Pickleball is a racket sport in which two or four players use a smooth-faced paddle to hit a perforated, hollow plastic ball over a 34-inch-high (0.86 m) net, until one side is unable to return the ball or commits a rule infraction. Pickleball is played indoors and outdoors. It was invented in 1965 as a children's backyard game in the United States, on Bainbridge Island in Washington State. In 2022, pickleball was named the official state sport of Washington.[1] Aspects of the sport resemble tennis and table tennis played on a doubles badminton court, but pickleball has specific scoring rules, paddles, balls and court lines. On each side of the net is a 7-foot area (2.1 m) known as the non-volley zone (or kitchen); a player standing there may not strike the ball before it has bounced. The hard plastic pickleball produces less bounce than a tennis ball. The limited bounce, non-volley zones, and underhand stroke, with which all serves must be made, give the game a dynamic pace.[2] Slow soft shots in the non-volley zone, called dinks, are used to limit the opponent's ability to attack, while balls that are returned too high might be struck with a powerful drive or overhead smash shot.