Move over, tennis–there's a new game capturing the attention of families, kids and seniors.
Introducing Pickleball.
For the uninitiated, Pickleball is like a combination of tennis, ping-pong, and badminton. Players use ping-pong type paddles to hit a ball on a badminton-sized court. The ball has holes like a Wiffle ball. Scoring is like ping-pong. Unlike tennis or badminton, one key rule is that the ball must bounce at least once on each side before a volley is allowed, according to the official Pickleball website, pickleball.com. A seven-foot no-volley zone on each side of the net prevents spiking.
Credit for its invention goes to Congressman Joel Pritchard and two other friends, who cobbled together equipment from several backyard games to stave off their kids' boredom one summer in 1965. One popular theory says the game's name comes from the Pritchard family dog, Pickles.
According to the website pickleballportal.com, 2.5 million people play each year, with core players being those who play eight or more times a year. The average age of a core player was 55, according to the website.
Older players say it's easier on the joints while still allowing them to get their heart rate up. The youngest players have a chance since most of the volleys are not hard and fast.
The game is a social one as well. According to NPR, investigators from Texas A&M University surveyed 153 participants aged 51 to 85 at Pickleball competitions.
"The more deeply engaged in Pickleball these enthusiasts were," the story said, "the more likely they were to be highly satisfied with their lives and have a positive experience with aging."
