Thwack!
August 17, 2022 4:16 PM Subscribe
Can a Tennis Player Share His Heart, and Courts, With Pickleball? It’s a turf war that’s become common nationwide in recent years as the pandemic drove demand for both sports. Pickleballers are clamoring for respect, more resources and courts, creating a sensitive balancing act for parks and recreation departments around the country.
A pickelballadeer sings story songs about spices and vinegar and cucumbers.
"Oh come lads and lasses and hear thee my tale
Of what was put up by the old Widow Nail
Who did take of cucumber, garlic and dill
And what else was in there, she'll tell you nill"
etc etc
posted by hippybear at 4:40 PM on August 17, 2022 [14 favorites]
"Oh come lads and lasses and hear thee my tale
Of what was put up by the old Widow Nail
Who did take of cucumber, garlic and dill
And what else was in there, she'll tell you nill"
etc etc
posted by hippybear at 4:40 PM on August 17, 2022 [14 favorites]
My mom's boyfriend plays it (and she briefly played for awhile), so it amuses me every time I see an article about it going around.
posted by jenfullmoon at 4:44 PM on August 17, 2022
posted by jenfullmoon at 4:44 PM on August 17, 2022
It's a fun sport, but the sound of the ball, a loud, sharp, TOCK TOCK TOCK can get really annoying if you're not playing. (Makes it easy to find the coursts from far away though.)
It's easy to get into. Easy enough to learn, you don't need to be all that athletic to join but it can get quite intense. Where I play the courts are split based on skill levels.
Most people I've met play for fun and are welcoming of newcomers. A few, though, get hyper-competitive and get cranky when someone like me admits to playing simply to have a good time.
I tell them, "It's a game".
The upside is these sorts of people tend to find their own crowd.
posted by Ayn Marx at 5:05 PM on August 17, 2022
It's easy to get into. Easy enough to learn, you don't need to be all that athletic to join but it can get quite intense. Where I play the courts are split based on skill levels.
Most people I've met play for fun and are welcoming of newcomers. A few, though, get hyper-competitive and get cranky when someone like me admits to playing simply to have a good time.
I tell them, "It's a game".
The upside is these sorts of people tend to find their own crowd.
posted by Ayn Marx at 5:05 PM on August 17, 2022
They did just turn one of the two tennis courts in our neighborhood park into 3 pickleball courts. They see a lot more use and you can also fit more courts. Pickleball is fun (the remaining tennis court still gets used too).
posted by subdee at 5:51 PM on August 17, 2022
posted by subdee at 5:51 PM on August 17, 2022
Played pickleball quite a bit for awhile. It was a blast! There are quite a few ex high level tennis players who are into it bc the skill set is similar but it does not require covering as much court.
posted by jcworth at 6:10 PM on August 17, 2022 [1 favorite]
posted by jcworth at 6:10 PM on August 17, 2022 [1 favorite]
It might be less divisive if they could find a way to make it less loud. (Why did his become a thing when badminton was already right there???)
posted by sjswitzer at 6:24 PM on August 17, 2022 [4 favorites]
posted by sjswitzer at 6:24 PM on August 17, 2022 [4 favorites]
(Why did his become a thing when badminton was already right there???)
Lower net. No goddamn shuttlecock.
posted by Thorzdad at 6:29 PM on August 17, 2022 [6 favorites]
Lower net. No goddamn shuttlecock.
posted by Thorzdad at 6:29 PM on August 17, 2022 [6 favorites]
My awful uncharitable take is that pickleball was invented by and for people who didn't realize that badminton existed. But people enjoy it, so... good for them.
posted by buxtonbluecat at 6:44 PM on August 17, 2022 [5 favorites]
posted by buxtonbluecat at 6:44 PM on August 17, 2022 [5 favorites]
As a former sorta-serious tennis player, I desperately want to play and like pickleball. Just haven't done the work to make that happen yet.
I don't buy the badminton-based shade at all. Badminton, beautiful and awesome, with the highest recorded velocity ever measured in a non-ballistic sport, is utterly different. There's no bounce. Pickleball is 100 million times more like tennis than it is like badminton.
One of my favorite tennis activities was "mini-tennis," which we played as a warm-up or cool-down game. Everyone hugs the service line, which is the new baseline, and tries to out-angle, -touch, and -spin the other side.
I'm fully confident the infighting every pickleball article describes will keep me from taking its competitive levels seriously for some time. I care deeply about tennis but cannot stand, at all, articles about the byzantine legalisms of the ATP. I'm just allergic to that crap.
My one criticism of the sport as a sport is that its tight quarters does not afford many opportunities for beautiful lines, for the kind of breathtaking shots that players like McEnroe, Radwanska, Federer, Nadal, et al achieve. Those extra split-seconds are vital, somehow.
posted by Caxton1476 at 7:24 PM on August 17, 2022 [4 favorites]
I don't buy the badminton-based shade at all. Badminton, beautiful and awesome, with the highest recorded velocity ever measured in a non-ballistic sport, is utterly different. There's no bounce. Pickleball is 100 million times more like tennis than it is like badminton.
One of my favorite tennis activities was "mini-tennis," which we played as a warm-up or cool-down game. Everyone hugs the service line, which is the new baseline, and tries to out-angle, -touch, and -spin the other side.
I'm fully confident the infighting every pickleball article describes will keep me from taking its competitive levels seriously for some time. I care deeply about tennis but cannot stand, at all, articles about the byzantine legalisms of the ATP. I'm just allergic to that crap.
My one criticism of the sport as a sport is that its tight quarters does not afford many opportunities for beautiful lines, for the kind of breathtaking shots that players like McEnroe, Radwanska, Federer, Nadal, et al achieve. Those extra split-seconds are vital, somehow.
posted by Caxton1476 at 7:24 PM on August 17, 2022 [4 favorites]
On a sorta-related note, I used to work with community college transfer work and was amazed that for years, badminton appeared to be a really popular college sport.
I admit, I haven't actually SEEN pickleball played, so what's different? Just the paddle?
posted by jenfullmoon at 9:52 PM on August 17, 2022 [1 favorite]
I admit, I haven't actually SEEN pickleball played, so what's different? Just the paddle?
posted by jenfullmoon at 9:52 PM on August 17, 2022 [1 favorite]
I have never played pickleball but I do think it looks fun.
I don't think badminton looks fun. I have played it, however, and IMO it's not fun to actually play either.
posted by fleacircus at 11:23 PM on August 17, 2022 [2 favorites]
I don't think badminton looks fun. I have played it, however, and IMO it's not fun to actually play either.
posted by fleacircus at 11:23 PM on August 17, 2022 [2 favorites]
Pickleball seems to have been good for the local news economy in the category of "neighbors who are mad about stuff" – every few weeks I see another story about pickleball wars.
posted by lookoutbelow at 1:19 AM on August 18, 2022 [2 favorites]
posted by lookoutbelow at 1:19 AM on August 18, 2022 [2 favorites]
You can fit three pickleball courts where there once was one tennis court, that's what's different. It's like mini tennis or giant ping pong.
posted by subdee at 3:32 AM on August 18, 2022 [2 favorites]
posted by subdee at 3:32 AM on August 18, 2022 [2 favorites]
Pickleball seems to have been good for the local news economy in the category of "neighbors who are mad about stuff" – every few weeks I see another story about pickleball wars.
Pickeball is controversial since it is taking over tennis courts. I see people play tennis a lot less than I see people play pickleball. There's retired people playing every day and the courts are always packed. As noted it is a more efficient use of space for tennis courts so it is an easy decision to convert.
Pickleball will probably be largely seen as badminton or raquetball in 10 years time. I'm sure people will play it but I'm guessing the popularity will drop significantly. It is really easy for elderly people to get into because it is low impact, I bet it'll stick around to some extent.
I don't really get the pickleball themed restaurants and kind of miss bowling to be honest.
posted by geoff. at 3:37 AM on August 18, 2022 [1 favorite]
Pickeball is controversial since it is taking over tennis courts. I see people play tennis a lot less than I see people play pickleball. There's retired people playing every day and the courts are always packed. As noted it is a more efficient use of space for tennis courts so it is an easy decision to convert.
Pickleball will probably be largely seen as badminton or raquetball in 10 years time. I'm sure people will play it but I'm guessing the popularity will drop significantly. It is really easy for elderly people to get into because it is low impact, I bet it'll stick around to some extent.
I don't really get the pickleball themed restaurants and kind of miss bowling to be honest.
posted by geoff. at 3:37 AM on August 18, 2022 [1 favorite]
Olympic level badminton (did it always have that 'n'?) is a pretty intense sport. You can fit a lot more pickle people on the same size court.
posted by Bee'sWing at 5:28 AM on August 18, 2022
posted by Bee'sWing at 5:28 AM on August 18, 2022
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I nominate "pickleballadors".
And is there a collective noun of pickleballadeers ?
posted by NoThisIsPatrick at 4:32 PM on August 17, 2022 [3 favorites]