How to Play TYPTI

1. The Basics

TYPTI is a fast-paced racquet sport played on a standard pickleball court, in singles or doubles.

2. Scoring: Games, Sets & Matches

TYPTI scoring works on three levels: a game is a short scoring stretch (details below), a set is the first to 5 games, and a match is a single set or a best 2 of 3 sets. A TYPTI set takes roughly as long to play as one pickleball game (first to 11).

A set is won by the first player/team to reach 5 games, and you don't need to win by two — a score of 5-4 wins the set outright, with no tiebreaker.

Each individual game is won by winning three points in a row. The server calls out the score. These are the possible game scores:

• 1-up / 2-up — the server has won 1 or 2 points in a row (the server is "up").
• 1-down / 2-down — the receiver has won 1 or 2 points in a row (the server is "down").

If the score is 2-up and the server wins the next point, they win the game. If the score is 2-down and the receiver wins the next point, they win the game.

3. Serving

Serving the ball is much like pickleball:

• Serve underhand — either off the bounce or in the air — contacting the ball below your waist.
• The serve must land in the diagonal service box on the opponent's side (the kitchen line counts as in).
• The same two-bounce rule applies: the ball must bounce once on each side before it can be volleyed.
• There are no lets — a serve that clips the net and still lands in the correct box is good, and play continues as normal.

Here's the biggest difference from pickleball: a single player serves for the entire game. (In doubles, which partner serves which game follows a rotation — see Doubles Court Position below.)

The first serve of every new game always starts from the right side. After that, your serve side depends on the current streak score, not the total points played:

• Odd streaks (1-up, 1-down) — serve from the left.
• Even streaks (2-up, 2-down) — serve from the right.

4. Doubles Court Position

In singles, this is simple — you always serve from the side dictated by the streak score, and your opponent receives on the diagonal, same as any other rally.

In doubles: if you just served the game for your team, you'll receive on the right side for the next game when your opponents are serving. If you received on the left side, you will serve the next game.

5. No Kitchen

Unlike pickleball, TYPTI has no non-volley zone. Step into the kitchen and hit balls out of the air to put them away — it's encouraged!

6. Full-Body Play & the Net Rebound Rule

TYPTI has two rules that don't exist in pickleball, both built around using your whole body, not just your racquet:

Hitting the ball: you can use any part of your body — hands, feet, head, etc. — to hit the ball over the net at any time. And if an opponent hits you directly with the ball and it rebounds back over the net, it's still a live ball and play continues.

Net rebound recovery: separately, if your (or your partner's) shot hits the net and doesn't make it over, either of you may use any part of your body, or any part of the racquet except the strings, to knock it over before it bounces twice. If it hits the net, fails to cross, and bounces twice, you lose the point.