Pickleball--Sweet Sport with Sour Name

Marilyn and Alan, who write a blog called Bless Our Voyage, left me a comment asking about pickleball.  It's one of my favorite sports, so I never get tired of telling people about it.

Pickleball is a racquet sport which combines elements of badminton, tennis, and table tennis. The sport is played on a court with the same dimensions as a doubles badminton court. The net is lower than most other racquet sports allowing for faster play. The game is played with a hard paddle and a wiffle ball, making the technique required for pickleball different than other sports.

 

Pickleball originated in Olympia, WA, around 1965.  A portion of Congressman Pritchard's tennis court was removed for I-5 at the US-101 interchange. Pickleball was created for use in the smaller court.  The sport was named after the Pritchards' dog, Pickles. 

Our family first came across pickleball at a Yogi Bear Campground in Cheney, WA, about fifteen years ago.  The park had a pickleball court.  We checked out the equipment from the office, and our family of four had a great time playing the game.

Here are a couple of short videos that tell about this fast-growing sport.

http://www.king5.com/sports/Pickle-ball-Americas_fastest-growing-sport-106784313.html 

and another one:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g2KNhIgOkXM&feature=player_embedded

Hey, you have to love any game that uses a wiffleball, right?