Don’t let the strange-sounding name fool you.
It’s called pickleball. And, it’s becoming increasingly popular, especially among seniors over 50.
(Kevin Weiss/Staff Photos)
There are more than 2.5 million pickleball players in the United States, according to a report by the Sports & Fitness Industry Association (SFIA).
In Florida alone, there’s more than 370 pickleball sites, a USA Pickleball Association database shows.
More recreation centers, like the Land O’ Lakes Recreation Complex, are adding pickleball as part of their regular weekly programming.
A racket sport, pickleball incorporates elements from other sports, like tennis, badminton and Ping-Pong.
It’s played with a rectangular-shaped paddle —smaller than a tennis racket but larger than a Ping-Pong paddle — and uses a hard rubber ball filled with holes. Courts (indoor or outdoor) measure 20-by-44 feet, with a 3-foot-high net across the middle. Though singles matches can be played, doubles play is more common.
The rules are relatively simple.
The ball is served with an underhand stroke. Points are scored by the serving side only, occurring when an opponent faults—fails to return the ball, hits ball out of bounds, or steps into the non-volley zone (seven feet from the net). The return of service, meanwhile, must be allowed to bounce by the server before it can be volleyed. Matches are typically played to seven or 11 points.
Bob Matthews, 76, organizes pickleball lessons and matches each Thursday morning at the Land O’ Lakes Recreation Complex.
A longtime tennis player, the Land O’ Lakes resident was introduced to the sport in July.
He’s loved it ever since.
“It’s fast and quick — I love fast and quick,” he said. “All you got to have, really, is eyeball-hand coordination. If you’ve got the slightest bit of that, you can play.”
In recent months, it’s become his go-to activity of choice.
“The great thing about it,” Matthews said, “is someone can really improve on this.”
That was the case for Linda Maniscalco, another Land O’ Lakes resident.
Maniscalco began playing the sport in September. Not “knowing anything,” she quickly learned the game’s strategy after just a few short lessons at the rec complex.
“It’s not super hard to play,” she said. “It’s fun; I’m addicted to it.”
At the Northdale Recreation Center, pickleball has been offered for several years. It’s become such an attraction that time slots are set aside five days a week and segmented into skill levels: learners, intermediates and advanced. Players are ranked, as in tennis, according to skill levels.
Bill Castens is one of the founders of the Northdale OWLS (Older, Wiser, Livelier Seniors) Pickleball Club.
A five-year veteran of the sport, Castens, 71, said pickleball is ideal for seniors who’ve had pre-existing lower body injuries.
“For seniors with replaced knees or a new hip, you can still play,” Castens said, “because the court is so much smaller than a tennis court. You’re not running and stopping and all that stuff like tennis, but you still can get pretty competitive.”
The most challenging aspect of the game, he said, is grasping its nuances.
“The game is not standing on the baseline and trying to drill it,” Castens said. “The game is to keep (opponents) back, and eventually you want to dink the ball or lob the ball.”
Patience, too, is key to mastering pickleball, added Tom Murray, a Boston transplant who plays with Castens at Northdale.
“Ninety percent of points are not won, they’re lost,” said Murray, a retired Massachusetts high school athletic director who had knee replacement surgery about seven months ago. “When somebody screws something up, it’s usually because they try to make the point; you give people the chance to make the mistake.”
What does Murray, like others, enjoy most about pickleball?
“The exercise,” he said.
Published December 7, 2016