Quite recently, a sport has gained a lot of traction throughout the United States, showing up more and more in cities across every region. This intriguing “new” sport is known as Pickleball. Pickleball is currently the fastest growing sport in the United States with a 45.8 percent increase in participation from 2023. However, while it is becoming increasingly popular, many individuals do not know what this sport is, let alone how to play it.
Pickleball was invented in 1965 by Joel Pritchard, Bill Bell and Barney McCallum. They improvised a game, not having the rackets to play badminton. Working together and using their influence, they were able to form a corporation surrounding this new sport and the development only increased from there. By 1990, pickleball was played in all fifty states. With this being a relatively new sport, there was a long way to go in its development of popularity.
The original intent of pickleball is to be family friendly, meaning that it is straightforward and easy to understand. Pickleball is usually played as doubles, but can be played as singles with slight changes in the rules. The court consists of three squares, two back boxes for each player and a no-volley zone nearest to the net called “the kitchen.”
The game starts with a serve from the right half of either side, and goes to the opponent diagonal from the server. This serve has to pass the “kitchen” to be good. The ball must hit the ground before the opponent can volley it back, similar to tennis. In a game, players go until someone makes a fault. A fault may be: a shot landing out of bounds, a serve lands in the kitchen, a shot that hits the net or a ball bounces on one side twice.
Players can hit the ball without it bouncing once, but it has to be outside of the kitchen. However, the ball can be returned from the kitchen if it bounces once before the return.
The only way to gain points is through serving. Each time a point is won, the server switches sides with his or her partner. One person serves until they make a fault and lose a point. When a player loses a point, the serving transitions to their partner and they go through the same process until they make a fault. Once both players make a fault the serve moves to the other side of the court, which is known as a side out.
The first team to earn eleven points wins, but only if there is a two point difference. It can go past eleven points until one team is ahead by two.
Pickleball courts are becoming more available even in Indiana. Mt. Vernon High school has a pickleball court next to the tennis courts which is open for use throughout the year. Recently there was a tournament hosted by the freshman class on September 14 to raise money for the homecoming dance. Pickleball is a fun way to bring people together and try something new.