What the heck is Pickleball?
Pickleball is the fastest growing sport in America, according to Tess Meggs. Recent spots on both NBC and ABC confirm Tess’s assertion of the popularity of sport. Tess and her husband, Bob, organize community Pickleball at the Mammoth Community Tennis Courts on Tuesday nights. They also manage McGee Creek RV Park in Crowley.
“Over the last 10 years, it has just really caught on,” said Tess, who was wearing a shirt with ‘Pickleball bling’ embroidered on it. “It’s addictive and you can easily play for 4 hours a day.”
Before Tuesday, I had never heard of Pickleball but Bob, Tess and Fred Eggen were happy to explain it to me. Eggen, 80, recently won the gold medal at California Senior Games in Tustin over Memorial Day Weekend. He has been playing Pickleball for 8 years.
Pickleball is a combination of tennis, badminton, and Ping-Pong. It is played with large plastic paddles and a Wiffle ball on a shorter tennis court. According to the USA Pickleball Association (USAPA), Congressman Joel Pritchard and friends developed the sport in Washington State in 1965. Unable to find a full set of badminton rackets, Pritchard and his family began playing with Ping-Pong paddles and lowered the net as the week went on.
It is rumored that the game gets its name from the family dog, Pickles. “He kept chasing after and picking up the ball,” Tess said. “They kept yelling ‘Pickles drop the ball. Pickles drop the ball.’ It eventually was shortened to Pickleball.”
The game is played to eleven— win by two— and teams score on their serve only. Players serve underhand, cross-court like tennis. After the serve is returned, players move up to the kitchen line, which demarks a box around the net that is known as… the kitchen.
“You want to get into a dink game,” Eggen told me. Seeing the blank stare on my face, he went on to explain that the dink game is played close to the net, with the players standing behind the kitchen line. When players begin hitting the ball softly back and forth, its known as dinking. “It takes a lot of control and a lot of strategy,” Tess said. “It’s not a power game.”
“No matter you age or physical ability you can play Pickleball,” she said. “There are guys with double knee replacements and hip replacements who play. It’s joint friendly and the paddles are lighter [than tennis rackets.]”
Tess added that Pickleball paddles aren’t available at sporting good stores yet but they are easily found online. They range in price from $40-$200.
When asked about striping the Pickleball courts, Bob said: “We petitioned Town Council. Tennis isn’t using all the courts so they put it in their budget. When they recently repaved the courts, they added a little blue paint.”
“We volunteered to take the worst courts they’ve got,” Eggen said. He added the courts continually crack because of seismic activity, and courts 5 and 6 have the most cracks. He said he recently watched a tennis player try and pull up the blue paint, which is easily mistaken for painters tape.
USAPA estimates that there are more than 100,000 people actively playing Pickleball and there are Pickleball facilities in all 50 states. It is popular in retirement communities but has also recently been added as part of physical education classes in middle and high schools around the country.
Tess described a recent open tournament where two young kids, about age 12, competed against two older gentlemen in their 50s or 60s. Although the kids were fast, “The older team won the game based on strategy.” Bob said.
Tess said there are usually about 10 players on Tuesday nights. “We’re hoping a lot of people start coming. Especially tournament players who are looking to play while they’re visiting Mammoth.”
I have to admit, the game was fun, although I was tempted to power hit the ball, instead of strategize. The wind also kicked up and was much more of a factor than in tennis. But since I was partnered with Eggen, we ended up winning the game. After we finished, all the players met in the middle to tap paddles, a tradition that occurs after every game, according to Eggen. “And then we tell you to bend over,” he jokingly told the opposing team.
Bob and Tess have extra paddles and welcome anyone to join them on Tuesday nights from 4-6 p.m. For more information call 530.277.0199
