Pickleball

One of the early players in the county, Kimberly Chandler of the Albertville area, teams up with Dan Lueker of Arab for Saturday Pickleball at the Guntersville Rec Center just prior to its shutting down as a coronavirus safety precaution.

Playing Pickleball

In case you were wondering, it’s a fun concoction of tennis, badminton, racquetball and ping-pong... with a twist of Wiffle ball tossed in

Story and photos By David Moore

Steve Douglas did not bring pickles when he moved from Atlanta to Warrenton in 2006. He did, however, bring a desire to play pickleball.

Although it was a fast-growing sport, as far as he knows there was nowhere in Marshall County to play, and no one to play it with.

For those who still don’t know, the game of pickleball was concocted from elements of tennis, badminton, racquetball and ping-pong with a twist of Wiffle ball tossed in for good measure. It’s played indoors or out on a badminton-sized court using a modified tennis net over which you swat a plastic ball with holes in it using what appear to be oversized, squared-away ping-pong paddles.

Folks play for some combination of fun, the rush of competition or because it’s a sneaky way to be active without dreading exercise.

As Steve talks about his favorite game, 20 or so people whacked the bright yellow, Wiffle-like balls back and forth inside the Guntersville Parks and Recreation Center in the days before COVID-19 exploded.

Now 76, he first heard about pickleball at The Villages, a 20 square-mile, planned development for those 55 and older in Central Florida. Among the amenities are some 120 pickleball courts.

“I was a racquetball player and was just totally impressed with the game,” Steve says.

Even so, it took him a while to get around to playing pickleball. He was still young enough to enjoy racquetball with his friends.

But in early 2014, Steve recruited a racquetball buddy to join him in pickleball, Trudy Chaille, then of Guntersville. They got permission to tape off a court on the general-purpose tiled floor at the Guntersville rec center.

Despite pickleball’s growing interest nationwide, no one else locally showed any interest. Besides, Steve says, the tiled floors at the rec centers did not work well with the balls of that day.

Still itching to play, Steve took matters into his own hands and built a pickleball court in his driveway at home.

“I had a perfect place,” he says. “On weekends we’d have parties and soon there were eight to 10 folks playing pickleball.”

They invited their friends to join the fun, and the group grew.

Pickleball interest jumped a few years later when people from Marshall County RSVP began playing, including Poppy Moon and Carol Langley. Steve and an avid player from Huntsville put on a pickleball program that was promoted in the RSVP newsletter.

Phil Moss of Arab, a racquetball friend of Steve’s joined, and today he’s called the group’s trainer.

With Steve leading the way, pickleball made a successful return to the Guntersville rec center. The group played with portable nets easily removed so other sports could share the public courts. Two tennis courts were also marked off for pickleball.

With interest growing, in 2019 the city built four permanent outside courts at Civitan Park. If needed, a fifth one can be set up at the old basketball court there.

Today, the regular players range from 55 to 80 years old.

“Age is an aspect of the game,” Steve says. “But there are a lot of ‘old’ people out here being very competitive with one another.

“For me, exercise comes first for my reasons to play. There is mental exercise, too. You have to think about what you’re doing, use a little strategy.

“But the surprise about the game,” he continues, “is the social aspect it promotes. I had no idea.”

Prior to COVID, informal groups would go to Sakura Japanese Steakhouse or another restaurant after games on Tuesday, or sometimes players might get together for a beer.

Butch and Sheila Norckauer of Point of Pines are among those who became avid pickleball players. He’d had brain surgery recently and a couple of previous heart attacks, but that doesn’t faze his enthusiasm, and Sheila was playing again within five or six weeks after separate hip transplants.

“It’s a great sport and you can make it about as active as you want,” Butch says. “There are players that can hardly move, and others who would dive at the ball.”

Such is the draw of pickleball.

According to various sources,

Kimberly Chandler makes an impressive save with an over-the-shoulder volley, above. She lives in Hampton Cove but plays pickleball in Guntersville where her parents, Randy and Trish Hoerth, also play. Steve Douglas, left, makes a serve at one of Guntersville Parks and Recreation’s four outdoor courts across from the Church of the Epiphany on Sunset Drive.

Dawn McCoy of Guntersville, left, wears a shirt attesting that pickleball is no big “dill,” but her intensity says otherwise. Curtis Combs and Joe Peanasky, right, of Guntersville shoot it out with Randy Hoerth and his daughter, not pictured, Kimberly Chandler.

Pickleball was invented in 1965 by three dads who would ferry their families from Seattle to spend weekends at second homes on nearby Bainbridge Island.

One typically wet day the kids got bored and started complaining about nothing to do. Joel Pritchard, a congressman from Washington, and Bill Bell, a successful businessman, took action. Scrounging around, they found an old badminton net, a rough set of pingpong paddles and a Wiffle ball.

Thus armed, the dads took the kids outside to an aging, asphalt badminton court and said to swat the ball around. Competition, naturally, led to keeping score, which necessitated rules.

Barney McCallum joined the fun the following weekend.

“I’m down there playing this … thing,” he recalls on YouTube. “This is on a Saturday. Then the next day I couldn’t get out of bed fast enough to go down there and play.”

The new game took on a world of its own as they tried scoring methods of other sports, including tennis. Rules were developed on an as-needed basis. For instance, another dad, Dick Brown, was a tall guy who too easily racked up points by charging the net and spiking the ball.

So the “kitchen” line was invented. Dick – and everyone else – had to stay behind it.

Barney quickly realized ping-pong paddles were too small and broke too easily, so he cut out a pattern and cut out larger, but simple paddles from plywood.

Though the game was meant for all ages, it wasn’t long before the parents’ enthusiasm monopolized it. Pickleball, they found, was fun exercise, and they could be as competitive as they wanted.

After the Seattle families deserted Bainbridge Island that fall, Barney discovered the 20-foot width of his street worked great for length of the court, and so pickleball took to the streets.

Barney and Joel’s wife, Joan, have differing stories as to the origins of the game’s name.

Joan was a competitive rower on a crew boat in college. “Pickle boat” is an obscure term from the sport.

In choosing rowing teams, the best oarsmen were picked first. The leftover, mismatched rowers crewed the socalled pickle boat. With the new game’s mismatched mix of sports, Joan thought pickleball was an appropriate name.

Barney contends the game was named after the Pritchards’ cockapoo puppy, Pickles, who was fond of chasing and running off with the plastic ball. He remembers everyone sitting around the Pritchards’ cabin applauding and toasting the name.

Either way, pickleball has grown and is now played by more than 2.5 million people. Through the USA Pickleball Association, leagues and tournaments are set up for amateurs and pros, and the sport continues to grow.

Steve says their group – Pickleball on the Lake – welcomes those still unfamiliar to the growing sport.

“Everybody is willing to play with new players,” he says.

Rules are simple, and you can play at your comfort level. And play at the local courts listed below is free, just bring your own balls and paddle: • Arab Parks and Recreation – Fri. 10 a.m. – noon; Sat 9 a.m. – noon (April thru September); bring your own paddle and balls; up to two courts; for more info: 256-586-6793. • Gilliam Springs Baptist Church, U.S. 231, Arab – Court closed due to COVID; for more info: 256-586-3147. • Guntersville Parks and Recreation Center – Indoor courts at rec center closed due to COVID, but outdoor courts at Civitan Park are open. Scheduled play is 8–11 a.m. Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays.

For more info on pickleball: Pickleball on the Lake Facebook page; or call Steve Douglas: 256-677-7301. No longer alone in the local pickleball world, he’ll be glad to add you to his pickleball newsletter.

Good Life Magazine

Butch Norckauer, one of the more serious players in the Pickleball on the Lake group, holds up a medal he won this past spring at a tournament. He and Phil Moss of Arab often travel and play as a team in the 70-and-over division. Among other events, they took first place at a charity tourney in Huntsville. Last year in Opelika they placed third among 277 tourney entrants.

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