What’s common between Bill Gates, Leonardo DiCaprio, Emma Watson, Michael Phelps, Andre Agassi, Kevin Love, George Clooney, Matthew Perry, John McEnroe, and Kim Kardashian? Beyond their highly illustrious career in different fields and immense global popularity, of course, all of them have wholeheartedly embraced the new fad in the town: pickleball. The origin of sports traces back to the early 60s, when three dads in Seattle came up with a new game for their children. Interestingly, the game is no longer limited to children alone, with people from diverse age-group and backgrounds now playing it to stay fit.  

In April this year, the inaugural edition of the Pickleball Slam took place in Hollywood, where the duo of Andre Agassi and Andy Roddick beat John McEnroe and Michael Chang to claim a $1 million purse. The organisers have already announced the schedule for the second edition, where Maria Sharapova will team up with McEnroe to take on the most famous tennis couple, Steffi Graff and Agassi. 

Pickleball is a gentle amalgamation of tennis, badminton, and ping-pong. It’s significantly slower than ping-pong, not as physically demanding as tennis, and requires less agility than a badminton player. But you can easily bring in some of the skillsets from either of three sports on a pickleball court that is roughly one-fourth of the tennis court.  

It’s the fastest-growing sport in the United States of America, boasting over nine million practitioners nationwide, and is slowly but steadily spreading its tentacles to different corners of the world, including India. As per the Association of Pickleball Professionals, close to 37 million people played pickleball between August 2021 and 2022.  

“In India, there are more than 8000 players spread across 17 states who play this sport regularly. In the next few years, our plan is to raise that figure to a minimum of half a million,” says Sunil Valavalkar, the founder of the All India Pickleball Association (AIPA).  

The Rising Popularity 

What explains the rising popularity and easy acceptance of this sport that was almost unheard of a few years ago? Primarily, pickleball is comparatively easier to learn than other racquet sports. The rules are pretty simple and anyone can excel with little patience and persistence, regardless of age or gender. While the seemingly simple motion of a basic tennis serve might take months to master, all you need is just a couple of hours to be match-ready for pickleball.  

It’s an ideal sport for anything from recreational parties to daily exercise, since it doesn’t take up much space, and is pretty easy on the body. All you need is a basic net, a paddle, and a ball. From a sexagenarian looking to get some cardio exercise done to a former athlete who still retains the competitive spirit but doesn’t have the stamina to play traditional sports, pickleball is an excellent alternative. 

“In traditional racquet sports, injuries are a big obstacle, and after a certain age, it becomes impossible to compete with the young generation. However, pickleball is age-neutral, where anyone can beat anyone,” quips Valavalkar, who first picked up this sport in 1999 when he was in Canada. 

Valavalkar notes that if not for the pandemic, pickleball perhaps would never have reached such mainstream success. “During the lockdown when most of the public places were closed, there arose a massive need for non-contact sports. Even gyms were shut down, and people wanted to engage in some form of physical activity without risking themselves. Being a non-contact sport needing very little space, Pickleball fulfilled these criteria,” says Valavalkar. Since the learning curve is not very steep and it can be played even inside the confines of home with just a paddle, a ball, and a net, people were hooked into pickleball.  

The Perpetual Conflict With Lawn Tennis 

As pickleball continues to captivate a global audience, it’s also facing stiff resistance from the tennis community, as they see the rise of paddle sports as a threat to their beloved game. Multiple allegations are leveled against the picklers, not least how it’s a recreational activity masquerading as a competitive sport by people who are not skillful enough to play tennis.  

At first sight, this might seem like a covetous argument from tennis players. But their frustration is understandable since they are the ones losing out on the public courts to picklers. “I say if pickleball is that popular let them build their own courts,” tweeted Martina Navratilova last year. 

It shouldn’t come as a surprise to witness the conflict, that is currently confined to the US, permeating different parts of the world, wherever pickleball is making its presence felt.  

Valavalkar, however, acknowledges the resistance from those who want to uphold the honour of tennis players. As a tennis player himself, he understands the origin of this resistance but believes that both pickleball and tennis can co-exist. “I believe both sports are supplementary to each other, rather than adversaries,” he says. 

“Any new things undergo a cycle of humiliation and mockery before finding acceptance. Pickleball will also go through this, but I truly believe they will come out as a winner,” notes Valavalkar.