Pickleball anyone? Invented in 1965, the infectious court sport is all the rage today

Mike Walters sends a backhand across the net to Diane Ransdell as Teresa Sage looks on during a pickleball game at Hot Springs Village. (Photo by Jeff Gammons, Arkansas Democrat-Gazette)
Mike Walters sends a backhand across the net to Diane Ransdell as Teresa Sage looks on during a pickleball game at Hot Springs Village. (Photo by Jeff Gammons, Arkansas Democrat-Gazette)

HOT SPRINGS VILLAGE — Thwok!

Thwok!

Thwok!

Thwok!

That's the sound of pickleballs being smacked back and forth over nets on a Friday morning earlier this month at the 14-court pickleball facility in Hot Springs Village.

Pickle what, you ask?

Pickleball.

It's like tennis with a slightly shorter net, played with paddles on a court that's 20 feet by 44 feet — the size of a badminton court — with a heavier version of a plastic whiffle ball.

Alas, no pickles are involved.

[Video not showing up above? Click here to watch » https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K-d-nVtqF3s]

The sport was birthed on Bainbridge Island, Wash., in 1965 when Joel Pritchard and Bill Bell improvised a game for their families using pingpong paddles and a plastic ball on an old badminton court. A buddy, Barney McCallum, soon joined in the fun and rules began to take shape.

Debate surrounds the origin of the name. It may come from pickle boat, a term from the rowing sport of crew or maybe from the Pritchards' cocker spaniel, Pickles, who would run off with the ball during games.

Pickleball slowly expanded from a backyard lark to a full-on, organized sport and has recently exploded in popularity.

The USA Pickleball Association, founded in 1984, says there has been a 650% increase in players during the past six years, with many of those newbies over 60 years old. The number of courts included on the USAPA's online Places to Play map at usapa.org has more than doubled since 2010 to 4,000. There are 51 listed places to play pickleball in Arkansas.

There are also tournaments, like the one that will bring players from all over the country to Heber Springs starting Thursday.

...

The Hot Springs Village courts are a pickleball players' dream. The $380,000 facility, which opened in September, was repurposed from old tennis courts and replaced the former pickleball space that had seen better days. There's even a shaded seating area with benches for players waiting for an open court.

The Village's pickleball club has about 320 members, says club president Greg Allen. Guests to the Village can pay $8.64 to play.

Almost every court is filled on this morning, and Village resident Julie Edmonds is waiting her turn to play.

She took up the sport about five years ago in Davenport, Iowa, while working at a coffee shop. One of her customers told her about it.

"He said it was kind of a combination of badminton and pingpong and tennis, and I said 'well, I'm pretty good at those.' He invited me to come out and play, and I've been hooked ever since."

The lure of pickleball brought Edmonds, 55, to Hot Springs Village from Iowa.

"I Googled 'gated community' and 'pickleball' and this came up," she says. "I got a house three minutes from the courts. It's so cool."

Standing in the shaded space between the fenced-in courts, Edmonds says the sport "is great exercise, but it doesn't feel like exercise. It's also a very social game. I've made a lot of good friends through pickleball."

Players are ranked on a scale of 1.0 (beginners) to 5.5 and above (elite). Edmonds is a 4.5.

"I do pretty good," she says with a chuckle.

Australia native Warren Walters took up pickleball six or seven years ago and plays six days a week.

"It's tennis for old people," he says with a smile at the Village courts on the day before his 85th birthday. "It's a wonderful game. It's addictive, and you make so many friends."

He's planning a September mission trip to Costa Rica through his church, Village Bible Church, to teach children how to play pickleball. The visit is sponsored in part by Vulcan Sporting Goods Co., the Hot Springs-based maker of baseball, softball, tennis and pickleball equipment.

"They have nothing down there. So Vulcan is [providing] paddles and nets, and I'm looking for other sponsors," Walters says.

Pickleballs are similar to whiffle balls, but they are heavier. (Photo by Jeff Gammons, Arkansas Democrat-Gazette)
Pickleballs are similar to whiffle balls, but they are heavier. (Photo by Jeff Gammons, Arkansas Democrat-Gazette)

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Most pickleball games are played by four people, like doubles tennis, says the 72-year-old Allen, though singles play as well.

Teamwork and strategy are crucial and the game is fast-paced. But because of the court size, players aren't covering nearly as much ground as on a tennis court and the perforated ball, though it can carry some speed, doesn't travel with the same velocity as a tennis ball. The paddles are bigger than a pingpong paddle but smaller than a tennis racket and serves are done underhand.

While watching a foursome play, Allen talks about the difference between tennis and pickleball.

"If you watched those guys at Wimbledon last month, they stand on the baseline and knock the hell out of the ball."

Pickleball players move toward the net as a volley continues, though not too close, he says, because they don't want to breach the no-volley zone on each side of the net known as the kitchen.

Good Pickleball is played at the edge of the kitchen.

"That's the hardest thing to teach because people, especially men, just want to hit as hard as they can," Allen says. "But really, it's a game of strategy."

Points are scored on the serve, and games are normally played to 11 points. The margin of victory must be two points.

For a complete breakdown of pickleball rules and beginner basics, see usapa.org.

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The fifth annual Heber Fever pickleball tournament starts Thursday and ends Saturday at the Heber Springs Community Center, 201 Bobbie Jean Lane.

"We have over 200 people coming to our tournament," says Stacey Mills, the city's parks and recreation director. "In our first year, we only had about 70. It's really grown."

About 70 members of the community center play pickleball there, Mills says.

"Sometimes, on a Tuesday or a Thursday, you come in here and all eight courts are going," Mills says. "Each court holds four people, so you're talking 32 people playing, plus people sitting on the bleachers."

Guests are welcome to play for $5.

Heber Fever — the name of the tournament — is a draw to pickleballers from across the country, Mills says.

"I've had people from Kentucky, New Mexico, Arizona ... you can't imagine how many people fly in for this tournament. We give them a medal and a T-shirt, and they just love it. They're here to play."

The tournament features singles and doubles matches, and many participants stay for the finale on Saturday evening.

"The final match could start at 6 o'clock and it might be two hours before they're done," Mills says. "They're standing 10 feet apart and they're just popping the ball back and forth."

Tommy Land, Arkansas Commissioner of State Lands, is from Heber Springs and started playing pickleball five or six years ago.

"It's great cardio exercise," says the 63-year-old Land. "I played tennis when I was younger, and a friend of mine told me that if I liked tennis, then I should like pickleball."

Land connected with players in Heber Springs and even competed in a few tournaments.

His campaign for land commissioner curtailed his playing time, though, and the situation hasn't improved since he was elected in November. He still plays but not as often as he'd like.

"In the last couple of months, I've probably played twice," he says.

Judy Cowan gives an underhand serve as her playing partner Mike Cody prepares for the return at Hot Springs Village. (Photo by Jeff Gammons, Arkansas Democrat-Gazette)
Judy Cowan gives an underhand serve as her playing partner Mike Cody prepares for the return at Hot Springs Village. (Photo by Jeff Gammons, Arkansas Democrat-Gazette)

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David Stefan of Bryant started the Central Arkansas Pickleball Facebook group to create a hub for local players.

"It's blown up," he says of the sport's popularity in the area. Pickleball spaces have cropped up at the Little Rock Athletic Club, Chenal Country Club, Cabot, Benton, Maumelle, North Little Rock and other spots.

Stefan, 44, usually plays on Monday and Wednesday evenings in the gym at the Center at Bishop Park, 6401 Boone Road, in Bryant. It's a good time for newcomers to check out the sport in a friendly environment, he says.

"One of the great things about pickleball is that it can be fun for people regardless of their athletic ability, their background in racket sports or their age. We have people as young as 12 and people in their 80s playing."

Play usually starts at around 5:30 p.m. and goes until 9. Paddles and pickleballs are provided for newcomers.

"We have players who have more experience who are willing to teach new players," Stefan says. "It's very social in nature. As people are waiting to play, they'll sit and talk."

Stefan, who works in information technology for Heifer International, began playing about four years ago during a trip to see his father in Cedarburg, Wis.

"He had been telling me about pickleball for a couple of years. The name just sounded dumb and I wasn't interested. Finally, I was visiting him and said I would give it a try and I had a great time."

He has been playing ever since and competes in tournaments as a level 4.0 player. He won a gold medal in a men's doubles match at a regional event in Texas earlier this year and will compete at the national championships in Palm Springs, Calif., in November.

Talking about why he loves pickleball, Stefan says: "The games go quickly. You're moving more than you would playing table tennis, so there's a fitness aspect. But it's not like you're running nonstop. We play doubles, so there's a social element and you're in close proximity to your opponent. It's just got a culture around it of good sportsmanship and people helping each other learn and grow in the sport."

Stefan's job has him traveling a bit, and he says it's pretty easy to find a game around the country.

He even played during a trip to Dar es Salaam, Tanzania.

"That was quite an experience. I played at sunset on top of a mosque as the calls to prayers were going up."

Heber Fever 2019

When: Thursday-Saturday

Where: Heber Springs

Community Center,

201 Bobbie Jean Lane

Hours: Play starts noon

Thursday; 11 a.m. Friday

and Saturday.

Information: (501) 362-4901

The fifth annual Heber Fever pickleball tournament starts Thursday and ends Saturday at the Heber Springs Community Center, 201 Bobbie Jean Lane

Style on 08/20/2019

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