pickleball arrives in pisa

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PICKLEBALL IS A NEW RAPIDLY GROWING SPORT. Pickleball is something between tennis and padel and is already very popular in the United States. Invented in 1965, it really started to catch on during the pandemic and now has more than 68 million players in America. It landed in Italy in 2018, and the first three fields were built in the province of Pescara, where the AIP, the Italian Pickleball Association, is based. The fields where to play pickleball in Italy are still few, but over the last two years new local clubs have sprung up in different regions. HOW TO PLAY. Pickleball is a racket sport that is easier and more static than padel, less demanding and more recreational than tennis. It is played on courts a third of the size of tennis courts, in doubles but also one-on-one, with a racket that somewhat resembles a chopping board and with a light ball with holes, which therefore never reaches great speeds: more power, it takes technique, position and timing. It is a cross between tennis, table tennis and badminton.

WHEN AND HOW IT WAS BORN. The two dads who invented it in 1965 started from the simple fact that they had a badminton net but no rackets or even a shuttlecock. As a net, they used a badminton net, as rackets they used some wooden ping pong rackets, and as a ball they took one from wiffleball, a sport similar to baseball, but played with lighter balls: plastic and with holes. The three inventors thought of a game that was simple to understand and easy to play for the whole family. There is some disagreement about why they decided to call it pickleball. One version says that they chose it as a tribute to Pickles, the family dog. But it is more probable that the funny name was chosen in reference to the so-called “pickle boats”, which in university rowing referred to the crews made up of rowers who had not been chosen by the other teams, in other words by the rejected ones. A bit like that sport made with “leftovers” from other sports.

THE DIFFUSION. In 1967 Pritchard built the first permanent pickleball field, in the seventies – while padel was born in Mexico. There’s no precise time when pickleball began to break out of its niche, but it’s undoubtedly adapted to the pandemic better than many other sports because it requires only balls, racquets and a net, and allows for light physical activity. The turning point was 2020: the most assiduous pickleball players are over 65 years old, but lately the practitioners between 8 and 34 years old are also growing, which has lowered the average age of all participants, now just under 40 years old. In addition to the over 50s, 60s or 70s who play it because it allows you to have fun without getting tired or trying too hard, and in addition to the kids who discover it in school contexts, where it is proposed for its simplicity and immediacy, pickleball is also conquering other contexts . One is the more competitive one, with much more dynamic and lively matches played in tournaments. Another context, also very useful for the growth of sport, is that of celebrities. Leonardo DiCaprio, Reese Witherspoon, George and Amal Clooney really like pickleball, among others.

A VERSATILE SPORT, EASY TO PLAY AND SUITABLE FOR EVERYONE Perhaps even more than other sports, pickleball manages to decline in different ways according to the needs of those who play it.
IT’S EASY: just having had a racket in your hand once in your life and in an hour you learn to play it.
IT’S VERSATILE: it can be played very calmly (the ball never picks up much speed), but it can also become competitive (with great precision).
IT IS SUITABLE FOR EVERYONE: at the beginning it was mainly played by older people, but it is also opening up to younger people
WHERE TO PLAY IN PISA: Pickleball has started in Pisa, at the Dream Sports Center, via Belli 24. For more information and to come and try: 3928763260 (Guglielmo)