Pickleball

darpar

A pretty fun game!
Great for us old guys who don't move around quite as fast as we used too! 🙂

brownmoose13

do not need to be young...just have good hand eye coordination

mikeintopeka

This has been a topic at social gatherings and just a few friends have played even though Topeka built a small Pickeball Complex with 10 courts and is now hosting regional multi-state tournaments.

I discovered we have a local USA Pickleball Assn. Ambassador and she was excited to accept my invite to put on an introductory session for 14 of us tomorrow evening.

LBlack14

Never heard of it. What is it?

mikeintopeka

LBlack14 black14 13 minutes ago
Never heard of it. What is it?

My thumbnail summary is it's similar to tennis but played on a court the approximate dimensions for badmitton hitting a softball sized whiffle ball using an oversized ping pong paddle.

I first heard about it reading an article in the Wall Street Journal where some residents in a retirement community sued the homeowner's assn. because they built courts and didn't put a curfew when it could be played. So, they were being used well past some neighbors' beddy bye times causing plaintiffs to lose sleep.

I first saw it played on Venice (Muscle) Beach while visiting SoCal. During the noon hour, there were office workers in business casual clothes, and wearing tennis shoes, cross the street from their offices and started their matches. I'm looking forward to my intro session tomorrow with friends.

http://www.usapa.org/what-is-pickleball/

sdandrea1

Love it. Old man's tennis. We have several courts here in VA and a huge league in FL.

mikeintopeka

A few more showed up than I was expecting for our intro social tonight so we had 18 players including 2 instructors. Our Parks and Rec has now converted 4 more tennis courts to Pickleball so the complex now has 16 courts all with new surfaces. I think everyone had a great time and at the 'apres pb' over a few adult beverages several want to make it a frequent Sunday evening social event and bring their friends. The games are short so you can have round robin matches and get to mix with other couples in an hour and a half or so. I'm glad I've now been exposed to it and it was a good low impact workout.

darpar

This is the fastest growing sport in our area.
Here's is one of the newest pickleball complexes built in St.George.
http://www.pickleballchannel.com/Aerial-Little-Valley

brownmoose13

where I live in Florida during the winter we have 160 Pickleball courts. I play 4 days a week.

Chuck

Seymore101

I know that it is growing hugely in Southern Indiana, but there is a ton of courts out here in Arizona also. Great social outlet with a rather small learning curve for starters. Fun game

azgreg

I can't believe nobody has posted a video yet.

Larryd3

Timely thread. I just read at my golf club, they are converting 2 of the tennis courts into Pickleball. I had no idea what it is, now I know.

PA-PLAYA

If I played golf like the guys in the white shirts play "pickleball", I would be taking dead-aim at every water hazard or out-of-bounds post in front of me. lol

darpar

PA-PLAYA
Looks like a big age gap between the two sides to me.

PA-PLAYA

darpar

For sure.

Which brings me to a very legit question: are these games handicapped in some form or fashion?

brownmoose13

PA-PLAYA

(2) 80 year olds could easily beat (2) 20 year olds. No handicap needed......... just practice, patience, reflexes and hand eye coordination

DC300

I haven't played in years, but it's really fun! I'm going to have to take to building my own complex if I'm going to live here. I think the model should be a dog friendly pub with outside seating, a 4 court pickleball set up and a "traditional" sports bar inside. Ideally located next to a golf course, bowling alley and strip club... oh the riches I could have!

ZWExton

brownmoose13

You think 80 year olds can compete with 20 year olds in coordination and reflexes?

darpar

There seems to be a bunch of different skill levels based on a # system 2.0,2.5 etc.
http://www.bendpickleballclub.com/how-to-play/pickleball-skill-level-definitions/

brownmoose13

ZWExton

Absolutely. I have seen it more than once in Florida where the 20's think the 80's are over the hill. Don't forget the court is relatively small and when you control the net its game over. 20's try to smash the ball and 80's place the ball and frustrate the younger players

ZWExton

brownmoose13

That's not reflexes and coordination, that's knowing how to play the game. Saying they can win on reflexes and coordination is like saying they can win at golf with their power. They can win, but not for those reasons.