All Purpose Pickleball Thread I :)

[Doggy]

I know plenty of players are playing these days. I know Cam Atkinson plays and just read that new Bolts first round pick Howard plays. I suspect lots of NHLers play. I'm a fan and play plenty myself.

I can even discuss the pro-tour as well. I saw the PPA on CBS this past weekend and good matchups for its broadcast network debut showing off the best in the game. Players ranging in age from 15-40+ including the current top players Ben Johns and Anna Lee Waters both winning singles titles.

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[Rabid Ranger]

I play three to four times a week. It's a natural fit with my tennis game. A lot of fun and a great social game.

 

[Beau Knows]

It's okay. Not much of a workout, but it does allow you to hand anybody a paddle and they can at least hit the ball back and rally.

The only problem I have is the way it's been introduced/expanded in many communities. Soccer fields and tennis courts have been replaced with pickleball courts, largely because the game is adored by seniors and they hold so much political power.

 

[The Marquis]

I know plenty of players are playing these days. I know Cam Atkinson plays and just read that new Bolts first round pick Howard plays. I suspect lots of NHLers play. I'm a fan and play plenty myself.

I can even discuss the pro-tour as well. I saw the PPA on CBS this past weekend and good matchups for its broadcast network debut showing off the best in the game. Players ranging in age from 15-40+ including the current top players Ben Johns and Anna Lee Waters both winning singles titles.

I’ve been playing since high school, which ended 24 years ago for me…. I’ve got a pickle all court a couple miles from my house. Highly enjoyable, but I f***ed up my shoulder the last time I played and am pissed about it. Hahaha. Chiropractor has helped. Probably get back to playing in a few weeks I hope.

 

[Rabid Ranger]

It's okay. Not much of a workout, but it does allow you to hand anybody a paddle and they can at least hit the ball back and rally.

The only problem I have is the way it's been introduced/expanded in many communities. Soccer fields and tennis courts have been replaced with pickleball courts, largely because the game is adored by seniors and they hold so much political power.

I see this critique often and it make me wonder who you play with. Your great grandmother?

 

[Doggy]

It's okay. Not much of a workout, but it does allow you to hand anybody a paddle and they can at least hit the ball back and rally.

I see this critique often and it make me wonder who you play with. Your great grandmother?

I agree. I'm on the shelf right now because I had surgery eight weeks ago for a fully torn rotator cuff I suffered while hiking. But, when playing, I play 3-4 times a week and in a two hour session I am a puddle. Our matches are highly competitive with major hand battles at the kitchen line.

That said, the laughter from all the fun we have is undeniable as well!

The only problem I have is the way it's been introduced/expanded in many communities. Soccer fields and tennis courts have been replaced with pickleball courts, largely because the game is adored by seniors and they hold so much political power.

I hear this complaint all the time. Trust me, pickleball players would love to have their own dedicated courts and they don't have to be converted tennis and basketball courts. If the parks departments can use taxpayer money for tennis and basketball they can use it for pickleball too. The truth is many tennis courts are unused most of the time while the pickleball courts are packed. And the age range for my groups are 25-70...so not necessarily seniors.

I think the truth is tennis players feel threatened that some people are gravitating towards a different racket/paddle sport.

Two examples...two towns near me.

One had a mayor who was an avid PB player. He proposed converting two of the town's tennis courts (which were at a more isolated park) into six PB courts. The tennis players came to meeting to fight it saying they didn't want to lose courts. So the town did a "count" at the tennis courts over the next summer and it showed the isolated courts were almost never used. Tennis players preferred the non-isolated courts. Understandable. So town converted the non-used courts into PB courts. Seem reasonable to use your resources so they are actually utilized?

One built eight dedicated PB courts (that can handle 32 players at a time). They hold open sessions five nights a week. Regularly there are 50+ players ranging in age from probably 12-70. I suspect the town's tennis courts ever see that kind of activity.

I’ve been playing since high school, which ended 24 years ago for me…. I’ve got a pickle all court a couple miles from my house. Highly enjoyable, but I f***ed up my shoulder the last time I played and am pissed about it. Hahaha. Chiropractor has helped. Probably get back to playing in a few weeks I hope.

Good luck with the shoulder. Living in the state where PB was invented...nice!

 

[Beau Knows]

I hear this complaint all the time. Trust me, pickleball players would love to have their own dedicated courts and they don't have to be converted tennis and basketball courts. If the parks departments can use taxpayer money for tennis and basketball they can use it for pickleball too. The truth is many tennis courts are unused most of the time while the pickleball courts are packed. And the age range for my groups are 25-70...so not necessarily seniors.

I'm sure they would, and I have no problem with government spending to encourage people to get outside and be active. In my town they're looking at spending $4 million to build a series of domed pickleball courts, which I'm all for, and wish they'd do for tennis as well. But before that was in the works, members of the community were pushing to replace existing facilities (not just tennis courts) with pickleball courts.

I think the truth is tennis players feel threatened that some people are gravitating towards a different racket/paddle sport.

Can't say that I care what other people play, I just don't like the way existing facilities have been replaced with pickleball courts.

You can talk about tennis courts going unused in some places, but that's not always the case. Where I live the courts used to often be empty, but during COVID tons of people started playing since gyms and other indoor sports were shut down resulting in the courts being packed. Some of those people have stuck around, some haven't, and now tennis is quite popular here.

If they had decided to replace existing tennis courts with pickleball ones a couple years ago we'd have the opposite problem and we'd need to spend even more money to build tennis courts again. Tennis has been played for a long time and will go probably continue to go through periods of increasing and decreasing popularity. I don't think the answer to getting more people active is to pave over old sports facilities to build different ones.

 

[The Marquis]

I agree. I'm on the shelf right now because I had surgery eight weeks ago for a fully torn rotator cuff I suffered while hiking. But, when playing, I play 3-4 times a week and in a two hour session I am a puddle. Our matches are highly competitive with major hand battles at the kitchen line.

That said, the laughter from all the fun we have is undeniable as well!


I hear this complaint all the time. Trust me, pickleball players would love to have their own dedicated courts and they don't have to be converted tennis and basketball courts. If the parks departments can use taxpayer money for tennis and basketball they can use it for pickleball too. The truth is many tennis courts are unused most of the time while the pickleball courts are packed. And the age range for my groups are 25-70...so not necessarily seniors.

I think the truth is tennis players feel threatened that some people are gravitating towards a different racket/paddle sport.

Two examples...two towns near me.

One had a mayor who was an avid PB player. He proposed converting two of the town's tennis courts (which were at a more isolated park) into six PB courts. The tennis players came to meeting to fight it saying they didn't want to lose courts. So the town did a "count" at the tennis courts over the next summer and it showed the isolated courts were almost never used. Tennis players preferred the non-isolated courts. Understandable. So town converted the non-used courts into PB courts. Seem reasonable to use your resources so they are actually utilized?

One built eight dedicated PB courts (that can handle 32 players at a time). They hold open sessions five nights a week. Regularly there are 50+ players ranging in age from probably 12-70. I suspect the town's tennis courts ever see that kind of activity.


Good luck with the shoulder. Living in the state where PB was invented...nice!

Strangely, I had no idea that it was invented in Washington state. Makes sense now why nobody else I know from other places had pickleball as an option for PE in high school and that they think it's weird that I did.

 

[Doggy]

Strangely, I had no idea that it was invented in Washington state. Makes sense now why nobody else I know from other places had pickleball as an option for PE in high school and that they think it's weird that I did.

Yup, I mean Florida, AZ and Utah in particular seem to have stolen Washington's thunder and its crazy popular in those states but can never take away that Bainbridge Island started it all.

I see LeNron James, Draymond Green and Kevin Love have just become owners of a Pro Pickleball team. I think its a great participatory sport and I will watch the pros but just don't believe it will ever have a significant following from a spectator POV.

 

[SUX2BU]

The mayor of Whoville plays it .........

 

[Doggy]

I really like playing pickleball and will watch the pros to get tips but not sure its really a "made for TV" spectator sport. But the pro leagues are certainly getting good publicity from their new team LeBron, Kevin Durant, Tom Brady, Drew Brees, Kim Clijsters, etc.

OK, this Youtube video is pretty spot on how so many people come to pickleball (their rap video is also pretty good):

 

[Doggy]

My wife and I went down to Cincinnati for the PPA pro stop last September. We had a lot of fun and it was pretty well attended. I'd go down for a day this year as well. Jack Sock transitioning from tennis is a beast (other former tennis pros like Sam Querry not so much).

Started playing in the winters at a local tennis club that overlayed its courts with pickleball lines (someone said they needed pickleball to supplement). Of course the owner plays pickleball as well so that helps.

The age of the players is going down. Sure we still have plenty of 60+ players but seeing more and more 20-30 year olds and have a handful of <20 year olds playing with us now too. Mom drops the kids off for tennis lessons but when the lessons are over and mom hasn't yet come to pick them up, they pack away the tennis rackets and grab pickleball paddles. Really enjoy playing with the 11-15 year olds...the kids are good!