Shadowing Practice: Pickleball Rules for Beginners: The Basics Explained - Learn English Speaking with Video
Creating lesson...
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Hey there, welcome back to Pickleball Daily.
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I'm Spencer
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and today we're going to be going through the very first things you need to know before stepping onto the pickleball court.
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First, it's 44 feet long by 20 feet wide.
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When you're going to enter the court, you should have about 60 feet clearance lengthwise and 30 feet clearance widthwise.
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At the net, we have 34 inches to get over in the middle
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but at either end it gets up to 36 inches high
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so you're gonna have higher percentage shooting down the middle next
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let's talk about the serve that's going to be the first shot you're going to want to know
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when hitting pickleball it can be underhand only it can't be overhead
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or above your waistline here when you serve though you can either bounce it
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and serve it cross court beyond the kitchen we'll get there
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or you can hit it out of the air
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when the serve comes back to you though it needs to
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bounce not only as you hit the return of serve
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but also hitting the ball coming back to you on the
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return the bounce rule is bouncing the ball on both sides before we hit a volley
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which is a shot that's going to be out of the air serve
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and stay behind the line wait for the ball to bounce in front of you
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and then you can move up into the court
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when you're returning the serve you can return wait for the
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ball to bounce in front of you then run up
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and any shot after
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that can be taken out of the air next let's talk about the shots
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that we can choose for the third shot in pickleball serve first return second the The third can either be a drive,
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which is a fast shot that's low to the net, or it can be a drop, which is something that you want to bounce into the kitchen.
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It's more patient that way.
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Or you can hit it above your opponents and try to lob it behind them.
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That's something that you're going to try to get over their head and bounce behind the court.
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Kind of hard to do.
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Low percentage.
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Not recommended it next let's talk about the let a let is
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when i'll serve the pickleball it hits the net
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and still goes in we still continue playing this serve today in old rules we would do a do -over
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but now you gotta keep it up let's talk about the
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kitchen the kitchen is this light zone here that's seven feet from the net.
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I can't stand in this zone and hit a ball out of the air, a volley.
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I have to keep my feet behind this white line if I'm going to go for a volley.
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I also need to remember that my momentum carrying me into the kitchen matters.
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Even if I have a great shot and I fall into the kitchen afterwards, it's a fault.
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A fault means that there's something
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that went wrong in the point causing there to be a side out a side out means
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that the serve is going to go to the next person
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it could be my partner as a team gets two serves each side
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or it could be the serve going to the opponent's side
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and now our team's on defense next let's talk about the
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dink a dink is a shot where all four of our opponents are up here at the net
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and we're going to gently hit it back to them trying
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to make it bounce into the kitchen a dink is really
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a miniature shot we're not trying to hit a lot of power
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or pace into it we're trying to be consistent there's a few things in pickleball
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that are confusing like footwork let me see
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if I can break it down to be a little bit more simple for you
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when we're moving into the court
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and we need to stop we're going to execute a split step that's
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when I take my feet from the middle of my body
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and split them out wider than my shoulders stopping my momentum
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and getting low that's gonna help me before the ball has
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been hit by my opponents to react to the ball coming to me be patient
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and split step early the next footwork
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that can be kind of confusing is once we get up
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to the kitchen we don't often want to be turning our hips and running after the ball to get to a dink.
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This is going to take too much time and get us off balance.
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We need to shuffle step and act like a crab.
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This way, you're going to always have your hips
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and shoulders pointed towards your opponent and you should be making contact with the ball in front of you.
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Next, let's talk about a few archetypes of players that you might meet on the court for the first time.
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Most importantly is a banger.
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That's somebody who never wants to hit the ball soft.
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and always tries to drive that player can hit a lot of out balls
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or balls into the net so
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when you're playing them think about how many you're going to
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let go behind you shoulder high let it fly next there's still a couple terms
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that we need to know on the pickleball court to keep
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safe we don't want to get into the pickleball jar
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or the pickle jar and that's when we get 11 zeroed we We don't score any points and our opponents beat us, get to 11.
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That's getting pickled.
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But we also sometimes say pickle when a ball comes rolling through another team's court.
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Even if they're in the middle of the point, we need to scream pickle and let them know
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that they need to stop play so that they don't step on the ball and end up hurting themselves.
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Safety is the most important thing in pickleball, so I'm also going to tell you a last footwork step.
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That is never trying to run backwards like this when a ball gets put over your head.
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If somebody lobs you well, I want you to shuffle and go backwards like this, remembering the crab footwork from the kitchen.
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When you first start a game of pickleball, the score will be 0 -0 -2.
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That's really confusing.
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There's three numbers and we end with a two.
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The first number is how many points you have the second number is how many points your opponents have
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and the third number is just a server indicator number it's always going to be a one
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or a two we start with a two so
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that the team who starts serving in a game doesn't have an inherent advantage
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and the team after they lose that serve will have a side out
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and the serve will go to their opponents for example I serve
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that ball out on 0 -0 -2 now my opponents are
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going to serve on their right side of the court on 0 -0 -1
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that means they'll get two service opportunities one for each of the two teammates
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after they miss a serve on 0 -0 -1 like this
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the serve is just going to be handed over to the partner.
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They don't switch sides.
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But after that, if we're over here on 0 -0 -2 after that missed serve and we score an ace,
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then I'm going to keep serving and switch sides with my partner.
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That's how we score points in pickleball.
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Only on your serve.
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And after you score a point, you have to switch sides and keep serving.
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After the game and we get to 11 points, No matter if you got pickled, you're going to come up to the middle of the net and you're going to paddle tap your opponents and still say,
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good game, thanks for playing.
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Another reason to paddle tap might be after each point, when your partner or you do something really well.
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If it's a great shot, you say great shot and you give them a paddle tap.
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If they hit it into the net, you can still say great try and paddle tap them anyways.
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Paddle tapping is just a way to support your partners and your opponents at the end of the game.
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Don't paddle tap too hard though
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because some players really care about the surface of their paddle and might be showing you the grip instead.
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That's alright, just paddle tap their grip.
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Vocabulary and speaking notes for this lesson
This B1 speaking lesson is built on the video “Pickleball Rules for Beginners: The Basics Explained”. The speaker keeps coming back to these words: serve, ball, pickleball, shot, opponent. This video has 112 sentences and 1420 words to shadow. The speech runs for 8:19. The speaker talks at a natural 171 words per minute, close to everyday conversation. 87% of the words are among the 3,000 most common in English, so the vocabulary is easy to follow.
Key vocabulary in this video
The 15 most advanced words in the video, with pronunciation and meaning:
| Word | Pronunciation | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| pickleball noun | A racquet sport resembling tennis, played with solid paddles and a perforated ball, which combines elements of badminton, table tennis and wiffleball. | |
| opponent noun | /əˈpəʊ.nənt/ | One who opposes another; one who works or takes a position against someone or something; one who attempts to stop the progress of someone or something. |
| bounce verb | /baʊns/ | To change the direction of motion after hitting an obstacle. |
| paddle noun | /ˈpædl̩/ | A single-bladed version is typically used on canoes and some other small boats. |
| pickle noun | /ˈpɪkəl/ | A cucumber preserved in a solution, usually a brine or a vinegar syrup. |
| footwork noun | /ˈfʊt.wɜːk/ | Any movement of the feet, especially intricate or complex movement, as in sports or dancing. |
| volley noun | /ˈvɑli/ | The simultaneous firing of a number of missiles or bullets; the projectiles so fired. |
| confuse verb | /kənˈfjuːz/ | to puzzle, perplex, baffle, bewilder (somebody); to afflict by being complicated, contradictory, or otherwise difficult to understand |
| shuffle verb | /ˈʃʌfəl/ | To put in a random order. |
| backward adjective | /ˈbækwɚd/ | Situated toward or at the rear of something. |
| crab noun | /kɹæb/ | Any crustacean of the infraorder Brachyura, having five pairs of legs, the foremost of which are in the form of claws, and a carapace. |
| clearance noun | /ˈklɪɚ.əns/ | The act of clearing or something (such as a space) cleared. |
| momentum noun | /ˌmə(ʊ)ˈmɛntəm/ | Of a body in motion: the tendency of a body to maintain its inertial motion; the product of its mass and velocity, or the vector sum of the products of its… |
| grip noun | /ˈɡɹɪp/ | A hold or way of holding, particularly with the hand. |
| archetype noun | /ˈɑɹkɪtaɪp/ | An original model of which all other similar concepts, objects, or persons are merely copied, derivative, emulated, or patterned. |
Phrasal verbs you will hear
| Word | Pronunciation | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| come up to verb | To approach. | |
| do over verb | /ˈduˌoʊvɚ/ | To cover with; to smear or spread on to. |
| end up verb | To bring to a conclusion. | |
| get over verb | To overcome. | |
| get up verb | To move in an upward direction; to ascend or climb. | |
| get up to verb | To do something, especially something that is forbidden or improper. | |
| go through verb | To travel from one end of something to the other. | |
| put over verb | To state or explain (a concept) in a clear, understandable manner. |
Grammar in this video
The structures the speaker uses most, with the exact words from the video:
| Structure | In the video |
|---|---|
| Passive voice be + past participle — the focus is on what happens, not who does it | can be taken · been hit · be handed |
| Relative clauses who / which + clause — extra information about a person or thing | drop, which is · somebody who never |
| Possibility with “might / may” might/may + verb — something that is possible but not certain | might meet · might be |
| Verb + -ing enjoy, keep, stop… + -ing — verbs that are followed by the -ing form | starts serving · keep serving |
Pronunciation to watch
The speaker uses 37 contractions and reduced forms, such as you're, we're, don't. Say them the short way, as you hear them.
- Long words — get the stress right: momentum /ˌmə(ʊ)ˈmɛntəm/, miniature /ˈmɪn.(i)ə.tʃəɹ/, indicator /ˈɪn.dɪˌkeɪ.tə(ɹ)/, importantly /ɪmˈpɔɹ.tənt.li/
How to practise with this video
- Listen to the whole video once without speaking and note the words you do not know.
- Start at 0.75× speed, shadow it sentence by sentence, then go back to normal speed once it feels easy.
- Record yourself and compare with the original, paying attention to words like pickleball, opponent, bounce.
What is the Shadowing Technique?
Shadowing is a science-backed language learning technique originally developed for professional interpreter training and popularized by polyglot Dr. Alexander Arguelles. The method is simple but powerful: you listen to native English audio and immediately repeat it out loud — like a shadow following the speaker with just a 1–2 second delay. Unlike passive listening or grammar drills, shadowing forces your brain and mouth muscles to simultaneously process and reproduce real speech patterns. Research shows it significantly improves pronunciation accuracy, intonation, rhythm, connected speech, listening comprehension, and speaking fluency — making it one of the most effective methods for IELTS Speaking preparation and real-world English communication.