The quick ping of a hallowed ball against a court and paddles can be heard as two players on each side of a net hurry to hit the ball to the other side. One player is past their retirement age, one is enjoying a break from their nine to five, one is working on their undergraduate degree and the last has yet to receive a high school diploma.. These players compose a modern-day pickleball game.
Pickleball is relatively new and has existed since the 1960s. Joel Pritchard and Bill Bell created the sport when they did not have enough equipment for badminton.The sport is inclusive to all who want to play, regardless of age, skill or knowledge. Throughout the next few decades, the rules and equipment for pickleball were perfected.
The sport is designed for players to quickly learn and comprehend. Usually, there are two sets of people on a small court, each on one side of a floor-level net. Each side is split down the middle, with a player starting on a rectangle. Players must try to keep the ball in the court on their hits and ensure they have no double bounces. Each of these gives the other side a point. The rules are a mix of other racquet sports, including tennis and badminton.
“There are some courts out in Collierville,” Kylie Grant (12) said. “We play wherever is closest to [my family].”
Some former tennis players and those who enjoy other forms of racquet sports have found a liking to the game. Because the rules are simple and usually originate from other sports, it is easy to catch on to.
“It’s a lot slower than tennis,” Grant said. “It’s more of a relaxed thing.”
Social media has made the sport’s growth boom within the last couple years. Originally from Washington, it has now become national.
“I found it online,” Clive Purifoy said. “I saw there was a court around me and I needed a new hobby.”
Purifoy is a student in college and finds time to enjoy pickleball. Since the sport is not technically mainstream, close knit communities that are friendly to newcomers are quickly made. Those from all walks of life, whether they take the sport seriously or not, play together often.
“[The pickleball community] is pretty friendly,” Cristy Pursley, an avid pickleball player, said. “We like to laugh at ourselves a lot when we make mistakes.”
Pursley plays with a group of women from her church and from other surrounding church communities. Like Pursley’s groups, pickleball is an opportunity for people to spend time together while doing exercise.
“In Olive Branch, there’s older retired people and twenty year olds,” Pursley said. “There’s a whole family that comes out.”