New game brings fitness, fun: Pickleball growing in Georgia

Watch the North Georgia Pickleball Club in action on YouTube at:

Legend says the game was named after Pritchard’s dog named “Pickles” who used to chase down stray balls.

The first permanent pickleball court was constructed in 1967.

A pickleball net is 34 inches high. The court is a rectangle 20 feet wide and 44 feet long.

By lowering the net two inches, a tennis court can easily be converted to a pickleball court, in fact two pickleball courts can be placed on one tennis court.

The “non volley zone” in pickleball is also called “the kitchen.”

The 5th National Pickleball finals take place this November in Buckeye, Arizona.

Move over soccer, fast-pitch softball, and rugby; one of the fastest growing sports in the United States and in Atlanta is pickleball.

Pickle who?

Pickleball. Invented in 1965 by the late Joel Pritchard, a congressman from Washington state, pickleball takes the best elements of tennis, table tennis, and badminton and combines them into a fast-paced sport that can be played by anyone old enough to hold a paddle and hit a baseball-sized plastic ball.

It's played by a die-hard group of Atlantans weekly at the Marcus Jewish Community Center of Atlanta. The 50 or so regulars at the MJCCA are part of the 150,000 pickleball players in North America, as estimated by the USA Pickleball Association.

The sport has also been popularized by the North Georgia Pickelball Club, which has many players in Cherokee County.

Still can’t picture pickleball? Players use short-handled, large, solid paddles and balls with holes in them similar to a Wiffle Ball. The court is badminton-sized — you can fit two of them on a tennis court — with a net that is two inches shorter than a tennis court net. Play starts with an underhand serve, and points can only be won by the server or serving team in doubles play. Players cannot enter the seven-foot “no-volley zone” on either side of the net unless the ball bounces in that area.

This past weekend, 17 doubles teams took part in a regional pickleball tournament at the MJCCA with participants coming from metro Atlanta, Middle Georgia, Braselton and Chattanooga.

Ken Lester of Dunwoody, the tournament’s director, is one of the original pickleball players in Georgia and an ambassador of the sport.

“You look around and you will see players of all ages here,” stated Lester. “We have high school and college players, all the way up to our own Sid Cojac, who still plays at the age of 99.”

Games are played to 11, and you must win by two points. Even a long game takes about 15 minutes, so the action is fast.

Retired salesman, and grandfather of 10, Eddie Ullman, 77, of Atlanta is a former avid tennis player who gave it up to play pickleball two or three times a week.

“I enjoy the movement and the convenience of the sport,” explains Ullman who was playing in this tournament against players a fraction of his age.

Still, when Ullman tells friends he plays pickleball, he gets funny looks.

“It is a fast growing sport, but it’s a slow process getting people to learn what it actually is,” he said.

Pickleball was the breakout sport at last week’s National Senior Games in Cleveland.

George Jordan, 88 of Norcross, was the oldest player in the MJCCA tournament. A World War II veteran, Jordan served with General George S. Patton in the Siege of Bastogne in 1944. Jordan was a table tennis player back in high school and is still captain of his ALTA tennis team, but he took up pickleball two years ago.

“I have to admit it’s easier on the body, and there is no chance of tendinitis or tennis elbow with the short strokes,” he said.

Jordan smiled when asked about his upcoming match where he will face a team of younger players.

“Many think the younger players have the advantage, but I have the experience and hand-eye coordination to play with anyone,” he said.

One of the youngest players in the tournament was University of Georgia senior, Sophie Conboy, 21, of Dunwoody. The Spanish and Psychology double major was introduced to the sport by her father and doubles partner Joe.

“My dad always played tennis, but this has been so fun to play,” she said.

Conboy, who played basketball and volleyball in high school, can envision the day where pickleball will be played on college campuses all over the country.

“I would love to see it be an intramural sport,” says Conboy. “It’s great exercise; I would play it.”

To keep the sport growing, proponents say it needs to be introduced to kids under age 10.

The MJCCA also offered a pickleball camp program this summer to kids.

“We want to offer the sport to as many people as possible,” Lester said

While almost every new senior citizen planned community is building pickleball courts, facilities like YMCA’s are also considering adding a pickelball program..

When the octogenarian Jordan was asked by a spectator how long he will keep playing pickleball, he gave a quick answer.

“I’m not stopping anytime soon. I like to say, if you can dance, you can play pickleball”