The booming sport of pickleball is continuing its remarkable rise in popularity in the UK.
Already the fastest growing sport in the US, pickleball’s governing body on this side of the Atlantic has seen a 65% increase in membership in the last year.
It’s estimated there are now around 35,000 players in the UK.
The sport is played on a badminton-sized court, with a tennis-style net and players use paddles similar to bats seen in table tennis.
“Anyone who picks up a paddle and has a play knows the joy, that inner child just comes out playing this game,” said Karen Mitchell, the chair and co-founding director of Pickleball England.
“I can’t describe it any better than that, inner joy is what this game promotes.”
Much of the pickleball’s growing popularity is down to its inclusivity for players of all ages and abilities.
Denny Vettom enjoyed a high-profile career in wheelchair basketball before taking up pickleball at his local club in Bedfordshire a few months ago. Every other player in the club is able-bodied.
At the pickleball national championships in Bolton, he told Sky News: “I think this is the easiest sport in which you can integrate with the able-bodied.
“Most of the game you can play on one side of the court, so you’re not trying to cross the court, so it is safe to play.
“Able-bodied players certainly have their advantages but, as a wheelchair player, we also have advantages on things like height, we can keep the ball lower. It balances out,” said Denny.
Pickleball was born in 1965 as a children’s game in the Pacific Northwest of the US and is the official state sport in Washington state.
Celebrity players such as Leonardo DiCaprio, George Clooney and the Kardashians have added to its cache.
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The majority of players in the UK are still over 50 and there is a drive to attract younger people into the sport.
Thirteen-year-old Jack Fennell took up pickleball a year ago and plays regularly with his father.
He said: “I have told my friends they should play, but they’re more football people.”
The attraction of pickleball to him is his fellow players.
“I like the people and they’re really nice to me even though I’m a child and I beat them,” he says.
If the projected growth continues, it is expected that by the end of the decade the UK market in pickleball will be worth more than £100m.
It isn’t surprising when you talk to tennis converts like Tracey Ellis.
“It is addictive,” she says.
“I just love it. We have members in their 80s who play really well – so it’s a game for all ages.”
