There is a new sports craze sweeping across Naples, Florida. This game involves smashing, punching, ground strokes and footwork. This may already sound like a pretty violent game but we’re just pulling your leg, it really isn’t. It’s called Pickleball. It is like tennis, ping pong and badminton rolled into one fun and exciting play. What you will do is pick a team, either singles or doubles and then play on a badminton sized court. You will be equipped with a large paddle that looks like an overgrown version of a ping pong paddle. Then, you will play the game very much like how you would play tennis but only using a strange looking ball that looks like a round Swiss cheese.
The rules to this exciting sport are fairly simple. Each member of the opposing teams gets to serve the ball underhanded. Points can only be scored if a team is serving. A game must go to 11 points and the winning team must lead by at least two points.
It is also important to keep in mind the No Volley Zone or the NVZ. This is a restricted zone in front of the net. The only exception to this rule is if a ball bounces within the NVZ and the only way for you to hit the ball is to go inside it, then there will be no violation if you do get in that certain zone.
Although this game may be new to many of us, it is by no means newly invented. Pickleball actually started way back in 1965. Then Washington State Congressman Joel Pritchard and a friend of his wanted to keep their families and kids entertained. To stray off boredom, their plan was to make wooden paddles and hit a whiffleball over a badminton net. Soon, they devised simple rules to so that the adults as well as the children can join to play. How the name Pickleball came to be is quite cute. When the balls went astray when they were playing, Joel Pritchard’s family dog, Pickles ran off to pick the ball up. It was not long before the game became officially named Pickleball.
Today, Pickleball courts have been springing left and right around the city for the past 5 years or so. There are more or less 8 courts that can be found in Veterans Park and there are 48 courts by East Naples Community Park. Those numbers are staggering. This goes to show how much the citizens of Naples are into this sport. Pro-matches are being held in both indoor and outdoor courts and champions such as The Dawsons show up and they even won the recently held US Open Pickleball Championship that took place in East Naples Community Park. With important matches like these, more and more people both young and old are drawn to this sport. Sports instructors and academies are teaching the basics of the sport and newcomers are starting to be found everywhere. Even you might want to hop in the bandwagon. Visit Naples, Florida and sign up for a Pickleball lesson. You never know, you might just like both the sport and this city.
