By Elliott West
“Pickleball is a paddle sport that combines elements of tennis, badminton, and ping-pong using a paddle and plastic ball with holes. It is a game that is appropriate for players of all ages and skill levels. Rules for pickleball are simple, making it a great introductory sport.”.
Definition of Pickleball.
Introduction
Pickleball is a sport that has taken the USA by storm. First invented as a children’s backyard game in 1965, it reminds me of the 80s craze of Swingball with a heavy leaning towards tennis. Played with a hollow plastic ball and paddles on a miniature-sized tennis court, it is now the most popular sport in Washington, becoming the official state sport in 2022. The beauty of Pickleball is that it can be played in a singles or doubles version and has led to a tribe following with both young and old eager to give it a go.
Played indoors and outdoors, this has quickly become a professional sport with several ex-baseball and American Football players ready to take the plunge and try and make a second career out of it. The beauty of Pickleball is that it can be played at a relaxed or frenzied pace This is a community sport that brings friends, neighbours and work colleagues for a few hours. It burns off calories and gets your muscles working. Now played in all 50 US states with 58 member countries taking part in International Championships with a National Championship played in Palm Springs, California since 2018.
The Lightbulb Moment
This game was first devised when the Pritchard and Bell families returned from golf on a Saturday afternoon in 1965. Initially wanting to play a family game of badminton, this was quickly abandoned when they couldn’t find the shuttlecock. So the two families challenged their children to devise a new game they could play to while away the hours. Their adult children started experimenting with different balls, racquets and even table tennis paddles on the badminton court.
The five-foot net was lowered to hip level to accomodate driving the ball. Initially played with a Wiffle ball, this was then changed to the Cosom Fun Ball with the table tennis paddles replaced with durable plywood paddles, first made in a basement workshop. This was a game that spread like wildfire through word of mouth. First through friends, families and neighbours of the inventors to going wider afield. A sport that spread from the Pacific NorthWest to Arizona, California, Hawaii and Florida. The first Pickleball tournament was held in 1976 at the Southcenter Athletic Club in Tukwila, Washington.
The Downside
Pickleball does have some drawbacks. It’s very noisy to play with the ball producing a sharp popping noise when it hits the racquet. This has caused a number of US households close to courts complaint about the noise. Some parks have had to ban the game because of the number of complaints but it hasn’t quelled the enthusiasm for this game. Trauma-inducing or not, the noise has been outweighed and this continues to be a sport that grows year on year.
Pickeball has also seen a sharp rise in injuries with players sustaining knee, back and shoulder complaints as a result of rigorous play. Rather than giving it up, these players have taken one for the team, seen out the injury and come back with vengeance to play this sport that can be highly energetic if you let it be.
