The only thing harder than finding a court to play on is the scoring. We took lessons in the spring to learn how to play Pickleball, the fastest growing sport in the U.S. 

It’s like tennis meets ping pong meets badminton. The court size is the same as badminton but has a tennis court net and is played with paddles, similar to ping pong. 

The scoring is a bit hard to get used to - with each person who is serving required to yell out the three numbers that represent the score - starting with the server’s score, the opponent’s score, and the number 1 or 2 depending on which person on a team is serving. At least when playing doubles.

Then there’s the new jargon to learn; the kitchen, dinking, and poaching. What?

The kitchen is the area closest to the net, about 7 feet deep and expands the entire width of the court. It’s the zone in which you cannot stand - unless the ball bounces there first. It is considered the non-volley zone. A volley is when you hit the ball back and forth without the ball bouncing on the ground.

Dinking is a soft shot where you are kind of lifting the ball with the paddle so that it gently falls in the opponent’s kitchen. It’s meant to slow the game down.

And poaching is just moving into your teammates side of the court to hit the ball, which I like to think is more like ball hogging, but actually has value when done right.

The one thing that makes pickleball interesting is that it requires strategy, which is more important to winning than power. You have to think about the placement of the ball after you hit it to get your opponent off balance. 

Just where did this sport originate and why is it so popular?

According to USA Pickleball, the game was invented in 1965 by three fathers from Bainbridge Island, Washington, as a way to entertain their children. However, it wasn’t until 2008 that pickleball gained national notoriety when a demonstration was aired on ABC's Good Morning America.

Now there is a Professional Pickleball Association (PPA), a National Pickleball Day (August 8) and there are over 8.9 million players in the U.S. How’s that for the popularity of a made-up sport to keep the kids busy? Apparently Kick-The-Can and Capture the Flag weren’t as interesting or marketable.

And if you think pickleball is just for recreation for the older set, think again. It’s a sport for all ages.The number one male player in the world is Ben Johns, a 23-year old, who makes his living of about a quarter million playing pickleball, signing endorsement deals, and establishing pickleball-based enterprises.

Anna Leigh Waters turned pro at the age of 12 and is the number one female player in the world currently. She got into the sport in 2017 after Hurricane Irma forced her family to head to Pennsylvania. It was there that her grandparents introduced her to the game. 

Here are some other fun facts about pickleball - just in case it comes up in Jeopardy. 

1. The ball is plastic and looks like a wiffle ball. There is one for playing indoors with 26 larger holes and one for outdoors with 40 smaller holes. (Source)

2. A pickleball will last about 75-100 games. (Source)

3. The fastest recorded pickleball serve is 60 mph.  (Source)

4. There’s a pickleball channel to learn more about the game and see professional play - https://www.pickleballchannel.com/

5. The largest age bracket of pickleball players is 18-34, which is about 28.8%. (Source)

6. Men make up the largest number of players at 60.5% (in 2021). (Source)

7. There are three top tours: Major League Pickleball (MLP), the Professional Pickleball Association (PPA), and the American Association of Pickleball Professionals (APP). (Source)

8. Prize money for professional pickleball tournaments is estimated at between $9 and $11 million dollars. (Source)

9. The most prestigious competition in the nation (and globally) is the U.S. Open Pickleball Championship which is usually held in April in Naples, Florida. (Source)

10. Players are called “picklers.” (Source)

11. Despite the popular lore that the game was named after a dog, it is reported that the name came from the wife of one of the inventors, as it reminded her of the pickle boat crews, a motley crew of rowers put together at random. (Source)

12. The Villages in Florida has 253 pickleball courts as of early 2024, the most in the world, followed by Honolulu, Hawaii with 173 courts. (Source)

13. Pickleball was named the official sport of Washington state after a bill was signed by the Governor in 2022. (Source)

14. The sport is governed in the United States by USA Pickleball (USAPickleball.org) which maintains the rules. (Source)

15. It is played globally and the International Federation of Pickleball is the world governing body. (Source)

16. There is a specific app for keeping score in Pickleball called the Side Out app. (Source)

17. Apple Watch users can track their sessions with the Pickleball workout in the Workout app. (Source)

18. An average game for amateurs lasts about 15 to 30 minutes. (Source)

19. A player can burn between 195 and 350 calories in a 30-minute pickleball game. (Source)

20. Pickleball grew in 2023 to 13.6 million players in the United States as of January, 2024. (Source)

So that’s a bit about pickleball, the fastest growing sport in the U.S. How about you? Are you one of the 13.6 million who have played the game, and if so, what do you like most about it?