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Discussing the explosive popularity of “old people” sports may seem like a broken record, but I’ll say it again — pickleball is genuinely worth the hype.
While I am often someone whose first instinct is to push back on the latest generational fad, I was immediately caught in the web that is the pickleball scene. It has started to mildly consume my life, but I have no regrets.
According to the Association of Pickleball Professionals, as released exclusively to CNBC, it is estimated that more than 36 million people played pickleball between 2021 and 2022.
However, there still appears to be pushback on the popularity of pickleball. The internet spreads negative ideas about why it doesn’t level up to other sports — it’s for people who can’t play tennis, it’s a sport for old people or it’s so boring.
In an article for the Washington Post, 65-year-old Ricky Reilly wrote about how he is so tired of hearing about pickleball. He claimed that it is a slow-moving sport that just about anyone can pick up, which means it has not yet earned an elite title. Reilly dreads the fact that people both young and old are now popularizing this sport, and it is only increasing.
In response, I must completely disagree with his sentiment in relation to the sport. While it may seem like a slow-moving, enlarged version of ping pong, it actually requires both agility and skill in order to properly play a game.
However, if you’re looking for a sport that you don’t have to take too seriously and can talk to your friends while playing, there is certainly room for that in pickleball. One of the best parts of this sport is how versatile play can be. Ultimately, it comes down to the players’ expectations of the game.
According to UTR Sports, pickleball’s popularity has begun to surpass tennis as it is less physically demanding, allowing for a more diverse range of players. Pickleball is great because there are games for people at the amateur level all the way up to the professional level, with not a lot of requirements to work your way up.
If you are interested in getting into this sport, UNF has easily accessible courts for students to use at the Field House, making it easy to give it the old college try— literally.
Aside from my clear passion for the sport, pickleball does have some health benefits as well. Not only is it a good opportunity to practice physical activity, but it can also improve heart health, reduce stress, and enable flexibility and coordination.
At any opportunity, I encourage people to, at the very least, give pickleball a try. If the game is truly as heinous as some people claim, then throw the paddle down and never pick it back up.
However, in the best-case scenario, pickleball is way more fun than expected and now you have a new hobby to drag your friends into playing—what’s more fun than turning an amateur sport into your entire personality?
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