Pickleball at Surrey Downs
What is Pickleball?
Pickleball is an American game - a mixture of tennis, badminton and table tennis, played on a badminton sized court. Pickleball can be played indoors or outdoors. At Surrey Downs Pickleball, we play indoors at Tadworth Leisure Centre on badminton courts.
View rules of the game at PickleballEngland
Sessions
All of our sessions are organised with all players booking their space in advance. The games can be either mixed or seeded doubles games. There is the opportunity to play singles if court space permits.
Tuesday
6:00 pm – 8:00 pm
Thursday
7:30 pm – 9:30 pm
Friday
7:00 pm – 9:00 pm
​Sunday
9:00 am – 11:00 am
Seeded Play
Doubles games are organised based on your skill level, for close, competitive games.
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Mixed Play
Doubles games are organised with mixed skill levels on each court.
Skill Levels
All players at the club are either 3.0 or above, or, if recent joiners, have the potential to reach 3.0 within a reasonable timeframe. At present, players are essentially required to assess their own playing level when playing in tournaments etc outside of the club. Surrey Downs has compiled a comprehensive list of skills we expect our members to be able to demonstrate at the various levels.
Dynamic Universal Pickleball Rating
A new global rating system is being rolled out in England called DUPR (Dynamic Universal Pickleball Rating) which will enable all players to obtain a rating or level based on their competition performance. This is in its early days in England. Players at Surrey Downs are encouraged to register with DUPR.
Competitive Play
South East Interclub Pickleball League
Surrey Downs enters teams in the above doubles league which runs March to November. Details of the league format are given here. Participation in the league gives members the opportunity for interclub competitive play as well as social interaction.
Tournaments
There are lots of opportunities to play pickleball at home and abroad. Tournaments and festivals enable players at all levels to experience competitive play and to hone their pickleball skills. Both pickleballEngland and Pickleball Global websites, see below, provide relevant information.
Pickleball England
Pickleball England is the organising body for pickleball in England and is working towards recognition of pickleball by Sport England. Their website is a useful source of information on tournaments, festivals, coaching events etc. We ask our members to register with Pickleball England as this enables the body to track the growth of pickleball in England. Registration with Pickleball England is free via their website and it enables members to participate in their events.
Pickleball Global
This website is another useful source of information on pickleball tournaments around the world. Many of our club members have already attended tournaments in Spain, Thailand and Nepal to name but a few places.
Pickleball Equipment
There are a number of pickleball equipment providers in England, including Amazon UK. Surrey Downs recommends players try out various paddles before buying their own. There is some useful guidance on selecting your perfect paddle here.
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Retailers worth a look are:
