Odd one out

Someone’s late, someone had to leave, or the fourth never showed. Odd one out turns three players into a real game, and the odd one out gets the hardest job on the court.

Setup

• All three at the kitchen line: two on one side, one alone on the other.
• The single player only covers half the court: agree which half before you start (straight across from one of the pair, or cross-court).
• The pair have the whole width of their side to cover.

How it works

1. Any player starts the rally with a dink.
2. The pair may only hit into the single player’s half. A ball into the other half is a point lost.
3. The single player can hit anywhere on the pair’s side, and should: the gap between them is the target.
4. Everything else is a normal dink rally: speed-ups and lobs allowed, kitchen rules apply.

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1. 1P1 and P2 against P3, all at the kitchen line. P3 only has to cover half the court: the half across from P2.
2. 2P2 starts with a dink into P3's half, the only half the pair may hit into.
3. 3P3 can hit anywhere, so P3 goes at the gap between P1 and P2. P1 closes the middle and takes it.
4. 4P1 sends it wide, to the edge of P3's half, and P3 has to move.
5. 5Stretched, P3 floats one.
6. 6P2 puts it away into P3's half, behind where P3 was. A point each for P1 and P2.

Score

Everyone keeps their own score. The pair both score when they win a rally; the single player scores when they win one. Every 5 rallies, rotate: the single player joins the pair and someone else goes alone. First to 11 wins.

Turn the dial

Easier for the single player: shrink their half to the kitchen only: the pair may only dink.

Harder for the pair: they may only hit to the single player’s backhand side of their half, so they have to place every ball, not just keep it in.