Every sport has its quirks, and if we've learned anything about pickleball and pickleball players, ours might just have the most.
Here are 10 of our most comical or annoying sayings in all of pickleball.
Of course, whether they are actually fun or annoying – you can be the judge.
"Sorry ... not sorry."
When the ball hits the top of the tape and falls over to the other side, ending a rally, it's common courtesy to put your palm up and say, "Sorry" to your opponents.
What's also become common – not so much courtesy – is to turn, walk back to the baseline, and mutter, "Not sorry," while snickering to yourself and your teammate.
Jason Flamm
Because, let's face it, no one is ever actually sorry when they're on the winning side of the net dribbler.
"One more game?"
The fun of this saying is that it's never just "one more game" but instead an invitation to keep playing beyond when your body or your significant other asks you to stop.
In the history of pickleball, has anyone ever played just one more game?
"Same guy."
If you've ever hit a backhand flick to win a rally, followed by a serve that sails 10 feet out of bounds, then you may have fallen victim to someone saying, "Same guy."
It's a half-fun, half-passive aggressive way of saying we're all only as good as the last shot we hit.
The finger wag
Not so much a saying as a gesture, the Dikembe Mutombo finger wag is a fun, albeit swag-heavy way of saying, "Not in my house."
Usually, this is when your opponent tests your hands or tries to send a speed-up that gets smacked right back down their gullet.
You can see pros Callie Jo Smith and Lea Jansen perform the double finger wag on Andrea Koop and Jade Kawamoto in this clip from the PPA Tour YouTube account:
It's effective and usually met with a bit of disdain, depending on who you do it to. If this is your go-to move, just watch out for the occasional bodybag attempt (or another one-finger salute).
"Did someone order chicken wings?"
A chicken wing is when you raise your paddle side elbow up high and hit a backhand that probably should've been a forehand.
It's a tough position to hit a ball from, which makes it a great spot to attack.
Jason Flamm
While this saying is rare, it's kind of the dad joke of pickleball.
Calling a ball out when it was clearly in
Another common quirk is jokingly calling a ball out when it was clearly in. Of course, this is different from hooking when you are actually calling a ball out that was in.
Jason Flamm
Another version of this is saying "kitchen" when someone obviously did not have a kitchen violation but instead just made you look silly with their shot.
Asking for money to give your ball back
"You can have it back for a dollar."
This happens when a ball rolls onto another court and you ask for it back. The person will hold on to the ball and ask for money to return it. Usually, this is an older guy, and it's another dad joke of pickleball.
"So you're telling me there's a chance."
When you're getting absolutely obliterated by a score of 10-1 in a game, but the opponents lose the point and return the serve to you, the only thing to do is quote Dumb & Dumber and hit them with, "So you're telling me there's a chance."
"Two stops."
A weird form of motivation is to point out that your opponents get two serves, and all you have to do is stop those two serves to get another chance to score on your own serve.
You accomplish this by saying, "Two stops. Come on!"
Like ... okay.
"Nice shot."
It's one thing to actually tell your partner or your opponent "Nice shot" and mean it. It's an entirely different thing to say it when it clearly wasn't a nice shot or, even worse, a shot where they barely hit it off the rim of their paddle and somehow had it land inside the baseline.
The more passive-aggressive you can say this, the better.
Oops. That was 11 fun and/or annoying sayings instead of 10. Guess we overcooked it.
What are some of the things you consistently overhear on the court that drive you a bit nuts? Send us an e-mail and let us know!
