Opinion: What’s the big dill with pickleball? – Shelby County Reporter

By DONALD MOTTERN | Editor

Pickleball. The word itself sounds like a punchline for a joke that wouldn’t make you laugh. In fact, it’s the name of a sport that has taken over parks, recreation centers and even professional sports arenas with astonishing speed.

This craze has players and casual spectators virtually queuing up for the next match and has even prompted many of our local municipalities to fund the creation and construction of many of its courts.

In recent weeks, it was even announced that Alabaster would be adding three additional courts to those already present at their Patriots Park. A move like this seems to indicate that the sport that has been called “the fastest growing sport in America” ​​is attracting both seasoned athletes and enthusiastic beginners.

Yet, despite this, and at the risk of the public image that I might have, I must say that I do not understand. I find myself standing aside, scratching my head and finding no explanation as to why. Why, of all things, of all sports, why Pickleball?

I have sat here in the office many times begging those around me to explain to me what the special appeal of this sport is. Despite their kind and caring efforts, I remain as lost on this topic as the day I first heard about it. Not since I tried to learn cricket has a sport made me feel so lost.

“It’s like table tennis but on a court,” was one of the first explanations of the sport given to me.

I might be wrong, but table tennis developed and played on a court seems almost identical to tennis.

Their subsequent efforts only resulted in another simplification: “it merges elements of badminton, tennis and ping-pong.”

I hope the many avid players of the game will forgive me when I say that, to me, it just doesn’t make any sense.

For less inclined athletes, like me, I understand badminton like tennis, except with a small racket and an even smaller ball which does not allow you to touch the court. Ping Pong, or table tennis as it is commonly called, is tennis but with a paddle and on a relatively microscopic course.

How exactly to merge these two sports and get something other than tennis in return is something I can’t quite figure out.

I also don’t understand what exactly is stopping this new tennis conglomerate from simply being played on a tennis court. Why do we need to build new courts when, from the information I have, this sport can be played on tennis courts with relatively minor adjustments to the height of the net and differently marked boundaries.

I’d like to know why we can’t just paint different colored lines on pre-existing fields, but I’ll give up on that point, because once again, I don’t understand the sport.

I understand that all of this might sound like I have something against pickleball, but I assure you that is not the case. I simply and militantly wish to understand it. If the game is touted for its ease of entry and inclusiveness, why I can’t understand the concept or reason for the existence of this sport.

Of course, I respect the enthusiasm and skill of those who find enjoyment in the sport, and I would never wish to take that away from them. If that’s what inspires people to come out and experience community unity, then I guess it can’t be too bad. I just want to understand why it has so much appeal. The meteoric rise of this institution leads me to wonder if I’m missing an almost universal appeal or if it’s simply the municipal version of a fidget spinner.

Ultimately, I guess it’s not about understanding this sport that looks more or less exactly like tennis but still isn’t, but rather appreciating the joy it brings to others. Pickleball seems to have a magic that resonates with a lot of people and I’m honestly happy for them. I hope they enjoy the sport, and in the meantime I will continue to try to understand exactly what it is.