For the rapidly decreasing number of Americans who’ve never heard of pickleball, the obscure paddleball game is one of America’s fastest-growing sports.
Invented in 1965 by three middle-aged fathers in Washington state, pickleball is a quirky cross among tennis, pingpong and badminton, played with a paddle and a perforated plastic ball. The founders are said to have named the game after a family dog called Pickles.
With 4.8 million people now playing — almost double the number from just five years ago, according to the Sports and Fitness Industry Association — some of the sport’s devotees are capitalizing on pickleball’s spike in popularity.
Reference:
Mullen, S. (2022, February 19). America’s fastest-growing sport is a cross of tennis, pingpong and badminton. NPR. Retrieved October 13, 2022, from https://www.npr.org/2022/02/19/1081257674/americas-fastest-growing-sport-pickleball