well-being PICKLEBALL: A FUN WORKOUT TREND

Aphoto of globa l popstar Taylor Swift playing pickleball with a Kansas City Chiefs paddle went viral a few days ago. Many concluded it was PR seeding since she is the girlfriend of NFL player Travis Kelce, but what resonated with me more was the stage used — a pickleball court.

Pickleball, a combination of tennis, pingpong, and badminton, is considered America’s fastest-growing sport. Some malls have already converted cinemas and expensive real estate into pickleball courts.

Pickleball was developed in the USA in 1965 by three fathers who wanted a game the whole family could play. Washington State congressman Joel Pritchard and his businessman friend Bill Bell used an old badminton court, ping-pong paddles (they had no badminton rackets), a perforated plastic ball, and a badminton net 60 inches high.

They made rules and played their game regularly on an asphalt court, eventually lowering the net to 36 inches. Another friend, Barney McCallum, helped formalize the rules after playing the game.

While the game was nationally recognized and featured as America’s newest racquet sport in 1975, phenomenal growth in the participation and awareness of the sport boomed during

Pickleball, a combination of tennis, ping-pong, and badminton, is considered America’s fastest-growing sport. In the Philippines, Ayala Malls and Toby’s Sports are developing it. There is clear potential for Filipino athletes to excel in this sport and compete globally, just like in billiards, boxing and bowling.

the pandemic.

COVID-19 prevented the playing and staging of traditional team sports, so people flocked to paddle sport as a socially distant way to be outdoors and stay active.

Part of the pickleball appeal is the fact that it is easier to learn than tennis, for example. The plastic ball is less bouncy, not as fast, and the paddle (shorter and lighter than a tennis racket) is easier to handle. Pickleball is slower and involves a smaller court (almost a fourth of one tennis court). Most games are also doubles.

Like any sport, there is the potential for injury, like sprains. These can be prevented by wearing shoes that are built for lateral movement, doing sufficient warmups, and conditioning Pickleball:... u C5

*Photo from the FB page of Toby’s Sports. Almost 70 new players turned up to play pickleball on the streets of BGC which was converted into temporary courts for the budding picklers by Toby’s Sports. Coach Mark Casal conducted the clinics.

Number one pickler in the Philippines is 26-year-old Cebuano Christopher Encarnacion shown here in his gold podium finish in the World Pickleball Championships in Bali last year for the 19+ Advanced 4.5 category. He is ranked eighth globally.