Where I answer all those super important questions you’ve been asking… so you can finally sleep at night.
Q: What is pickleball?
A: Quite possibly the best game in the universe. I cannot believe how many people asked what pickleball was in our Arizona trip post.
Come out from the cave people. STEP AWAY FROM THE COMPUTER.
Pickleball. Google it. Wikipedia it. Then play it.
Pickleball is played on a court the same size as doubles badminton. I liken it to a cross between ping pong and tennis. You use those paddles and a whiffle ball above. The court is smaller than tennis so you can actually play a game without dropping dead. We’ve played doubles and singles.
It’s one of the few sports Ryan and I can play together. I love tennis. But if we play it, Ryan ends up grumpy because I beat him into a bloody pulp win. If I let him squeak by with a win, he grumps that I’m letting him win. So tennis is a one a year battle.
If we try bowling or mini golf, I may end up with a sour face from losing.
But, pickleball. That we can get behind. It’s a fun game and we’re relatively evenly matched. Ryan usually wins, but it’s still fun and I usually even manage to keep from pitching a fit, or my racket.
Psst: Sometimes I still throw a racket.
Clearly, the both of us are great sports. Model athletes for your children.
Ryan actually took a pickleball class in college. So, when we play, he likes to say (repeatedly), “I’m just good because I played in college.” Like he got a sports scholarship to an ivy league for his hardcore abilities with a whiffle ball and a large ping pong paddle. Scouts were knocking down his doors. Offering him exotic vacations and sports cars.
For some reason, old people love pickleball. (No offense to you old(er) people. It’s just my observation.) And since my still-young parents live in a retirement community, they have a pickleball court right by their house. Most of the residents play at the crack of dawn. (Who actually gets up before 6 a.m. willingly?) But, Ryan and I like to play at 7 p.m. Bedtime for those folks. Which confuses all the neighbors.
I’m not kidding. Someone told my mom they were wondering who would play pickleball so late…
Crazy kids.
So the moral of the story is: you should really play pickleball. I think you could probably modify it on a tennis court. Or just head to your nearest retirement community.
You are welcome.
I now have the power of pickleball knowledge maybe I’ll have the skills to play :+)
OK I have to admit that I did not have a lot of knowledge of pickle ball before you mentioned it. But it sounds like tons of fun….as long I could win:).
Pickleball sounds like so much fun. Please come to Philly and teach it to me.
I don’t me to brag [read: yes I do] but I kind of dominate when it comes to badminton. If there was a badminton team in high school, I would have been captian. Or so I like to think.
LB
Ok, I could enjoy that but where did the name come from?!
This post is hilarious.
Poor sportsmanship is the reason Nate and I no longer play anything on the Wii together. 😛
Retirement folks don’t ALL go to bed at 7…….once I had 5:00 cocktails at our house and we stayed up til 9! wocka wocka wocka
I have had to explain pickleball to many, many people in my day.
It was one of the only sports I enjoyed playing in high school!
Ha! Love it. I especially love how you wrote the post. Glad you found a sport that doesn’t challenge your relationship. : )
I’ve never heard of that! I don’t think they make pickleball courts in MN!
I have never heard of this and so excited to learn of something new. We will have to try this. I am going to google it right now!