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Pop. Pop. Pop. Pop.
The sound and disruption from pickleball, America’s fastest-growing sport, is driving some neighbors, tennis players, parents of young children, and others crazy.
Homeowners groups and local residents in dozens of towns and cities have rallied to limit pickleball play and block the development of new courts. They are circulating petitions, filing lawsuits, and speaking out at council and town hall meetings to slow the audible spread of pickleball frenzy across the country.
The number of people playing pickleball grew by 159% over three years to 8.9 million in 2022, according to the Sports & Fitness Industry Association, a trade group.
The rapid spread has created dilemmas for public parks and recreation departments, which must balance competing interests with often limited space and funds. Retirement communities and country clubs also face challenges building space for people who enjoy the game, a scaled-down version of tennis with a smaller court, without antagonizing others.
Pickleball is America's fastest-growing sport. It's driving some people crazy.
Ed Jones/AFP/Getty ImagesPickleball can be noisier than tennis because the game can fit more players onto the same space as a tennis court. Hits during a pickleball rally are also more frequent than tennis. And it’s a more social sport, so the games tend to be louder with players bantering during and after points.
Rob Mastroianni, a resident of Falmouth, Massachusetts, sold his house and moved after the town’s recreation department built pickleball courts 350 feet away from his home in a residential area.
“It’s a percussive pop. It pierces the air and carries,” he said.
He and a group of neighbors eventually filed a lawsuit last year against the town’s zoning board of appeals, claiming that the pickleball courts violated town bylaws prohibiting “daily injurious and obnoxious noise levels.” Their suit said the noise from the game was “substantially impacting [their] quiet and peaceful enjoyment of their respective homes.” (They won a temporary injunction and the courts are currently closed.)
“It’s a tough sell to be against pickleball,” Mastroianni said. “But at the end of the day it was creating mental and physical health problems with neighbors butting heads.”
“The constant popping 12 hours a day 7 days a week is borderline torture,” one resident who lives next to a park in Vienna, Virginia, wrote to the town parks department. “We cannot use our outdoor space anymore due to pickleball and cannot open our windows.” The town voted to restrict pickleball from seven to three days a week at local courts last month.
Some tennis players are also frustrated because pickleball is taking over tennis courts. The tennis industry has taken note and is working with parks and recreation departments and other facilities to make sure pickleball doesn’t slow tennis’ popularity, too. The number of tennis players grew 33% between 2019 and 2022, according to the United States Tennis Association (USTA).
“I say if pickleball is that popular let them build their own courts :)” tennis great Martina Navratilova tweeted last year.
USTA, the governing body for US tennis, has put out guidance with best practices to ensure the two sports can co-exist and keep up with demand for each.
“In an ideal world, tennis and pickleball have their own spaces,” said Craig Morris, the USTA’s chief executive of community tennis.
And some parents are pushing back because their kids have less space to play in the park as crowds of pickleball players grow.
“Players now endlessly swarm the playground daily,” said a petition in New York City to ban pickleball at a local playground with more than 3,000 signatures. “The children have been squeezed out and many have stopped going altogether.”
Pickleball, which combines elements of tennis, badminton and ping-pong, began in 1965, but only recently skyrocketed.
It originally won a following in retirement communities where it was beloved for its social aspect and exercise benefits. The ball travels slower than in tennis and the court is half the size, so it’s easier to play. It’s also accessible for a wide range of ages and the rules are simple.
The game became more popular during the Covid-19 pandemic as people looked for safe, socially distanced ways to exercise outside. Celebrity backers like Tom Brady and increased media attention have also propelled the sport’s rise, and gyms and parks have built new courts to accommodate demand.
The game can be played in singles or doubles, inside or outside on a 20-foot by 44-foot court — approximately the size of a badminton court — and lasts until one side reaches 11 points. Many people play on tennis courts that have been modified with lower nets and additional lines.
As the sport has grown, the number of places to play has also increased.
There were 11,000 places to play Pickleball at the end of 2022, an increase of around 130 new locations a month, according to USA Pickleball, the sport’s national governing body.
Players use a plastic perforated ball, slightly heavier than a wiffle ball, and wooden or composite paddles that are about twice the size of ping-pong paddles.
Pickleball players love the “pop” of their paddles smashing the plastic ball, but that same sound can bother others.
“Cities should not simply convert tennis courts to pickleball. If they do that without considering sound, they’re likely to have unhappy people,” said Bob Unetich, an engineer by training who started Pickleball Sound Mitigation, a consulting firm that advises municipalities, country clubs, and upset neighbors on reducing noises associated with the game. Unetich, who is a trained pickleball referee and avid player, has advised more than 100 clients.
People play pickleball on what were once tennis courts at Allendale Park in Pasadena, CA, in 2022.
Keith Birmingham/MediaNews Group/Pasadena Star-News/Getty ImagesIf there are several games going on at the same time, there can be multiple “pop” noises every second, Unetich said. Cheap pickleball paddles and balls are often the loudest.
The “pitch” of pickleball hits is also more annoying to people than a tennis racquet with strings colliding with a soft tennis ball, he said. Tennis and some other common sport sounds are usually lower pitched than pickleball.
New and existing pickleball sites need to take background noise into account, Unitech said.
If courts are built near homes, they should block sound with barriers, enforce the use of quieter paddles and balls, or restrict playing hours, he said.
“I’m an advocate of pickleball, but if it’s right across the street from people’s homes it’s quite a problem,” he said. “The right solution is often to put the court someplace else.”
Pop. Pop. Pop. Pop.
If you’ve noticed a sudden surge in conversations about pickleball, you’re not alone. This sport, once championed mostly regionally and by seniors, has exploded in popularity and now is played everywhere from public parks to professional courts.
According to the Sports & Fitness Industry Association, pickleball participation has increased by 202% in a three-year period. It’s a remarkable figure that reflects how pickleball is gaining ground in the sports arena. Even indoor malls are counting on pickleball to fill empty storefronts.
It is continuously grabbing headlines and new fans, including celebrities like Tom Brady, LeBron James, and more, who have invested in Major League Pickleball.
“Pickleball has certainly stolen the show,” says Willy Leparulo, president of the National Collegiate Table Tennis Association and an avid pickleball player himself.
What pickleball hasn’t stolen, though, is athletes playing other racket sports. Tennis, table tennis, and badminton all show increased participation as well.
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The U.S. Tennis Association reports a boom not seen in decades:
While there is certainly competition among court time between sports—and some online ratatat on social media—the national governing bodies of racket sports show no animosity toward each other.
“There’s this perception of hate between some of these sports, which certainly doesn’t exist from our perspective,” says Craig Morris, chief executive of Community Tennis for USTA.
Throw in the numbers of badminton (up 5.6% since 2020) and table tennis (7.2% increase over three years), and the phrase “See you in court” has taken on a different meaning since the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Rise of Pickleball
Pickleball, a combination of tennis, badminton, and table tennis, is noted for its accessibility and fast learning curve. It’s a game that appeals to all ages, from children playing for the first time to seniors seeking an active lifestyle. It was invented in the 1960s but has seen explosive growth over the last few years.
In particular, three groups are most responsible for the jump:
Karen Parrish, director of sanctioning at USA Pickleball, belongs to the last category. She always had a strong swing—on the softball diamond. When it was time to retire her mitt, cleats, and bat, she found a new love reliant on a ball tots use prior to Little League.
Now, when she’s not keeping her feet out of the kitchen, Parrish is helping find homes for championships for the country’s fastest-growing sport.
Parrish notes the first jump came in the late 2000s among people primarily in their 40s and 50s. Now, that generation is a wee bit older and has a fair bit more company.
“There is a sense or a value of feeling like you belong to a community,” she says. “I don’t think you see that in any other sport.”
The top American player is 16-year-old Anna Leigh Waters of Delray Beach, Fla., who plays doubles with her mother. It’s common to find spouses, siblings, and different generations of families playing with and against each other on the pickleball court.
SFIA stats place the number of U.S. pickleball players at 8,949 in 2022—a number likely to surge because of individuals like Noah Suemnick, a recent college graduate who is the founder and CEO of the National Collegiate Pickleball Association.
A soccer and tennis player growing up, Suemnick caught the pickleball bug like many during the pandemic. In attempting to attract teams from 50 U.S. universities to his inaugural pickleball championship in March 2024 in San Diego, Suemnick is attempting to fill a need within the growing phenomenon.
Regulations and red tape prevent the NCAA from adopting rising sports like pickleball quickly, which has put the emphasis on grassroots efforts to grow the game.
“Pickleball has just started getting hot. I figured it’s now or never to kind of get in on this,” Suemnick says.
The Impact on Tennis
The impact of pickleball’s rise on tennis has been a topic of discussion among sports enthusiasts. Some argue that the increased popularity of pickleball could be siphoning off potential tennis players, especially among the older demographic who find pickleball’s shorter games and smaller court more manageable.
However, it’s also possible that pickleball might be introducing people to racket sports in general, leading them to explore tennis later on. The fundamental skills developed in pickleball, such as hand-eye coordination, strategic play, and quick reflexes, can be beneficial for those transitioning to tennis. In fact, some tennis clubs have started offering pickleball as a steppingstone to tennis, fostering a more symbiotic relationship between the two sports.
What’s known is tennis, buoyed by its long history and traditions, is still king and queen of the court in terms of participation. And no other racket sport draws as big of a crowd in person or on TV for major events. Parrish, for instance, freely admits to watching Wimbledon on one television and a pickleball event on another screen. The upcoming US Open in New York City is another major opportunity to market the game across different generations.
Morris says the international nature of tennis, as evidenced by majors like Wimbledon and the Open championships, sets it apart from most sports—and in league with soccer. Such appeal has offset the new absence of the Williams sisters and prolonged struggles for the American men to reach the heights of Pete Sampras, Andre Agassi, and others.
“Fans have their favorite players and some of those players are not necessarily from their home countries,” says the Australian-born Morris. “We are a global sport. We should embrace that.”
Maintaining this golden era of tennis relies upon providing the right tools for coaches—from parents to local levels to national—to fully engage athletes. To that end, USTA’s Tennis Venue Services team has awarded more than $16 million in grants, impacting more than 42,000 tennis courts and more than $586 million of infrastructure development since 2005.
Indeed, the USTA does not fear the rise in pickleball players but is adamant about maintaining its facilities. “We don’t want to lose tennis courts,” says Morris.
The NGB issued a statement of guidance advising local facilities and tennis providers on how to best utilize their space, while also accommodating pickleball and other sports. Options suggested:
It should be noted USTA’s main campus in Orlando includes pickleball courts.
Lessons From Pickleball
Table tennis and pickleball share similarities due to their smaller court size and faster pace. Some table tennis players have transitioned to pickleball, drawn by the sport’s social nature and the opportunity to play outside. However, table tennis remains a strong player in the sports scene, with its popularity fueled by its indoor accessibility, inexpensive equipment, and status as an Olympic sport.
Leparulo says the sport could take a page from pickleball’s book by returning to its roots. Pingpong is the recreational version of table tennis that millions of Americans of all ages continue to play. Sales remain strong in pingpong tables and paddles, and corporate groups have taken to competitions. That recreational component—with participants playing for the love of the game—could be a catalyst to unlock the potential of table tennis.
“I’m a big table tennis fanatic and I wonder why table tennis hasn’t exploded,” Leparulo admits. “The future of table tennis is developing. It’s on the right rate track. We’re not at the pickleball level, certainly. But I think we’re going to get there soon enough.”
Morris takes pride in the adaptations in tennis. Wheelchair tennis, for example, has grown to more than a dozen college programs. There are also variations emerging to speed up the game, including playing fewer games per set, setting time limits, and doing away with deuce (in-game tiebreakers).
Such initiatives combat the perception seen from epic, five-set matches during majors that it takes hours to play tennis.
“We’re the first to appreciate that time is a commodity,” says Morris.
The Future of Racket Sports
The rise of pickleball signals a growing interest in racket sports as a whole. More than threatening the dominance of tennis, table tennis, or other racket sports, it appears to be encouraging more participation and creating a broader community of racket sports enthusiasts.
This trend suggests a bright future for all racket sports. As the public’s interest continues to diversify, sports clubs and organizations can seize the opportunity to cross-promote and introduce newcomers to a variety of games.
Leparulo says sports like tennis and his beloved tennis table would be wise to embrace the surge of pickleball popularity not as competition, but as a chance to expand the love of racket sports to more people.
“The bottom line is you want to try and partner with what’s trending,” he says. “You don’t want to go against them because they’ll crush you.”
Photo Credits: Dave Dellinger/USTA; Mike Lawrence/USTA
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