What
do you get when you combine badminton, tennis,
ping-pong, and a gregarious cocker spaniel?
These are the ingredients for the sport known
as pickleball.
“I’m Bored”
The history of pickleball began with the
familiar summer whine that often causes
parents to take drastic measures. In the
summer of 1965, the “I’m bored”
mantra was chanted by the children of two
families on Brainbridge Island in the Puget
Sound area of Washington. Two desperate
dads, Bill Bell and Joel Pritchard, who
just happened to be a US Congressman (tuck
that in the trivia file), invented a game.
The game started on an asphalt badminton
court in Pritchard’s backyard. But,
alas, no one could find the shuttlecock.
The dads quickly improvised with a Wiffle-type
ball. The kids found it difficult to hit
the 3-inch ball with the lightweight rackets.
Once again, necessity was the mother of
invention. The dads made wooden rackets
that resembled ping-pong paddles. As the
game evolved through the afternoon it was
determined that players could hit the ball
on the bounce as well as out of the air.
One afternoon of fun was had by all. But
what about tomorrow? Bell and Pritchard
huddled to form a strategy to keep the kids
interested in the game. They lowered the
net from five feet (badminton height) to
three feet (tennis height). Now, they just
had to solve the dog problem.
“Pickles, you bring that back here
right now!”
The whines of “I’m bored”
had been replaced by kids yelling at the
dog. Pickles, the Pritchard’s cocker
spaniel took an interest in the new game,
particularly the ball. When he could get
away with it, Pickles would fetch the ball
and hide in the bushes. He wasn’t
the most popular dog at the party, but he
did get the game named after him.
The kids were happy and the dads were pretty
proud of their new invention. The next weekend
they introduced pickleball to friend Barney
McCallum. The three men wrote down the first
official rules of the game. Pickleball has
three unique attributes that you won’t
find in any other racquet sport: the serve
position, the double-bounce rule and the
no-volley zone.
Serve position- You put one foot in, you
keep one foot out, you keep one foot in
and…you serve the ball. An inconvenient
tree in the Pritchard’s yard made
it necessary for one side to serve with
one foot inside the court. To keep the game
fair, both sides were allowed to have one
foot across the baseline when serving. The
tree is no longer part of every pickleball
game, but this unique service rule is.
Double-bounce rule-In the early days (literally
like the first two days pickleball was played)
the server had a huge advantage. The player
receiving the serve would have to wait for
the ball to bounce. The server, meanwhile,
could be in position for a quick return
off the volley. The three founding fathers
added the double bounce rule to take this
advantage away. Now, the receiving team
and the server must both hit their first
shots off the bounce. After that, the ball
can be volleyed.
No-volley Zone-To make pickleball a game
of finesse and strategy rather than just
raw power the first dads instituted a no-volley
zone in the seven feet on either side of
the net. Within this zone, the ball must
bounce before it is hit.
The Friends and Family Plan
Pickleball spread through the Bell’s,
Pritchard’s and McCallum’s
network of family and friends. In 1967,
Congressman Pritchard built the first
official pickleball court on the site
where the game was invented two summers
earlier. Other courts were soon built
in the Seattle area. Official courts
are nice but not necessary to the game.
Pickleball can be played indoors on basketball
or volleyball courts and outdoors on
just about any hard surface.
The game caught on quickly because it could
be played by all ages, required minimal
equipment and costs and was easy to learn.
Young children who had never played a racquet
sport could enjoy pickleball. Seniors who
had hung up their tennis or badminton racquets
came out of retirement to play pickleball.
By 1972, interest in the game had grown
to the point that Pritchard, McCallum and
Bell decided to copyright the rules and
form the US Pickleball Association. Pickleball,
the game that had a mascot before it had
a rulebook, was now a real sport.
Though pickleball is played by all ages,
it has found its niche in grade school PE
programs and senior retirement centers.
The first national tournament was held in
at a retirement community in Florida that
has 36 courts. Pickleball has found its
way into senior games competitions in several
states.
In 1984, the US A Pickleball Association
became the governing body of the sport and
published its first official rulebook. The
organization has 15,000 members and 30 registered
courts in 12 states. The game is most popular
in Washington State where it was founded
nearly 40 years ago. Pickles would be proud.
