My daughter in law took up the "sport". I will share this video with her.

LMAO!!!!!

As an avid tennis player of over 50 years, I don't get the appeal. It irks the ever-loving SHIT outta me to get on a tennis court and blue lines have been painted for the friggin' pickleball boundaries. At least my tennis club has a brain and actually built 2 pickleball courts on the property instead of using existing tennis courts. BUT...they were smart and built them waaaaay up in the front of the property WELL AWAY from the tennis courts.

In lieu of PB, I'd rather play table tennis, TBH...

My 30 year old brother is obsessed with pickle ball at the moment, lol. I sent this to him. Thanks for the laugh.

I can’t wait to play in 6 years when I retire.

"Watch the ball and bend your knees, that will be $20.00 please."-Any tennis or pickleball instructor.

quote:

Originally posted by erj_pilot:
LMAO!!!!!

As an avid tennis player of over 50 years, I don't get the appeal.

When your knee's are shot, along with your ankles and hips...you'll be picking up the paddle and playing.

In Japan, they (used to?) play something called soft tennis. Haven’t seen it here. Basically like tennis on tennis courts but with a mushier fuzzless ball. And usually on hard clay courts. Slower paced and pretty fun. Better to be Borg than Conners.

I remember reading about some high profile people investing in Pickleball a while back. Peyton Manning was one of them. I see where he's now pushing the Pickleball sandwich at Subway. Sorry Peyton, I'm not biting.




Most popular trends are created by savvy investors. I suspect the whole 60's movement started because some New York/LA fashion houses needed a way to get rid of some surplus fabric.

I play all the time. Love the sport.

quote:

Originally posted by BigCity:
I play all the time. Love the sport.

Me too. A lot of people bash it but it’s a blast and can be good exercise. It’s not just for old people.

My family members who were avid tennis players have become very fond of it, as they’ve aged.

I think tennis becomes very challenging as a grandparent/great grandparent

quote:

Originally posted by erj_pilot:
At least my tennis club has a brain and actually built 2 pickleball courts on the property instead of using existing tennis courts. BUT...they were smart and built them waaaaay up in the front of the property WELL AWAY from the tennis courts.

A shorter walk from the parking lot for the players?

It is fun. I play a lot of tennis and I can summarize what bugs me about pickle ball fairly easily.

It is a sport for people with bad knees, poor mobility, physical issues in general. You can nearly fit two (2) entire courts on top of one (1) tennis court. All that being true somehow young fit non physically challenged people have tried to turn this into Wimbledon/French/US/Australian Open level play. It’s not. It’s comical to watch these “pro” events and the silly antics that go along with it.

I made the mistake on Instagram of watching a couple pickle ball videos. Now IG thinks I want to see them all. It is awash in professional tournament play which is annoying as fuck. Watch some. The male player almost always plays like 75% of the court. Hitting slams and hopping around while hitting this wiffle ball. They have named certain plays, they have tons of weird rules (service stuff), and the whole kitchen thing is just odd. I can literally hit a volley at the side of the net off the court as long as my toe doesn’t touch this line crazy.

It’s the goofy intensity that pro sports incorporation has brought to it that is off putting.

It is a recreational, old people, physically limited people game that has turned crazy. Watching a 22 year old screaming and dashing around while playing this is comical. It’s like applying extreme athleticism to bocce ball. It’s odd. Not the game the intensity. Pickle ball shouldn’t warrant a 15 year old playing it like it is an Olympic sport, not the old person game it actually is. (I am an old person).

I've been playing for 17 years and only wish I'd discovered it 50 years ago (I'm 76 now). As for only for old people (like me), the number 1 pro woman player in the world is 16 years old. Here's some highlights from one of her matches. And this was only one of the three gold medal matches she had to play that day; singles (best 2 out of three), doubles & mixed doubles (best of 5).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8pe3qb9C7VQ

“YOU CALL THAT DINKING???”

That video kinds of makes the point. A healthy 16 year old should be using that athleticism in a real sport. Not a sport with "plastic" (I know they are all kinds of stuff now) paddle and a wiffle ball on a tiny court.

It is also wildly boring to watch. I am surprised you find that entertaining to watch. You can hit a wiffle ball as hard as you want it will only go so fast.

This is not a game that should be played on the pro level anymore than lawn darts. It is the classic, well sure you can but why would you?

I think pickle ball as a pro sport is going to be a short lived endeavor. It is not a sport that most would be willing to watch on TV nor to pay a large fee to watch in person. That will be its doom or more correctly why it won't ever get to the level of other professional sports.

Fun ass game. No way is it spectator friendly unless it's your friends and neighbors. Who here would pay US Open tennis prices to watch pickle ball? I don't see a lot of hands. It is the fastest growing sport in America but almost no one can name a pro, because it ain't that kind of game no matter how hard it is trying to be.

She played all those events on a single day because you can. It isn't the same as playing 5 sets on a tennis court. Not even close, because it is a family game that is great for OLD people like me when my knees finally go. lol

Also I don't know what "The Masters" means in pickle ball but there were like 40 people scattered around watching that. This game has no legs on the pro level nor should it. Go watch pro badminton, that game is faster, more challenging, more athletic, and also no one watches it either. Old people don't play it because it is harder than pickle ball.

quote:

Originally posted by cooger:
It’s not just for old people.

I think the mens U.S. Champ is like 30 years old or younger?? Read an article about him in...irony...Tennis Magazine. Guess there's not a "Pickleball Magazine", yet...

And the PRIMARY reason I don't play pickleball is that it would MASSIVELY screw up my tennis game, just as playing racquetball screwed up my tennis game years ago. There are guys at my tennis club WELL into their 70's and probably early 80's that are still hacking away on the tennis court. I wanna be one of those dudes...

It is to tennis, what CrossFit is to strongman.

On occasion here I refer to"My Island Paradise". Well that's the island
ten miles west of Seattle that's been home for a long time and is ground zero for Pickle Ball. I had a court put in in 1992 and have played uncountable games, we've had parties, during Covid when kids couldn't go to the parks the ones nearby came to my house with their paddles. I think everybody that's lived here longer than a year has the gear for the game.

I agree with the idea that it's a kids game, an oldsters game, a recreational game. It's athletic to a point but court size and the speed of the ball are, I think, going to reduce interest when the new wears off. I don't say that spitefully, I say it because I've had decades to watch kids learn to play pickle ball and as their athleticism builds with their bodies they go to more challenging stuff. As much joy as my family has derived from the game and the court I don't see the level of challenge in it that will sustain 'pro' levels of play and the spectator cash required to sustain a business.

As for me I'll keep kicking butt on my grand boys. At three and five I've got a couple of years left to impress them.