Program Info
Grand Bend Pickleball Club
Open Social Play Guidelines
What is Open Social Play?
Open Social Play is the term used in pickleball to designate playing times that are open for players of ALL skill levels and years of experience to mix together to have fun playing pickleball. Since ‘Open Play’ can sometimes be misunderstood, the Grand Bend Pickleball Club is calling it ‘Open Social Play’ to put the emphasis on the social aspects of the game.
In Open Social Play, competition takes a back seat to the social aspects of meeting people, making everyone feel welcome, and enjoying a game that is fun for everyone. To create an atmosphere in which players of many varied skill levels, ages, and physical fitness levels can enjoy playing together, the GBPC Board of Directors has adopted the following guidelines for Open Social Play:
- Be willing to play with any other player, regardless of skill level, when it is that player’s turn to play.
- Do not try to manipulate the rotation of courts or paddles to get a more competitive game. Open Social Play is about fun, not competition.
- When the opponents are unequal in skill, do not always play the ball to the weaker player just to score points. That is a competitive strategy that is meant for tournament or skill-level play and is no fun for the player who is being targeted. Likewise, not playing the ball to the stronger player makes the game no fun for that player either. Players should refrain from intentionally hitting an opponent with the ball to score a point. This too is a strategy for competitive play.
- If you are a stronger player, focus on shots that will improve your overall game e.g., 3rd shot drop. It is also suggested that stronger players seek to improve their game by intentionally hitting the ball with appropriate pace and spin to a spot that will specifically allow a weaker opponent to return the shot. Seek to prolong the point rather than to end it. This gives everybody involved more practice.
- Respect players’ physical limitations and do not take advantage of them to win a game. One of pickleball’s great advantages is that people with physical limitations can play and enjoy this game regardless of conditions that preclude them from playing other sports.
General GBPC Play Formats
The following is a guide to the many types of play that you will see in our schedule
Open Social Play
Open Social Play is a play format that is open for players of all skill levels to mix together and to have fun playing pickleball. In this play format, competition takes a back seat to the social aspects of meeting people, making everyone feel welcome, and enjoying the game of pickleball. All members of the GBPC will work together to create an atmosphere in which players of varied skill levels, ages and physical fitness levels can enjoy playing together. Stronger players should avoid overly competitive strategies and, instead, focus on shot development e.g., 3rd shot drop, resets and dinking. The Winners, Losers, Next System will continue to be used to determine groups of 4 for each game.
Open Play (by level)
Open Play by level is very similar to Open Social Play with the key difference being that players will only be playing with other players at a similar level. This is still intended to be less competitive and more focused on fun with some waiting time between games. The Winners, Losers, Next System is used to determine groups of 4 for each game.
Round Robin Play
Round Robin play is organized by skill levels and restricted to a fixed number of players. In the time allocated to each Round Robin session, players will play a fixed number of games, each with a different partner and against a different pair of opponents. Round Robin Play will be offered in Mixed, Women’s & Men’s formats. Players will be assigned partners, opponents and courts for each game based on the number of players and the time allotted.
Ladder Play
Ladder play is designed so that players compete with others at a similar skill level. Players will move up or down the ladder based upon their wins and losses and who they won/lost against. Ladder Play generates a player rating. These ratings will be constantly changing as you play more games. Typically, a group of 5 people will play a total of 5 games with each player playing 4 games (one game with each other player as a partner). All games are scheduled by the Ladder Software and play is finished after the 5th game. Initially, ladder play will be offered to help members determine their level of play.
Intro to Pickleball, Skills and Drills, Coaching Clinics, Individual Training
The GBPC board will work with certified coaches in our club membership to offer additional training to our members. This will include Skills and Drills for all levels, Introduction to Pickleball and Beginner classes and Individual Training. Stay tuned as the season progresses.
The GBPC board has also met with Taylored Pickleball Academy (TPA) and we are in conversations about offering our members programming or training through this company. GBPC Members would be able to hire TPA and use unscheduled time on our courts in the afternoon and evening depending on availability in TPA schedules. Please let a board member know if you are interested in arranging for TPA training.
Tournament Play
Throughout our outdoor season, we may elect to pause our schedule to host in-house tournaments at TRIDON Pickleball Courts. All competitors and spectators will need to be members of Pickleball Canada, Pickleball Ontario and GBPC. Watch for notifications. No tournaments have been scheduled at this time.
Pop-up Play
This is Open Social Play being offered in the pre- and post-season entirely dependent on weather and volunteer availability. Daily notifications are posted on our WhatsApp chat.
If the weather is in the double digits, Pop-up Play may be offered.
Scheduling Apps
Scheduling apps will be required to set court capacity limits for many of our programs and events. The Grand Bend Pickleball Club board has decided to adopt Sign Up Genius. There is no cost for members to use this app.
Level Based Play
Level based play has emerged as the most difficult aspect of program development and implementation. Most of our membership has/had little or no experience with level-based play as our pre-club standard was entirely Open Social Play meaning everyone just got together and played together. Sometimes you would play with very strong players and sometimes you would feel like a very strong player. Over time, we began to notice that the games we enjoyed the most were the ones that challenged us just enough and that either team could have won.
As the club grows, we want to maintain the essential social interaction between members, but at the same time, we recognize the need to allow players at similar levels to play together. Regardless of whether we use DUPR ratings (e.g., 2.5, 4.0) or terms like beginner, intermediate, advanced, the concept is the same. People who are playing at similar levels will have better games. No one player will feel singled out as not belonging because they are too strong or not strong enough.
When we first start level play, there will only be 2 levels. Over time, we anticipate this could become more refined. At this time, the club will be asking everyone to play at the level you believe you belong at and keep track of your games. If you lose most or all of your games, please move down a level. If you win most or all of your games, please move up a level.
Whereas competitive players are keen to know their ratings to enter tournaments and for competitive play, most of us will only use our ratings to ensure we have more fun through playing better games. We are looking into many options to help people to more accurately determine their level or rating and the simplest way appears to be to use the standards that have already been established. Most, if not all, ratings are based on actual game results which are recorded and entered into a program which over time gives each player a ranking E.g., Global Pickleball Network and DUPR. Some of us have experienced this with the Ladder Play that was done last summer. Some of us have played at other clubs where ratings are calculated. We are hoping to launch a new Ladder this year expressly to help people get personal ratings. This will be a voluntary program and will hopefully be fun for everyone involved.
Grand Bend Pickleball Club Levels
Players are asked to self-assess using the chart below from Pickleball Guru:
