New balls please
Pickleball is the fastest-growing game in the US. Catherine Lofthouse finds out why
Paddle in hand, I stood on the court ready for battle. But I wasn’t about to play tennis, badminton or even ping pong.
Instead, I was having a go at pickleball – a modern mash-up of all three that is also the hottest new sport in the world.
Pickleball is America’s fastest growing ball game, with A-listers such as Leonardo DiCaprio, and the Kardashian family believed to be big fans.
Here in the UK, Pickleball England enjoyed a 56 per cent increase in membership last year.
Experts put its popularity down to these strange pandemic times, where people are looking for new ways to destress.
Due to its low-impact nature, as well as its smaller rackets and courts, it’s ideal for everyone, no matter your age or fitness level.
So how does it work? Rather like other racket sports, pickleball is played on a small rectangular court. Played as either singles or doubles, a player serves underarm from the court backline over the net to the player diagonally opposite. Each side has to let the ball bounce once before returning it, and then volleying can commence. The first side to reach 11 points, with two points clear of their opponents, wins.
As well as getting you moving, releasing those feel-good endorphins that are so important for mental health, pickleball is very social. Keen to find out more, I signed up for a session in Market Harborough in Leicestershire.
On the court, in the capable hands of Pickleball Harborough, I was coached through the moves and specialist terms. A dink, I was told, is a soft shot over the net from the line of the nonvolley zone, known as the kitchen.
A dink? A kitchen? Yes, laughed coaches Jane Strachan and Elizabeth New, as I tried to get to grips with the lingo.
The origin of the name – pickleball – is shrouded in mystery. Some claim it’s a tribute to a family pet, others say it represents the jumble of tennis, table tennis and badminton.
Whatever the truth, with more than four million Americans playing – and around 6,000 so far in this country – pickleball is hoping to swing a place in the Olympics.
Playing on a badminton court with a low net, hard bat and plastic ball with holes in it, I had flashbacks to disastrous PE lessons.
But with the patient support of Jane and Elizabeth, something clicked, and I found I was able to serve properly. I even partnered up with established players without totally embarrassing myself.
There’s a satisfying pop when you strike the ball well and I could see how I could become a dinking pro in no time. Pickleball’s accessibility extends to its cost, too. There are more than 200 places to play in the UK and many clubs offer the first session free, lending you a paddle until you decide if it’s the game for you.
A starter set of paddle and balls costs £30 and you can use public tennis courts to play, if you don’t mind marking your own lines with chalk and having a higher net. You can also play it indoors. Jane, who launched Pickleball Harborough with her husband in October 2019, says: “During lockdown, we couldn’t leave the house and we played indoors in the kitchen and on the patio. Outside, we just set ourselves up, chalked a court and got playing. Sometimes we didn’t even bother with a net.”
And Elizabeth points out that pickleball can be easily adapted.
She says: “People can be nervous about coming and some have never played ball sports before, but you can learn how to move around the court without running, anticipating the ball. You don’t have to be physically fit.
“It’s a very courteous sport with a nice etiquette. We don’t stand around arguing about points. Nobody takes it too seriously.”
Indeed after my own session, I felt elated. Fun, easy and social – I can’t want to be back on the court.
This is one sport that won’t leave you in a pickle.
You don’t have to be fit and it’s a very courteous sport with a nice etiquette