By Basab Dasgupta
I didn't know anything about the game “pickleball” until recently. My friend Dan mentioned that his favorite pastime these days is playing pickleball. He briefly told me what it was and persuaded me to watch a couple of matches. Pickleball is a hodgepodge between tennis and table tennis. Like tennis, it is played outdoors on a court smaller than a tennis court but similar in configuration, with a dividing net. The size of a pickleball court is the same as a badminton court. However, it is not played with rackets with strings but with solid paddles, much like table tennis bats; balls used are plastic balls slightly larger than tennis balls. The game can be played between two players or between four players as a “doubles”.
The game was invented in 1965, but only recently has it been gaining popularity at a rapid rate. There are now even pickleball leagues. Dan was extremely enthusiastic about this game and repeatedly suggested that I give it a try. He also enticed me by saying that playing pickleball is a great way to meet women; for some reason, women love this game, and Dan met his last two girlfriends on a pickleball court.
I was not impressed. It seemed like a kid's game. There was another reason why I did not like it. It seemed to be a game for white folks like Dan. In the present era of diversity and inclusivity popularity of Pickleball is almost counter-intuitive.
Let me elaborate. First of all, in all the games I watched, the players were white, although it could have been a coincidence. All Pickleball venues are located in upscale parts of cities, typically in a country club with a high membership fee, and where a majority of residents are white. I have not seen pickleball being played in inner city neighborhoods. The simplistic nature of the game does not require much physical strength, stamina or concentration. My impression is that non-whites like to showcase their acrobatic skills in sports and would feel embarrassed to admit that they play pickleball. If their purpose is to meet with members of the opposite sex, they would rather go to a bar.
Pickleball is not part of an official physical activity in any high school or college. Information spreads through word of mouth, again mostly among white folks. Even though it has been around for decades, it has never reached a level of following to warrant inclusion in international contests and certainly not in the Olympics. I wondered if anyone in India had even heard about this game. Perhaps my aversion to the game also came from its funny name. The name sounds wimpy compared to “soccer”, “cricket”, and “tennis”, and reminds me of a lemon coated with mango pickle.
After internet research on the subject, I was pleasantly surprised on many fronts. The game was invented by a congressman named Joel Pritchard in the state of Washington and a businessman, Bill Bell, who were looking for some activity for all family members to participate in during a summer afternoon in 1965. It evolved as a result of their effort to improvise a game of badminton with the equipment they had. The name “pickleball”, given by Pritchard, was a reference to the “pickle boat” of crew races, which is rowed by a group of leftover rowers from different teams. In 2022, it was declared to be the “official sport of the state of Washington” by the state legislature with the approval of the governor.
Contrary to my initial impression, it is not a sport only for white folks. Although the game was originally popular in senior communities in Arizona with mostly white residents, currently, only about 70% of the players in the US are white. Amazingly, it is currently played in more than 90 countries around the world, 79 of which are official members of the International Pickleball Federation.
The following numbers illustrate the recent meteoric rise in the popularity of this game in the USA. The USA Pickleball Association (USAPA) was established in 2010. There were ten thousand official members of USAPA in 2015, thirty thousand in 2018, and 53,000 in 2021. It is estimated that more than 36 million players, including non-members of USAPA, played this game in the US in 2024. It is reportedly Taylor Swift’s favorite game. The American shoe company Skechers recently introduced sneakers custom-designed in a way to fit the needs of this sport.
My real surprise was to learn that India is not only one of the member countries of the Federation, but it is growing at the fastest rate next to the US. Pickleball became popular in India during the pandemic because it kept the players close to home and did not require physical contact. The number of players grew 159?tween 2019 and 2022. Currently, there are more than 10,000 official players, and 50,000 players have played it at least once.
When I thought about the popularity of pickleball in India, it made sense. India has a rich history in racket sports, including tennis, badminton, and table tennis. So, it is natural that the sport will be embraced there with open arms. Furthermore, there are many practical advantages. The game is simple and easy to learn without needing a coach, expensive investment in equipment, or a large space. This last one is very important in urban areas. Innovative schemes have been developed whereby the same space can be utilized for multiple purposes. The sport provides a fun way to be physically active without strenuous and vigorous exercise in a gym with a high membership fee. It can be played anywhere in the country.
The organizers of the sport in India hope that it will also provide a platform for bridging the divide across the social spectrum as well as for bringing the old and young together. Judging by the exponential increase in popularity, it is inevitable that it will become an international sport in the near future. With India’s prominence in badminton and tennis, Indian players could likely excel in this sport.
One word of caution, though. The number of injuries in this game is also rising rapidly. It is estimated that $350 million was spent on medical costs in the US in 2023. The most common injuries include bone fractures, sprained ankles, knee and rotator cuff injuries, Achilles tendonitis, etc.
Despite this global obsession, I doubt that I will ever play pickleball. At my age, I have to worry about injury, and I do not need to play to meet women. However, I believe we should all be aware of this new entry in the sports world and monitor its progress. It could be the perfect sport for India, both for a wide enthusiastic participation by all sectors of society, as well as an opportunity to excel on the international stage.
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(California-based Basab Dasgupta has a doctorate in Physics from the University of Wisconsin and has worked with Sony as Vice President of an operating division)
