What Is Stacking... and Why Does Everyone Suddenly Care?

Your first week playing pickleball is magical.

People are friendly. Everybody tells you "good shot" even when it lands in the next zip code. Life is good.

Then somebody says...

"So... do y'all stack?"

...Do we what? I came here to hit a yellow wiffle ball around. Now we're talking like we're planning a military operation.

The first time I watched people stack, I honestly thought they'd forgotten where they were supposed to stand. Everyone starts crossing. Walking behind each other. Pointing. Spinning. One person is yelling, "Switch!" The other person is already halfway across the court. Meanwhile, I'm just trying to remember if the score was 6-4 or 4-6.

So... what is stacking?

It's simply a way for doubles partners to keep playing on the side of the court they prefer. That's it. One player likes the left side. One likes the right. Instead of letting the serve rotation decide where everyone stands, they shuffle around after the serve so everybody ends up where they want to be.

See? That wasn't scary.

The funny part is how serious people get about it. You'll hear things like...

"We only stack when receiving."

"We only half stack."

"We stack unless Mercury is in retrograde."

Okay, maybe not that last one. Although I'm not completely convinced. I posted about this on Instagram—go watch it—and the comments were a goldmine.

Here's my opinion. If you're brand new... Don't worry about stacking. Seriously. You know what would help more? Getting your serve in. Learning not to sprint into the kitchen. Remembering the score without asking every single point. Those things move the needle way faster than learning advanced positioning.

Then one day... It just clicks. You'll play with someone who says, "Hey, let's stack." You'll do it a few times. You'll realize it isn't nearly as complicated as it looked from the next court over. And before you know it... You're explaining stacking to the new players.

Which is hilarious because three months ago you thought they were speaking another language.

Pickleball has a funny way of doing that. Everything sounds complicated... Until it doesn't.

Now if you'll excuse me... I finally figured out stacking. I'm still hitting easy volleys into the net. Turns out that was the real problem all along.

Oh, and if you're over 40 and looking to bounce back from a tough game, head to our Over 40 page. We’ve got compression sleeves that practically hug you back.

Did You Know?

We linked everything in our Amazon shop because who doesn’t love a new paddle? If you haven't yet, we use Dink and Dash to keep track of all this court hopping we do.

Because in the end, it’s all about having fun. And maybe a little bit of knee pain. But mostly fun.

Anyway, go stack and conquer. Or just hit the ball. Whatever floats your pickle.