That’s the reaction by most when you mention the word Pickleball. Pickleball is the fastest growing sport in the USA with more than 4.5 million active players. That’s an awful lot of Pickleball being played each week.
Boredom was what got this sport started in 1965.
Three dads living on Bainbridge Island, near Seattle, came home one summer evening to find their children complaining that there was nothing for them to do. So, they found a net, a Wiffle ball, some ping-pong paddles, and created a game on an old badminton court that the entire family could play together.
It was a hit.
Over the next year, the three friends worked together to develop a set of rules, formalise the court layout, and introduce a larger plywood paddle that was good for striking the ball. And they decided to call it pickleball. (The name’s origins remain a matter of debate. Some believe it was named after a dog. Others say it’s a reference to a “pickle boat,” a thrown together boat made from the leftover rowers in crew races.)
Pickleball is a fun sport that combines elements of badminton, tennis, and table tennis. Played both indoors or outdoors on a badminton-sized court and a slightly modified tennis net. Two or four players use solid paddles made of composite materials to hit a perforated polymer ball, over a net.
You do need a certain level of fitness to play but because the ball is so lightweight it is not as strenuous as say tennis.
When I first heard about Pickleball via an American guest on my podcast, Clinton Young I researched it carefully and discovered something that inspired my interest. However there is nowhere in the whole of Worcestershire (the county where I live), where Pickleball is being played, so you can imagine my disappointment.
Coincidentally there was an article in the Spring edition of the u3a Third Age Matters magazine, but I hadn’t seen it yet. In fact it was only after I was in touch with 'Pickleball England', the official body in England, that I learnt about the article from the co-founder Karen Mitchell who emailed me a copy.
Realising that there was nowhere in Worcestershire to play, it gave me an idea. I only joined my local u3a in January 2022 and soon after joined the Wednesday badminton group. I have played different racquet sports in my youth but never for any length of time, so I saw this as an opportunity to take up a brand new one and asked the badminton group if they were up for trying it out. To my delight they were!
Pickleball England arranged Gillian, Staffordshire’s county representative to come over to the Wyre Forest in Worcestershire and introduce us to the game. There was quite a turn out and we nearly didn’t have enough paddles (name for a Pickleball racquet). It was a great success and people said they were interested in playing it regularly.
Then I went to work, I spoke with the management at the Wyre Forest leisure centre and after some persuasion they were happy to purchase paddles and balls, which we could use to play without everyone having to purchase one to begin with. In the beginning we lowered the nets on the badminton courts, but this was not ideal and again I asked the leisure centre whether they could purchase Pickleball nets and to my delight they said yes.
Working with the leisure centre we organised days and times for when we could play and then we went about advertising this to the Wyre Forest u3a membership.
Nearly 60 people (and growing) have shown an interest to play Pickleball and together with an online booking system we are usually fully booked on Mondays at 2.00pm and Wednesdays at 9.30am.
There is a dedicated web page on the Wyre Forest u3a website with a link to the online booking form and also a couple of videos, which explains the rules of the games and the scoring system, which is quite unique and definitely can be a challenge to get your head around. I have included those videos at the end of this post as well as a fun video by Bill Gates, who says he's been pickling for over 50 years!
So if you want to try out a new racquet sport in Worcestershire, come and check it out but remember to book, because court time sells out very quickly.
By Michael de Groot (u3a member since Jan '22)
Email: pickleball@wyreforestu3a.org.uk
Wyre Forest u3a webpage: https://styin.me/u3a-pickleball