Can You Play Pickleball by Yourself? A 20-Minute Plan
Can you play pickleball by yourself? Not a real match, since a rally needs someone to hit the ball back. You can practice alone, though: serves, wall rallies, self-fed dinks and filmed serves all work. The only way to play a full match solo is against a computer opponent.
What can you practice alone?
Anything that doesn't need an opponent's shot to react to. The serve is the best example. It has rules about your feet, your swing and where the ball lands, and nobody calls them when you're alone. The rules page has the full set.
| You can train alone | You need another person |
|---|---|
| The serve: feet behind the baseline, ball no higher than your waist or dropped, diagonal into the 10 by 15 foot box (Rules 7.A, 7.C, 7.D, 7.E) | Return of serve and the two-bounce start of a rally, which needs a server (Rules 10.A.1, 10.A.2) |
| Paddle feel: bounce the ball on the paddle, shadow swings | A live third shot, because you're reacting to a real return |
| Footwork and ready position, with no ball | Dink exchanges at the kitchen |
| Wall rallies for forehand and backhand timing | Keeping score and rotating in doubles |
| A self-fed dink into a target | Reading an opponent |
| Filming yourself | Singles, which needs someone on the other side |
No court? Paddle feel, footwork, wall rallies and filming still work with a paddle, a ball and a wall. When someone can join you, the 12 beginner drills, sorted by what gear you have, add partner and group work.
A 20-minute solo session
Do these five blocks in order. You need a paddle, 10 to 20 balls and, if you have them, a wall and a court.
- 3 minutes, warm up. Walk and side-step easily, then swing shadow forehands and backhands with no ball.
- 5 minutes, serve. Hit 20 serves from behind the baseline, or a taped line, at a towel in the far corner of the diagonal box. Before each one, check three things: both feet behind the line, ball no higher than your waist (or dropped), enough height to clear the 7-foot kitchen. Our pass mark: 12 of 20 in the box.
- 5 minutes, wall rally. Face a wall and count hits in a row, forehand then backhand. Our pass mark: 10 in a row on each side. A strip of tape at 34 inches, the height of the net at the center (Rule 3.B.7), makes the ball clear net height. The wall drills page has the full setup and six wall drills with pass marks.
- 4 minutes, dink to a target. Drop the ball, let it bounce, and dink it over the net into a towel in the kitchen. Hit 10, count, repeat. Our pass mark: 6 of 10 land in the kitchen. No court? Dink up to a mark on the wall instead.
- 3 minutes, film. Prop up a phone and film five serves. Watch your feet at contact against the foot rules (Rule 7.A).
The pass marks are our own targets, not official standards. Change them to suit you.
Say a 20-serve block ends with 11 in the box, 7 long and 2 in the kitchen. Most misses were long, so the swing was too big. Swing softer and aim 3 feet in front of the back line. Next session's pass mark is still 12.
How do you play a full match alone?
Only against a computer. Pickleball Game is a free 3D game that runs in your browser. You play singles or doubles against the computer at Low, Medium or Hard, with a keyboard and mouse, and there's no sign-up. It's you against the computer, not other players.
A referee calls the score and the faults, so you can practice scoring and serve order on your own. It won't teach you what a paddle feels like. See how the free game works, or play a match. For other pickleball games online, free and paid, see the checked list of what you can play.
Mistakes when you practice alone
- Serving all 20 from one spot and one side. Alternate right and left, as you will in a game.
- Swinging above the waist because nobody's there to call it. A volley serve has to be no higher than the waist (Rule 7.C), and the habit comes with you to the court.
- Never counting. With no number, there's nothing to beat next week.
Pick a day, set a timer for 20 minutes, write your serve count on the back of your hand or in your phone, and beat it next time. The serving rules explain what a good serve looks like, and the court measurements tell you how far to stand and how big the box is.