figure) out baking ingredients, sushi rice, sauces, and much more. Bialetti moka pot: This stovetop espresso maker is the perfect companion at breakfast time or before a long drive. It doesn’t take up a lot of space and stows away in a cupboard or drawer easily, providing budding adventurers with an energy boost boasting sumptuous flavors at the drop of a hat. Handleless pans: You’ll have a hard time cooking without any pans, making them a bit of an essential item when it comes to stocking up your kitchen. The only problem is that they can be quite bulky, so grabbing a set of handleless pans that pack away neatly can really make cooking in a van a lot easier. I stored all my pans in a pan hammock underneath my sink. It was a good way to use space that would have otherwise been wasted and freed up a drawer for more dry ingredients. BioLite kettle set: This little piece of equipment can be used for both brewing up tea or cooking soups and stews, and is another genius space-saving utensil for tiny-home lovers. It also has an insulted handle to keep your hands scorch-free. Knife set: No matter your dietary preferences, it pays to have a trusty knife set on board for preparing food. As you know, I’m all about making life easy for myself, so having a good bread knife as well as a sharp blade for slicing everything from tomatoes and tofu to chicken and chorizo is essential, especially when you love food as much as I do. Handheld food processor: Zyliss makes a neat little manual food processor that is great for chopping up onions or making dips in your camper. It makes mincemeat (literally) of food prep and works your arm out at the same time. Just pull the hook and back like a miniature rowing machine, and you’re good to go! View Article

Auto Racing Formula One Racing For Dummies Cheat Sheet Cheat Sheet / Updated 10-05-2023 If you want to follow Formula One racing, there are a few essential things you need to know, like when the races take place, who the drivers are, and what race numbers they carry with them throughout their career. It is also really useful to know what the warning flag colors mean when you see them waved at the side of the track, and how the current crop of racers compare to some of the most successful competitors of the past. View Cheat Sheet

Fantasy Football The Basics of Playing Fantasy Football Article / Updated 09-21-2023 Fantasy football lets you try your skills as a fantasy team owner. After you join a league, you scout for and draft players, compete against other fantasy owners, and use all your skills to win the championship. Learning how to play fantasy football is easy; conquering your competitors and becoming a champion is a different story. Fantasy Football 101: Here's what happens in a fantasy football season. You join a league. You can join a public league, where anyone can sign up for a spot, or a private league, where you need an invitation to play. Some people, typically beginners, play just for fun and some play for money (in some cases, serious coin). Be sure to understand the type of league you join, along with its rules. League selection is an important factor, so don't take it lightly. You prepare for your league draft by scouting players. Before choosing your fantasy team, you need to research all the available players so you can pre-rank them according to your personal preference. Understanding your league’s scoring system and roster setup is critical to creating a bulletproof draft strategy. You build your fantasy football team via the draft. The draft is the most fun and exciting day of the fantasy season. During the draft, each fantasy owner selects on NFL player at a time until the rosters are complete. Fantasy football drafts can take place online, but some leagues — typically friends or co-workers — will conduct the draft in person. Remember to draft all of the correct positions, so that you can have a full team roster. Your team competes against another team every week. During the NFL season, the real teams face each other and so do the fantasy teams in your league. The players' real-time stats are converted into fantasy points by your league provider, and the fantasy team that scores the most points wins the game for the week. The goal is to win as many games as possible to make the playoffs. You make moves to improve your team. As a fantasy owner, you're in total control. You can drop players you think aren't good enough and replace them with free agents. If one of your starters gets injured, you can bench him and start a healthy player instead. You may even make a trade offer to another owner. Your team (hopefully) makes the playoffs and wins your league. Only the strong survive, and at the end of the fantasy season, the top teams square off in a single-elimination tournament to decide the league champion. The last team standing may win a trophy, a cash prize, or just honor; but make no mistake, there will be only one winner. View Article

Basketball Assessing Your Youth Basketball Players' Skills Article / Updated 09-15-2023 Playing basketball requires a broad range of skills. As a coach, being able to assess a youngster's strengths and weaknesses is crucial for determining where they best fit in your lineup. Your early practices should offer a peek at a player's ability in specific areas. Scrimmages or games involving just a handful of players and drills are ideal ways to gain a real sense of a child's strengths and weaknesses in certain basketball skills. After you collect all this information on your players, you can take advantage of it by developing practice plans that focus on improving their weaker areas while enhancing their stronger skills. Footwork Good footwork pays off on the dance floor and the basketball court. Players who stand or move flat-footed tend to spend more time watching the action, which really affects their productivity (and fun) at both ends of the floor. Players who constantly move their feet create additional scoring opportunities through screens, cuts to the basket, defensive stops, and so on. During practice (and games), keep an eye on a player's feet, because footwork dictates how well they will perform. Watch to see if a player stays on the balls of their feet when dribbling and if they shuffle their feet while defending. Competitiveness At the younger levels of play, how competitive a child is shouldn't be a focus. If they stay involved in the game long enough, most kids will gradually become more competitive. In the meantime, stick to helping them have fun, learn the game, and develop skills. At the more advanced levels of play, you should monitor how your players respond to challenges and difficult situations. If certain players are easily rattled, focus on building their confidence and stoking their competitive juices so they'll always put forth their best effort. To gauge competitiveness during practice, you can challenge the kids. See how many baskets they can make in a row. Or insert yourself into a drill and challenge the players to score on you or box you out for a rebound. Kids love going against their coaches, and if they can perform well against you, it can buoy their confidence. Body language and demeanor A basketball player's body language during practice and games speaks volumes. If their head droops or shoulders sag, you can deduce they're probably not thrilled with their or the team's performance. Pay particular attention to the following: Are they too hard on themselves when shots aren't falling? Do they get frustrated when teammates make mistakes? Do they embrace your suggestions, or are they easily offended by feedback? You can improve players' mental approach to the game by imploring them to play each possession as though it's the first of the game. Players who have the ability to push aside prior possessions — whether they involved missed shots or turnovers — and focus entirely on the present put themselves in better position to achieve more success. Teamwork Youngsters who fire up and encourage their teammates, during practice and in games, and play an unselfish style of basketball are really valuable. Even when it isn't their turn to be on the floor or participate in a drill, or the scoreboard isn't in your favor, your players can be inspiring by encouraging teammates and applauding their hustle. On the flip side, kids who sulk or don't pay attention to the action on the court or your instructions during practice can damage team chemistry and kill morale. View Article

Basketball Modeling Good Sportsmanship as a Coach Article / Updated 09-15-2023 As a youth basketball coach, teaching kids the importance of good sportsmanship can be challenging. What makes teaching (and modeling) good sportsmanship particularly tricky is that youngsters are bombarded with images of older basketball players trash talking, showboating, and disrespecting opponents and officials. However, keep in mind that you're fighting the good fight: Good sportsmanship is one of the healthiest ideals you can instill in your players. Incorporate the following suggestions into your coaching philosophy. They can help make your team one of the most liked and respected teams in the league (and your players the envy of all parents in the stands): Talk about sportsmanship outside your team. While your players are going through warm-ups, you can discuss a game they watched on television and ask whether they saw any displays of good sportsmanship. Praising these displays and subtly reinforcing their importance goes a long way toward instilling the right qualities in your players. Set a positive tone on game day by shaking hands with the opposing coach. The players, fans, and opposing coaches will notice your gesture of sportsmanship. Plus, it will remind everyone that basketball is just a game and you're all there for the kids. Always be a model of good sportsmanship. Don't yell at officials or question their judgment. If you aren't a model of good sportsmanship, you can't expect your players (or their parents) to be good sports. Your players will take their cue from you, so if you rant and rave about a call, expect your players to show disrespect toward the refs as well. Shake hands after the game. Regardless of the outcome, have your players line up and shake hands with the opposing team and its coaches. If your team won, your players should tell their opponents that they played a good game, and if your squad lost, your players should congratulate the opponents on their victory. Another classy move is for your players to shake the officials' hands following the contest. Recognize good sports during your post-game talk. Perhaps one of your players went out of their way after the game to congratulate an opponent who played a strong game. Recognizing such displays reinforces to your players that how they behave during and after games really does matter to you and to all the spectators. View Article

Basketball Dealing with a Ball Hog When Coaching Youth Basketball Article / Updated 09-15-2023 A ball hog — a player who hangs on to the ball for extended periods of time and always looks to shoot rather than pass — creates real problems for the entire team. For instance, a ball hog ignores open teammates who have worked to get into position to score, which undermines team morale and kills your sense of unity. As a basketball coach for young people, you have to find a way to deal with this. If you have a ball hog on your team, you may get frustrated and not know what to do. Here are a couple ways a player can earn the unwanted ball-hog label and actions you can take to help them ditch it: They're unaware: Perhaps the youngster isn't aware that they're hanging on to the ball too much. They watch older players who score a lot and want to emulate them. Maybe they're new to basketball or haven't been involved in any type of team setting before, and they need to get accustomed to how sharing the ball makes for a stronger and more effective unit. Go with drills that emphasize passing to help your players break their habit of dribbling and shooting every time down the floor. You can even hold no-dribble scrimmages, where players can only pass and shoot the ball. They receive mixed instructions: Perhaps the child receives conflicting instructions from their dad or mom at home. A parent may be telling the child that they're the team's best shooter and that they need to take more shots. How can you tell? If the child seems to be doing everything differently than how you're instructing the team, do some investigating. Ask the child why they aren't listening to your instructions. Perhaps they didn't understand what you were saying. If they confess that they're receiving conflicting instructions, that plops the youngster in confusing territory and forces you to step in. Talk to the child about their responsibility to be a team player and to listen to your instructions, and reinforce to the player's parents that they need to support what you're trying to teach the kids. Also, take a closer look at your practices, because they may actually be causing some of the problems. During your drills, double check to make sure that you aren't allowing a player to dribble the ball for extended periods of time or to take the majority of the shots. If you notice inequity in your practices, resort to specific types of drills or scrimmages that eliminate opportunities for ball hogs to flourish. View Article

Sports & Recreation How to Play Pickleball Article / Updated 09-13-2023 Listen to the article:Download audio What are the pickleball rules? An official pickleball rule book currently runs about 75 pages, but you don’t need to commit all that to memory. The rules summary in this article will help you get out on the court and play your first few games today. Pickleball is a very social sport, so even if you don’t know all the rules yet, there’s probably another player on the court (or three) who are willing to help you. They were all beginners once, too, so don’t be shy! This article focuses on playing doubles, which is, by far, the most popular format. Layout of the pickleball court The pickleball court is laid out the same for both singles and doubles. It’s a rectangle that measures 44 feet long by 20 feet wide. This is the same size as a doubles badminton court, or roughly one third the size of a tennis court. Along the outside boundaries of the court, you’ll find the sidelines on the long ends and the baselines on the shorter ends. The court is divided in the middle by a net, or as we like to call her, “Annette.” A real heartbreaker, Annette’s measurements are 36-34-36 — she’s 36 inches tall at the sidelines and 34 inches at the center. Although a pickleball net is actually 2 inches lower than a tennis net, the height relative to the size of the court can make Annette a lot like a bad ex — hard to get over! On each half of the court is a 7-x-20-foot area directly in front of the net called the non-volley zone (NVZ), more commonly known as the kitchen. As the name non-volley zone implies, players aren’t allowed to hit a volley (a shot hit before the ball has bounced) while in this zone. Historians aren’t sure how the kitchen got its nickname, but one theory claims that the term was borrowed from shuffleboard. The court between the kitchen and the baseline is divided lengthwise into two service boxes by the centerline. (Historians haven’t spent any time researching that one.) The line that divides the kitchen from the service boxes is known as the non-volley zone line, or the kitchen line. How to serve in pickleball You can’t start playing a game of pickleball until somebody serves the ball. Here are the basic rules you need to know to get started serving: You must serve diagonally (crosscourt) into the service box. Your serve must clear the kitchen (the non-volley zone) and bounce in the service box that’s diagonal from you, on the opponent’s side of the court. If it lands on the sideline, baseline, or centerline, the serve is considered in. If it lands on the kitchen line, it’s a fault. The illustration below shows the path of a serve into the correct service box. The ball must go over the net. If your serve goes into the net without going over, it’s a fault. If your serve glances off the top of the net but still lands in the service box, it’s good and must be played. If it touches the top of the net and lands out of bounds or in the kitchen, it’s a fault. You must strike the ball below the level of your waist with a low-to-high motion. You must serve underhand in pickleball, contacting the ball below your waist with an upward swing path. In addition, no part of your paddle may be higher than your wrist. If serving off the bounce, you may not add force to the bounce. You can choose to hit the ball out of the air, before it bounces, by either tossing or dropping the ball with your non-paddle hand. Or you may choose to hit it off a bounce, but in this case, you cannot apply any upward or downward force to the ball. This is called the drop serve. You must stand behind the baseline and between the imaginary extensions of the centerline and the sideline. At the moment you strike the ball, neither foot can be inside the court boundaries, and at least one foot must be touching the ground behind the baseline (both feet can’t be in the air). You can’t stand way off to the side when you serve; you must be standing in the area behind the service box on your side of the court. You get only one service attempt. You get just one chance to hit your serve in. If your serve goes into the net or out of bounds, you lose your serve and do not get to try again. The two-bounce rule After a player serves the ball, the receiver must let the serve bounce before they are allowed to hit it. (Otherwise, the world would be left wondering whether that serve was going to land in bounds.) When the receiver returns the ball to the serving team, that team must also let it bounce before they can hit. After those first two shots have been allowed to bounce, any player can legally volley, which means to hit the ball out of the air before it bounces. The two-bounce rule is one of the genius ideas that makes pickleball great. It prevents the “serve-and-volley” strategy commonly used in tennis, keeping players from blasting a huge serve and immediately running up to the net to volley the next ball. For this reason, in pickleball, the serving team is not considered to be at an advantage at the start of each rally. If you have trouble at first remembering to observe the two-bounce rule, just count the bounces in your head: “One … two … game on!” Another way to think about this rule is that the ball must bounce on each side of the court before players may volley. So, after you’ve watched the ball bounce on your side of the court, either on the serve or return, you can forget worrying about counting those darn bounces. Starting positions The server is the only player required to stand in any particular place on the court when the point begins. (Actually, there is a rule stating that you must stand on your own team’s side of the net, but we can’t imagine why you wouldn’t choose to do so). However, the two-bounce rule clearly influences where the other three players should stand at the start of the point. Here’s the breakdown for each player: The server must stand behind the baseline. The rules state that the server must serve from behind the baseline and between the imaginary extensions of the centerline and sidelines. The server’s partner should also stay behind or near the baseline. Again, the two-bounce rule requires the serving team to let the return bounce before they can hit it. In case the return is hit deep, both members of the serving team will want to stay back as far as possible so that they won’t have to backpedal to hit the ball. The receiver stands behind the baseline. The two-bounce rule requires the receiver to let the serve bounce before they can return the serve. The receiver should also stay well behind the baseline in order to more easily deal with a deep serve. The receiver’s partner stands up at the kitchen line. Because the two-bounce rule affects only the serving team and the receiver, the receiver’s partner doesn’t worry about the two-bounce rule and instead focuses on being in the most offensive position at the kitchen line, ready to volley the next ball that comes to them. If you’re not sure where you’re supposed to be standing, remember that all players should ideally stand behind the baseline at the beginning of the point, except for the person standing directly across from the server. Also, remember that when it’s your partner’s turn to serve, they need you back there with them. It’s their big moment! Stay back and support your partner when they’re serving. Only the receiver’s partner should be up at the kitchen line. View Article