Pickleball

Pickleball popularity soaring in High Country

BY JAMIE SHELL

Picture a game that’s a hybrid of two sports, easy for people of all ages to play, and provides hours of entertainment and competition when played either indoors or outdoors. Such a game exists, and it’s known by an unusual name: Pickleball.

Pickleball’s popularity has been exploding for the past several years to decade. A mixture of racquet sports, with parts of tennis, badminton and ping-pong amalgamated into the rules and playing of the game, pickleball’s appeal is vast.

For many across the High Country, the game provides the perfect opportunity to combine exercise, socialization and competition, and the game has taken root across rec centers and clubs around the region.

Players use paddles to hit a perforated polymer ball, complete with perforations back and forth over a net that is lower than that used on tennis courts.

The game can be played indoors or outdoors, with a slower-moving ball and a smaller court area, the game is more accessible for younger and older people than tennis. Also like tennis, the game can be played in singles or doubles, though it is usually played in doubles.

Pickleball’s relatively recent origins date back a little more than five decades when, returning from a game of golf on Bainbridge Island, Wash., the children of then-Congressman Joel Pritchard and businessman Bill Bell were sitting around bored at the rainy beach island. The dads determined to help cure the kids’ boredom, so they opted to break out a badminton set for a family game. The fathers realized, however, that they didn’t have a complete racket set, so the family rummaged for and located equipment originally designed for other sports, such as a plastic baseball and paddles used to play ping pong, which they decided to use on the old badminton court.

Realizing the need for organization for this new hodgepodge game, Pritchard and Bell set to making rules to accommodate the uniqueness of the equipment being used. As days went by, other interested individuals, including friend and neighbor Barney McCallum became interested in the process, and additional adults had their own interest piqued by this unusual, yet highly entertaining game.

The pioneers of the new sport set out to write rules for play and finalizing equipment that would be used in contests. The height of the net was lowered from the traditional 60 inches to Pritchard’s waist height of 36 inches. Pritchard also redesigned custom paddles, as he found that traditional ping pong paddles proved

PHOTO SUBMITTED Pickleball is played with a yellow polymer plastic ball, with paddles designed specifically for the sport. The sport is usually played by doubles pairs, but the game is also enjoyable for playing singles competition. too flimsy to withstand the rigors of the game. The origins of the game’s name are often attributed to the name of the Pritchard’s family dog known as Pickles, while Prichard’s wife, Joan, has stated that the game’s originated from a different comparison, specifically “the combination of different sports reminding me of the pickle boat in crew where oarsmen were chosen from the leftovers of other boats.”

Since the humble beginnings of the sport, pickleball has gone national, exploding in popularity with courts in all 50 states and more than 4,000 locations.

Although a racket sports, pickleball does differentiate from its other sports cousins. Among the differences are that the game requires an underhand serve, meaning that a serving racket must contact the ball below the navel area to be legal. Additionally a non-volley area near the net is off limits virtually guarantees that aggressive play styles are negated, which helps to literally level the playing field.

In 2018, USAPA allied with Professional Pickleball Registry to grow the sport.

DISC

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are made of solid, non-magnetic plastic material and are between 21 centimeters to 30 centimeters. The maximum weight of a disc can not exceed a weight of 200 grams.

There are three types of discs players can use: longrange driver, a mid-range wood or iron, and a short range putter. Discs are also fairly cheap with a decent set ranging at about $50, while golf clubs can range to hundreds of dollars for a decent set.

For those wanting to try disc golf, the High Country offers a variety of courses for all ages to play.

THE HIGH COUNTRY DISC COURSE

Located at Ashe County Park in Jefferson, the High Country Disc Course is a great place for beginners or pros to better their skills. The park offers 20-holes of disc golf. Throughout the two-mile course on every hole, concrete and platform rubber decked tee-pads and easy-to-spot DiscCatcher baskets have been installed.

The last nine holes are located deep in the woodland while the front nine more in the open. Some of the holes have alternate baskets for newer players. The course also provides “Birdies” and “Tree Love” scorecards that also double as field guides, which allow players to identify birds and trees during their round.

For more information, visit www.kidsinparks.com/ ashe-county-park-ntdgc.

WAHOO’S ADVENTURES

Another great disc golf course is at Wahoo’s Adventures where you can also camp, canoe and tube in the New River.

The course features nine holes that each have both long and short tees. It also has a warm-up hole for players to prep their throwing arm. The course itself is a beautiful hike in the New River area for disc golf players. It features a catwalk bridge over a creek, perfect for a hot summer’s day.

The cost of the course is $5 per person or free for those tubing with Wahoo’s Adventures. More information can be found at www.wahoosadventures.com.

BEECH MOUNTAIN RESORT

Beech Mountain Resort is welcoming for players of all skill levels. The course features 18 holes designed into the mountain landscape. Players can walk the course for free, or they can take a scenic lift ride for $12 to tee off from the summit.

A rental of three discs cost $10. For more information, call 1 (800) 438-2093 or visit www.beechmountainresort.com/summer/disc-golf/.

CHETOLA RESORT

Chetola Resort offers a nine-hole course with three practice holes to boot. Unlike other courses, Chetola is a private resort and is for guests. For more information, call (828) 295-5535 or visit the resort website at www.chetola.com.