THE GAME

The Pickleball was devised in the United States in 1965 by Joel Pritchard, a congressman from Washington state, and Bill Bell, a successful businessman. They had returned to Pritchard's home on Bainbridge Island in Washington state (near Seattle) to find their families sitting with nothing to do. The property had an old badminton court, so Pritchard and Bell searched for some badminton equipment and couldn't find a full set of rackets. They improvised and began to play with Table Tennis bats (old type of wood without rubbers) and a perforated plastic ball.

At first, they set the net at the height of the 60-inch badminton and flipped the ball over the net. As the weekend progressed, players found the ball bouncing well on the asphalt surface and soon the net was down to 36 inches. The following weekend, Barney McCallum was introduced to the game at Pritchard's house. Soon, the three men created rules, relying heavily on badminton.
They kept in mind the original purpose, which was to provide a game that the whole family could play together.

It is now the fastest growing sport in North America and will be in Europe shortly. It's an ideal game for youngsters to learn hand coordination before taking up tennis to become the next Andy Murray or Laura Robson, without the strain on their body wielding a full-size tennis racket. It is great for all ages, especially those who want to stay active in later life.

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