If you haven’t heard about pickleball by now, we’re going to assume you’ve been living in a cave for the past decade. Over the past ten years or so, this sport (once played only in middle school gym class) has risen in popularity to become one of the fastest-growing sports in the United States. People everywhere seem to love pickleball, and we’re not just talking about kids either.
Indeed, what began as a PE pastime has evolved into a popular activity for kids, teens, and adults. These days, pickleball is played, not just in schools, but in backyards, parks, and community recreation centers all over the country. Why is it so popular, all of a sudden, you may ask? One word; accessibility.
That’s right, pickleball is popular because it’s easy to learn, easy for beginners to master, and easy for families and friends to play together. This would likely be reason enough for its rapid growth and adoption, if it weren’t for the fact that it’s also a dang fun time!
In this article, we will talk about pickleball. We will discuss the sport at large, its history, the strategies people employ, and social interaction that makes it exciting and rewarding for players of all skill levels.
What Is Pickleball?
Despite its name, pickleball has absolutely nothing to do with pickles; cucumbers, peppers, or otherwise. Instead, it’s a paddle sport that combines elements of tennis, badminton, and table tennis. The game is typically played on a court about the size of a badminton court using solid paddles and a lightweight plastic ball with holes. You can play the game as singles (one player on each side) or doubles (two players on each side). The latter of these two is the most common format.
Game play is pretty elementary. Players serve the ball and then take turns hitting it back and forth over a net, aiming to score points when their opponents cannot successfully return the ball. It might sound like tennis, but it’s not as fast, and the court isn’t nearly as large. It might sound like badminton, but the play is not nearly as slow or elegant. And while the paddles do look like ping pong paddles, the gameplay is not quite as dizzying as the type that Forrest Gump once championed.
In pickleball, the court is smaller and the ball moves at a moderate speed, thus making the game far easier for beginners to learn, especially when compared to the other, aforementioned racket sports.
Why Kids Quickly Fall in Love With Pickleball
There are reasons why many of us had our first pickleball experience in the school gymnasium, but the most important one has to do with the learning curve. Kids enjoy pickleball because they can start playing successfully almost immediately; and the same is true for adults who pick it up at the YMCA.
Where some sports require months of practice to develop basic skills, pickleball allows people to rally and score points during their first few games. The paddle is easy to control and since the ball moves slower than a tennis ball, kids can react more readily once it heads across the court towards them. This enables them to develop the skills and confidence they need to play far sooner than they would in more complex athletic pursuits.
Pickleball rallies are fast but manageable. Kids can be engaged by the quick nature of the game but not overwhelmed enough to feel left in the dust. At the same time, the small court means there’s less downtime for kids to say, pick up dirt clods in the outfield. Players are actively involved in the game from the get-go, so they don’t easily become bored.
A Sport the Whole Family Can Play
Many sports separate children and adults into different leagues or skill levels, but not pickleball. Players of different ages and abilities can absolutely play the game with each other. This means that kids and parents can share the same court…though the parents might need to pull back a little at the start. Still, we’re sure that once your kids get a few games under their belt, they’ll be scoring points on you as if they were born to pickleball!
Building Athletic Skills
While pickleball is easy to learn and play, it still helps children develop important athletic abilities. Kids can improve their hand-eye coordination, their balance, reaction time, spatial awareness, and footwork. They need to be quick on their feet in multiple ways, being able to make quick decisions about where they’re moving and control their movements will help them develop physical and mental agility. Getting these skills down-pat might even open up the door to playing more advanced paddle sports like tennis, ping pong, or badminton.
Encouraging Social Interaction
Since the most common form of pickleball is played in doubles, the sport naturally encourages communication and teamwork amongst the players. Partners must coordinate with one another and support each other. This will help them to develop valuable social skills like communication, cooperation, and problem-solving. Like all sports, pickleball will also help them to learn sportsmanship, humility, and resilience.
The relaxed, friendly atmosphere intrinsic to pickleball also makes it a great way to make friends. And parents who want to introduce their kids to sports in their community need only avail themselves of the many open-play sessions that local Rec centers, YMCAs, and parks offer. These events are happening more and more frequently as the game’s popularity continues to rise and it gives kids additional opportunities to interact with people outside their usual social circles.
Safe and Low Impact
We’re not going to say that pickleball is completely safe, but it’s certainly low impact as compared to lacrosse, baseball, and the like. This makes it an appealing option for children who may not enjoy high-intensity physical competition but who still want to have athletic fun. The lightweight ball and paddles reduce the risk of injury and the rate of play, while physically engaging, isn’t so intense that the child will feel overburdened at the end of a workout.
Easy and Affordable to Start
Want to know what else? It’s cheap! Well, affordable would probably be the right word. Either way, one of the main reasons pickleball has become so is that it requires minimal space and only a few pieces of equipment. All you really need to play is a pickleball, two paddles, and access to some sort of court.
These days, many community parks and recreation centers have started to include pickleball courts. Also, when you compare the sport to others that require extensive gear, helmets, uniforms, or expensive training programs, pickleball is the youth sports equivalent of a meal deal.
Cultured Athlete Says…
As you can see, pickleball is the type of simple, exciting, accessible sport that parents love. It encourages children to get moving and offers a rare opportunity for kids and parents to play with one another, thus fostering a meaningful connection between sports activities and togetherness.
Some might see pickleball at the absolute height of its popularity, but we believe that adoption will only spread. Indeed, as more youth programs introduce pickleball to young athletes, many more families will soon discover that it may be one of the most family-friendly sports ever created.
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