My tennis club banned pickleball. Here’s what happened next

It’s not easy being despised, but I’m getting used to it. At least the jeering and insults directed at me only come from one sector of the universe – tennis players. The reason behind this aversion? I’ve taken up pickleball.

Since moving to a regional town and taking up the sport, I’ve had tennis players literally sneer and turn their backs on me if I ask where the pickleball courts are; been told I’m a sad idiot for playing such a stupid, boring game; and listened to diatribes about how “they’ve heard” all pickleball players want to do is infiltrate tennis centres so they can have all the courts to themselves.

Pickleball racquets are a super-light paddle, bigger than a table tennis bat but smaller than a tennis racquet. The balls are made of perforated plastic.Credit: Joe Armao

Um, actually all I – and the members of my club – want is a bit of exercise and some social interaction. Admittedly, by playing pickleball on a tennis court – but not on all of them!

It’s especially popular among older people who want to keep active but find tennis has become a bit too much for them. It’s easy to pick up, especially if you’ve played any type of racquet sport, and you can’t put a price on the social benefits. One recently widowed man told me that until he started playing pickleball, he was spending every night at home watching TV and feeling miserable. The tennis players I’ve covertly convinced to come along for a try – after I swore an oath not to tell anyone – have loved it: all now play regularly.

The tennis club where I had my first pickleball lesson has now banned the sport, on the grounds it was too noisy and was affecting the neighbours’ quality of life. I get it. Pickleball is played with a paddle and plastic ball that produces a loud popping noise when hit. And once in a rally, those “pops” can get faster – too fast for players to grunt though, which tennis players have plenty of time for.

Solutions were suggested to keep making Pickleball available but were rejected. It’s a shame as the club signed up 100 new members when it was first offered, who only joined the club to play pickleball. Every time I drive past the courts now, they’re empty.

I’m not sure why it’s turned into an “us and them” match. I’m yet to hear any pickleballer complain about tennis players. I still love tennis and play every week with some perfectly nice people, who I frequently bait by blaming pickleball for ruining my serve any time I hit a poor shot. The very mention of this despised (and never tried by them) sport gets their blood up faster than an Alcaraz serve.

“They want to take over all the courts so no tennis player will ever be able to get a game,” a woman told me when I asked why she was so against the sport. When I pointed out we were at a centre with eight courts for hire, and on this glorious morning there was no one playing on seven of them, she said the courts were usually always busy with tennis players. OK, so why can’t they be hired out for pickleball when they’re not busy? Four pickleball courts fit on one standard tennis court – that’s quite an increase in revenue per court. Think of the tennis balls that could buy!

I’ve been told repeatedly that pickleball is just a fad (it’s been around for decades), and boring because you’re only allowed to volley (not true). I’ve also been told you’re not allowed to run; you can only stand at the net (also false).

Of course, I totally empathise with those who choose to live next to a tennis court and are anti-pickleball because they find it noisy. Just as I totally sympathise with any resident who chooses to live next to Sydney’s Luna Park and finds the noise intrusive. But I’ve stopped trying to understand why some tennis players have such an aversion to the sport. In my area at least, there are plenty of courts to share. And isn’t the aim the same: to put on some activewear and pretend we’re still as fit as we were at 20?

Meanwhile, I’ll just keep wearing my pickleball shirt to my tennis games, cop the abuse and continue to quietly convert the “never-pickleballers” to the dark side.

Gayle Bryant is a writer and sub-editor.