Sport of pickleball is everywhere, including Holmes County

Believe it or not, if you’ve even given it a single thought or even heard of it, which some haven’t at this point, pickleball already has been around for more than 60 years. The Ping-Pong, badminton and tennis hybrid seems to many to be in its infancy, but it’s growing up fast.

Originally invented as a backyard game for kids, it evolved into a smaller version of tennis and eventually was played mostly by seniors. Now everybody is involved. Courts are popping up all over the place including on existing tennis courts, and leagues, tournaments and even professional events are becoming the norm.

“The magic of pickleball is it’s easy to learn but hard to master,” said Brandon Mackie, co-founder of Pickleheads, the official court and game finder of USA Pickleball. “Beginners can go out their first time, learn the game, have fun and even win a few games. But advanced players stay challenged and keep coming back for more. This dynamic is a big reason why pickleball continues to grow like crazy.”

First the domain of the Pacific Northwest, pickleball has spread across the country. According to the Sports and Fitness Industry Association, nearly 5 million pickleball players were scattered around the United States in 2022. USApickleball.com estimated closer to 9 million players were in action last year.

Pickleheads, a data provider that tracks such things, has the number of players in the USA at more than 36 million.

“Pickleball is the fastest growing sport in America,” Mackie said. “That (number of players) makes pickleball one of the most popular sports in the country by participation, nearly twice the size of tennis and just shy of popular activities like running and cycling.”

It is among the fastest growing sports in terms of popularity, in part because just about anyone can play it, it’s easy to learn and it costs next to nothing in terms of equipment.

It also is a great source of exercise and doesn’t need 100 acres or more like a golf course or four hours or more like a round of golf.

A pickleball court — just 44 feet long and 20 feet wide with a 3-foot-high net — takes up one-fourth of the amount of space as a regulation tennis court, meaning the amount of ground needed to be covered is minuscule. This allows small children and aging weekend warriors to be able to cover the ground from sideline to sideline, an area that shrinks even more in a game of doubles.

It took less than 30 years for pickleball to go from its modest beginnings to reaching all 50 states, according to USApickleball.org. By 2008 there were more than 400 places to play in the country, a number that just seven years later reached 10,000, and that number doubled in just one more decade.

The sport has made its way to this area, with Old Airport Park the top place to play in Holmes County, according to the Coshocton Pickleball Club, and the only place to play in Millersburg, according to Pickleheads, which said there are 465 courts in Ohio, the eighth-most of any state in the union.

Other public places within a short jaunt are Christmas Run Park in Wooster and Hall Park in Coshocton. The YMCA and Aspen Racquet Club, also in Wooster, have courts, but memberships are required.

The Coshocton Pickleball Club features leagues by age group and skill level. Other organizations are available to join in Zanesville and North Canton.

Mackie said the popularity of pickleball surged during the pandemic at the start of the decade. People were looking to get outside and still be with other people while also keeping their short distance.

“Americans were looking for responsible ways to socialize and stay active,” Mackie said. “But that was only the beginning — pickleball’s growth has continued even as lockdowns have ended and normal life has resumed.”

Pickleball is played with a small racket or paddle, a bit larger than a Ping-Pong paddle but smaller than a racquetball racket. They come in graphite, carbon fiber, fiberglass, wood or even honeycomb. They can be had for under $50 with top-level paddles fetching more than $250.

Pickleball balls are made of plastic and resemble practice baseballs a Little League team might use before a game. The balls are hollow and perforated, with a diameter of about 2.9 inches, compared to the 2.5-inch diameter of a tennis ball.

Game play is similar to tennis, with a couple big differences. First, pickleball serves must be underhand. Players also may not hit from the “kitchen,” the area closest to the net, unless the ball has bounced. So in doubles play, there’s no defending the net. Finally, the ball must bounce at least once on each side before it can be volleyed.

Unlike most of the other racket sports, in pickleball points can only be scored by a serving player/team. A lost service point doesn’t give the serve to the other team but to a player’s teammate. In singles the serve goes over after a lost point.

Games are played first player/team to 11, but a winner must win by two points. Matches are typically best two-of-three, with the third game only being played to five points (still needing to be won by two). A good description of rules and scoring is available at USAPickleball.org.