On this page you'll find some more detailled information regarding the different types of sessions we offer and how you can use them - we hope you will find it useful !

If you a are new to Pickleball
Induction Sessions

If you want to find out if Pickleball is for you, we offer induction sessions for players of all ages that are new to the game.

  • We run induction sessions on Thursdays from 9:30am to 11am and on Sundays from 1pm to 2:30pm.
  • Your first induction session is free, and we provide paddles and balls for you with all induction sessions.
  • After you've attended at least one introductory session you can generally book into any session tagged as Social - ask your induction session coach if you're unsure. after
  • Do you want to give it a try? Start by becoming a casual member (there's no cost with the casual membership), then book into your first induction session.

How do I book in ?
Booking into a session

  • If you want to attend a session, you need to book in via our website. In order to prepare the sessions we need to know in advance how many players we will have; so we unfortunately cannot accept walkins.
  • In order to book in, you need to become a member of the Geelong Pickleball Club Inc. first. We offer three different membership types, and our casual membership is free. If you're not sure how often you will play we recommend that you initially sign up as a casual member - you can upgrade your membership at any time if you think you would benefit more from one of the paid membership types.
  • Once you completed the membership application you will get a login and password that you can use to log into your membership account - if you don't want to manage another hard to remebmer password you can alternatively also log in with just your email address and a magic link we then send you via email.
  • Once logged in you can update your membership details, upgrade your membership type - and of course book into sessions !
  • Most sessions currently go for 2 hours and attract a standard session fee of $10 - this gets discounted by 10% or even 20% if you opted for one of the paid membership types, so if you play frequently it is actually more cost effective to go for one of the paid membership types.
  • If you are a casual member, you can start to book into a session exactly 5 days before it starts; some sessions are marked as Early Bird - those allow for bookings to occur earlier; you can click on the Early Bird to find out when. A session that is marked as Live! is open for bookings.
  • The booking fee for the session is displayed and you pay with a debit or credit card. If you have to withdraw from a session you generally get the paid amount credited - any future booking will then use that account credit, which is displayed in your membership account, first. If you withdraw too close to the session then you won't be credited anymore - you are shown the details on the withdrawal options after you booked in to the session.
  • We recommend that you get to the session at least 5 minutes before the session starts; depending on the number of players attending we are asking players for their help in setting up the net for the court they initially play on. When the session starts the Duty Manager(s) will introduce themselves and explain the session format and will let you know the court you will be playing on initially. If you have a medical condition that may impact your ability to participate, if you feel unwell or if you have any other question or concern, please let one of the Duty Managers know.
  • Pickleball is a fun sport that brings people together - we want everybody to have a good time when they're playing at the Y. Play hard - play fair !

Which way do you like your eggs ?
Session Formats

  • Typical session formats are introductory sessions, open play, round robin, league play, win-up/lose-down, Humpty Dumpty to name a few. Essentially the session format describes what is happening during the session. Some sessions may set aside a number courts for a particular session format. We will play almost exclusively doubles (sessions that offer singles or skinny singles play will be clearly marked as such), so you will always play with someone else on your side of the court.
  • Introductory Session: This format is for players that are new to pickleball. The club will usually have several pickleball coaches present at these sessions and the coaches will go through a series of drills with you to teach you certain elements of the game, i.e. basic rules, scoring, court positioning, strategy, serving, return of serve, drives, 3rd shot drop, dinking, volleys, lobs - and there'll be time to practice and play too ! It is recommended that new players attend 3 introductory sessions to get the most from the introduction program.
  • Open Play: In this format you basically arrange the court allocation between yourselves; games are generally played to 11 and when a game ends all players come off first to give players currently sitting out first dibs to get on. If there is no players sitting out you can also use this session format to play with your mates, i.e. keep the same players on the one court, although we do encourage mingling !
  • Round Robin: In this format the Duty Manager will roster games with the goal of having you play someone else in each round. Most of of the time round robin play is time based, so each game goes for say 10 minutes, then all teams come off, and after a short break the Duty Manager announces the teams and court allocations for the next round.
    Some round robin sessions may be marked as sessions - DUPR is a popular rating system in the Pickleball world and it can help you find the right bracket to play in when you want to play in a tournament. In sessions marked as the club will submit all scores to DUPR (the only exception is games with a score lower than 6 which cannot be used for DUPR ratings) so that all participants will have a DUPR rating at the end of the session.
  • League Play: Leagues are a competitive format where you compete against players in your grade bracket for the top spot on the ladder. We plan to start the first league in mid August - so stay tuned!
  • Win-Up/Lose-Down: In up down play the Duty Manager will set up an initial court allocation and then start a timed game (usually 10 minutes). At the end of the 10 minutes the winning team on the court moves up one court (or stays on the court if they are already on the top court); the losing team moves down one court. Players always split up after a game and form a new team on the court they end up on, ideally with a player they haven't played with before during the session. If there is players sitting on the bench then the losing team on the bottom court comes onto the bench and two players from the bench get on. In some sessions we may split the courts into groups based on grading.
  • Humpty Dumpty is a Win-up Lose-Down format with a twist: You're playing doubles where winners go up a court (and then split to form 2 new teams) and losers go down a court (and then split as well). However if you lose on the top court, you go down to the very bottom (or the bench if there is subs). Humpty Dumpty had a great fall indeed !

Session and Player Grading
Which level do you want to play at?

  • We believe that in any sport that is played competitively (i.e. where you keep score), games are most enjoyable when the players involved are roughly on the same level. Noone likes to get thrashed - and noone likes to win without any serious opposition. This is the same in every one of the more established sports such as footy, tennis etc. Having the players in our club graded allows us to set up sessions where players that have similar abilities get to play each other - this also makes it easier to organise competitions or leagues down the track.
  • All sessions are tagged with one or more grades, i.e. Social Intermediate 2 Intermediate 3 Advanced . A session that includes the Social tag can be attended by any member that wants to play socially only and thus doesn't require a club grading. If a session is not tagged as a Social session then you need to have a club grading matching the session grading to book in.
    Examples:
    Open Session All players , i.e. both social (ungraded) players, as well as players graded either Intermediate or Advanced can book in. Initially, most of our sessions will be run using these tags. Depending on the session format some courts may be allocated based on grading; the Duty Manager(s) on the day will explain that to you.
    Social Only social (ungraded) players can book in
    Intermediate 3 Advanced Players graded either Intermediate 3 or Advanced can book in
    Intermediate 2 Only Players graded Intermediate 2 can book in
  • The details on how to get a club grading are described here; if you would like to get a club grading via a grading session you can book into one of the sessions tagged with either Intermediate 2, Intermediate 3 or Advanced, provided there is spots available for grading - most of these sessions will offer a number of spots for currently ungraded players to attend the session to get graded.

And last but not least...
Our Committee

Our club committee is here to help with any questions you may have. You can also contact us via the Contact Form on our website or send us a message via

 
Image of Caroline Jordan
Caroline Jordan

President

  • president@gpci.au
Image of Sue Shannon
Sue Shannon

Vice President

  • vicepresident@gpci.au
Image of Jennifer Climas-Dockhorn
Jennifer Climas-Dockhorn

Treasurer

  • treasurer@gpci.au
Image of Patrick Dockhorn
Patrick Dockhorn

Secretary

  • secretary@gpci.au
 
Image of Andy Butson
Andy Butson

Committee Member

Image of Leigh Dunn
Leigh Dunn

Committee Member

Image of Deborah Sansom
Deborah Sansom

Committee Member