Pickleball

[Gams]

It seems like the whole world is playing pickleball (except me). I’m very curious as to how much exercise you get. For those of you that play, would you consider it light exercise? Moderate? Does it get your heart rate up?

[ellaenchanted]

I want to hear more about Pickleball, too. Looks like fun and I was thinking of getting some racquets.

[Gams]

My two best friends are obsessed with it. One of them actually rented 2 paddles and played with each for awhile before he decided which one to buy. LOL

[bfit]

I know I sound like an old grouch, but I think pickleball is a big nothing burger. It's better than sitting on the couch alone, but it's really not much exercise. Plus, I've heard (from people I know) and also read articles about the incredible number of injuries associated with pickleball because of falling and tripping. It sounds like the worst thing for "older" people - not much exercise but lots of injuries. Plus, it's expensive to get all of the gear. I have this horrible feeling that someone somewhere just invented this to make money.

[FirmDancer]

Originally Posted by bfit

I know I sound like an old grouch, but I think pickleball is a big nothing burger. It's better than sitting on the couch alone, but it's really not much exercise. Plus, I've heard (from people I know) and also read articles about the incredible number of injuries associated with pickleball because of falling and tripping. It sounds like the worst thing for "older" people - not much exercise but lots of injuries. Plus, it's expensive to get all of the gear. I have this horrible feeling that someone somewhere just invented this to make money.

I have to agree. I played for several months when I first retired. I think the views will be different here, as folks on this forum are likely to be more active and knowledgeable about fitness and exercise than the general population. I do not consider pickleball as continuous moderate intensity aerobic activity; primarily it's light movement. If you've been sedentary, pickleball is a great way to get up and get moving. But the court / playing area is rather small, as compared to other racquet sports. If you're playing as a four-some, the traditional way, then the area you cover is fairly small. You're basically moving around in a small space (think the size of a living room rug.) You're either holding your stance or jiggling in your stance waiting for the ball to come your way. But when the ball comes your way, there is a sudden explosive movement to reach for the ball. That's how I got an injury - suddenly shifting to the right, reaching long, and I injured my hamstring.
I think the "exercise" component comes into play due to the fact that people "play" for hours. So at least you are standing up, getting some light movement, for hours at a time. That adds up and is much better than sitting at home.
There's also a social component too, which adds more enjoyment. Once you get tired or want a break, you drop out and get in line to fill in the next available spot. So you can frequently be playing with different people. It's very social. And that's significant for people who are retired and/or otherwise may be home alone.
I stopped playing because I couldn't devote so many hours to it. I really wanted to just play 2-3 times a week, an hour or two at a time, on a casual basis. But the folks at the centers near me were extremely competitive, played most days of the week, and for hours. I just could not bring my skills up to that level, wanting to stay casual.
Since it is exploding in popularity, I am paying a little bit of attention to it. Maybe places will start to offer options for the casual player. And then I'd consider adding it in primarily as a fun social activity, not necessarily "exercise" or a "workout".

-Neita

[Schnauzeritis]

My husband and I play tennis. We have for years and we live by a tennis court that we can walk to. During the week we play after work and on the weekends we play in the morning. We used to have the courts to ourselves with maybe a few other tennis players. Then a few years ago they painted the pickleball lines on two of the courts. Little by little my once lovely tennis courts became overrun with pickleball players. A few of the pickleball players were nice to us but most of them gave us dirty looks since the first court is always open for tennis and if pickleball players are on it they have to get off. They did not like that one bit. Last summer on a Sunday morning one of the nice pickleball players pulled us aside and told us that on Saturday when we left the court they all started cheering. I felt so hurt by this news.
I no longer feel comfortable playing on this court so now we have to drive to another court that is just tennis. A court I've played on for years I can no longer use due to the obnoxious pickleball players.
My husband wants us to take up pickleball but I love tennis and as long as I can play I'm going to. I don't want to play pickleball.

[Gams]

Yikes, Schnauzeritis!!! That’s terrible. People are so rude these days.

[juliel]

I was hesitant to post, but after reading your comments i decided to add mine.

I played tennis every summer on a local youth league. I play singles in HS and a year in college. I loved it, but my knees started getting cranky. I stopped playing and started biking and hiking (and doing videos!!)

My older brother recently started playing pickleball and loves it. He also played a lot of tennis. He urged me to try a few years ago. I had a few friends who played so i played a little with them. I went to a local group to scope things out. The first thing that was a turn off was how much they talked down about tennis. It also felt very competitive and these folks played a lot. i'm not retired and my work schedule isn't that flexible. I played a few times, but decided it wasn't a great fit right now. Maybe when i'm retired.
I love to hike and don't mind hiking alone...It's simple. I need simple right now. It also didn't exactly feel like a low impact sport either. I had some forearm aches from it.

[dianestjohn]

Well, I guess I will be the dissenting voice here :-) I have just begun taking pickleball lessons and I really love it. It's light to moderate aerobic activity. I don't count on it to supply all of my exercise needs. The equipment can range in price from very inexpensive to very expensive. I am using two paddles, three balls and a carry-on bag I got from Amazon for $20 total, and they work just fine. The instructor teaching my class says that if we really love the sport, he would recommend investing in a paddle in the $100 range. Other than that, they recommend court shoes, built for lateral motion, so the risk of injury is less. The pair I bought was about $80, but I see people playing in lots of random athletic shoes. You can get injured (particularly if you don't have shoes built for lateral motion) but I don't think more so than in any other sport. I do know that people can get aggressive about hogging Pickleball courts, because it's such a popular sport and at least in my area there are not enough courts to go around. That can translate to hostility, but it's certainly not true most of the time. It's a super fun social experience and I consider myself an introvert. There is just enough social interaction during the games to be fun. I like the smaller court because people with less mobility and less aerobic capacity can play comfortably, and for me it is preferable to tennis because there is less emphasis on a killer serve and a killer backhand then on keeping the ball in play and having fun. For anybody that's on the fence, I would recommend a couple of lessons, or just hitting the ball around with a friend if you can find a court, because you may end up loving it.

[ellaenchanted]

So, I am going to get a couple of rackets. The people in my neighborhood are nothing like the hardcore groupies- those people go rent courts and are part of clubs. The folks who people play in my neighborhood also bought racquets and balls off Amazon. No special shoes or clothing. I have cross trainers that I use for these types of activities. I see it as something that will be fun and involve some physical activity but it won't be my main workout.

I was wondering more about whether the rules are simple and how long a game lasts.