OT: Pickleball Anyone?

CTMike

Anyone play? Just getting in to the sport as I can’t play racquetball any longe post knee-replacement. 

Was amazed to find out the current women’s #1 is a 16 y/o high school student - and she currently has a net worth of $1.5M:

https://www.ppatour.com/athlete/anna-leigh-waters/

buzd504

Tennis player here.  Pickleball players are our sworn enemies.

(not really, but they did mess up the parking at the tennis facility)

Ybabpmuts

I woke up with pickle balls last Tuesday. I wasn't happy about it because it stung just a little bit and there were three seeds in a place I dare not describe. I had to throw my underwear out in the garden and it'll be interesting to see if they grow cucumbers or not. I hope you can come over in the fall for a fresh salad.

kdink

Other half, signed us up, it's been fun, body adjusting to the resumption of exercise.  It's addicting.  

kl8ton

Played a few times....getting into it.  Our small town just put in 16 (I think) courts.  I am being pressured to get one or two installed at the campground.

Legume

In my town, the tennis people are mad that there aren't more tennis courts and the pickle ball people want the city to build or convert many to pickle ball courts. It's the perfect bitchfest, tailor made for NextDoor.

JohnInCarolina

I haven't tried it yet myself, but I did have one random elderly dude call me at work suggesting that the university do research into pickleball noise because we have some kind of special acoustical instrument (that is definitely not meant to measure that kind of noise, but I digress).  I had to tell him that's not how it works.  That's not how any of this works...

In any case, apparently the noise has become a real issue in some communities.  We have courts in ours but they're so far from our house I don't think I've ever heard people playing.

caliking

JohnInCarolina said:

I haven't tried it yet myself, but I did have one random elderly dude call me at work suggesting that the university do research into pickleball noise because we have some kind of special acoustical instrument (that is definitely not meant to measure that kind of noise, but I digress).  I had to tell him that's not how it works.  That's not how any of this works...

In any case, apparently the noise has become a real issue in some communities.  We have courts in ours but they're so far from our house I don't think I've ever heard people playing.

Yep, its an issue. I heard this on NPR recently, and wonder if the guy who called you had heard/read the same.

https://www.npr.org/2023/06/09/1181246866/pickleball-noise-problem-courts-bats-play

Its apparently the fastest growing sport in the US (or something like that). Especially among the older crowd. Whose hearing may not be up to snuff to begin with. 

HeavyG

I've only watched a few minutes of the game on tv and it does seem to have a rather annoying sound.

alaskanassasin

Don’t be exercising! I can’t hear my tv!

Ozzie_Isaac

Ran into a pickle ball player in a hoity-toity  neighborhood.  No joke, he had a pink pastel sweater tied over his shoulders, a white shirt with tiny emblems, and blue pastel shorts.

I had walked over because there was a car carrier with a Lotus being delivered.  I talked to the sweater wearing fella, and he said it wasn't his car, but his "pickle ball partner" was finally getting it back after a year in the shop, and he wasn't in town to receive it.

It was one of the most cliche experiences of my life.

TechsasJim

I grew up playing comp tennis.   As I get older (wrong side of 50) pickle ball has piqued my interest but have yet to try it.  Club has 6 courts for tennis /pickle and they have men’s, women’s and couples events.   The misses even said she may want to try it out.  That would move the needle for me. 

RRP

Ozzie_Isaac said:

Ran into a pickle ball player in a hoity-toity  neighborhood.  No joke, he had a pink pastel sweater tied over his shoulders, a white shirt with tiny emblems, and blue pastel shorts.

I had walked over because there was a car carrier with a Lotus being delivered.  I talked to the sweater wearing fella, and he said it wasn't his car, but his "pickle ball partner" was finally getting it back after a year in the shop, and he wasn't in town to receive it.

It was one of the most cliche experiences of my life.

Your description of that guy reminds me of an almost identically attired guy and his wife (we called them yuppies) who came to one of our Eggfests in Peoria. In those pristine attires they “egged?” spare ribs for like 45 minutes and then tried to conceal the bloody pork with sauce! A couple of us older farts tried to be polite and tell them they were not cooked enough and they got huffy and left! 

HeavyG

Ozzie_Isaac said:

Ran into a pickle ball player in a hoity-toity  neighborhood.  No joke, he had a pink pastel sweater tied over his shoulders, a white shirt with tiny emblems, and blue pastel shorts.

I had walked over because there was a car carrier with a Lotus being delivered.  I talked to the sweater wearing fella, and he said it wasn't his car, but his "pickle ball partner" was finally getting it back after a year in the shop, and he wasn't in town to receive it.

It was one of the most cliche experiences of my life.

The bible of his tribe...

StillH2OEgger

Unlike tennis, pickleball is like badminton in that it is pretty easy to become competent rather quickly. Tennis courts in my community still get some use, but nowhere near as much as by the pickleball mafia.

HeavyG

"An awkward pickle for health-care costs Health insurers are facing a new plague, said Joe Weisenthal in Bloomberg: pickleball. In June, UnitedHealth Group warned that rates might go up because the company "was seeing a higher than-expected pace of hip replacements, knee surgeries, and other elective procedures."

One analyst at UBS offers up pickleball as the culprit. In a note published this week titled "Is Pickleball Driving Higher Health Care Utilization?" UBS's Andrew Mok said that pickleball participation is anticipated to soar 150 percent this year to 22.3 million players, with seniors making up one-third. Those seniors are far more susceptible to injuries -strains, sprains, fractures-that can snowball into orthopedic surgeries.

UBS surmises that the tennis-like activity will send about 67,000 players to the emergency room this year, require 9,000 outpatient surgeries, and tally $377 million in "pickleball related" medical costs."
****

Let's be careful out there!

Ybabpmuts

My cousin bubba had pickle balls. They looked more like really pale gerkins with a small beard at the bottom, which makes you think they may be past their sell by date, but then you realize they're hanging right im front of an a$$ anyway, which means even.if you get them fresh, the back of them could taste like sh!t

JohnInCarolina

I really don’t have anything against the sport, but this does look rather ridiculous on ESPN:

http://twitter.com/bobby/status/1685684744791412737?s=20

fishlessman

just be aware of pickleball injuries, i mean who would put these dangerous courts in elderly communities....what could possibly go wrong i want my lawyer

Gulfcoastguy

First they say exercise will help maintain your health, bone density, and balance and now this news?

fishlessman

Gulfcoastguy said:

First they say exercise will help maintain your health, bone density, and balance and now this news?

its just another retirement income plan....the court was wet, the court lines were too wide by an inch, why didnt they tell me i could get hurt.....

TechsasJim

JohnInCarolina said:

I really don’t have anything against the sport, but this does look rather ridiculous on ESPN:

http://twitter.com/bobby/status/1685684744791412737?s=20

LMAO, I actually stumbled across that yesterday I believe.   Watched it for about 2 mins, shook my head and moved on to other worthless TV.

Ozzie_Isaac

TechsasJim said:

JohnInCarolina said:

I really don’t have anything against the sport, but this does look rather ridiculous on ESPN:

http://twitter.com/bobby/status/1685684744791412737?s=20

LMAO, I actually stumbled across that yesterday I believe.   Watched it for about 2 mins, shook my head and moved on to other worthless TV.

At least Curling knows exactly what it is.

fishlessman

Ozzie_Isaac said:

TechsasJim said:

JohnInCarolina said:

I really don’t have anything against the sport, but this does look rather ridiculous on ESPN:

http://twitter.com/bobby/status/1685684744791412737?s=20

LMAO, I actually stumbled across that yesterday I believe.   Watched it for about 2 mins, shook my head and moved on to other worthless TV.

At least Curling knows exactly what it is.

maybe pickleball beer caps would make it interesting

The Cen-Tex Smoker

I have 2 friends who have had major surgeries from pickle ball injuries. Knee and ankle- both major reconstructions. I’ve never been injured drinking beer on the couch. Just sayin. 

Langner91

HeavyG said:

...
UBS surmises that the tennis-like activity will send about 67,000 players to the emergency room this year, require 9,000 outpatient surgeries, and tally $377 million in "pickleball related" medical costs."
****

Let's be careful out there!

That is nearly as many people who head to the emergency room with the little wires from their BBQ brush in their throat.  

Botch

The Cen-Tex Smoker said:
I’ve never been injured drinking beer on the couch. Just sayin. 

I'm pretty sure I'm older than you; just wait.    

GrateEggspectations

A long time back, I used to liaise with a consultant who was big into it. Frankly, I had never seen it played and never looked into it. Now I know. Also, just learned “dinking” is a thing. 

As one famed member here says, being on this forum means I learn something every dang day. 

unoriginalusername

i fell for it... now i'm hooked.  i accept my lot in life lol 

lousubcap

JohnInCarolina said:

I really don’t have anything against the sport, but this does look rather ridiculous on ESPN:

http://twitter.com/bobby/status/1685684744791412737?s=20

Not only are we in the dog days of summer sports-wise (thus the above) but the true  dog days of summer as explained below:

"The phrase is a reference to Sirius, the Dog Star. During the “Dog Days” period, the Sun occupies the same region of the sky as Sirius, the brightest star visible from any part of Earth. Sirius is a part of the constellation Canis Major, the Greater Dog.

In the summer, Sirius rises and sets with the Sun. On July 23rd, specifically, it is in conjunction with the Sun, and because the star is so bright, the ancient Romans believed it actually gave off heat and added to the Sun’s warmth, accounting for the long stretch of sultry weather. They referred to this time as diēs caniculārēs, or “dog days.”

Thus, the term Dog Days of Summer came to mean the 20 days before and 20 days after this alignment of Sirius with the Sun—July 3 to August 11 each year."

Ozzie_Isaac

lousubcap said:

JohnInCarolina said:

I really don’t have anything against the sport, but this does look rather ridiculous on ESPN:

http://twitter.com/bobby/status/1685684744791412737?s=20

Not only are we in the dog days of summer sports-wise (thus the above) but the true  dog days of summer as explained below:

"The phrase is a reference to Sirius, the Dog Star. During the “Dog Days” period, the Sun occupies the same region of the sky as Sirius, the brightest star visible from any part of Earth. Sirius is a part of the constellation Canis Major, the Greater Dog.

In the summer, Sirius rises and sets with the Sun. On July 23rd, specifically, it is in conjunction with the Sun, and because the star is so bright, the ancient Romans believed it actually gave off heat and added to the Sun’s warmth, accounting for the long stretch of sultry weather. They referred to this time as diēs caniculārēs, or “dog days.”

Thus, the term Dog Days of Summer came to mean the 20 days before and 20 days after this alignment of Sirius with the Sun—July 3 to August 11 each year."

Not even fact checking that.  Just gonna believe it outright.