Created back in 1965, Pickeball is a racquet sport that has definitely gotten more popular than ever as of late! It combines different aspects of table tennis, tennis, and badminton into one exciting game, and is played with a solid paddle, a perforated plastic ball, and is played a court that’s smaller than your typical tennis court. It’s an emerging sport that continues to see a massive growth in popularity, especially in the United States.
Here are four fascinating facts about Pickleball!
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- In Pickleball, the net is lower than it is in Tennis. (source) In Pickleball, players must observe the two-bounce rule, but the net is lower. In the game, when the ball is actually served, it needs to bounce at least once on the receiving team’s side and then yet again on the server’s side when its returned.
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- Pickleball has its own governing body. (source) The United States of American Pickleball Association, otherwise known as the USAPA, was instituted to regular professional play. It was created in 1984 and as of 2021 has more than 53,000 members.
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- Pickleball is the fastest-growing sport in the United States. (source) Recently, a new study showed that pickleball was the fastest-growing sport in the U.S., with an increase in participation of 171.1% over the last four years alone. This is far and away the largest bump in participation of any sports in the country, leading other top ranked sports like alpine touring (+115.0%), winter fat biking (+69.4%), off-course golf (+67.5%), and snowboard touring (+59.1%).
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- Pickleball’s name was inspired by an animal. (source) Washington State Congressman Joel Pritchard was one of the inventors of pickleball, and his dog’s name was Pickles!
Pickleball is gaining serious popularity in the United States! Have you played it before? If you have any more fun and fascinating facts to share about pickleball, be sure to let us know about them in the comments below.
Featured image photo credit: TheVillagesFL, 2017. Originally found on Wikimedia. Image was resized and cropped. Creative Commons 4.0.
