According to The Economist, the fastest-growing sport in America has zoomed in popularity with everyone from Bill Gates to the Kardashians taking to the courts to play the simple but addictive paddle game. We are going to give you a quick rundown on the sport and how The Arena Club is prepared to help you Dink into this new craze!
“It is almost a cliché at this point that the pandemic did not so much create trends as much as accelerate them. Pickleball has grown in popularity for the past five years and did not miss a beat during the pandemic. Pickleball’s growth trajectory gives every indication it will be a significant part of the American sports landscape for the foreseeable future,” said Tom Cove, President/CEO of the Sports & Fitness Industry Association (SFIA) .
Seriously, pickleball is a really, really big “dill” these days (we couldn’t help ourselves!) with 39.3 percent growth over the past two years and 4.8 million players in the U.S., according to the SFIA 2022 Sports, Fitness & Leisure Activities Topline Participation Report.
Pickleball, once the domain of retirees, is gaining popularity across all age groups and has spawned professional leagues such as Major League Pickleball, and tournaments are being covered on networks such as CBS and Fox.
From Baby Boomers to Gen Z Embrace Pickleball
The sport’s moment in the sun includes feature stories this summer in The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) (where they describe pickleball as a “tennis-badminton-ping-pong hybrid”) and Texas Monthly (where they call pickleball “tennis’s breezy cousin”).
Pickleball momentum, however, has been gaining for years with a feature story on the sport back in 2014 when The York Times described the allure of pickleball to the baby boom generation: “Too impatient for golf, too prudent for skateboards and skis, and too mobile or proud for shuffleboard, boomers are carving up underused volleyball, basketball and tennis courts to bring pickleball to their gyms and parks, their country clubs and retirement communities.”
Today, however, you do not have to possess an AARP card to love pickleball as millennials and Gen-Z-ers have found the sport -- played on a small 44x20 foot court (about half a tennis court) -- also to their liking.
“There has been a generation shift,” Fish Creek YMCA member-services director Josh Lardinois told the WSJ. “[I’ve] noticed a lot more families, more 20-somethings, even high-school students.”
The lure, according to Forbes can be summed up as:
- The sport is instantly playable
- Any age can do it with less risk of injuries than other racquet sports
- Equipment is very cheap
- You can easily turn tennis courts and other surfaces into pickleball courts
History of Pickleball: Sport is Born of Backyard Boredom
Pickleball has been around since the 1960s when it was invented as a backyard game in Washington state.
USA Pickleball says that “after playing golf one Saturday during the summer, Joel Pritchard, congressman from Washington State, and Bill Bell, successful businessman, returned to Pritchard’s home on Bainbridge Island, WA (near Seattle) to find their families sitting around with nothing to do. The property had an old badminton court so Pritchard and Bell looked for some badminton equipment and could not find a full set of rackets. They improvised and started playing with ping-pong paddles and a perforated plastic ball.”
By 1967 the first permanent pickleball court was constructed in the backyard of Joel Pritchard’s friend and neighbor, Bob O’Brian.
The first known pickleball tournament in the world was held at South Center Athletic Club in Tukwila, Washington, in 1976 and was won by David Lester.
In 1984 the United States Amateur Pickleball Association (USAPA) was organized, and a rule book was published. That same year, the first composite paddle was made by a Boeing Industrial Engineer.
Pickleball Expands from the Northwest Around the Globe
USA Pickleball says that the sport, which had been spreading slowly, finally reached all 50 states by 1990.
As America’s population got older and started looking for new sports (with less wear and tear on the body) to play, pickleball became part of the Arizona Senior Olympics in 2001, the Huntsman World Senior Games in 2003, and the National Senior Games (2008).
The USAPA held its first national tournament in Buckeye, Arizona in 2009 with 400 players from 26 states and several Canadian provinces playing.
The Internal Federation of Pickleball (IFP) was introduced by USAPA in 2010 as the sport spread around the globe.
Between 2015 and 2021, USA Pickleball membership went from 10,000 to 50,000 members.
Pickleball: What’s in the Silly Name?
While pickleball is played with a unique ball, described by The New York Times as “hard, hollow and perforated, a modified whiffle ball”, it has nothing to do with the sport’s name.
The New York Times article also helped cement the legend that pickleball is named for an active cocker spaniel (named Pickles) who loved to chase after the ball … but it is very likely that Pickles was named for the sport.
“Based on the evidence, we learned that the dog was born in 1968 – three years after pickleball was first played and named,” says USA Pickleball.
So, where did the name come from?
Lore is that the name originated from a reference to the leftover rowers who raced for fun in local “pickle boat” crew race competitions.
“To hear my mother tell it, they sort of threw leftover non-starter oarsmen into these particular pickle boats,” said Frank Pritchard, son of pickleball inventors Joel and Joan. “She thought pickleball sort of threw bits of other games into the mix (badminton, table tennis) and decided that “Pickle Ball” was an appropriate name.”
The Health Benefits of Playing Pickleball
What are the health benefits of a sport that features “the kitchen” (zones on each side of the net where players can’t volley the ball) and “dinks” (soft shots from kitchen to kitchen)?
“In an age where so many kids and so many adults have really abandoned exercise as being too expensive, too time-consuming and sometimes not fun, Pickleball could well be the bridge back to more inclusive sport and exercise for us all,” says Forbes.
Texas Monthly says the social camaraderie and low-impact nature of pickleball are key to its popularity.
“Among a certain set (mine), competitors take frequent breaks to sip adult beverages courtside. This doesn’t negatively affect performance, because, at my level, pickleball is a leisurely, low-impact sport. The game’s accessibility has allowed it to catch on with all age groups,” wrote Lauren Larson in Texas Monthly.
Health benefits of pickleball include:
- Benefits of hand-eye coordination
- Low impact on knees and joints (because of the smaller court, less running)
- Reduced muscle strain on shoulders because of underhand serves and lighter paddle than tennis
- Improves agility and muscular endurance by activating all muscle groups – since you move in all directions vs. a treadmill or similar workout
- The ball stays in play longer so you do get some endurance and cardio fitness
- Can help combat depression by releasing endorphins and other bioamines
- Increase lower body muscle strength, especially in older adults
- Can lower your blood pressure and improve your good cholesterol
“We showed that pickleball players who played at least three days per week … can expect to see improvements in fitness and heart health; namely a 12 percent increase in cardiorespiratory fitness, a 3.5 percent reduction in blood pressure and a 5 percent improvement in good cholesterol," Lance Dalleck, professor of exercise and sport science at Western Colorado University told U.S. News.
Join The Arena Club in Bel Air, Maryland today to take advantage of pickleball fun and fitness with the club’s new pickleball courts. Call our Front Desk Staff today or follow our social media channels to stay updated on the latest and greatest Arena Club Pickleball Programming! 410.734.7300
