National Institutes of Health

Are the benefits worth the risks? With a few precautions, yes for most people.

Pickleball is a recreational sport that is gaining in popularity and has become one of the fastest growing sports in America. The sport is easy to learn, promotes competitiveness and socialization, and is a great form of low impact exercise.

The game was developed in 1965 by a former Washington state congressman, Joel Pritchard. He and a friend were looking to play badminton, but unable to find a full set of rackets they improvised, playing with wooden ping-pong paddles and a perforated plastic ball. With this collection of equipment, they played on an asphalt surface using a badminton net adjusted to a height similar to that of tennis. The friends eventually developed a permanent set of rules. Their intention was to develop a sport the entire family could enjoy together. Within two years, the first permanent court was constructed next door to Joel Pritchard’s home. Within a few more years, a corporation was developed to protect the sport. Since its inception, the game has continued to grow, and is now played in all 50 states.

There are differing reports on how the sport developed its interesting name. According to Joel Pritchard’s wife, she started calling the game Pickleball because the combination of elements of multiple sports reminded her of the pickle boat in crew, where oarsmen were chosen from the leftovers from other boats. However, according to other accounts, the game was named after the Pritchards’ dog, Pickles. In the early development of the game, there no official name assigned to it. As the game progressed, an official name was needed, and “Pickleball” was it.

Pickleball is currently the fasting growing sport in the US.1 The Sports & Fitness Industry Association (SFIA) estimated that in 2017 there were over 2.8 million Pickleball players in the U.S., which was an increase of 12.3% from the previous year.1 Further details from the 2016 SFIA report included that over 1.5 million people were ‘casual’ participants (play one to seven times per year), and that 930,000 were ‘core’ participants (play eight or more times per year). Further breakdown of participation rates by age showed that ‘core’ participants tend to be older, with 75% of core participants being age 55 or older, and 42% of all players over 65 considered to be core participants. Along with fitness benefits of the sport, many older adults enjoy playing Pickleball because it promotes competitiveness and socialization.2,3

Rules

Pickleball can be played indoors or out, on a court that is 20 ft. by 44 ft. This is comparatively much smaller than a tennis court (36 ft. by 78 ft). Like tennis, Pickleball can be played as doubles or singles, but the court dimensions do not change for the doubles game. The net is slightly lower for Pickleball at 34 inches at the center, compared to 36 inches for tennis. There is a seven foot no-volley zone that extends from each side of the net (Figure 1).

 

Figure 1

USAPA Regulation Pickleball Court

The premise of the game is similar to other racket sports. To score points, a player hits a hard plastic ball with holes (similar in size to a Wiffle ball) over the net with a wooden or composite racket. The racket is larger than a ping-pong paddle, but smaller than a tennis racket. Serving is performed underhand, with the server making contact with the ball below the waist. The receiving opponent returns the ball within bounds of the court, but outside the no volley zone. Once the ball bounces once on each side, a volley ensues. The serving team continues to serve until a fault occurs. A fault can occur if the ball touches any part of the no-volley zone on the serve, is hit out of bounds, does not clear the net, is volleyed from the no volley zone, or is volleyed before a bounce has occurred on each side. Only the serving team can score. If the serving team commits a fault, the serve passes to the other team. Games typically are played to 11, 15, or 21 points, with the winning side required to win by two points.