First, on a personal note, as many of my pickleball friends know, for the past year I have been sidelined by seemingly intractable back issues. The more tests I have in search of a cure, the more intractable the issues become. Nonetheless, in the same way lacrosse was my passion in in the days when I could still run the length of a field without taking a ten-minute time out at the midfield line, pickleball is a passion today, if only as a spectator. And how could it not be? Pickleball has all the elements of a popular spectator sport: speed, agility, strategy, the thrill of victory, and the agony of defeat. But if you like watching pickleball, believe me, it’s a lot more fun playing. And so it goes.
The rise of pickleball in the last few years is nothing short of a cultural phenomenon. When pickleball was invented in the 60’s, four adults and a handful of kids played on a driveway on Bainbridge Island in Washington state. Today 36 million zealots are playing the game, and that number continues to grow.
In the early days, much like kids playing backyard football, rules were established if, when and as needed. Pickleball had few rules and fewer, if any, tournaments offering prize money. Boy has that changed.
Today pickleball has a governing body, which among other things, reviews and revises an ever burgeoning and increasingly complex rulebook. In 2023 alone there are 78 proposed rule revisions or new rules, of which a handful are worth mentioning in the limited space provided. To know more than you probably want to know about the plethora of new rules and changes you can find them in the 2023 official Pickleball Rulebook. In brief, the 5 rules that bear mentioning here are:
No more one-handed spin serves.
A replay for a serve violation instead of loss of serve.
If a wrong score is called a player can question the call at any time.
Clothing that closely matches the ball color is prohibited.
Time outs for equipment issues can be called at any time.
Pickleball has officially entered the era of big money. As regular readers know, professional athletes like Tom Brady – assuming he can still afford it after his recent divorce and sizable crypto currency losses – have been buying professional pickleball teams. As CNN recently reported, four legendary tennis stars will be competing for $1 million dollars at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Hollywood, Florida on April 2nd . That’s right, John McEnroe, Andre Agassi, Andy Roddick and Michael Chang will go head-to-head for a big pay day. That’s a lot of green for a game that just a few years ago was a relaxing way to while away one’s time on a bucolic weekend afternoon. Numbers like that already have the attention of future great Teddy Fox, who has set his sights on a tournament in 2040.
Finally, pickleball winter league play started this week. Come to the courts Tuesdays at 6:00 PM to watch some spirited play. Be sure to grab your favorite partner and register for the club mixed doubles championship on February 25th . Go to tlcpickleball.com for regular updates to the pickleball schedule.