Foot Fault!

There's nothing quite like being in the middle of a great, game-point rally and hearing those two devastating words coming from the referee. You quickly look down at your feet and there they are - two inches OFF the line. WTF?

There's a couple of things going on here - first, most people seem to have some kind of automatic recovery built into their subconscious that makes them instantly move back every time they step on the NVZ line. I refereed a game once where I caught one player FIVE times for foot faults, and every time he jumped back and then looked down. Needless to say, he was not particularly happy with me. Next time you are sitting out a game, watch the footwork around the NVZ. Highly entertaining.

The second thing that is happening is that most players are doing too much dancing around the NVZ. I teach people to establish themselves about 1-2 inches behind the NVZ line, with their feet a little wider than shoulder width apart. From there they should be able to hit balls after they land in the NVZ, or simply reach out and softly volley them back. Any further back and your ability to reach balls is weakened, and you are just opening up more space for your opponent to aim for. Get to the line and stay there.

Foot movement should be "as necessary" and mostly restricted to side-to-side, either with a simple one-foot reach (and back) or by a shuffle step. For the most part moving backwards at the NVZ should be avoided - you are only exposing yourself to attacks and risking a violation as you get back in position. And yes, you should definitely avoid running around a ball to get to a forehand position.

And all of this becomes even more important if you run into a two referee match, since each referee is now dedicated to watching his RIGHT side for foot faults.

See you at the NVZ.

Michael Gauthier
Rally Academy
​Pickleball Strokes