Players in a pickle
About pickleball• Pickleball is a tennis-like game played on a badminton court with the net lowered to 34 inches at the center. (In comparison, a standard tennis net is set at 36 inches at the center.) It is played with wood or composite paddles and a perforated plastic ball, like a Wiffle ball.Source: USA Pickleball Association
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Tennis-like game sweeping the courts of New Market
By Preston Knight -- pknight@nvdaily.com
NEW MARKET -- After the thrill of victory, Peggy Boston deals with the agony of the heat by plopping down on the hard playing surface, a well-deserved rest signifying she got herself out of a pickle.
"It keeps you going, definitely, running around that court," said Monty Cox, her teammate.
The duo outlasted Tom Constable and Jim Douglas in a match of pickleball, a paddle game that falls somewhere between a bigger version of pingpong and miniature variation of tennis. It's not all that new, having been invented in 1965 and named after a family dog, Pickles, near Seattle.
It's also not a secret, now played in thousands of schools and camps and among many seniors, according to the official sport site, pickleball.com.
But for New Market and the surrounding area, this is new territory. In the past month, Constable, a former town mayor, has had a tennis court at the New Market Community Park outfitted for the game, and he welcomes anyone interested to come learn and play each Tuesday at 10 a.m.
"It's more popular than tennis for seniors," Constable said. "There's not a lot of movement. The game is not as long. ... I played four hours a day in Florida; two in the morning, two in the afternoon. You work up a good sweat."
He and Boston have both seen and participated in pickleball in Florida and Arizona. Its popularity is growing among people of all ages, she said, because it is fun, takes little time to learn and is easily adaptable to virtually any hard surface indoors or outdoors, including basketball courts, tennis courts, driveways and streets.
"I went to Florida and was dragged kicking and screaming [to play]," said Boston, a Woodstock resident. "There was always a group of people. Everybody gets play time. Everybody is nice about it. They teach other. It's a very friendly sport."
Designed for teams of two, pickleball also can be played one-on-one. A type of Wiffle ball is served across the court and a volley ensues. There is a seven-foot area closest to the net on each side known as the "kitchen," and players must allow the ball to bounce there, prohibiting any slams. A ball that travels beyond that area, and still in play, can be hit in the air or off one bounce.
The court is 44 feet long and 20 feet wide. The net is three-feet tall. The first team to get 11 points wins, and scoring only occurs when you serve.
Having a background in tennis is no prerequisite. Boston notes that some tennis players can form bad habits because the ball, unlike in tennis, does not bounce up as much.
"You just got to learn how to whack it," she said. "For tennis players, the balls are so slow, they don't think to run up to hit one."
The game is won on strategy, not strength, Constable said. It's about ball placement and communication with your partner as much as it is the ability to strike the ball with force.
Boston and Cox, for example, ran into some trouble when shots fell between them, requiring a backhand from one (Boston plays left-handed). Neither budged, and the ball would bounce away.
Constable and Douglas won the first of two matches against their opponents, the latter still mustering enough energy to play despite running and walking a combined nine miles earlier in the day. That goes to show that pickleball does not put an overbearing strain on the body. Or that Douglas is a freak of nature.
"It's competitive and it keeps you active," Cox said.
If it takes off in New Market, Constable said the town will paint a court with the right dimensions.
There is tape there now. Also, Constable said the Shenandoah County Parks and Recreation Department has a pickleball set and is willing to offer indoor play in the fall.
"I picked [the game] up in 10 minutes," he said. "It's good for all abilities. ... It just works."
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This article was very helpful! We have just put in our own Pickle Ball court here at Aztec RV Resort in Mesa, AZ and can't wait till our winter visitors come back to try it out. We are a very active 55+ RV and Park Model Resort and noticed Pickle Ball competitions popping up everywhere. Wish us luck!!