Pickleball a barrel of fun

What new, Senior Olympics sport looks silly, sounds sillier and is a barrel of fun?

Pickleball is one sweet game, players say.

The game is played with wooden paddles and whiffle balls over an undersized tennis net on a badminton-sized court.

Pickles, by the way, was the name of the family dog who first fetched the whiffleballs for the players who invented the sport.

So many seniors have taken to it since its invention in Port Townsend, Wash., in 1965, that Senior Olympics leaders named it an official sports this year.

To build a local team, the city’s parks and recreation department launched a new Pickleball pickup series last week at Frances E. Wyatt Recreation Center in North Chattanooga.

Free games take place on Wednesdays and Thursdays from 11 a.m.-1 p.m., and on Wednesday evenings from 5-7:30 p.m.

Playing Pickleball at a high level requires agility, coordination and fitness.

“If two players are even remotely close in ability, you’ll have some good rallies and get a good workout in a short period of time,” said Kenton Holloway, a 53-year-old Chattanooga area attorney, who has played Pickleball twice at out-of-town Senior Olympics demonstration games.

A game is played to eleven points and a team must win by two points.

The recreation center hopes to forge a superpower Pickleball Senior Olympic team, said Kelly Price, facility manager.

“It’s a fun little game,” Ms. Price said. “It’s very challenging, but fairly easy to learn.

“Even though it’s a new Senior Olympic sport,” she added, “I’ve been teaching some of my kids, and adults, and some of are like ‘wow this is great.’”

The rules

Pickleball rules are similar to tennis, ping pong and badminton.

The double bounce rule — After a serve, the receiving team must let the ball bounce before returning the ball. The serving team must let the return of the serve bounce before playing.

Faults include hitting the ball out of bounds, not clearing the net and stepping into the “non-volley zone” on each side of the net.

— www.pickleball.com