My First Attempt at Pickleball

Bestselling author and political insider Ann Bracken, author of How to Break Into the White House, shares her experiences of pickleball - the recent sports trend sweeping the States!

By Ann Bracken

For any tennis player who tries the latest fad in America- Pickleball, you will find the court is too short, the racket strange, the wiffle ball too soft and doesn’t bounce, the scoring incomprehensible, the rules beyond understanding, the sounds of the ball hitting the racket annoying but besides all of this- it’s great fun and strangely addictive!

I have read that in the snobby upper east side apartments of New York City, the tennents are protesting the Pickleball noise coming from Central Park. The game has taken over to the fury of the residents! They are aghast at the racket coming from below their plush and posh exclusive co-ops. The boisterous ‘bourgeoisie’ are taking over the most sought after real estate on the East Coast. Similar uprisings are beginning in Los Angeles and Florida. Pickleball-mania is dividing the classes and the nation.

The ‘lawn tennis’ players are in full revolt. Their gentile game is being overtaken and they are horrified.

There is a storm brewing on the tennis courts of America. Admittedly a very middle-class, middle-aged storm, but a storm nonetheless. On the one side are the tennis players with their eons of history, perfectly pressed shorts and thousands of dollars spent on lessons. And on the other are the advocates for America’s fastest growing athletic pursuit: pickleball! That might be music to the ears of pickleballers, the tennis players are not happy about their court space being eroded and the feud between the two ball hitting factions is only likely to get worse.

Almost 10 million people in the U.S. are classified as pickleball players and in the last two years that number has grown almost 40 percent.

Pickleball was invented in 1965 and involves using a solid rectangular ‘paddle’ to hit a plastic ball with holes in it over a 36 inch net. A pickleball court looks similar to a tennis court but is about 1/3 to 1/4 its size.

The game uses elements of badminton, table tennis and wiffle ball. The name pickleball comes from the “pickle boat” in crew, a boat made of oarsmen leftover chosen by other boats.

At least on one front, there is no denying that tennis and pickleball are in direct conflict. The battle for court space has arrived- and tennis is losing ground fast. Today the USTA (United States Tennis Association) says, at least 10 percent of tennis courts in America have been taken over and repurposed for pickleball.

Competition for court space is exonerated by pickleball’s rapid growth and the fact that four pickleball courts can fit on one tennis court. Tennis players also complain about the ‘loud noise’ from a flat racket hitting a wiffle ball. These tensions have led to disputes, vandalism, and even physical confrontations creating a ‘turf war’ over recreational facilities. For tennis clubs in the U.S. it makes commercial sense. The same tennis court that can accommodate 4 paying customers can be carved into more pickleball courts with a few licks of paint. The club can now charge at least twice if not more for loads more customers.

Why do people love Pickleball? It’s suited for all ages and athletic ability providing a fun workout, the game format provides social interaction between players, it is a gentle, low impact sport that is easier on the body than other racket sports, the rules make it simple and easy to pick up (though not for me) and despite it’s simplicity, pickleball can be a fast paced game that requires quick reflexes and strategic play.

I experienced this phenomenon in Minneapolis, Minnesota visiting my sister and her extremely athletic and ‘pickleball-mad’ family. Having played daily tennis all summer, I thought that I would fit in very quickly, however I had never played the game as it hasn’t gained popularity in Europe as of yet, because of its relative newness, lack of dedicated courts and resistance from established sports such as padel and tennis. I have never seen a pickleball court in London though my son says there is one, carved out of a tennis court. How wrong I was about my ability. At least I did have the stamina to keep up, but that was about all.

The great thing about Pickleball is you don’t have to be very athletic. Any age and body type can play as the action takes place mainly at net. This is why it is so popular as you can have an injury from another sport but still play decent Pickleball. Good hand/eye coordination and quick reflexes are what’s required. Mine were too slow as a tennis court is bigger and the balls are heavier, so before I knew it- the pickleball was in my face. You DO have to bend your knees as the ball just doesn’t bounce. My timing was bad on that as well and I do admit to some swinging and missing of the ball entirely. The scoring makes no sense for a tennis player. For example 3-3-1? Or 7-9-2. This means that the server has the first score, the receiver the second and the first person on the team is serving. If that point is won, the server continues, if it is lost, the second server on the same team serves which accounts for the ‘2’ in the scoring. If that server loses, the serve goes to the opponent. The game is played to 11, so if it’s 10-10, it’s sudden death. This goes by much quicker than a tennis game and before you know it, you are at net touching the opponent’s racket and declaring ‘good game.’

Even top tennis players are calling attention to the issue. The 24-time grand slam winner, Novak Djokovic said that he believed that the economics of the sport meant that ‘tennis is in danger.’ ‘If we don’t do something about it, we are going to see more tennis courts converted to padel or pickleball because it’s cheaper.’

My first attempt at this game was with 8 players on two courts at the beautiful Wayzata Country Club. The courts were outdoor in a beautiful setting and I took the racket (which is 3/4 the size of a tennis racket with no strings) and the ball (which is larger than a tennis ball but 1/4 the weight) and took my place at the back of the court (which is a third the size of a tennis court!) While hitting the ball, during the ‘warm up’, I quickly realised I had to swing twice as hard to get it over the net, and to retrieve it, I had to bend my knees and ‘scoop’ it off the ground. Of course, I either hit it in the net, swung and missed or hit it way out. If the ball had spin (which seemed to be the goal of my opponents), I hit it flat and the ball shot horizontally to the right and completely wide of the court. It took quite a while for me to be ‘ready’ and confident enough to actually play a game. My first partner was my very athletic nephew who kindly gave me pointers and didn’t show frustration when I ‘whiffed’ (missed it completely) the ball, losing us the serve. He told me where to stand on the court before each point and frequently reminded me to ‘stay out of the kitchen!’ I didn’t remotely understand what that had to do with the game and thought he was referring to my movements in their home, where I was staying. My first thought was, ‘What am I going to do for my morning coffee?’ This understandably had me worried as I am up early to do a pre-dawn jog. Coffee, to me, is essential. I later learned that there is a literal gray area on the Pickleball court that is a 7 foot ‘non- volley’ zone on each side of the net. You are not allowed to be in this area during the point, unless the ball bounces first. Since the goal to the game is to race to net and put the ball away, I naturally rushed to the ‘kitchen’ to finish the point.

Sadly for my dynamic nephew we lost the first game, thanks to me. He was sweet by reassuring me that I did well on my very first attempt, but to remember to ‘stay out of the kitchen!’ Then after moving down a court and switching partners, my niece had the pleasure of playing with me. By then I was more able to hit the ball over the net although the opponent’s spin serve and short shots had me struggling. We were playing against her parents, my sister and brother in law, who have recently made the game part of their regular routine.

They were very good and my sister was especially good at slamming the ball at net. I was impressed and gamely yelled ‘good shot’ when she put the ball away between my legs. We lost that game too, but I was better and even had a few ‘put aways’ myself. She was kind and told me I played well! I then played with my son, who had played the game before. He told me to ‘clear the way’ so he could get the ball and make the point. He is a tennis player as well with a wicked slice net shot that did our team justice and we won that game, which gave me some much needed confidence. The last game I played was with my sister but her excellence couldn’t compensate for my mistakes eventough the score was touch and go, the opponents were lucky to win. We lost in sudden death. Overall I felt elated at my Pickleball ‘debut’ and was excited to continue. I could only improve.

After an enjoyable lunch which the numerous Minnesota bees led us to abandon early on, my niece’s dynamic boyfriend tried to impress me with his ‘self drive’ new Tesla. I told him I didn’t trust it, which only made him push down harder on the gas pedal. I did not flinch. I did remind him that San Fransico had recently reported a spate of incidents where these cars not only ran over countless crime scenes that were taped off for investigation purposes- destroying the evidence, but actually plowed down a few pedestrians perfectly minding their own business. He didn’t argue my point! It was a cool car however. I didn’t tell him that.

Minnesota thunderstorms are quite dramatic, so the next morning we moved to the Indoor club for our Pickleball rematch. There were only 4 of us as the others needed to work that Monday morning. The indoor facility had (by popular demand) changed two tennis courts into 8 pickleball but 2 tennis courts remaining. So with the rain pelting on the aluminium roof, I was confused by the noise of 8 wiffle balls and numerous tennis balls (as there was a children’s clinic going on) simultaneously roaming around at various tempos and sounds throughout the club. I was again, of course, accused of spending the majority of the morning in the ‘kitchen’. Another rule is both players must stay at the baseline when the team is serving and the ball has to bounce on the return before coming to net- I sometimes forgot this. Also you only have one serve (I am use to two in tennis) so I ‘double faulted’ before I realised it. When returning the serve, one player stands back and the other stands at net. Again, you have to stay out of the ‘kitchen’ but I took no notice.

I kept hitting the brim of my baseball cap with my follow through (though not hard enough to knock myself out) and was hit with the ball in the back of my head by my partner and several times on my legs by the opponent; it can be a rough sport but the ball is fairly light, so no major damage is done!

There is also a phenomenon known as ‘pickleing’ where the game is won 11-0. My son and sister did ‘pickle’ my brother in law who was none too pleased.

Back to my neice’s boyfriend, who is a pickleball ‘fiend’ and takes the game very seriously. Luckily, I never played with or against him. I think he hurt some feelings by slamming the ball into different body parts of his opponents, while loudly celebrating. He is a competitive sort and he later challenged me to a table tennis match (a game I use to excel in.) He came to dinner dancing around like a prize fighter before a boxing match and telling me that he had brought his $300 bamboo paddle for our match. I hadn’t even agreed to the challenge yet! While I was having dinner he kept circling me to finish and start the duel. I had no choice but to agree, eventhough I had not played in years.

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