What Is Pickleball & Why Is It Popular?

Margie Zable Fisher
·7 min read

Wondering when pickleball became so popular? Here's what you need to know.

Unless you’ve been hiding under a rock, you’ve probably heard someone raving about how much they love playing pickleball. In 2020, 4.2 million people played pickleball in the U.S., up from 3.46 million in 2019, according to the Sports & Fitness Industry Association’s (SFIA) 2021 Topline Participation Report, released in February 2021. That's a whopping 21.3% increase from 2019 to 2020, the highest of any U.S. sport.

What is pickleball?

Pickleball is a sport at the intersection of tennis, badminton and ping-pong. It's played with a modified tennis net on a badminton court and gameplay lightly resembles tennis.

Stu Upson is the Chief Executive Officer of USA Pickleball (USAP), the sport’s official creator of rules and regulations, founded in 2005. He traces the growing popularity of pickleball back to the inclusion of pickleball courts in Sun City and the Villages, vast retirement communities in Arizona and Florida. As more people began to enjoy the sport, people of all ages wanted to play.

“The last five years have really seen a huge growth in pickleball participation in the U.S.,” says Upson. He shares two reasons why pickleball has taken off.

“First, it’s easy to learn. You can get out there on the court and after an hour and a half or so, you won’t embarrass yourself. In today's fast-paced society, we don't want to spend a lot of time learning a new sport when we can do it in a couple of hours, and then go out and play as much as we want.”

Upson’s second reason? The social element of pickleball. “It’s a more relaxed sport, and people who play almost feel like they're in a community of their own. They are generally open to others, even newbies, joining them on the courts. And then they can hang out afterward and get a beer, a glass of wine or a bite to eat. That social acceptance and openness in a sport is rare.”

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How to play pickleball

While some people consider pickleball similar to tennis, except for a smaller area of play, there are many differences.

Singles or doubles pickleball is played on a 20’ x 44’ court with a net. Paddles are made up of a composite of materials, which may include polymers, fiberglass, aluminum and graphite. They are smaller than tennis racquets and larger than ping pong paddles. The game is played with a plastic ball with holes, similar to a wiffle ball.

Games are played to 11 points, and many of the rules are the opposite of those in tennis. These include only getting points when you (or your doubles partner) are serving, no second serve and the service return must bounce before being hit.

Today, you can enjoy pickleball in any state in the U.S., as well as in 60 countries around the world. There are currently more than 35,000 courts across the U.S., across 9,000 locations and courts are being built at a record rate according to USAP Official Court Surface Partner, SportMaster.

Intrigued? These are the most interesting aspects of this rising global sport.

10 fun facts about pickleball's popularity

1. While it’s recently become really popular, pickleball has actually been around for over 50 years. Pickleball was invented by Joel Pritchard, Bill Bell and Barney McCallum in 1965 on Bainbridge Island, near Seattle. They created the game because their children were bored with their typical summertime activities.

2. You don’t need to be a pickle lover to play pickleball. In fact, the name “pickleball” has nothing to do with the kind of pickles we eat. Instead, pickleball got its name from the wife of the game's creator, Joan Pritchard. Joan was a fan of college rowing and often watched college regattas. She remembered that the best varsity teams competed against each other. Similar to other college sports, those who didn’t start participated in a different competition. In this case, it was called a “pickle boat” race, which was just for fun. In Pickleball Magazine, Joan’s son Frank says, “To hear my mother tell it, they sort of threw the leftover non-starter oarsmen into these particular pickle boats. She thought pickleball sort of threw bits of other games into the mix (badminton, table tennis, wiffle ball) and decided that ‘Pickle Ball’ was an appropriate name.”

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3. Pickleball isn’t just for old people. While it became popular in senior communities, today the fastest growing pickleball-playing demographic is people ages 18-54, according to SFIA. I play at a park, where I regularly see kids and teenagers playing alongside adults of all ages. My daughter’s college even has pickleball courts and a Pickleball Club.

4. You can get a workout playing pickleball. While there is definitely less running in pickleball (especially if you play doubles), it’s pretty easy to work up a sweat while playing. Using fitness trackers, some USAP employees and I have burned 500-600 calories playing for one-and-a-half or two hours, playing doubles matches.

5. Naples, Florida, is known as The Pickleball Capital of the World™. The term is actually trademarked by the Naples Pickleball Center, located at East Naples Community Park, with good reason. It’s home to the largest dedicated pickleball facility in the world, with an amazing 64 pickleball courts, and is also where the U.S. Open Pickleball Championships tournament is held. The largest spectator and participation pickleball tournament in the world, the tournament attracts over 25,000 visitors over a seven-day period.

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6. Pickleball may eventually become an Olympic sport. The International Federation of Pickleball (IFP), the world governing body of pickleball, is working to get more countries interested in pickleball and ultimately seeks official recognition by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) in order to establish pickleball as an Olympic sport.

7. You don’t need to have played tennis or even any racquet sports to excel at pickleball. Joel Ickes had never played a racquet sport until his father convinced him to play pickleball. “From the first time I played, I never stopped,” he says. Three-and-a-half years later, at age 38, he plays in tournaments, offers private lessons and teaches three-day pickleball camps around the country with Level Up.

8. While many new pickleball courts are being built, due to pickleball’s popularity, some tennis courts have been repurposed as pickleball courts. In fact, you can fit four pickleball courts in the same area as one tennis court, says Upson.

9. Tennis pros of all ages and abilities are moving to pickleball—as pros and players. Pam Wilkinson was a teaching tennis professional in New Jersey and Florida for over 20 years when she signed up to learn pickleball at a local tennis center. “I was hooked,” she says. Soon she started playing pickleball, and became certified as an instructor. Today, three years later, she is the pickleball pro at Patch Reef Tennis Center, in Boca Raton, FL. Tyson McGuffin was a tennis pro-teacher and is now one of the top-ranked tournament pickleball players in the world.

10. Celebrities love pickleball. Pickleball-obsessed celebrities include Ellen Degeneres, Reese Witherspoon, Kim Kardashian, George Clooney (he even has a pickleball court at his Los Angeles home) and Leonardo DiCaprio (he also has a pickleball court at his house).

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