Searching for the word “pickleball” on Red, there are probably several keywords: “the most popular sport”, “the more you play, the better you get”, and “let’s see who hasn’t played pickleball yet”—— If you replace the “pickleball” with a Frisbee, it’s easy to have the illusion of traveling back to the summer of 2022.

What exactly is pickleball?

As a “retirement” sport that was once exclusive to the elderly in the United States, in its short development history, it has flown from the nursing homes of Bainbridge Island to China, becoming one of the most promising new sports this year.

Pickleball is popular!

Open social media, and you can see all kinds of public figures getting into this sport – Bill Gates took his family to fancy it after learning it himself; the Kardashian sisters built their pickleball court in their mansion; even almost DiCaprio, who has never appeared in any sports occasions, also picked up a paddle and played a lot on the beach in Los Angeles.

As more and more people became curious about the game and began to participate, organizers of the event began to customize exclusive equipment and venues based on the characteristics of pickleball and promoted it nationwide.

A common pickleball paddle is 398mm long, 194mm wide, and weighs between 200 and 250 grams, which is equivalent to the weight of half a bottle of mineral water. Most of the original pickleball paddles were made of wood with a smooth surface. After innovation, they were gradually replaced by fiberglass or carbon fiber with better sports performance.

Pickleball is a hollow plastic ball with a diameter of 74mm. According to the regulations of the International Pickleball Federation, most of them are white, yellow, green, and other more eye-catching bright colors. There are 26 (indoor) or 40 (outdoor) round holes on the surface.

The size of the pickleball court is about 6.1m

The low threshold made it possible for the sport to become popular in the beginning, but looking back on the past, pickleball has also experienced being jokingly called “a sport only interested in the elderly.”

Pickleball – a nursing home sport?

Because of its low intensity and ease of use, pickleball was once called the “elderly version of tennis” in the United States.

According to a survey by the American Pickleball Association, before 2020, the average age of pickleball players in the United States was close to 44 years old. “Elderly friendly” and “Nursing home sports” have always been the most well-known characteristics of pickleball.

But these labels have begun to change in the past two years!

Due to various reasons, people’s outdoor sports life has shrunk significantly in recent years. Pickleball has won the favor of the public because of its low threshold and convenient venues. From 2021 to 2023, the number of pickleball players in the United States has increased from 4.82 million to more than 36 million.

Among them, young people aged 18-34 account for nearly 30%, becoming the most important age group to promote the development of this sport. This has also caused the average age of this sport to drop directly from 43.8 years old to 33.6 years old.

Pickleball has truly become a popular outdoor sport for all ages.

At the same time, the craze of pickleball spread to China and gradually entered the public eye. But how to choose sports equipment for such a novel sport?

Pickleball – quality comes first!

For those who play pickleball, the importance of quality pickleball paddles cannot be overstated.