Playing tennis on badminton court with table tennis racket
Tao Xingying
Shen Zhimei
Table tennis is too fast, tennis is too demanding on the court, and pickleball is just right. When new sports such as skiing and frisbee are all the rage in China, another sport, pickleball, is sweeping across the American continent. Clubs and competitions of all ages are springing up like mushrooms. Bill Gates and the Kardashian family are all fanatics of this sport fan.
Today, pickleball has also landed in Shanghai, and various civil society organizations have gradually developed like the development of frisbee. Put on fashionable tennis skirts, tennis pants, hold colorful rackets, and enjoy the joy of “dopamine” this summer.
Boundless meaning
How many reasons do you like Pickleball? On the social platform, fashion sports players are starting to “evaluate” pickleball sports: aerobic weight loss, 10 minutes of playing can be hearty; challenge the reaction, exercise hand-eye coordination; try exaggerated movements, play different tricks; carry out doubles coordination , Improve teamwork ability; play various shapes, various emoticons, greatly secrete dopamine…
It is precisely because it is easy to learn, and there is communication and interaction in confrontation games. With the help of social media promotion, more and more young people have begun to try pickleball. At present, Shanghai has held the first pickleball game, launched the first dedicated venue, and established a pickleball club and community. The pickleball sport in Shanghai is accelerating its fermentation and rapidly becoming popular, becoming a popular sport like Frisbee.
According to data from the Pickleball Professional Association, during the epidemic period from August 2021 to August 2022, there will be more than 36.5 million pickleball players in the United States. In 2022, the number of players will increase by 85% year-on-year, accounting for about 11% of the total population. The number of players before was only 5 million, and it has achieved a 5-fold increase in 5 years. And this pickleball craze is also starting in China.
In the 2024 Paris Olympic Games, pickleball is listed as a performance event. Industry insiders believe that it is expected to become an official event of the Olympic Games in the future.
national movement
What is Pickleball? To describe the sport of pickleball in popular terms, it means playing tennis on a badminton court with a table tennis racket in hand. The amount of exercise of the pickleball is smaller than tennis, bigger than table tennis, can carry out singles, doubles, mixed doubles, all can indoor and outdoor. The ball is heavier than badminton, lighter than tennis ball, moderate in weight, strong in wind resistance, suitable for all ages. Pickleball broke the shortcomings of the three major ball games and soon became a national sport with low threshold and restrictions.
Because the field of pickleball is small, there is no need for frequent long-distance sprints, and there is no direct physical confrontation. There will be no great difference between men and women in the same field. Therefore, it is especially suitable for the elderly and beginners. Some people say that pickleball is a “frisbee game” for the elderly, but in fact, according to statistics, sports groups under the age of 55 have the fastest growth rate. From the “2022 Pickle Ball Report” released by the American Sports and Fitness Industry Association, it can be seen that one-third of the players are under the age of 25. The American Sports and Fitness Industry Association has rated pickleball as the fastest growing sport in the United States for two consecutive years.
Today, the United States has established three major leagues for pickleball, namely the Pickleball Professional League, the Professional Pickleball League and the Pickleball Major League. These events have won the favor of major media platforms, and the games can be watched on TV channels, Internet channels and social media.
Bill Gates has proudly declared himself a pickleball fan for 50 years. Some sports celebrities, including football star Tom Brady and NBA star LeBron James, have also invested in their own professional teams.
fast powder absorption
In December 2021, the country’s first “Pickleball Competition Rules Manual” (2021 Edition) was released, and the promotion of Pickleball in China entered a new stage.
Easy to use and strong social attributes, the attention of Pickleball in China has ushered in a small climax this year. More and more young people began to learn to play pickleball, and established folk clubs to hold folk games. Dan Ze, the founder of Chengdu-based pickleball club PICKBOOM!, wrote in Xiaohongshu: “I haven’t played pickleball for a long time, but I really feel the comfort and leisure of this sport, as well as the boost to health.”
Since the first round of exposure of Pickleball in China mainly comes from social media platforms such as Xiaohongshu and Weibo, the first people to play Pickleball in China are young and middle-aged people aged 25 to 40. In the Jingcai Elite Tennis Club in Wujing Town, Minhang District, more than a dozen pickleball enthusiasts picked up their rackets and changed into their equipment. Although each game lasted only ten minutes, the participants were sweating profusely, and felt a strong sense of joy in sports.
Shen Jiabin, the person in charge of the promotion of the Shanghai Tennis Association’s pickleball project and the chief referee of many competitions, said that the original rules of pickleball are relatively complicated, and they need to compete for the right to serve. In order to promote this project and let everyone play first, we have simplified the rules, canceling the difference between hitting the ball under the waist and the serving order, and adopting a scoring system for each ball, which is convenient for everyone to understand.” It is understood that the Shanghai Tennis Association plans to promote pickleball on campus, and focus on training referees and coaches to gradually establish a complete competition system.
practice doorway
Pickleball Play and Rules
■Equipment requirements:
The court area of the pickleball is the same as that of a badminton court, but the net of the pickleball is floor type. The racket is 398 mm long and 194 mm wide. The original wood is gradually replaced by new materials such as glass fiber and carbon fiber with better effects. The ball is about the size of a tennis ball, with a diameter of 7.4 cm and a weight of 26.1 grams, but the material is hollow plastic, and the surface is covered with 26 (indoor) or 40 (outdoor) round holes.
■Competition system: The first team to score 11 points in each game and lead by at least 2 points wins. If both sides score 10 points, the game should continue until one side leads by 2 points. The game is generally best-of-three games.
■Serve: At the beginning of each game, the player on the right serves first, and the player on the left chooses the side. At the end of each game, the order of serving and the position of the court will be exchanged.
1. To serve a pickle ball, you must throw the ball downwards, and the contact surface between the ball and the racket is below the waist;
2. Both feet must stand outside the bottom line;
3. The ball must be hit with a racket before it hits the ground. The ball must land in the playing area of the diagonally opposite court and cannot be pressed to the non-volley line.
■Double bounce rule: In the first round after serving or when the server is receiving the opponent’s return ball, the receiving party must let the ball bounce once on the ground before hitting the ball.
2023-08-19 05:56:50
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