Aspring Champion: Pickleball

Published July 8, 2013 | By Lisa

Don’t know what Pickleball is? Well until four days ago, I didn’t either. Pickleball is a sport that incorporates tennis, table tennis, and badminton. Close friends of ours challenged us to a game on the 4th of July and we have been hooked ever since. It’s a great way to get in some fun and exercise to boot. It’s one of those sports that doesn’t leave you feeling like you’re going to pass out from exhaustion, but you do feel it (especially the next day). I have never been a tennis player, but what I think I like best about this sport is the ball is like a harder version of a wiffle ball, therefore it moves slower than a tennis ball would. I like that because it gives you more time to get in front of the ball, but don’t let the slower ball fool you. You are putting in some work, moving front, back and side to side, just like in tennis – you are definitely going to sweat!

The court is very similar to a badminton court, as you can see in the illistration to the left (but larger) and striped like a tennis court. We haven’t played on a actual pickleball court, play at the local high school tennis court – which has worked just fine. We use the same foul lines that are set for a normal game of tennis, except the center line is considered foul instead of the back line.

The paddle is really cool since it looks like a cross between a large racquetball paddle and a tennis racket without netting. The grip is easy to hold on to even for smaller hands (even our children can play).