I am Al Young "The Pickleball Dating Coach". Free coaching phone call. Please call, text, or mail me anytime for advice on dating. I produced the music video. I am also a relationship coach which is very important in helping you find the right partner for dating, love, and your relationship.
And I will show you how to find love on the Pickleball court. If you see someone you would like to meet, I will help you learn what to say and what to do, even in a crowded area.
By just saying the right few words at the right time can bring the right person into your world for dating and a relationship ... and I will help you prepare for that moment.
And Pickleball Doubles Strategy is great for you and your partner to work together on the court, which will help your personal and family relationship off the court and at home.
And historically, the game of Pickleball has arrived at just the right time to help us get our minds into something positive during these uncertain financial times after the pandemic. Before Pickleball, I was a financial consultant and a business consultant for many years. I moved from Chicago to Tucson, Arizona many years ago for the weather.
Below is the free book "The History of Pickleball".
Please study the book as it will help you with your dating and relationships.
Al Young
Pickleball Dating Coach
(520) 338-1004
Email: al@alyoung.net
Tucson, Arizona
THE HISTORY OF PICKLEBALL
Introduction
Pickleball is an indoor or outdoor racket/paddle sport where two players (singles), or four players (doubles), hit a perforated hollow polymer ball over a 36-inch-high net using solid faced paddles. The two sides hit the ball back and forth over the net until one side commits a rule infraction. Pickleball was invented in 1965 as a children's backyard game on Bainbridge Island, Washington, USA. In 2022, pickleball was adopted as the official state sport of Washington.
The appearance of a pickleball court, and the manner of play, resemble tennis, but the court is the size of a doubles badminton court, less than a third the size of a tennis court. Court lines and rules are specific to pickleball and include two 7-foot-areas on either side of the net known as the non-volley zones, where the ball cannot be hit with the paddle unless the ball bounces first. The official rules specify side-out scoring, where only the serving team can score a point. All serves are made with an underhand stroke. The hard polymer ball produces significantly less bounce than softer flexible balls, such as a tennis ball. The minimal bounce combined with the non-volley zone and underhand serve result in a game with dynamic pace and strategy ranging from soft dink shots that stay within the two non-volley zones, to powerful drive shots and overhead smash shots. To minimize any advantage the serving side or receiving side might have at the beginning of the game, the ball must bounce once on each side of the net before either team may volley the ball, which is to hit the ball in the air before it bounces.
In 2021 and 2022 the sport was named the fastest growing sport in the United States by the Sports and Fitness Industry Association, with over 4.8 million players. Growing interest in the sport is attributed to a number of factors including a short learning curve, appeal to a wide range of ages and fitness levels, and low startup costs. There are now thousands of pickleball tournaments throughout the United States, including the US National Championships and the U.S. Open Tournament, along with two professional tours and one professional league. Pickleball is also experiencing growth outside the United States with a number of other national and international competitions.
History
The game was created in 1965 on Bainbridge Island, Washington, at the summer home of Joel Pritchard, who later served in the United States Congress and as Washington's lieutenant governor. Pritchard and two of his friends, Barney McCallum and Bill Bell, are credited with devising the game, and establishing the rules.
According to Joan Pritchard, Joel Pritchard's wife, “The name of the game became Pickle Ball after I said it reminded me of the pickle boat in crew where oarsmen were chosen from the leftovers of other boats.” Other sources state that the name "pickleball" was derived from the name of the Pritchards family dog, Pickles. The Pritchards stated that the dog came along after the game had already been named, and it was the dog that was named for the game of pickleball. They said the confusion arose when a reporter, interviewing the Pritchard's in the early 1970s, decided it would be easier for readers to relate to the dog rather than a pickle boat. USA Pickleball claims research on their part confirms that the dog Pickles was born after the game had already been named.
Jennifer Lucore and Beverly Youngren, authors of the book, History of Pickleball; More than 50 Years of Fun!, were not able to conclusively determine whether the game was named for the dog, or the dog was named for the game. They did however discover a third possibility. Bill Bell had claimed he named the game because he enjoyed hitting the ball in a way that would put his opponent in a pickle.
Shortly after the game was invented, some of the founders and their friends brought pickleball to Hawaii where the game became known as pukaball. Puka, meaning hole in Hawaiian, initially was used to refer to the ball since pickleballs are covered in holes, but eventually became synonymous with the game itself.
Invention of the game
When Pritchard and Bell returned from golf one Saturday afternoon in 1965 they found their families bored. They had attempted to set up badminton, but no one could find the shuttlecock. Pritchard and Bell challenged their kids to devise their own game. Both the adults and kids ended up at the badminton court and they began experimenting with different types of balls and rackets including table tennis paddles. The 5-foot badminton net was eventually lowered to hip level to accommodate driving the ball.
Initially a Wiffle ball was thought to be the ideal ball, but later the Cosom Fun Ball was found to be more durable and provided a better playing experience. The table tennis paddles were quickly replaced with larger and more durable plywood paddles fabricated in a nearby shed. McCallum continued to experiment with various paddle designs in his father's Seattle basement workshop. One paddle, he called the “M2”, or McCallum 2, became the paddle of choice for most early players of the game.
Pickle Ball, Inc.
Soon after its creation, pickleball became popular with local neighbors and relatives of the inventors. In 1968 Pritchard, along with McCallum's son David and two other friends, formed Pickle Ball, Inc. The company filed its first annual report in 1972, around the same time they trademarked the name Pickle-ball. The company manufactured wooden paddles and pickleball kits to satisfy demand for the sport. Interest in pickleball continued to grow, and spread from the Pacific Northwest into warmer areas as "snowbirds" brought the sport south to Arizona, California, Hawaii and Florida. In 2016 Pickle Ball, Inc. was purchased by PickleballCentral.com,[19] which operates under the corporate name Olla, LLC.
Tournaments
A 1976 tournament held at the Southcenter Athletic Club in Tukwila, Washington is credited with being the first formal pickleball tournament. It was billed as "The World's First Pickleball Championship" by Joel Pritchard and received a mention in the July 1976 edition of Tennis magazine. The United States Amateur Pickleball Association (U.S.A.P.A.) was formed in 1984, which is when they published the first official rulebook for the sport and held the first National Doubles Championships in Tacoma, Washington. By 1990 the sport was being played in all 50 states. In 2001 pickleball was included as a demonstration sport in the Arizona Senior Olympics (ASO) with 100 participants. The pickleball tournament was held at the Happy Trails RV Resort in Surprise, Arizona and within 5 years included 275 participants. Inclusion of pickleball in the ASO was seen as a major contributor to the growth of tournaments in the United States.
The U.S. Pickleball National Championships are held near Palm Springs, California co-hosted by Larry Ellison, co-founder and CEO of Oracle and owner of the Indian Wells Tennis Garden, where they have been played since 2018. They had been previously played in Arizona, from 2009 to 2017. The tournament has the oversight of the U.S.A Pickleball Association, itself reincorporated with an updated rule book in 2005 after its foundation in 1984. The U.S. Open Pickleball Championships are played in another hub of pickleball, Naples, Florida, and started in 2016. Estimates for active players have grown to 3.3 million in 2019 up 10% from 2016. As of 2021, there were 58 member countries overseen by the International Federation of Pickleball. Currently there are over 8000 pickleball locations in the United States. Pickleball was named the official state sport of Washington in 2022 by the state legislature. The legislation was signed by Governor Jay Inslee on the original Pritchard family court where the sport was invented.
Growth of the sport
Since its inception the number of people playing pickleball has grown each year and after 2010 started being mentioned as one of the fastest growing sports in the United States. Starting in 2019 the COVID-19 pandemic is thought to have given an extra boost to the growth of the sport as people sought alternatives to indoor activities. In 2021 and 2022 the Sports and Fitness Industry Association (SFIA) officially reported that pickleball had become the fastest growing sport in the United States two years in a row. Over those years the number of players increased almost 40% to 4.8 million players. Some estimates predict there could be as many as 40 million players by the end of the decade.
The growth of pickleball has been attributed to a number of factors, including;
A new player can start enjoying the sport at the first introduction.
People of varying ages and physical abilities can enjoy the game together.
The sport is relatively inexpensive to start playing, if a public court is available.
A strong social aspect has developed within the sport
Experience in other racket sports can easily transfer to pickleball.
Competitive players find the strategic aspects of the sport an exciting challenge.
In addition, installing new outdoor courts is relatively inexpensive when compared to other racket sports. A single tennis court requires over 3 times as much space and construction material as a pickleball court, and unused tennis courts can easily be converted to multiple pickleball courts, or courts can be marked for dual use. These cost factors are particularly attractive to local Parks and Recreation departments.
Court and equipment
Court
The regulation size of the court is 20 feet by 44 feet for both doubles and singles, the same size as a doubles badminton court. A line seven feet from the net is the non-volley line. Twenty-two feet from the net, the baseline marks the outer boundary of the playing area. The area bounded by the non-volley line, the sidelines, and the net, inclusive of the lines, is known as the non-volley zone, or “kitchen”. The area between the non-volley line and the baseline is the service court. A center line divides the service court into left and right sides.
Net
The net is 36 inches high on the ends and 34 inches high at center. The net posts should be 22 feet from the inside of one post to the inside of the other post.
Ball
The original ball used when the game was invented was a wiffle ball. USA Pickleball (USAP) and the International Federation of Pickleball (IFP) have since adopted specific ball standards unique to pickleball. Balls must be made of a durable molded material with a smooth surface, and must have between 26 and 40 evenly spaced circular holes. They must weigh between .78 and .935 ounces and measure between 2.87 and 2.97 inches in diameter. Tournaments sanctioned by the USAP and IFP must choose from a list of preapproved balls found on the USAP and IFP websites.
Balls with smaller holes are generally used for outdoor play to minimize the effects of wind, but any sanctioned ball can be used for either indoor or outdoor play.
Paddle
For sanctioned games USAP and IFP paddle size standards say the combined length and width of the paddle shall not exceed 24 inches, and the length cannot exceed 17 inches. There are no requirements regarding thickness or weight. The paddle must be made of a noncompressible material and the surface of the paddle must be smooth with no texturing. Paddles used in sanctioned tournaments must be on the list of preapproved paddles found on the USAP and IFP websites.