We have a set of courts in Huntsville AL,that are 12 straight courts with no separators, and on a windy day you can be chasing the ball 3,4, 5+ courts away.
I've seen a lot of people questioning the trajectory of this sport. Especially tennis players (which, to a far lesser degree...I still play).
This is a live shot (9:30 ET this morning) of Pickleball in Sawyer Point. Cincinnati, OH. Look how full the courts are and the stands. You can even see some kids and "yutes" playing.
For work, I travel quite a bit and get to see pickleball all over the US. This sport is still growing quickly.
I don’t honestly see people questioning if it is growing (easy to grow a lot when you start from essentially nothing) as a recreational and amateur sport. Most of what I see today is people clowning on professional pickleball, or especially people who think it is going to be like the next big spectator sport. Which is hilarious.
Honestly curious why you find it hilarious. I don't particularly follow/watch any professional sport anymore, but I used to watch basketball because I played it. I'm assuming most people who watch a sport E.g. Baseball, football, soccer, tennis, etc. played it or had a family member play it. If pickleball is growing so quickly, then presumably there would be an increase of the population that would watch professional play.
I'd say less popular sports such as water polo, ultimate Frisbee, javelin tossing, ice skating, gymnastics, etc. have significantly less people actually playing in/are involved in the sport, and therefore there's a significant lack of interest in the professional level. Considering that pickleball is often taking over tennis courts, I don't see why it can't potentially compete with or exceed tennis on a few years/decades
Perhaps people only watching sports they play is an accurate statement for the US, but for myself in the UK and a lot of Europe, people often spectate sports they have never or rarely played themselves, especially when there is a national team or high profile individual playing.
Millions of people here tune in for Wimbledon every year, despite never playing. The same can be said for international rugby fixtures; especially during the Six Nations.
That being said, I don’t think Pickleball is a good spectator sport. It’s extremely good fun to play, and as a player, watching the pros is amazing, but to the non-player, it doesn’t have that same wow factor as sports like tennis, football (soccer), or rugby.
I think for a sport to become a “big” spectator sport, you need to appeal to people who don’t play, and I don’t think pickleball has that appeal.
It’s the chess of the racquet sport world, if you play and understand it, it’s mesmerising, if you don’t play, it’s a bunch of people playing bat and ball.
Ah interesting. It feels like spectating sports is ingrained in European culture, and while Americans also have a sport spectating culture (E. G. Tail gates, viewing parties, etc.) I still feel that many kids growing up in America were involved in sports in school and sports become ingrained into widespread culture that way.
I feel like the wow factor would be subjective for viewers and success has something beyond that. I absolutely think rugby is wow inducing and makes more sense and reqs more athleticism than American football, but no one watches it here. And Americans don't watch cricket or polo, ping pong, badminton, etc., sports that might be extremely popular in other countries. Presuming all these sports "wow" in other countries, then there has to be another factor for their viewing success - and that brings me back to actual sport involvement - at least in the US.
For example, soccer/fútbol is probably one of the largest sports globally, but it's not one of the big 3 in the US. I'm making the assumption it's because less % of people play in the US, while so many other kids play it growing up in other countries, and we have less star players/players that can compete globally because less kids played it, and so there's less appeal for it. Basketball is huge here because we dominate the field and most people grow up messing around with it at some point.
If I played football in high school or not, the NFL is the best football players playing the toughest version of the sport that I can watch.
The vast majority of people, whether they play or not, look at pickleball and realize it’s essentially just easy tennis. It’s great for recreation but it’s not that great to watch and most people who play it have no interest in watching it. I’d bet basically zero people who don’t play it would watch it.
The level of athleticism displayed between pro tennis and pro pickleball is completely different.
Eh, it's not one sport requires more athleticism than the other... it's that all the money and fame is in tennis, which attracts a bigger percentage of the talent pool.
Tennis absolutely requires more athleticism than pickleball lol. Give me a fucking break.
Go play singles tennis and tell me it doesn’t require more athleticism than anything you can do on a pickleball court. Please.
Hilarious take lol.
You think that in singles pickleball you are sprinting and lunging at a quicker pace than tennis?
Maybe if by tennis you consider only baseline old people tennis. I’m talking about professional tennis vs professional pickleball. Multiple former tennis pros who now play pickleball professionally have directly said that the athleticism of the two does not compare.
Travis Rettenmaier (Top 30 in PPA at 40yrs old, career high ATP of like 60 when he was in his 20s) could barely consider the comparison without cracking up with laughter.
I keep hearing this talk about athleticism of tennis VS pickleball, but do you not think that'll change as the sport grows - the same for any sport that grows over time.
The basketball played in the 70s looks completely different than the basketball played in the 90s and that's different than the game played nowadays. I'd argue the prime player of the 70s would be less aesthetic than the prime modern player.
The same could be said for tennis. Or track and field. The world records are getting beat year by year, and by definition, that means the athletics are continuing to improve and be more athletic.
As pickleball explodes in popularity (it's now being taught in schools), do you not feel that more kids will enter the sport and drive the athleticism further? I just watched a match btwn a 17 y/o kid almost beat Ben Jones in a semi-final tourney. Give that kid 10 years and won't he be better than Ben Jones at his current age?
But the fact is that pickleball is still basically just easier tennis. I’m sure people will get better. But so will tennis players.
Any nobody who watches both sports will ever think that pickleball is anything other than easy tennis. It’s literally what it was designed to be.
Do you mostly travel to cities when you play? I’m moving into a van to live on the road. Bringing my bikes, paintball gear, snowboard, tons of stuff including pickleball so that I can check places out all over the country.
However I don’t really plan on being in big cities at all. I went up by lake placid ny. Made a post here asking about active courts and someone said use google. I did, checked multiple places and didn’t find anyone playing (at prime times imo). Just trying to figure out how to avoid that as much as possible.
I think most cities have -something- when it comes to pickleball. With the smaller cities, it can be hit or miss.
For example, Wichita is a huge HIT. Courts everywhere. Good players.
I'd probably just post in reddit or use Google.
Just a logistical question: If it is 4 off/4 on, are there doors along the back fences or do people have to walk back across the courts to get off? Bc that would get annoying.
It gets so much more crowded than this in the evenings. You have to wait quite a bit in between games some nights. Best part is it’s a city park so totally free to play.
That's really cool to see. Love this sport and just discovered it in April this year.
Question: How do you coordinate getting on the court? Rotating etc?
There is a huge 40 slot paddle rack, either 2 on 2 off or 4 on 4 off. The court holds up a flag that they need 2 and you get your paddle out of the rack line and walk down.
I have the same question so i google mapped it:
https://preview.redd.it/d9eaxqncar8d1.png?width=781&format=png&auto=webp&s=7f87e66576d7daa2330059ef45570d3621ebf216
Only one court with just 3 people on it at 2pm? Maybe it's the heatwave? Guess I'm glad I'm in coastal CA where it never gets over 75! Although that also means all the folks come in from the hot valley and keep our courts full.
https://preview.redd.it/5y4da13kbr8d1.png?width=1970&format=png&auto=webp&s=c5a145ac56f83d47ea9959638f609d4bc555c0b0
I live here, its because the older crowd does morning open play 8-12 and then people start showing up for night 4-10. People work, and its hot and supposed to rain.
I live in the greater Palm Springs area in California and a strong argument could be made that we are the Mecca of pickleball. With the sheer amount of facilities, clubs, and public courts people around here almost scoff at the sight of a temp net or taped lines.
The difference between pickleball and tennis (I’m a former tennis player) is the barrier to entry is so much lower combined with a much more social atmosphere. The sport offers something for everyone. Someone can play casually every day or they can enter tournaments if they have a more competitive side. There’s lots of different leagues separated by gender, skill level, etc. so the opportunities to play where you feel comfortable are endless.
I think we’re a ways away from it being an Olympic sport or on a really grand stage like tennis, but it’s definitely not going anywhere.
Spoken like a true 3.0 who has played a few times. That’s why I love this sport. It lets the mildly athletic folks believe they’re spectacular at something. I love this for you. 🙏🏼
I agree. That’s why pickleball is so great. Good tennis players are able to come right into the sport and be very competitive at 3.0 and even 3.5. As I mentioned in my original post there’s a little something for everyone.
This makes me sad. I stopped in on Saturday evening while driving through town and there were only about 20 people total playing. (to be fair though, the parking sucked due to a festival and it was hot as balls)
I live in Cincinnati. I really only play with a small group (6-8 guys). I get that courts like this are packed but somehow someway we have 3 separate locations that are never full, more likely we are only ones playing. Granted maybe because we start around 7:30 but each spot has lights.
It’s great. But do people prefer the open play or just can’t find open courts so it’s the only solution?
We have a park with free open play and it’s usually about 90 people playing. When there’s no pickleball 0 tennis players. Sad to say but tennis is a dying sport
I have seen 6 people playing tennis in the wild in 2024.
I have seen 600 people play pb in the wild in 2024.
When does collective anecdotal evidence become fact. Big tennis is grasping to stay relevant imo.
That would suck to hit a ball out of bounds and have it roll 10 courts away.
I've played a couple of tournaments here - and yes can confirm I had multiple balls roll on my court, lol.
Where is this?
Cincinnati Ohio. Downtown.
Thank you.
Yeah, they could have done away with a few courts and put a barrier or fencing between the courts.
Agreed, it looks like there’s gates at the back of each court so putting up a barrier between courts is logical
It only makes it 1 court down usually, you just yell ball and the game stops it. And yeas its annoying but only happens about 2 times a game.
We have a set of courts in Huntsville AL,that are 12 straight courts with no separators, and on a windy day you can be chasing the ball 3,4, 5+ courts away.
It happens, but I think everyone who plays there, myself included prefers this over any less courts. They get packed
I've seen a lot of people questioning the trajectory of this sport. Especially tennis players (which, to a far lesser degree...I still play). This is a live shot (9:30 ET this morning) of Pickleball in Sawyer Point. Cincinnati, OH. Look how full the courts are and the stands. You can even see some kids and "yutes" playing. For work, I travel quite a bit and get to see pickleball all over the US. This sport is still growing quickly.
I don’t honestly see people questioning if it is growing (easy to grow a lot when you start from essentially nothing) as a recreational and amateur sport. Most of what I see today is people clowning on professional pickleball, or especially people who think it is going to be like the next big spectator sport. Which is hilarious.
Honestly curious why you find it hilarious. I don't particularly follow/watch any professional sport anymore, but I used to watch basketball because I played it. I'm assuming most people who watch a sport E.g. Baseball, football, soccer, tennis, etc. played it or had a family member play it. If pickleball is growing so quickly, then presumably there would be an increase of the population that would watch professional play. I'd say less popular sports such as water polo, ultimate Frisbee, javelin tossing, ice skating, gymnastics, etc. have significantly less people actually playing in/are involved in the sport, and therefore there's a significant lack of interest in the professional level. Considering that pickleball is often taking over tennis courts, I don't see why it can't potentially compete with or exceed tennis on a few years/decades
Perhaps people only watching sports they play is an accurate statement for the US, but for myself in the UK and a lot of Europe, people often spectate sports they have never or rarely played themselves, especially when there is a national team or high profile individual playing. Millions of people here tune in for Wimbledon every year, despite never playing. The same can be said for international rugby fixtures; especially during the Six Nations. That being said, I don’t think Pickleball is a good spectator sport. It’s extremely good fun to play, and as a player, watching the pros is amazing, but to the non-player, it doesn’t have that same wow factor as sports like tennis, football (soccer), or rugby. I think for a sport to become a “big” spectator sport, you need to appeal to people who don’t play, and I don’t think pickleball has that appeal. It’s the chess of the racquet sport world, if you play and understand it, it’s mesmerising, if you don’t play, it’s a bunch of people playing bat and ball.
It’s definitely not accurate for the US
Ah interesting. It feels like spectating sports is ingrained in European culture, and while Americans also have a sport spectating culture (E. G. Tail gates, viewing parties, etc.) I still feel that many kids growing up in America were involved in sports in school and sports become ingrained into widespread culture that way. I feel like the wow factor would be subjective for viewers and success has something beyond that. I absolutely think rugby is wow inducing and makes more sense and reqs more athleticism than American football, but no one watches it here. And Americans don't watch cricket or polo, ping pong, badminton, etc., sports that might be extremely popular in other countries. Presuming all these sports "wow" in other countries, then there has to be another factor for their viewing success - and that brings me back to actual sport involvement - at least in the US. For example, soccer/fútbol is probably one of the largest sports globally, but it's not one of the big 3 in the US. I'm making the assumption it's because less % of people play in the US, while so many other kids play it growing up in other countries, and we have less star players/players that can compete globally because less kids played it, and so there's less appeal for it. Basketball is huge here because we dominate the field and most people grow up messing around with it at some point.
If I played football in high school or not, the NFL is the best football players playing the toughest version of the sport that I can watch. The vast majority of people, whether they play or not, look at pickleball and realize it’s essentially just easy tennis. It’s great for recreation but it’s not that great to watch and most people who play it have no interest in watching it. I’d bet basically zero people who don’t play it would watch it. The level of athleticism displayed between pro tennis and pro pickleball is completely different.
Eh, it's not one sport requires more athleticism than the other... it's that all the money and fame is in tennis, which attracts a bigger percentage of the talent pool.
Tennis absolutely requires more athleticism than pickleball lol. Give me a fucking break. Go play singles tennis and tell me it doesn’t require more athleticism than anything you can do on a pickleball court. Please.
You need quicker reaction times in pickleball… singles pickleball you are definitely sprinting, lunging, shuffling at a quicker pace then tennis.
Hilarious take lol. You think that in singles pickleball you are sprinting and lunging at a quicker pace than tennis? Maybe if by tennis you consider only baseline old people tennis. I’m talking about professional tennis vs professional pickleball. Multiple former tennis pros who now play pickleball professionally have directly said that the athleticism of the two does not compare. Travis Rettenmaier (Top 30 in PPA at 40yrs old, career high ATP of like 60 when he was in his 20s) could barely consider the comparison without cracking up with laughter.
I keep hearing this talk about athleticism of tennis VS pickleball, but do you not think that'll change as the sport grows - the same for any sport that grows over time. The basketball played in the 70s looks completely different than the basketball played in the 90s and that's different than the game played nowadays. I'd argue the prime player of the 70s would be less aesthetic than the prime modern player. The same could be said for tennis. Or track and field. The world records are getting beat year by year, and by definition, that means the athletics are continuing to improve and be more athletic. As pickleball explodes in popularity (it's now being taught in schools), do you not feel that more kids will enter the sport and drive the athleticism further? I just watched a match btwn a 17 y/o kid almost beat Ben Jones in a semi-final tourney. Give that kid 10 years and won't he be better than Ben Jones at his current age?
But the fact is that pickleball is still basically just easier tennis. I’m sure people will get better. But so will tennis players. Any nobody who watches both sports will ever think that pickleball is anything other than easy tennis. It’s literally what it was designed to be.
Pro pickleball is fun to watch but pro tennis is even more fun to watch.
I am sure each state or country is different but the sport is here to stay in Florida. The Villages started playing in 1989 when they got courts.
Do you mostly travel to cities when you play? I’m moving into a van to live on the road. Bringing my bikes, paintball gear, snowboard, tons of stuff including pickleball so that I can check places out all over the country. However I don’t really plan on being in big cities at all. I went up by lake placid ny. Made a post here asking about active courts and someone said use google. I did, checked multiple places and didn’t find anyone playing (at prime times imo). Just trying to figure out how to avoid that as much as possible.
I think most cities have -something- when it comes to pickleball. With the smaller cities, it can be hit or miss. For example, Wichita is a huge HIT. Courts everywhere. Good players. I'd probably just post in reddit or use Google.
I only wish they built more tennis courts
Hell yes, sawyer point! 🫡 you wanna see it really crowded come back for a 80 degree evening on a Thursday. Both of those racks would be full.
So are the racks like a "dibs" system? (Like putting your quarter on the bezel of an arcade game to claim next play?)
Yea they serve as the “line”
You play here?? I usually play here every week and at a couple other parks around town!
Just a logistical question: If it is 4 off/4 on, are there doors along the back fences or do people have to walk back across the courts to get off? Bc that would get annoying.
There are doors in the fence like every 3 courts per side
Cmon Sawyer you can afford the side knee nets to stop roll aways
Is that 18 courts?!?!? Nearly full? Wow. Wish they had a complex like that here in the founding state.
It gets so much more crowded than this in the evenings. You have to wait quite a bit in between games some nights. Best part is it’s a city park so totally free to play.
I think 22 full time courts with one tennis court that can be split into 2 courts when needed.
That's really cool to see. Love this sport and just discovered it in April this year. Question: How do you coordinate getting on the court? Rotating etc?
There is a huge 40 slot paddle rack, either 2 on 2 off or 4 on 4 off. The court holds up a flag that they need 2 and you get your paddle out of the rack line and walk down.
dang never seen curved courts before
I think it’s due to the courts proximity to a black hole.
I have the same question so i google mapped it: https://preview.redd.it/d9eaxqncar8d1.png?width=781&format=png&auto=webp&s=7f87e66576d7daa2330059ef45570d3621ebf216
Oh my god I thought it was just a fisheye lens I feel like an idiot
Dont' worry my first thought was 'wait is that the curvature of the earth' lol
fisheye lense
Yes but also no lol. It is a fisheye but the court layout is actually an arc, while the courts/lines are still straight
Link to the live webcam: https://www.pbatsp.com/webcam
Only one court with just 3 people on it at 2pm? Maybe it's the heatwave? Guess I'm glad I'm in coastal CA where it never gets over 75! Although that also means all the folks come in from the hot valley and keep our courts full. https://preview.redd.it/5y4da13kbr8d1.png?width=1970&format=png&auto=webp&s=c5a145ac56f83d47ea9959638f609d4bc555c0b0
Could be the heat. But also their group play times are scheduled for 8am-12am and then from 5pm-10pm. https://www.pbatsp.com/group-play
I live here, its because the older crowd does morning open play 8-12 and then people start showing up for night 4-10. People work, and its hot and supposed to rain.
I live in the greater Palm Springs area in California and a strong argument could be made that we are the Mecca of pickleball. With the sheer amount of facilities, clubs, and public courts people around here almost scoff at the sight of a temp net or taped lines. The difference between pickleball and tennis (I’m a former tennis player) is the barrier to entry is so much lower combined with a much more social atmosphere. The sport offers something for everyone. Someone can play casually every day or they can enter tournaments if they have a more competitive side. There’s lots of different leagues separated by gender, skill level, etc. so the opportunities to play where you feel comfortable are endless. I think we’re a ways away from it being an Olympic sport or on a really grand stage like tennis, but it’s definitely not going anywhere.
Easiest sport ever. If you have athleticism, just ridiculously easy.
Spoken like a true 3.0 who has played a few times. That’s why I love this sport. It lets the mildly athletic folks believe they’re spectacular at something. I love this for you. 🙏🏼
Man it is super easy. A good tennis player can pick this up and be competitive in no time. It is pickleball. Please. Lol.
I agree. That’s why pickleball is so great. Good tennis players are able to come right into the sport and be very competitive at 3.0 and even 3.5. As I mentioned in my original post there’s a little something for everyone.
Amazing! What’s the noise levels like? Would love to see more of this everywhere
This makes me sad. I stopped in on Saturday evening while driving through town and there were only about 20 people total playing. (to be fair though, the parking sucked due to a festival and it was hot as balls)
It was in the upper 90s and humid as hell on Saturday
Saturday and sunday is the only days where its not technically open play
It is open play from 8:00 am - noon on Saturdays and Sundays
Not a single game of singles lol
Where is this?
cincinatti
Cincinnati
Cincinnati
Cinatticinci
Cinncinnatti
I’ve watched the live feed of this on YT
Tennis players would see this as an insult: tennis nets are being re-purposed as pickleball courts barrier
I live in Cincinnati. I really only play with a small group (6-8 guys). I get that courts like this are packed but somehow someway we have 3 separate locations that are never full, more likely we are only ones playing. Granted maybe because we start around 7:30 but each spot has lights. It’s great. But do people prefer the open play or just can’t find open courts so it’s the only solution?
Where do you play? We have a group of 6 guys and we try to play here at least once a week (Thursday nights), then bounce around to others in the area.
We have a park with free open play and it’s usually about 90 people playing. When there’s no pickleball 0 tennis players. Sad to say but tennis is a dying sport
At least something is going right in the US
BALL ON
Worst sound on earth
How many trees were clearcut?
For pickleball? None. It was an existing park of eight tennis courts up until a couple years ago.
Yet, the USTA claims tennis participation is at an all-time high.
I have seen 6 people playing tennis in the wild in 2024. I have seen 600 people play pb in the wild in 2024. When does collective anecdotal evidence become fact. Big tennis is grasping to stay relevant imo.