I was raised in a pickleball fanatic family where everybody loved to play this game,had gettogether for recreational tournaments, and celebrated each other’s wins. I started playing this game with my mother. Initially, I used to play singles matches with my mom in a specific area of the court rather than using the whole court. 

Because I was small, my height was less, and it was easy to practice with an adult in half-court. She used to play with me on the left or right side of the court at a time. Who would have known that my mom was preparing me to play skinny singles too? Yes, it was actually a pattern of skinny or mini singles. 

This practice helped me adapt to the faster gameplay year by year as my body muscles and logic for strategic shots developed. Due to those lessons, I find it easy to play any match in this game. So, if you are also a passionate pickler and want to know about the iconic skinny singles, this article will give you potential tips! We’ll explore the basics of this form of play, how to play it, court dimensions, rules, drills to improve it, etc. Let’s dive into the article to learn more about it!

What is Skinny Singles Pickleball?

 Skinny singles or mini singles are the matches played on the half area of the court per point (According to USAPA). They are also called ‘half-court singles‘. Only half the area of the court is utilized during each rally. 

You can use either the right (even) or left (odd) side of the court. And, the player positions decide which court will get utilized for these singles.  Also, an extra line is added in the court. That line extends the centreline of the court through each non-volley zone. 

Skinny singles acts as fantastic drills to control the positioning of the pickleball ball in the courts. So it will improve your ability to hit and aim to land the ball straight forward or in the cross court. It will help you to become an expert in positioning and control of ball in the game.

I love playing skinny singles with my girlfriend. She is always fascinated by how less tiring and more logical these skinny singles are! She even won a silver medal in a regional mini-single tournament.

Before 2021, this game form was not in play in official matches. But, just like my girlfriend adored this form, the craze for mini singles was rising among young picklers. USAPA noticed this demand. They researched and brought new instructions for this form. They approved mini-singles officially from 1st April 2022.

Court dimensions:

The answer is logical! Only one side of the court will be used for this form. That means half of the court is used.

Also, note that the sideline, baseline, and centerline are always considered a part of the court. Let’s look into the rules below for understanding this form of play in detail.

Rules for this form:

I was amazed and thrilled to know such strategic rules of this form. I have explained the basic yet most important rules below for your help:

1. Before any skinny singles match, a line must be drawn extending from the centerline through the kitchen area. You can use white tape to do this.
2. Only one side of the court will be in play during each rally.
3. Player positions are determined according to players’ scores. It applies to the server and the receiver. Let me explain it in easy words:
   If the player’s score is even, the player plays from the right, and that side of the court is used in play at the end for each rally.
   If the player’s score is odd. The player plays from the left. And, that odd side is used in the play at the end for each rally.
4. You must serve the shot that lands in the bounds of the opponent’s court that is in play.
5. The outer sideline and the baseline should showcase two of the three boundaries for the court that is in play.

Scoring for this form:

The skinny singles scoring is also similar to singles or doubles matches:

1. Players can win the matches in mini-singles by 11 points with a margin of 2.
2. The score can go to 11, 15, or 21 in official tournaments. Here also, players need a margin of 2 points to win! 

Kindly read this detailed guide to learn more about the scoring system of this game! 

Pickleball singles vs. skinny singles

Court Dimension:

As discussed above, the court size for single (and for doubles too) is 44 by 20.

In mini singles, the court size becomes half. I.e. 22 by 10.

Player position and court area:

In a normal singles match, players can use the volley zone of their side of the court to serve the ball. The server serves from the right on the even score and the left on the odd score. The receiver always lines up diagonally across the court according to the server’s position.

In skinny singles, both players can play on one side of the court (down the line) or diagonally opposite sides of the court (cross-court). We’ll see about these types in detail in the following section.  

Lines:

The centreline remains as it is in normal singles.

But, in this form, the central line is counted as the other sideline to the side of their net.

Boundaries:

The four sides of the court are boundaries of the singles court.

But, in this form, the centreline and baseline indicate the two of the three boundaries of the court in play.

How to play Skinny Singles?

There are two main ways of playing this form, such as:

• Cross court
• Down the line

I have explained each of them in the following context:

• Cross Court:

I love cross-court mini singles more than down the line because they make us feel more athletic, there is more body movement, and we need to apply strategic shots to beat the opponent in a rally. 

This form of game is played like singles. But it has one exception- you can serve the ball in the half-area of the court from which the ball was served. If you fail to do this, it is counted as a fault and the rally ends.

The game starts from 0-0. The server serves the ball from the right side of the court in a cross-court direction into the opponent’s court. Now, you have to remember that-

1. When the score is even, you must serve all upcoming shots from the right of yours to the right side of the court of opponent.
2. When the server’s score is odd, the shots are served from the left side of yours to the left side of the opponent.

• Down the line/ Across to each other:

As the name indicates, the servers and receiver play this form of the game across the net from each other. They change the side with each serve according to the scores. 

If the score is even, they play from the right side of the court. Vice versa, they play from the left side of the court when the score is odd (e.g. 3-2)

To know more about how to play mini singles, kindly watch the following video:

How To Play Skinny Singles – Lesson & Drill with Sarah Ansboury

Tips to strengthen your game in skinny singles:

• Use the third shot drop:

Make a drop shot on the third serve to increase your opponent’s challenges. A payer expects normal serves to continue the rally. But, a master drop shot shows your refined skills and competition levels to your opponent. 

• Surprise them with Lobs:

I also like to add lobs if I feel that my opponent has a weak overhead or slow mobility. If he expects a forehand overhead as a returning serve for normal skinny singles, I prefer a deeper lob shot that goes at the backhand side of the opponent’s court.

• Use dinks or fast rallies:

I prefer dinks for cross-court mini singles to take control of the rally. I try to hit this soft shot as it bounces from the NVZ line. This makes it harder for the opponent to return these shots in a fast rally and he may commit a fault while attempting it.

• Focus on advanced play closer to the net:

If you want to play more competitively, get closer to the net near the NVZ line to serve the ball. Like singles and doubles, more points are scored in skinny singles near the net. 

The key to takeaway is you move into the kitchen as soon as you serve the shot or return a shot. If I feel, I have insufficient time to get into the NVZ, I prefer to serve a deeper lob. So that I can enter the NVZ till the time my opponent returns that lob. 

You can start from the middle of the court for the first shot. Then, the player will return it. Now,  you can quickly move to the kitchen line for the third shot and hit the serve from there. Your opponent may startle or may not be prepared for this move. Chances of his fault become more in these cases! 

• Move your opponent around the court: 

This classic tip applies to all kinds of matches, including this form. You have to hit different shots at each time to confuse your opponent and increase difficulty.

You can perform a lob, drop, drive, dink, etc., at each time for your serving turn. These shots will be unexpected for him. He will find it challenging to make himself prepare for returning these shots.

• Maintain your rhythm in shots from corners:

Imagine that you and your opponent are competing in crosscourt mini-singles. You guys are on the left side of the court and performing challenging dinks to each other. I have observed that the opponents do not move to the middle area of the court between each dink

In such cases, you have to understand that your court has a remarkable T-shaped angle from your sideline to the baseline in the middle of the court. You can take advantage of this angle, hit drops or straight shots, and cut the dinks from your opponent so that he will change his battling position.

Drills to improve it:

Do you know skinny single is itself a drill for mastering doubles and singles matches? I used to practice skinny singles with my mom in my childhood. She was preparing me doubles and singles with these practice drills in the half of the court. 

These drills actually enhance your skill sets, strategic thinking, and quick decisions. It may seem easier to start the game on the half-sized court between two people. But, at the end of the game, it becomes logically challenging to make 11 points with a margin of 2 to win this game. That’s why I always say, this is a game of logic and athleticism.

When you are alone and you want to practice for skinny singles, these drills will help you:

1. Perform Drop shots:

Mastering this form of the game needs the practice of different shots like a lob, dink, drive, serve, etc. Drop is the most important shot for this. Here’s how you do it:

• You can perform static drops where you drop the ball at your feet.
• Let it bounce upwards. 
• Now, you have to hit the ball from the center of the paddle cross court or across the net just like you do in skinny singles.
• You can keep 9-10 balls with you at a time and hit drop one by one. You have to focus on your wrist movement and hand-eye coordination. This helps to improve quick and natural decision-making in fast rallies.
• Try to hit them from the corner of your side of the court to level up the difficulty.

You can use a wall to serve the drop shot if you do not have a court at that time. Just bounce the ball and hit the drop.

2. Practice from all possible angles:

Many players focus on performing shots from the middle of the court or baseline. But, if you think deeply, you can score more points when to hit serves from the corners. 

Corners give you wide space for hitting the ball in the opponent’s court. Here’s how you do it:

• Stand at the corner of the court where a T shape forms, and perform different types of shots from there.
• You can try dinks, drives, lobs, etc., each time to enhance your skills.
• Try moving from the middle of the court to corner man times for better footwork.

Pickleball Skinny singles tournaments:

Here’s a list of popular mini-single tournaments that you should know:

1. CTPA Skinny Singles– These iconic matches were conducted at GRAHAM PARK, Cranberry Township Pennsylvania, on Sep 14, 2023
2. SPC Club Tournament- Men’s Skinny Singles- These matches were conducted on April 05, 2024 at Lincoln Park Pickleball Courts
3. Lifetime pickleball mini singles: These matches were conducted on Feb 03, 2024 – Feb 04, 2024, at Life Time Castle Creek, Indiana.
4. Macon pickleball Skinny Singles (Women’s)-  These matches were conducted at Tattnall Pickleball and Tennis Center – 1155 College St Macon, Georgia United States on  Oct 31- Dec 13, 2021.
5. Fairfield Glad Pickleball Classic: These USA Pickleball No-ref sanctioned matches were conducted on July 26 – July 28 and were organized by William Taylor.

Conclusion:

I am thrilled to see my girlfriend win skinny singles. From getting to know this form to ace it in legal matches, I have gained many new experiences. I hope you have got valuable insights into this form, its rules,  and its tips to strengthen it. Don’t forget to use its drills to enhance your shots and footwork! Happy playing skinny singles!