Racquet Sports Bounce Off Each Other’s Strengths

COMPATIBILITY AND SKILLS TRANSFER HELP TENNIS, PICKLEBALL AND PLATFORM TENNIS THRIVE

From tennis to pickleball to platform tennis, Chicagoans flocked to racquet sports after the pandemic hit because they offered built-in social distancing and were a great way to get exercise with friends and family.

Besides that, players soon realized that skill transfer could be as easy as swinging a racquet because of the many parallels among the sports.

“I think that there are a lot of similarities in all three sports,” said racquet sports instructor Christi Turdo, who owns the Glenbrook Racquet and Paddle clubs. “The dink (in pickleball) is basically a drop shot in tennis. If you are a high-level tennis player, you can do all three well.”

It’s no surprise then that in Chicago, all racquet sports – tennis, pickleball, paddle, and others -- are thriving, which speaks to the enormous social and health benefits of these sports and their complementary nature.

A study published in the British Journal of Sports Medicine found that people who played tennis or other racquet sports had a 47% lower risk of all-cause mortality compared with those who played no racquet sports. Another study in Denmark compared eight different sports and found that tennis players had the greatest gain in life expectancy—9.7 years longer than people who did not exercise.

Tennis and pickleball top participation trends for all racquet sports, which include platform or paddle tennis, racquetball, and squash, to name a few others. In 2022, tennis participation in the U.S. increased for the third consecutive year, adding a million players for a total of 23.6 million at year-end, according to the Tennis Industry Association. This represents an increase of 33 percent since 2020. Pickleball grew by 85.7 percent in the past yar to 8.9 million players over the age of six, according to the Sports & Fitness Industry Association, which also reported drops of 3 percent for squash and 5.6 percent for racquetball. Platform tennis participation nearly doubled.

In Cook, DuPage, and Lake counties – the areas served by the USTA’s Chicago District — more than 350,000 people participated in tennis in 2022, contributing $140 million to the local economy. USA Pickleball, the sport’s governing body, estimates that 138,000 people played pickleball in the three-county area last year.

The American Platform Tennis Association has more than 31,000 members, a near doubling since before the pandemic began. In Chicagoland, around 8,500 men and women regularly play the sport, according to APTA.

“Public paddle has been the core of its growth,” said Jason Stanislaw, the former CDTA president who manages tennis and platform tennis for the Wilmette Park district. By the end of 2023, Wilmette will have 18 platform tennis courts at three locations.

Industry officials say there is a 40 percent crossover rate between sports when a club has a successful total racquets program. “Our research with providers reveals that while pickleball may be bringing new players to their facilities, 30 to 40 percent of them start playing tennis as well,” Jill Siegel, Executive Director of the CDTA, said.

Pickleball is among the nation’s fastest growing sports because it’s easy to learn, easy on the body and adults and kids with mixed skills can play on the same court.

“The great thing about pickle – and the reason why people love it -- is you can learn it in 30 minutes and have fun,” said Glenbrook’s Turdo. “You can’t do that on a tennis court.”

Cardio tennis classes have had similar success using lower compression balls that make it easier for players at different skill levels to compete with each other and also get a good workout. Dozens of clubs in the Chicago area have robust cardio tennis programs.

Check out the Organization Listing in this Guide to find out where you can play cardio tennis or visit www.usta.com/chicago/cardiotennis.