Florida is obsessed with pickleball.
We are, in fact, the third-most pickleball-obsessed state in the U.S., according to a study by the game site SolitaireBliss, which looked at Google trends and search terms over a 12-month period. Based on search interest, only Massachusetts and Hawaii are more obsessed than we are with this 58-year-old sport that seems to have come out of nowhere in the last few years.
The five most pickleball-obsessed cities in the U.S.? Miami, Orlando, Atlanta, Tampa and Minneapolis.
It's not surprising. Pickleball, invented in 1965, has been gradually increasing in popularity the last 10 years and has been the fastest-growing sport in the country for the last three years running, according to the Sports & Fitness Industry Association (SFIA). Here's a quick look at Florida's involvement with this family-friendly sport.
What is pickleball?
Pickleball contains elements of tennis, badminton and ping-pong and can be played one-on-one or in doubles. Players use non-stringed paddles that are somewhere in size between a ping-pong paddle and a tennis racquet to hit a plastic ball, which is larger than a tennis ball and has holes in it like a wiffle ball.
The court is much smaller than a tennis court (you can fit a pickleball court on each side of a tennis court, in fact) with a lower net. Seven feet from the net, on both sides, is an area called the "kitchen" where players are not permitted to volley the ball. Scoring is closer to racquetball than tennis: only the serving team can score, and the game goes to 11.
Gameplay is similar t tennis, although, unlike tennis, the ball must bounce once on both sides of the net before someone can hit it. The result is a fast-paced, low-impact sport that can be played indoors or out.
According to USA Pickleball, the game was invented in 1965 by three dads — state Rep. Joel Pritchard, Bill Bell and Barney McCallum — after Pritchard and Bell arrived at Pritchard's home and saw their families sitting around bored. They had a badminton court but not enough equipment, so they improvised with ping-pong paddles and a wiffle ball. McCallum was shown the game the next weekend and the three men created new rules.
Pritchard went on to become a state senator, a U.S. congressman, and the lieutenant governor of Washington, but his historical legacy may be his contribution to weekend activities.
There are currently 36.5 million pickleball players in the U.S., with a 158.6% growth rate in players over the last three years.
Why is it called pickleball?
There have been two official stories. One is that the game was named after the Pritchard's dog, Pickles.
But Joan Pritchard has long said she came up with the name "pickle ball" after the leftover rowers who would race for fun in local "pickle boat" crew race competitions, and her family has backed her up.
In 2021, Pickleball Magazine decided to get to the truth and in true journalistic form, tracked down the records proving the "Pickles" the dog was born three years after the game was created.
Why does Florida like pickleball so much?
The obvious answer is that pickleball is a low-impact, easy-to-learn but exciting game that doesn't require a lot of running or athleticism. Pickleball appeals to seniors, and Florida famously has a lot of those. And when pickleball began to really take off a few years ago, as we were settling into a pandemic and needed outdoor things to do, that may have been true.
Almost 20% of all pickleball players in 2021 were aged 55 and up, according to the Association of Pickleball Professionals (APP).
But as of January 2023, the largest age group of pickleball players is between 18-34, 28.8% of all players. Pickleball player growth was the fastest among players under 24 years of age.
Pickleball has become cool.
Pickleball also can be played year-round here, which certainly helps.
Florida has the second-highest number of pickleball courts in the U.S.
Of the 10,320 pickleball courts in the U.S. in April 2023, Florida had the second-highest number with 770 known locations, according to pickleheads.com, falling just short of California's 794. Texas is third but way behind both states, with 519.
The 1st U.S. Open Pickleball Championship was held in Florida
The inaugural U.S. Open Pickleball Championships were held in Naples, Florida, in 2016, which also marked the first nationally televised broadcast of pickleball — a one-hour prime-time special — on CBS Sports Network. It attracted 860 players and 10,300 spectators.
Terri Graham, a founder of Spirit Promotions and the U.S. Open Pickleball Championships, told the Naples Tourist Development Council at the time sheoften wasquestioned about how organizers chose Naples for the pickleball tournament.
"Peoplealways say, 'Why Naples?' I say, 'Well doesn't everybody want to go to paradise? Why notNaples?' "
In comparison, the 7th annual U.S. Open Pickleball Championships in April this year attracted more than 3,000 competitors and around 35,000 spectators. Collier County has been constructing more pickleball courts in public parks to keep up with demand.
"We're trying to be the pickleball capital of the world," Pelican Bay Foundation Board Chair Mike Ruffolo said.
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The National Pickleball League started in Southwest Florida
Concerned that the rising interest of young athletes in the game would push out the older generation, Champions Pro players Rick Witsken, Beth Bellamy, Michael "Hammer Mike" Chen, and Tom DeCaprio launched the National Pickleball League in Naples as a home for Champions Division (Age 50+) professional pickleball players.
Bob Strommen, managing partner of the Naples Pickleball Center and owner of new NPL team Naples JBB United, said to think of it like the PGA Tour Champions League, compared to the young PGA Tour feel of Major League Pickleball.
"We wanted this league to be a grassroots effect and honor the Champions players,” explained Chen in a release. “Pickleball would not have had this explosion of growth it has today if it wasn’t for the commitment that this group gave to the game over the years."
Of the six teams in the NPL so far, two of them are in Florida: the Boca Raton Picklers and Naples JBB United.
Holly Hill also wants to be the Pickleball Capital of the World
The four-square-mile city of Holly Hill, next to Daytona Beach on the east coast, has one of the largest pickleball facilities in the country. Pictona, a dedicated pickleball facility opened in 2021 and within a year struck a $4 million deal with the city to double its size.
Now Pictona boasts 49 courts with permanent lighting, including a "championship court" featuring a covered 1,200-seat stadium, box seats, suites, and a press box. The APP hosted more than 1,100 players at the APP Daytona Beach Open in February, with live coverage on ESPN+.
And pickleball is still growing.
“Pickleball is an addiction,” said Helen Wilhelm, 57, at Pictona. “It’s not a choice. We are all addicts. People will do this all day long. We don’t have the sense to stop.”
Third most obsessed? We can do better than that.