Table of Contents
Humans have always been fascinated by the idea of new sports as a source of entertainment and a way of socializing.
Have you ever wondered where the concept of Pickleball came from?
Who discovered Pickleball?
Where did the name Pickleball come from?
What are pickleball origins?
When did pickleball originate?
Well, if these are the questions that cloud your mind, then you’ve come to the right place.
The Great Pickleball Origin
Like all great sports invention stories start from a backyard, pickleball was also invented in Joel Pritchard’s badminton court, the original pickleball court.
On a sunny Saturday in 1965, Joel Pritchard and Bill Bell came back to Pritchard’s home from a golf tour, only to find their families with nothing entertaining to do. Since, Pritchard’s property had an old badminton court, they thought of utilizing it.
Both Joel and Bill started to find badminton equipment but failed to obtain any, they improvised and started playing with ping-pong paddles. To compensate the ping-pong paddles, instead of a ball, they used a perforated plastic ball.
The only difference was they had stuck the nets at a height of 60 inches instead of 30 inches. But, soon after the weekend progressed, they realized that the bounce of the ball was more than usual on the asphalt surface – after which the height was reduced to 30 inches.
Who invented pickleball?
Joel Pritchard, with the help of his friend Bill invented pickleball.
Joel Pritchard and his friend
Photo by @ Kiko Adams
Involvement of Bob O-Brian - the First Permanent Pickleball Court
As soon as Joel and Bill got the hang of the newly invented game, they invited Barney McCallum for a game on the following weekend.
The three players created some rules for this game. The rules were heavily influenced by badminton with only one thought in mind and that was to create a game in play kept the entire family in-play.
Owing to this, Bob O-Brian let his friend Joel construct the first permanent pickleball court in his backyard back in 1967.
Original Pickleball Court
Source: usapickleball.org
Pickleball Name Origin - Why is it called Pickleball?
Initially, the name pickleball name sounds laughable because there are no literal pickles involved but when you dive into the history, you realize that the origin makes sense.
It all comes down to Joan Pritchard calling the game pickleball since it reminded her of pickle boat in crew where oarsmen were chosen from the leftovers of other boats. Owing to pickleball being a combination of different sports, it is called Pickleball.
Another origin story from Barney McCallum states that Joel Pritchard’s dog was named Pickles, who would always fetch the ball. Even though, the latter origin story isn’t believed upon by many as Pickles wasn’t a part of the family when this game was created.
Keeping in mind the nature of sport that pickleball is, it’s safe to say that both stories can be taken into account for a game that gained such traction.
How was pickleball invented?
In 1972, a new corporation was formulated to protect the creation of the newly invented sport. In the matter of 3 years, The National Observer, which at the time was a well-known publisher, published an article about pickleball – stating it as a fast-growing sport.
Then,
What year was pickleball invented officially?
Soon within a year, in 1976, another well-renowned magazine, Tennis magazine titled pickleball as ‘America’s newest racquet sport’.
The first-ever pickleball tournament was held in 1976 at South Center Athletic Club in Tukwila, Washington. It’s fair to say, that David Lester is the ‘first ever’ Men’s Singles champion and Steve Paranto is the ‘first ever’ runner-up.
Many participants were unfortunate because they had practiced with large wood paddles instead of short pickleball paddles and ended up losing the tournament.
Formation of Professional Pickleball Association
Watching the exponential growth of Pickleball throughout the states, Sid Williams decided to advance it to the next level and as a result, The United States Amateur Pickleball Association (U.S.A.P.A.) was formed.
Sid Williams, became the first Executive Director and President of U.S.A.P.A. and served from 1984 to 1998.
Frank Candelario took upon himself to lead the U.S.A.P.A. until 2004.
Arlen Paranato, a Boeing Industrial Engineer was responsible for first-ever composite paddle. In which, he used the fiberglass/nomex honeycomb panels. He derived this idea from commercial airlines, where it is used as floor and a part of its structural system.
Once, he realized that this was the perfect material, he made 1,000 paddles out of it. It was not until the end of 1984, that he sold the manufacturing company to Frank Candelario.
Passing away of Joel Pritchard
In 1997, Joel Pritchard passed away at the age of 72.
His contributions to the founding of the popular sport pickleball are weighed over his position of Washington State’s Lieutenant governor, where he served from 1988 to 1996.
Growth of Pickleball from Badminton Court to Pickleball Court
A Sad Day in the World of Pickleball
2008 - Rise of USAPA Tournaments
New Sky Heights for Pickleball
A record 4,071 members were counted in the year of 2013, as Justin Maloof joined USAPA as its first-ever Executive Director.
After this moment, the growth reached up to 10,000 members in USAPA and over 2 million pickleball players. Similarly, the indoor and outdoor pickleball courts reached up to 10,000 courts and by the year’s end, the number was raised up to 12,800.
Surprisingly, in 2016, the number of members increased up to 17,000.
This called for the development of an official certification program for referees.
US Open Pickleball Championships – held in Naples, FL, was the first ever pickleball tournament to be broadcast on CBS Sports Network.
This gave rise to another collaboration between USAPA and a newly formed body called The Super Senior International Pickleball Association (SSIPA).
Pickleball Courts – a Construction and Maintenance Manual
In 2017, the number of USAPA regions increased from 8 to 11 and a partnership was formed between American Sports Builders Association.
A pickleball court construction book was developed that provided all of the detailed technical information for properly building pickleball courts and facilities.
A sport of this scale called for a Hall of Fame that was inaugurated with the partnership between USAPA and the International Pickleball Teaching Professional Association.
The first seven inductees were Joel Pritchard, Barney McCallum, Sid Williams, Arlen Paranto, Mark Friedenberg and Billy Jacobsen.
A new record-making nation-wide audience was reported with over 1,300 players for the first time in a 2-hour segment at USAPA National Championships.
Soon enough in 2018, USAPA members increased up to 30,000, with over 21,000 courts across the United States.
Using social media such as Facebook, USAPA reached over a total of 1.5 Million views and inducted Earl Hill, Fran Myer and Robert Lanius in the Hall of Fame.
Pickleball Today
To be fair, it can be concluded that pickleball is indeed one of the fastest growing sport in the United States and has gained massive fame outside of the US as well.
Nearly, 4,000 locations are registered where pickleball can be played and for a sport to have risen to these heights in merely 50 years cements the fact that it is, therefore, a very entertaining sport.
What Do You Need to Play Pickleball?
Come to think of it, pickleball isn’t that expensive of a sport.
If you think you like the sport and decide to get started, you need basic gear like a paddle, a ball, an appropriate apparel, a net and a court to play on.
Paddles would be larger in size as compared to the ones you need to play table tennis paddles. Keep in mind they are smaller in size than normal tennis rackets. You can find the ones that are made out of wood, graphite, fiberglass, carbon fiber or even aluminum. Normally, for beginners, they use wooden paddles as they are inexpensive.
Pickleball is played with a perforated lightweight ball. You can also check out USAPA’s website to see what the official ball looks like.
How to play pickleball?
Pickleball is comparatively an easy-to-understand sport.
First and foremost, it is a sport that brings about a very friendly atmosphere and like every other sport, the more you play, the easier it becomes to understand the rules.
- Court
To begin with, the pickleball court is measured to be 44’ by 20’, where the net measures 36” with 34” in the middle.
Source: https://usapickleball.org/
- Serve
It is started from the right-hand service zone where the serves are played in alternate turns. The servers stand behind the baseline at the end of the court.
The technique to proper serve is the server must drop the paddle below the waist and serve underhanded to the diagonal side of the opponent’s service zone.
But here’s the catch,
During a serve, the ball should be hit before it touches the ground otherwise it is considered a foul serve.
Another important thing to remember while serving is that both of your feet should be behind the baseline.
Pickleball – One Sport for All
Needless to say, a friendly sport like pickleball can engage the entire family in one game.
One of the main reasons why it has been an ever-growing sport is the fact that it is enjoyable for people of all ages.
You don’t need long lessons to understand the rules or get the gist. You can simply pick up the equipment and start having fun.
Another very important reason, as to why pickleball is a go-to sport for families, is that it is inexpensive and doesn’t require too big of a court. Even a portable net and a small space can work.
On top of that, equipment is very easy to find, especially with fyful.com. You can now find all of the equipment designed and manufactured at the highest of the quality.
You can find the best pickleball paddles that are specifically made to suit any player’s need. The balls are made perforated with high fiber material to give them the right amount of bounce on the court.
Net frames are also available that are portable and can be adjusted according to the preferred location and choice of court.
So, if you’re looking for a place to buy pickleball paddles, balls and even net frames for your backyard court, fyful.com should be your go-to place.
FAQs
1. When did pickleball originate?
2.Why was pickleball originally invented?