For those of you who have been around the game for a while, the ride just got wild. Pickleball has reached critical mass! From where you are my guess is that you too have experienced the sudden explosion of this great game. Here are two facts to back up this claim:
My friend Mike from Irvine, CA is a top 5.0 pickleball player and has been quietly spreading the word of pickleball to his paddle tennis friends. Mike has over 37 years of paddle tennis history, for that is where he crossed Hilary Hilton Marold’s path in the 1970’s. The last few months the majority of his paddle tennis friends have jumped over to the pickleball side, and he cannot believe the buzz that is going on – “pickleball has reached critical mass”. His friend, Greg, a retired attorney, was the #1 paddle tennis player in the country for years, said to him, “the game is easy to learn, but I can see how it will take a while to master. I can’t wait to play again.”
It seems everywhere he turns people are talking about pickleball and asking questions. For example, he recently entered a Sports Authority (huge two-story one) in Huntington Beach, CA looking to buy pickleballs. The manager happen to help him and he shared that pickleball items are some of the best sellers and they can barely keep balls in stock AND the manager wants to play….
Today, May 15, 2014, The New York Times has an article on pickleball and they too say “nearly a half-century since its creation, pickleball has reached critical mass.”
Are you feeling the BUZZ too?
Notes:
Here is the New York Times article
USAPA May 2014 Newsletter has a short story on Revitalizing Underused Paddle Tennis Courts – in the Los Angeles County, CA areas…