The name pickleball comes from the term “pickle boat,” which refers to a crew of leftover rowers. This makes sense, considering the game uses leftover equipment and shares rules with many different sports, making it a quick and easy game to learn if you have minimal experience with a number of different sports.
The game consists of players hitting a wiffle ball over a low net and ends at 11, 15, or 21 points. The ball must bounce once on each side of the net like tennis and the paddles used to hit the ball look like ping pong or table tennis paddles.
The sport is fun and low stakes, usually played recreationally with friends. You can find people from all over talking about playing pickleball to make friends or stay in shape at their local gyms or community centers; it’s a sport that’s open to everyone and a fun way to get your exercise in and build community.
The origins of pickleball contribute to its growing popularity with its amalgamation of rules and setup from sports similar to it. If you’re familiar with table tennis, you’ll have no trouble holding the paddles. If you know how to zip around a court like a volleyball or tennis player, the quick pace shouldn’t be difficult for you at all. Like all sports, it can be played for fun and can get intense depending on how seriously the players take it. Mixed with the rules and nature of the sport similar to others like it, people everywhere are finding enjoyment in the game.
Just like anything popular, you can look to social media to see others talking about the sport. From Youtubers, including getting ready for pickleball in their “Get Ready With Me” videos, to TikTokers, who show clips of their games in their videos, more and more people are learning about the joys of the sport, and with higher exposure comes more recognition. With the rising popularity, we could see pickleball added to the Olympic lineup as soon as 2032.
