PICKLEBALL

A garden game created by two bored men has developed into one of the fastest growing racquet sports in the world. SportsNation looks into how pickleball is challenging padel as the most exciting new sport on the block

The beauty of pickleball is that it is so accessible

Pickleball is growing rapidly across the UK. The sport’s national governing body, Pickleball England, estimates that there are now more than 60,000 regular players in the country, of which 52,000 are in England, and the number is fast increasing. The popularity is partly down to the low barrier to give the sport a go – pickleball can be played on any existing badminton or hard court tennis court. The sport itself combines elements of badminton, tennis and table tennis – and there is a good reason for that.

First steps

On a warm summer afternoon in 1965, two friends had gathered their families together at a house near Seattle, US. As the day went on, they found themselves sitting around with little to do. The property they were at – belonging to one of the friends, future US congressman, Joel Pritchard – had an old badminton court but not enough rackets. It led Pritchard and his guest, entrepreneur Bill Bell, to improvise and start playing with ping-pong paddles and a perforated plastic ball.

At first they placed the net at badminton height of 60 inches and volleyed the ball over the net. Asthe weekend progressed, more games were played and the players found that the ball bounced well on the asphalt surface – so the net was lowered to 36 inches. The following weekend, a third friend, Barney McCallum, was introduced to the game at Pritchard’s home. Soon, the three men created rules, relying heavily on badminton. They kept in mind the original purpose, which was to provide a game that the whole family could play together.

Membership grew 73% last year – and is already up 30% this year

Into the mainstream

Fast forward 60 years and the founding ethos of pickleball – being a game that the whole family can enjoy, regardless of skill level – is at the heart of the sport and is one of the main factors behind its success. No special equipment is required and any comfortable clothing and pair of trainers are fine.

While pickleball’s initial growth took place purely in the US and at a slow burn (the US Amateur Pickleball Association, USAPA, wasn’t set up until 1984), the sport has made up for lost time by explosive growth in recent years. When it rebranded in 2013, the USAPA had 4,071 members. Two years later, in 2015, it surpassed 10,000 members. By 2017 the figure had more than doubled to 22,000 and then to 40,000 members by the end of 2019.

In the UK, the first pickleball clubs emerged in 2011. From there, similarly to the US, the sport spread slowly at first, but has since gathered pace and is now expanding at a phenomenal rate.

Karen Mitchell, chair of Pickleball England, says that the sport is now growing significantly. “The birth story for UK pickleball is that people saw the game being played in Florida in 2011,” Mitchell says. “They then brought the sport over to several places in the UK. By about 2015, there were around 200 players. Pickleball England was launched in January 2019 and by the end of that first year we estimate there to have been 2,000 regular players – of which 1,115 had become members. We also had 94 clubs signed up. Since then, things have grown quickly. Last year (2024), there was a 73% increase in the number of members. During the first eight months of this year, we have already seen a 30% increase on last year’s number.

“In terms of places to play, we have added 310 new clubs. We now have 685 clubs providing sessions in a total of 927 venues.”

Pickleball England was recognised as the sport’s national governing body in 2024. According to Mitchell, the recognition has enabled the sport to flourish. “Pickleball is no longer seen as ‘not a real sport’,” Mitchell says. “Pickleball England’s recognition also means that we can now apply for Sport England and National Lottery funding – something we haven’t been able to do before.”

Growing the numbers

Pickleball is played both outdoors and indoors on a badminton-sized court (6.1m x 13.4m) with a 36-inch net at the sidelines and 34 inches at the centre. Just like the Pritchard and Bell families did during those first games in 1965, players use solid paddles and a perforated plastic ball. This means that it is suitable for both indoor or outdoor play. Pickleball can be played both as single or double games.

The exact number of pickleball courts is hard to estimate. Partly because courts originally built for other racquet sports are being converted to pickleball ones by private individuals.

“Our best estimate is that there are currently around 100 dedicated pickleball courts, with many of them being private courts,” Mitchell says. “But there are more than 22,000 badminton courts and another 20,000 hard court tennis courts that pickleball can be played on.”

As the sport grows, there are plans to define and set standards for some of the technical aspects of facilities. “When it comes to facilities, a 40ft x 64ft court is the ideal space requirement,” Mitchell adds. “We are now discussing the possibility of creating a facility development/technical guide for the building of courts with The Sports and Play Construction Association (SAPCA).”

Defining standards and to ensure consistency will become increasingly important, as the sport grows its reach. Especially as Pickleball England has set some ambitious targets for both active players and facilities.

“We have set a target of 1 million players by 2030,” Mitchell says. “We initially set a target of 25,000 by 2025 and smashed it with over 50,000, so we are being even more ambitious this time!”

Number of players and venues are increasing

END 2019 END 2020 END 2021 END 2022 END 2023 END 2024 SEPTEMBER 2025

94 145 198 284 449 660 927

54% 36% 43% 58% 47%

1115 1345 2136 3637 6008 10,408 13,500

INCREASE (%) ESTIMATED NUMBER OF PLAYERS 2,000 20% 59% 70% 65% 73% 50,000

She adds that getting young people to play is at the heart of the plans: “We are currently working on our schools strategy. To date, we have had a very reactive response to school enquiries, so our new strategy will be much more pro-active. Weare looking to equip PE teachers with the skills to teach pickleball, with a full curriculum they can leverage, alongside access to affordable equipment and the creation of competition and pathways.

“Over the past few years the average age of our members has reduced from 60 (in 2019) to 56 today. The average age of new members is 52.”

For facilities, the plans are less defined. “We don’t have a specific target for the number of pickleball courts built in this timeframe, but 1,000 seems like a good initial target,” Mitchell says.

Age distribution of regular pickleball players

4,500 4,000 3,500 3,000 2,500 2,000 1,500 1,000 500 0

Pickleball is no longer seen as ‘not a real sport’

“The beauty of pickleball is that it is so accessible. You can chalk a court on a car park or drive, you can leverage existing badminton or tennis courts and even MUGAs and ball courts.

“However, we do see the next phase being the development of dedicated facilities. We are aware of indoor and outdoor facilities in the planning phase, so we’re confident that even more dedicated facilities will become a reality in 2025 and beyond.”

A bright future

While pickleball is very much about inclusiveness and playing for fun, there are also elite competitions. In fact, Pickleball England is responsible for staging the largest pickleball tournament outside the US.

“Our English Open in Telford had more than 2,300 registered players this year,” Mitchell says. ”If we didn’t have capacity constraints, we would have exceeded 3,000. Our English Nationals tournament sold out many of its events within 2-5 minutes of registration opening.”

The growing number of active pickleball players and facilities – alongside the demand for competition play – shows that the sport is experiencing healthy growth. There are also signs that commercial operators are taking note, with a number of projects now featuring pickleball courts alongside padel courts.

“Initially, pickleball in this country was the domain of the retired,” Mitchell says, “But that is changing. We are now seeing pickleball hotspots growing around the country.”

VENUES

INCREASE (%) MEMBERS

Under 10

10-19

20-29

30-39

40-49

50-59

60-69

70-79

80-89

90-99

100+