While a papyrus wiffle ball and paddle were recently unearthed in an Egyptian pyramid, the modern version of PickleT — the fastest‑growing sport in Mount Alexander — dates back to early 2023. This was when its inventor, Hayden “The Gazelle” Eastwood, beloved president of CLTC and future Australian of the Year, set out to create a version of pickleball that could be played on a tennis court.
“It’s the second most frequent question I get asked — what does the T stand for? Some people think it’s Tennis, others guess Team or Three. I even had a guy who offered me a lot of money to claim it stood for Trump — it really is the greatest game ever — but the truth is much more mundane. I went through twenty variations while developing PickleT: PickleA only took off in Queensland, PickleB was too much like pickleball, PickleC attracted the wrong sort of people, and so on, all the way to PickleT. So, the T can stand for anything you want — just don’t call it Tickleball.”*
PickleT is played using the service boxes on a regular tennis court. The net is lowered to standard pickleball height, and the kitchen line is positioned at the same depth as in pickleball.
There are three main positions on the court:
- Busser (or “Dish Pig” in Australia) – cleans up the points.
- Server – serves the ball.
- Chief – oversees the kitchen.
An optional fourth position, the Diner, remains off court during play — usually enjoying refreshments.
“The game really took off with hospitality workers who played to wind down after long shifts — hence the position names. To make it easier for our Northern Hemisphere players, the rotation of positions follows the Coriolis Effect in an anticlockwise direction. In some countries, PickleT is known as ‘The Wheel of Life’, because you start as a Busser, move to a Server, then a Chief, and finally retire as the Diner before being reborn. I guess you reach Nirvana at the end of the match.”*
Players rotate through the positions anticlockwise after every winning rally (whether serving or receiving), which means as Heraclitus might have put it, “No one can ever step on the same PickleT court twice.”
What’s Different from Pickleball
While many rules are similar to pickleball — including the two‑bounce rule, scoring points only on serve, and sets played to 11 points (win by two) — PickleT introduces a few unique twists.
- The Serve: The underhand service motion remains the same as pickleball (below‑hip upward motion from behind the baseline from the duce side of the court), but the ball may land anywhere on the court beyond the kitchen and can be returned by either the Server or Busser.
- The Kitchen: Only the Chief may enter the kitchen during play.
- The Chief: During the two‑bounce phase, the Chief must stand with one foot on the corner of the kitchen and sideline (choosing which corner before each rally). They cannot participate in the rally until after the two‑bounce phase ends, at which point they may enter and exit the kitchen freely.
- Rotating Positions: The successful team rotates positions after every winning rally, regardless of whether they were serving or receiving.
- Exchanging Serve: The team that wins a rally serves the next point (with rotation). A Server does not continue serving multiple points in a row, as rotation occurs after each successful rally.
*Quotes allegedly attributed to Hayden Eastwood