A History

Pickleball is a sport that, just a few years ago, would have seemed laughable. It has seemingly skyrocketed to popularity out of nowhere.. This sport has been around for decades though, being first created in 1965 by the Washington State congressman, Joel Pritchard, and his buddy Bill Bell.
One day, their families were all sitting around bored at the home of Pritchard, but they all decided to go play badminton on their home court. But after they decided to, they realized they could not find a full set of badminton paddles.So they improvised, playing with ping pong paddles and a wiffle ball. The game soon developed as they realized the ball bounced nicely on the ground, so they lowered the net, and pickleball was born. 

The name “Pickleball” is very intriguing, but the origins of the name are told many different ways with no clear story. The first way, the one most commonly told, is that the family who made pickleball had a dog named “Pickles”, who would fetch the ball for them.

“Pickles-ball” was what they would tell the dog to bring them the ball. The other story behind the name is that the wife of Pritchard, Joan, came up with the name from the term pickle boats, which in a boat race, is the least cared about boat. These are the boats that do not really have a plan and are just put together with the “leftovers” of the crew.

Since pickleball was made with a random combination of sports, “the leftovers”, this name is clever.

Pickleball Now

Currently, Pickleball is played differently from the original game. It still uses a paddle, like the ping-pong paddle in the original game, but it is much larger.

Ping-Pong paddles are on average about 6.7 inches long by 5.9 inches wide. Pickleball paddles on average are about 16 inches long by 7.5 inches wide.

The game of pickleball is also a lot more complex now than it used to be, especially in regards to the “Kitchen”. The “Kitchen” is also called the non-volley zone, this is an area at the front of both sides of the court, extending 7 feet on each side of the net.

The “Kitchen” does still originate from badminton, being called the “Short-service line” in badminton. The big difference here is that in badminton, the only rule with this line is that the serve must not land in the area from the line to the net.

The serve is only considered good if it lands behind the net. This is the same in pickleball, except there is an added rule that is implied in the name “No-volley zone”. That rule is that one must not hit the ball out of the air when standing in this zone, one cannot hit the ball out of the air before the line and step in on the same motion either.

One can be standing in the kitchen all they want, as long as they do not hit it out of the air.

The Beginner Game

Local Fort Wayne player, Lisa Yde, who considers herself a beginner player, heard about the sport through her sister and friends, pinpoints the attractiveness of the game by saying, “It’s just fun, there’s no judgment, and everyone can play, it’s a very friendly game”.

Pickleball seems to be growing at an exponential rate, the more that are playing, the more people that hear about it. This is because this is a word-of-mouth spreading game, everyone who plays it sees the social aspect in it, so they want to invite all of their friends to enjoy it with them.

Another important aspect noted by Yde is the fact that anyone can play, there seems to be no barriers, especially no age barriers. Going to pickleball courts, this is evident, there will be toddlers and there will be people in their 80s and even sometimes 90s.

The Intermediate Game

After interviewing a player from out of town, Kiera Hatfield, who considers herself an intermediate player, continues the idea of the inclusiveness of the sport, but adds a new point of view from the intermediate side of things, describing her favorite part of the sport by saying, “The competition is probably my favorite part, I feel like you can be competitive no matter the age, you could be playing older people and still be competitive with them”. This claim, even though by a player with more experience, still indicates the boundaryless aspect of this game. Hatfield’s point of view as an intermediate player adds the new aspect of the sport which is that even though this game is a social, more fun sport, it can still be taken in a competitive manner if that’s a desire. Once again proving the multi-faceted components of this sport. 

The Advanced Game

Moving on to another local Fort Wayne player, Bryan Fairchild, an advanced player who notices the game’s different play styles by saying, “A lot of people see the game as easy, but it’s as easy as you make it, there are many different playing styles to account for that can make the game a lot harder”.

He follows this up by saying, “An example of this is that the game is now getting a lot faster with younger people playing”.
Sarasota Guide

Takeaways From Different Levels of Play

Through these interviews of beginner, intermediate, and advanced players, it’s interesting to note the similarities in the view on pickleball between all of these players.

Each player, no matter skill level, had some sort of comment about the wide age-range differential of the sport.

This seems to be a common denominator in the reason people are playing, it’s a sport for everybody. For the many, not the few.

Why Pickleball is so Important

In today’s world, it seems as though sports have become overly competitive to the point where beginners and even intermediate players in some cases can feel excluded.

According to the Ageism Foundation, the article “Ageism in Sports” tells the story clearly by saying, “Many athletes feel bullied out of their career because they are told they are no longer at their peak”.
Age seems to be a common factor of judgment amongst athletes, and as athletes are getting better, sports are getting faster, and harder, this issue is only going to get worse.

When asking the Operations manager/team lead at ACE Pickleball Club, Kamdyn Lester, about this issue, he cited the benefit of a place like ACE by saying, “So many people are drawn to Pickleball because of the easiness to learn, it’s also the reason you can play with so many different walks of life.

The age range here is very large and our open-play concept makes it so you can play with anyone”.
Pickleball is a fun sport, that’s for sure, but the importance and impact this sport has had by its inclusion is something commonly understated.

The General Manager of ACE Pickleball Club, Tysen Chambers mentions how the wide range of players is a benefit to the game itself, due to the differing play styles and the overall evolution, by saying, “When I was starting, the most important aspects were being good at dinking and having a good third shot drop, those were the things that kept the game slow.”

Chambers then compares this to the game now by saying, “Now the emphasis is on top spin drives, countering speed-ups, and having quick, soft hands at the kitchen”.

Chambers describes the best players though, as the ones who, “-rely much less on strength and reaction, but instead shift reaction into anticipation,” this style often being held by older players. “The best way to play is playing like a game of chess,” said Tysen.

When did/do People Start Playing?

It is apparent no matter what skill level or role they have, they all gave very similar answers. The most intriguing of these similarities is when the players say they started playing.

The beginner player, Lisa Yde, cited the first time she started playing by saying, “About 6 months ago”. Calculating for the time of the interview would be June.

The intermediate player, Kiera Hatfield, cites her first start date by saying, “July of last year was when I first played”. The expert player, Bryan Fairchild, claimed his first playing time by saying, “A year and a half ago”.

The ACE Pickleball Club Operations manager/team lead, Kamydyn Lester, indicated his first time playing by saying, “July 2023”. The ACE Pickleball Club General Manager, Tysen Chambers, says, “I started truly playing pickleball one year ago when ACE opened, but the first time I ever hit on a court was the summer of 2023!”.
Every response claimed that they started playing during a hot summer month, while four out of five of the responses claimed they started in a summer month in 2023.

The summer of 2023 seemed to be the earliest occurrence of the pickleball ‘hype’, and these interviews exhibit proof of not only the sheer amount of people who began playing during this time but also the fact that even a year and a half later they are still playing.

Conclusion

Pickleball may seem like a fun, easy, trendy game to many, but this is more than just a game.

This is something that can bring together people of all backgrounds, building great players no matter what one’s archetype is, and building connections that can last a lifetime.