Fun facts about pickleball

Pickleball is a popular sport from children to adults. This article will summarize for you interesting facts about Pickleball that not all players know.

The Exciting Evolution of Pickleball

1. Pickleball originated in Bainbridge Island, Washington, in 1965. It was invented by Joel Pritchard, an American politician, along with his friends Barney McCallum and Bill Bell.
2. Three years after the invention of the Pickleball, Pritchard and McCallum's son, David, founded Pickle Ball Inc., selling wooden rackets and other pickleball equipment.
3. Pickleball is considered a combination of badminton, tennis and table tennis, as its rules, equipment and dimensions (whether court, net or ball) are all inspired by these sports!
4. Pritchard's ex-wife, Joan, claimed that pickleball was named after a "pickle boat" because it combined several different sports, just as a pickle boat consists of rowers from different boats.
5. Many people believe that pickleball was named after Pritchard's dog Pickles. However, the Pritchard family has denied this, stating that they acquired the dog long after the game was invented and named.
6. Another theory about how pickleball got its name comes from Bill Bell, who says that the sport alludes to the idiom "in a pickle" because he liked to put his opponents in a difficult situation.
7. The regulation dimensions of a pickleball court are 44 feet (13.4 metres) long and 20 feet (6.1 m) wide.
8. Pickleball net height varies depending on where you measure; at the sidelines, the net is 36 inches (91 cm) high, while in the middle the net is only 34 inches (86 cm) high.
9. The largest pickleball racket can be found at Smash Park in West Des Moines, Iowa. It's called "Big Blue," and it's 13.6 feet (4.6 m) tall and 6.9 feet (2.1 m) wide!
10. In 2021, there were approximately 4.8 million people in the United States playing pickleball. By the end of 2023, that number had grown to 13.6 million!
11. As of early 2024, there are at least 13,969 locations across the United States where you can play pickleball.
12. The "kitchen" in pickleball is the area where players are not allowed to volley or hit the ball while it is in the air; hence, it is also known as the no-volley zone.
13. When recorded from just 100 feet (30 meters) away, the sound of a pickleball being hit with a racket can reach 70 decibels. For example, the noise of a tennis match is typically around 40 decibels.
14. Pickleball rackets can be made from a variety of materials, each serving a different purpose. Carbon fiber rackets are more precise, while wooden rackets give your shots more power.
15. Indoor pickleballs are lighter and have larger holes than outdoor balls. This is because they are not subject to elements such as wind.
16. The record for the longest pickleball throwing streak belongs to Angelo and Ettore Rossetti, who made 16,046 consecutive exchanges on October 10, 2021!
17. On March 28, 2022, pickleball became the official sport of the state of Washington, United States.
18. Pickleball is not just a game for the masses; many celebrities, including Leonardo di Caprio, Bill Gates and Will Smith, also enjoy the sport.
19. In pickleball, teams win by reaching 11 points with a two-point lead. Only the serving team can score. The receiving team only has a chance to serve if the serving player commits a rule violation.

Pickleball is often considered an easy sport to pick up, but difficult to master. As you dig deeper, you'll find that it's more than just hitting a ball from one side of the court to the other. So give pickleball a try and you might just have your new favorite sport!

Samuel Daniel

Update 27 June 2025