Pickleball was invented in 1965 by a congressman and a businessman, who improvised during a badminton game, using Ping-Pong paddles and a plastic ball.
They lowered the net so they could bounce the ball over the net and made the first official pickleball court in their neighbor’s yard in 1967, according to usapickleball.org.
The sport found growing acceptance over the years but has just recently become widely popular. In 2021, USA Pickleball membership reached 50,000, according to its website. The sport is popular at community centers, classes, YMCA facilities and retirement communities.
Pickleball is the fastest-growing sport in the United States, according to American Sports and Fitness Association.
“Pickleball has started friendships and community, rather than just being an exercise program,” said Alan Cutler, who plays pickleball and is the business manager of the nonprofit program Murfreesboro Pickleball Association.
“Pickleball becomes more of a community than tennis does,” he said. “In tennis, you reserve a court and play together for a longer period of time. With pickleball, people come on their own and pair up or group. After you play, people change partners, and then you sit out and the next group comes in, so we have about 40 or 50 people, playing with different people and meeting them, and it becomes more of a community than just going there for a game.”
Cutler said people of all different ages are taking interest in pickleball now, and pickleball really appeals to the senior community because it requires much less running than with tennis.
He said Murfreesboro Pickleball has also taught home-school students to play, and they had a youth program last summer.
“What is really nice with pickleball is with the court size—you can almost get four courts inside the space of the tennis court,” he said. “Also, using a pickleball paddle takes a lot less effort than using a tennis racket. Hitting a tennis ball takes a lot more effort than flicking a pickleball with a paddle. So it’s a perfect sport for seniors to play.”
Pickleball is somewhat of a combination between tennis, badminton and table tennis with doubles play much more common than singles play. Cutler said, the court is smaller than in tennis with a net across it. The ball is served over diagonally to the other court, the ball bounces and the person returns it. The ball has to bounce first before the return of serve, and then it is played, being hit back and forth off the bounce or in the air.
“Pickleball also has the non-volley line, which is seven feet from the net,” he explained. “So, unlike tennis, where you can go up and smash the ball down standing at the net, in pickleball you can not get the ball in the air and cross that seven-foot line. So you can’t be right at the net and smash it down.”
There are opportunities every weekday to play pickleball in Murfreesboro:
There are indoor courts at Sports*Com where people play on Tuesdays and Thursdays.
At Patterson Park Community Center pickleball players play on Monday, Wednesday and Friday mornings indoors on three courts. And there are also six outdoor courts at Patterson Park, which are available any time until dark.
People also play at McFadden Community Center each morning Monday through Friday until 2 p.m. and Avalon Athletic Club has designated times for pickleball on its basketball court.
Learn the game by coming to a free beginner lesson held on the first and third Monday of each month at 11 a.m. at Patterson Park’s inside gym. (If a Monday is a holiday, the date changes to the following Monday.)
Photo courtesy Murfreesboro Pickleball Association
“We recently had one of our largest beginner classes with 31 people coming to learn the rules and how to play pickleball,” Cutler said. “We have volunteers teaching—I think there were six of us that day—working with the people and showing them how to hit the ball. We also have paddles for them to try out. Beginners in the classes don’t need to bring any equipment. The only cost is the entry fee to come into the rec center.”
Cutler said the only problem limiting who can play pickleball is the lack of available courts for evening use, making it difficult for people with daytime jobs to find a time to play. He added that there are no lights outside at Patterson Park, so darkness prevents people from playing outside part of the year.
“The complaint we hear from people is we don’t have evening pickleball hours,” he said. “There is such a demand for pickleball, and we don’t have enough courts. And I am always getting the question ‘do you have any beginner pickleball classes on the night or the weekend when we can learn?’
“More people could play if we have more outdoor courts that would allow people who work during the day to play in the evening, especially in the summer while there is light.”
Photo courtesy pickleheads.com
___
For more information and to meet others who play pickleball in the area, stop by a class or a game at Patterson Park Community Center, 521 Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd., or visit the Facebook page Pickleball Murfreesboro TN.
Another good pickleball resource is pickleheads.com, which compiles information on pickleball courts across the country, contains tips and articles for improving your game, reviews pickleball paddles and accessories, and allows users to connect with other pickleball players and schedule games.
