Pickleball: The Fastest Growing Sport In The World
What Is Pickleball?
Pickleball is a paddle sport in which two or four players hit a hard plastic ball with holes using solid paddles. A pickleball court is almost the same as a badminton court except for the height of the net (36 inches), and the paddle is similar to a small solid tennis racket. Players hit the ball back and forth twice on both sides of the net, and serve again when one side makes mistakes or fouls, 11 points per game.
How to play pickleball?
Pickleball is currently the fastest growing sport, are you ready to get involved? This paddle sport, which combines tennis, badminton and table tennis, is currently popular throughout the United States. Pickleball is easy to get started and can be played indoors or outdoors. The requirements for courts and equipment are very simple, and you can even play on the road with only a paddle and a ball. Beginners for pickleball can follow the videos below to learn the basic information:
Pickleball Skills
Looking For Pickleball Courts Near Me
To find nearby free pickleball courts, , public pickleball courts, outdoor pickleball courts, indoor pickleball courts, click to find nearest courts, and the pickleball courts will be filtered out based on your location and preferences.
Pickleball Equipments
Pickleball requires very little equipment, mainly paddles, balls and courts, and clothing and other accessories can be prepared as normal indoor and outdoor sports.
Pickleball Paddles
Pickleball paddle is a solid paddle similar to a small tennis racket, generally made of composite materials, with a total length of no more than 24 inches, and the performance of different shapes of paddles will vary.
Pickleball Court
The pickleball court is the same size as the doubles badminton court, with an area of 20×44 feet. The difference is that the pickleball net height is 36 inches at the sidelines and 34 inches in the middle. The lines on the pickleball court are the same as that on a tennis court, divided into left and right service courts and the non-volley area (“kitchen”).
Pickleball Ball
The pickleball ball is a hard plastic ball with a smooth surface and holes, with a diameter of 2.87 inches (7.29 cm) to 2.97 inches (7.54 cm). It is divided into indoor balls and outdoor balls. In order to reduce the impact of wind, the hole diameter of the indoor ball is larger (fewer holes, generally 26 holes), and the outdoor ball has a smaller aperture (more holes, generally 26 holes).
How to Custom Pickleball Paddle
Custom pickleball paddle needs to know about the parameters of pickleball paddle and your own level in advance, you can learn everything in How to custom pickleball paddle, and follow our coach’s recommendation to customize.
Pickleball Association
With the popularity of Pickleball, the sport also has professional Associations. There exist IFP and WFP in the world, and PPA and USA Pickleball in the United States. What is interesting is that both international organizations and the two organizations in the United States have certain disputes.
Pickleball Associations In The United States
USA Pickleball is the national governing body for the sport of pickleball in the US and provides players with official rules, tournaments, rankings & more.
PPA is mainly composed of top professional pickleball players. It hosts national championships and professional tours in the United States. Pickleball lovers can buy pickleball tournament tickets to watch professional players’ games.
International Pickleball Associations
IFP was founded in 2010 by the USA Pickleball Association (USAP). The IFP is a nonprofit organization, the objective is to develop and maintain all official rules of Pickleball, to promote and popularize the sport of pickleball throughout the world, and most importantly to include the sport of Pickleball in the Olympic Games. The IFP also organizes international pickleball competitions including the Bainbridge Cup, an international competition in which teams represent their continent and compete at professional and amateur levels.
WPF was established in 2018 and currently has 37 member countries (regions), committed to promoting pickleball to the world as a sport recognized by the public, with the core objective of getting pickleball recognized as an Olympic event.
Pickleball Rating
Pickleball rating is referred to as pickleball skill levels. Pickleball ratings vary from 1.0 to 6.0+. The higher the skill level, the larger the scoring number. There are generally three types of pickleball ratings:
- Self-Ratings
- USA Pickleball Tournament Player Ratings
- Dreamland Universal Pickleball Ratings
Pickleball Rules
Famous Pickleball Players
Date of Birth: 18th March 1999
Honor:
- More than 50 gold medals so far in his career
- Won 11 Triple Crown Gold Medals
- 2019 Champions Tournament win at Brigham City
- 2021 Gongkais in the United States
Date of Birth: 26 January 2007
Honor:
- Gold at the Newport Beach Exhibition in 2021
- Gold at the 2021 Orlando Cup
- Gold at the 2021 Texas Open
- Gold at 2021 Margaritaville US Pickleball National Championships
Date of Birth: 9 July 1992
Honor:
- Gold in the Orange County Cup in 2021
- Gold at the Rocky Mountain Championship in 2021
History of pickleball
Pickleball was invented by Joel Pritchard, congressman from Washington State and Bill Bell, successful businessman in 1965 on Bainbridge Island, WA. The original cause was that Joel and Bill found that their family had nothing to do after playing golf on a Saturday, so in order to provide a game for the whole family to participate in, they started in an old badminton court, they looked for some badminton equipment and could not find a full set of rackets, They improvised and started playing with ping-pong paddles and a perforated plastic ball. Later they found that the ball bounced better on the asphalt surface and lowered the height of the net from 60 inches to 36 inches. The following weekend, Barney McCallum was introduced to the game at Pritchard’s home. Soon, the three men created rules, relying heavily on badminton. Between 1965 and 2020, it became a popular sport in the US Pacific Northwest. In 2022 the pickleball became the official sport of Washington, with over 4.8 million players.