PICKLEBALL BASE STAND AND GAME

Description

CLAIM OF PRIORITY

This application claims priority to Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 63/571,549 filed on Mar. 29, 2024, the entirety of which is hereby incorporated by reference.

BACKGROUND OF THE DISCLOSURE

This disclosure relates to pickleball. More particularly, it relates to a way to play pickleball with three players in a driveway, on a patio on any concrete or similar surface.

Pickleball is one of the fastest growing sports in America, and there is a need to launch a new way for families, friends and competitors to play together. Pickleball is typically played on a dedicated pickleball court, with a player on opposite sides of the net. There is no current pickleball game which allows three players to play together. The game of the present disclosure provides the perfect balance of training for all levels of pickleball players with a fun, exciting game to play with a group of friends.

Thus there is a need for a multi-player, three-sided portable net system forming a circular playing surface for pickleball games which allows for game play on a court, a playground, a driveway or patio.

SUMMARY OF THE DISCLOSURE

The present disclosure recreates the game of pickleball. More particularly, it relates to a base stand and game for playing pickleball with three or more players and provides a new opportunity for the pickleball game market. In specifically, it provides a smaller, more confined paddle game. Normal pickleball is played on a court that is 44 feet long, whereas the present disclosure uses a 22 foot diameter circle. This allows more families the opportunity to play in their driveway or smaller spaces.

The present disclosure allows three plus people a chance to play together, which cannot occur on existing pickleball nets and courts. This is made possible by a unique, three-way middle base, which will be described below.

In accordance with one aspect of the disclosure, the circular playing surface or court is new to the paddle sport market. The circle is preferably made by an 11 ft. cord attached to a chalk holder, enabling someone to easily switch out the piece of chalk when needed. One side of the cord is attached to the base and the other is simply walked around the circle to draw a temporary boundary line. There is nothing like this on the market at this time.

In accordance with another aspect of the disclosure, a three-way court allows three or more people the ability to play pickleball.

In accordance with another aspect of the disclosure, a base stand for multi-player pickleball has a central post and three elongated members extending from the post substantially perpendicular to the post. The elongated members are oriented about 120 degrees apart. Three legs extend from a distal end of the post to support the base stand on a playing surface.

In accordance with another aspect of the disclosure, a method of providing a three person pickleball game includes providing a base stand having a central post and elongated members extending laterally from the central post; attaching a line at a first end to the base stand and attaching chalk to a second end of the line; walking in a circle around the base and drawing a circle on a surface with the chalk to form a circular playing area; and attaching nets to the elongated members to form three net areas around the circular playing area.

In accordance with another aspect of the disclosure, a circular playing surface allows the game to be played in a smaller area than regular pickleball.

In accordance with another aspect of the disclosure, a unique three-way middle base stand is provided.

In accordance with still another aspect of the disclosure, a chalk holder is provided to form a court anywhere.

In accordance with another aspect of the disclosure, multiple game options are provided with any number of players (3+).

In accordance with another aspect of the disclosure, a three-way net that meets in the middle and slides over the middle pole and base.

Still other aspects of the disclosure will become apparent from a reading and understanding of the following detailed description.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The disclosure is herein disclosed, by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings, wherein:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a three-way pickleball stand in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the disclosure.

FIG. 2 is a front elevational view of the three-way pickleball stand of FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a top plan view of the three-way pickleball stand of FIG. 2.

FIG. 4 is a top plan view of a three-way pickleball court in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of the three-way pickleball court of FIG. 4.

FIG. 6 is a top plan view of a singles pickleball game court in accordance with another embodiment of the disclosure.

FIG. 7 is a top plan view of a doubles triple pickleball court in accordance with another embodiment of the disclosure.

FIG. 8 is a top plan view of a king of the court triple pickleball court in accordance with another embodiment of the disclosure.

FIG. 9 is a top plan view of an around the post triple pickleball court in accordance with another embodiment of the disclosure.

FIG. 10 is a perspective view of the base stand and nets forming the three-way pickleball court.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

Referring to FIGS. 1-10, the present disclosure relates to a multi-player, three-sided portable new system usable on a circular playing surface for playing pickleball. The design of the present disclosure provides the perfect balance of training for all levels of pickleball players with a fun, exciting game to play with a group of friends.

Referring now to FIGS. 4 and 5, is a smaller, more confined paddle game (normal pickleball is played on a court that is 44 feet long) played in a preferably 22 foot diameter circle10. This allows more families the opportunity to play in their driveway, patio or any suitable surface.

The game gives three plus people a chance to play together, which cannot happen on a normal pickleball net and court. This is made possible by a unique, three-way middle base stand described in detail below.

The circular playing surface or court 10 is also unique to the paddle sport market. The circle is preferably made by an 11 ft. cord attached to a chalk holder, enabling someone to easily switch out the piece of chalk when needed. One side of the cord is attached to the base 20 and the other is simply walked around the circle to draw a temporary chalk boundary line 11 to form a circular play area.

The net has three roughly eleven foot portions 12, 14, 16 which are equally spaced apart around the court and each forms an angle A of approximately 120 degree angle between adjacent nets.

Referring now to the FIGS. 1, 2, 3 and 10, a unique three-way middle base stand 20 is provided to facilitate three person play.

Specifically, the stand 20 has a central tube or pipe 22 from which three elongated pipes are tubes 24, 26, 28 laterally extend. The three tubes 24, 26, 28 are used to attach the nets 12,14,16 to and form the three-way net arrangement of FIGS. 4,5 and 10. Specifically, net tubes or pipes 25, 27,29 are connected to and extend radially from elongated members 24,26,28. Net portions 12,14,16 are connected to tubes 25,27,29.

Referring now to FIG. 10, a pole or tube 40 extends from central tube 22. Nets 12, 14, 16 extend from the tube 40 and further have end posts 42, 44, 46 which are positioned about 120 degrees apart at distal ends 13,15,17 of nets 12,14,16. The three-way nets 12, 14, 16 meet in the middle and slide over the middle pole 40 and base stand 20.

The bottom of the base stand has three feet 30, 32, 34 which are preferably rectangular in appearance and also are spaced apart by an angle B of approximately 120 degrees. The base can be formed of any suitable material, steel or reinforced plastic. The three tubes 24, 26, 28 and the base 30 may be welded to or otherwise secured or fastened to central post 22.

To set up the game, a player begins by taking the piece of chalk at the end of the cord and extending the cord to the full 11 ft radius. The person walks the chalk and cord around in a circular motion until it connects and forms the entire cord at a 22 foot diameter. This then forms the circular playing surface 11. The net system 12, 14, 16 is then connected to tubes 25,27, and 29 which are connected to arms 24, 26, 28 of the base 22.

There are various iterations of the game that can be played. Several versions of the game will now be discussed:

A) The Singles Game

(see FIG. 6): How to win the game: The goal is to outlast your opponents and be the last player standing. A point is given to the player who gets scored on or hits an error. Once a player reaches 11 points, that player is out of the game. Game continues as a one-on-one match until there is only one player remaining. That player is the winner.

To start the game, the youngest person begins the first game with the serve. The games to follow all begin with the person who won the previous game.

The player who receives the previous point begins with the serve. The server must be within a foot of either post and must serve to the player opposite that post. On a serve, the ball can bounce before contact or be hit straight out of the air. The serve must be contacted below the waist (just like in regular pickleball games).

Gameplay: the ball must bounce inside of the lines. It can only bounce once and must be returned to either player. The ball may not be volleyed out of the air.

Receiving a point: if a player hits a ball into the net, out of bounds or straight out of the air without the ball bouncing first, the player receives a point. A player may also receive a point by having a ball bounce in and out of their space without a successful return. If a player hits the ball into the opposing team's net before the ball bounces, the player that hit the ball receives a point. If the ball bounces on the playing surface before hitting the net, the player whose space it bounced in receives the point.

Announcing the score: the server announces the score by stating his or her score first, proceeded by the score of the player on their left and then the last player.

B) The Doubles Game

(see FIG. 7): The same rules apply as a three-person game but with 2 players per space.

Players must rotate serve each point, but are able to stand on either side of their team's space.

C) The King of the Court Game

(see FIG. 8): a “king” space is designated. The player in that position begins each point by serving.

The player who loses the point is out and must go to the end of the line. Everyone moves up a position and play continues.

This is a fun game with no true winner or the serves may be counted when each player/team serves while in the king position. The player/team with the most serves after a given amount of time is the winner.

King of the Court can be played with one person per space or two.

D) The Around the Post Game

(see FIG. 9): this is a perfect game for a large group. This is a fast-paced game that gets everyone involved.

Play begins with one person in each space and a line formed behind each space with an equal number of people in each line (for example, if there are twelve people playing, three will be in the spaces and three stand behind each space.

One player serves to the person on their left. That person continues play by playing the ball to the space on their left. Play continues by hitting the ball to the left. The fun part of the game is each time a player hits the ball, the player rotates around the pole and jump into the back of that line.

The person who makes an error or loses the point is eliminated from the game.

Play continues until there is only one person remaining.

Another option for playing is instead of using paddles, a rubber ball (kickball, volleyball, spikeball, etc.) may be used. This game would be played the same way as you would play 4-square.

Instead of using a paddle, the person's hands hit the ball over the net. The ball must bounce before playing it back over. A “king” space is designated and rotate players forward as others get out.

The exemplary embodiments have been discussed with reference to the preferred embodiments. Obviously, modifications and alterations will occur to others upon reading and understanding the preceding detailed description. It is intended that the exemplary embodiment be construed as including all such modifications and alterations therefore and they come with the scope of the above disclosure and the equivalents thereof.