Code Of Conduct | Georgia Mountain Pickleball

GEORGIA MOUNTAIN PICKLEBALL CLUB (GMPC)

Code of Conduct/Court Etiquette

All GMPC Friends agree to the following code of conduct, which is established to provide an environment in which all players can play the game to the best of their abilities – and most importantly, to enjoy themselves while doing so.

The GMPC Code of Conduct is comprised of the following guidelines of behavior:

Facilities and Equipment

Everyone’s help to keep the courts and surrounding area as clean as possible is greatly appreciated.
Everyone’s help during set-up and tear-down of the courts is expected and greatly appreciated.
Treat the nets and all shared equipment with reasonable care to avoid unnecessary damage.

Sportsmanship and Behavior on and around the Courts

Always exhibit good sportsmanship when playing or spectating. This can include good-natured ribbing, but never includes ill-natured remarks. Do not taunt. Keep the game FUN.
Never use profanity.
Never direct any form of abuse at others.
Never throw your paddle, or otherwise purposely mishandle any equipment.
Be respectful of players of lesser ability; encourage their effort, praise their good shots, and don’t disparage their poor ones.
Always strive to make correct line calls, but remember that if there is any doubt, you must call the ball ‘in’.
Never go onto a court while a point is in progress if you are not part of the game.
Also, don’t walk behind a court while a point is being played. Wait until play stops, then move quickly behind the court from one side to the other.
When you pass through a door or gate, close it behind you.
Stop play whenever an unsafe situation arises, such as a stray ball on the court, or a player getting injured.
Do your best to warn those on adjacent courts if you hit a ball onto their court. Put your hand up so they know who to return the ball too. When returning a stray ball, make eye contact and return it when they are ready to receive it.
At the end of a game, collect and secure the ball so it does not go on another court in play.
Wear safe and proper attire, including shirts, and non-marking shoes for court sports. Proper eye protection is also strongly encouraged.
No offensive logos, designs, words, or phrases are allowed.
Do not play if your movement or judgment is impaired by alcohol or other drugs.
Accept responsibility for your guests and family members in attendance.
Follow USAPA Official Rules.
All activities in Towns County facilities must follow the Zero Tolerance Policy listed at www.townscountyrec.com. Here is the Zero Tolerance Policy.

Court Order of Play:

Whenever there are more players than can be accommodated by the number of available pickleball courts, some “order of play” rules are necessary to ensure everyone gets fair access for play time. While this is subject to change based on needs of the club, we currently are using the paddle stacking system for indoor courts

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When you arrive or are just coming off the court, stack your paddles at the end of the line. If you want to mix it up and not play with the same players again, stack your paddles in different piles. You can stack in singles, doubles or triples. The winners of the last game get the option to stack their paddles first at the end of the line. Note: do not stack your paddle on another pile further up the line if you see that there aren’t enough paddles in that stack. Always put your paddle at the ‘end’ of the line.

If 4 players want to play together, stack your paddles together. If your stack doesn’t have 4 paddles and you want to add paddle(s) to complete the pile, all 4 paddles must move to the end of the line. In other words, if there are not 4 paddles in your stack and you want to add a ‘favorite’ player(s), all 4 of you have to move to the end of the line.

If the stack at the head of the line is ready to go in and it doesn’t have 4 paddles, go down the line and add singles or doubles until you have 4 paddles. If all the other stacks have 4 paddles or there’s not a good ‘fit’ and you need more players to complete the first stack, players can choose to move up from one of the other stacks and if no one wants to, then anyone who is just coming off the court can choose to go right back out and play.

You may stack your paddle on a pile that doesn’t yet have 4 paddles as long as it’s at the end of the line. If you don’t want to do this, place your paddle as a single next to that stack. You can’t add your paddle to another stack unless it’s at the end of the line.

Do not ‘shuffle’ paddles……once a stack of 4 is established, do not make any change to that stack unless all players are in agreement, in which case any stacks that change will move to the end of the line (the only exception to all effected stacks moving to the end of the line is when only two stacks are involved and they’re side-by-side which will have no effect on the wait time of any other stacks).

Basically, this will eliminate line-jumping which makes it fair for all the players. There are ways to circumvent the system that you may discover but, as always, the honor system should prevail. I realize this all may sound pretty confusing, but, it’s a pretty simple system once you get the ‘hang’ of it.