Pickleball comes to Polson: It's kind of a big dill

United States Pickleball Association ambassador and player Ruth Havican offered a few explanations on the sports’ exponential spurt in popularity over the last five years.

According to Wikipedia, the sport wasinvented in the summer of 1965 on Bainbridge Island, Wash. by former State Representative, U.S. House of Representative, and Lieutenant Governor of Wash., Joel Pritchard, when the two did not have full badminton equipment. It has surged in RV, retirement and tennis communities all over the Southwest and the South.

Now the sport is slowly creeping back to where it started: the Pacific Northwest.

Pickleball’s growth in popularity was apparent at the 2017 Montana Senior Olympics as an estimated 105 participants, who competed in various age brackets, flooded the Polson Tennis Courts behind Linderman Elementary on June 15-17.

A consolidation of tennis, table tennis, and badminton, the ease of the sport and the lack of pressure and movement might be the primary reason for its surge in popularity.

“I’ve heard people come up to me and say ‘it saved my life,’” Havican said. “It allowed them to be social. You show up with a paddle in your hand and you have a whole group of people. There are several people that met each other through Pickleball and they became lifelong friends. It’s been a life changer for so many seniors.”

Havican, who noted several recreation parks across the country are starting to acknowledge the growing population of senior citizens, said she felt the majority of recreation boards are still “under-serving” senior populations.

“Seniors are an under-served population in parks and recreation generally all over the United States,” Havican said. “In Missoula, we are fortunate because they have created bond issues to have six permanent courts by 2018.”

Another popular aspect of Pickleball is the accessibility to some of the top-caliber players in the sport. Havican suspects as the sport becomes more commercially viable, this won’t always be the case.

“We’ve been fortunate to have professional players in Missoula and some in Brigham, Utah,” Havican said. “With tennis, you won’t get a lesson from Serena Williams. In Pickleball, you can get a lesson from the top pros and they can teach you when they are driving through town.”

Havican received a lesson from Pickleball player Sarah Ansboury, a northwestern resident who travels in a motor home and gives lessons.

“I was able to look at her schedule and noticed she was coming through I-90 to put on a clinic,” Havican said. “She came through and for three days gave private lessons. As people get better in Pickleball, the more clinics they can go to that are taught by professionals.”

For Barry Woods, a retired PE teacher that splits his time between Sun City, Ariz. and Bigfork, said he felt the adrenaline rush the sport creates is “addicting.”

“I’ve been playing Pickleball since 2010 and it’s just one of the greatest sports and I spend the winters down in Sun City,” Woods said. “The popularity of the sport keeps growing and growing.”

Woods said he liked the combination of Pickleball being a less strenuous activity that still allows him to exercise.

“You know, it’s interesting because I am a retired teacher and a Pickleball court is one-fourth of the size of a tennis court,” Woods said. “Because of the reduction in size, you can reduce your running by 76 percent. I was a PE teacher in New Mexico, Colorado and Arizona and it’s even a better lifetime sport than tennis. I think that is why it’s the fastest growing sport for seniors in America.”

Peggy Collins, who was a participant in the 70-and-older division, said she has had both knees replaced and was forced to find an activity in order to “keep moving.”

“Pickleball has helped me a lot,” Collins said. “I am able to play three or four times a week. It helps a lot and if you have hand-eye coordination. it’s pretty easy to learn.”

Since Collins began participating in the sport, she said she has seen it “take off” in popularity.

“Two years ago at the Senior Olympics, they had 30 or 40 players and last year there was 75 and this year there was 102,” Collins said. “This year, the caliber of play just kept getting better and better players. The competitive field has improved so much.”

Doubles in Pickleball on a 20X44 court takes a while to develop a symbiotic relationship and chemistry with each other, according to Pickleball player Vincent Chong.

“Playing Pickleball doubles does take a lot of time to develop a chemistry,” Chong said. “Especially when the shot goes in the middle and the player with the big forehand will sometimes take shots over you. You just need to build that communication so that you can have that melding of the mind.”

Chong said he estimates he travels to a “half-a-dozen” regional tournaments in Missoula and Coeur d’Alene.

“We have a big group that travels and at these tournaments, you get to see a lot of good players and some are even professional,” Chong said. “Just like in tennis, they have ratings. At the beginning, you may be rated a 2.0 or 2.5 but at an USPA (United States Pickleball Association) tournament, you may enter at a 3.0. You have to move up on your next tournament. It is a very fun sport and you get addicted to it quickly.”

Polson Chairperson of the year-round recreation committee, Linda Greenwood, said the city is committed to giving more recreational opportunities for seniors to play Pickleball and other sports.

“When we build Pickleball courts in Polson, it is going to really boost what we have to offer here,” Greenwood said.

Pickleball continues to be the fastest growing recreational sport in the world and according to experts is projected to continue to grow its commercial appeal as the sport continues to make a push to be a sanctioned Olympic sport in the future.