Pickleball

I've had several people ask me, "What is pickleball?" Well, first of all, pickleball is a sport invented in 1965 by a couple of guys who were trying to find some entertainment for their families. They took an old badminton court, lowered the net, cut out some homemade wooden paddles, and found a wiffle ball. Put these things together, along with some basic rules and a ball-fetching cocker spaniel named "Pickles," and voila! Pickleball was born!

It's an interesting game, and unless you've played it, I can't give a better description than to say it's a combination of badminton, tennis, and a pinch of ping pong. The court is the same size as a badminton court, except that the net is only 36" high, the swings and placement of the ball is similar to tennis, and the paddles are like over-sized ping pong paddles.

The rules are fairly simple. However, like most sports, pickleball has a few strange rules--like no standing in the kitchen. What's the kitchen? It's the area directly in front of the net where players are not allowed to stand unless the ball bounces inside the kitchen. The serve is underhand and has to be kept under the waist, and the ball has to bounce once on each side before it can be volleyed (hit before it bounces on the ground).

The game is a lot of fun. In fact, I like it better than tennis. Because there's not the insane bounce in the ball, or the spring from the tennis racket strings, there's a lot more control, which makes it easier to keep the ball in the court. Also, the court is smaller, so there's less ground to cover to get to the ball. Don't let that be misleading--I've had just as much of a workout, if not more, playing pickleball as I have when playing tennis. The game is also good for people of all ages. I play with a group of ladies who are 10+ years older than me, and several of them can whip me good!

This year I've registered to play pickleball in the Utah Summer Games. The sport is still rather new around here, so there aren't a lot of people signed up. That could be good, but it's really not, because that means I'll be in the same bracket as some of the ladies who kick my behind every Tuesday and Thursday. But I don't care! I just love playing.