It’s the overnight sensation that’s been years in the making. Pickleball has become the fastest growing sport in the United States, and there’s plenty of evidence of its popularity right here in Lake County.
Pickleball courts can be found at Donnelly Park and Summerview Park in Mount Dora, Pine Meadows Conservation Area in Eustis, P.E.A.R. Park and the Leesburg Recreation Complex in Leesburg, and Golden Triangle YMCA in Tavares, among other areas.
Pete Patterson and his wife, Joanne, took up the sport 18 years ago after becoming bored with playing golf, the sport that dominated outdoor activities of many retirees in Florida for decades.
“We came down here from Vermont, retired down here, thinking, hey, they’ve got two 36 holes of golf,” said Patterson, who’s now an ambassador for the United States Pickleball Association for Lake County. “I went out there and said, you know, this is great, I was a good golfer back in the day. It just got boring, physiologically, psychologically boring, and I got involved with pickleball 18 years ago, and it just took over my life.”
A lifelong tennis player based in Scottsdale, Arizona, Brandon Mackie started playing pickleball during the pandemic, which was an important catalyst for the growth of the sport. Mackie was frustrated, however, with the difficulty of finding fellow players or an available court.
“I thought to myself, if there was just some way to find other people or join another game, I would play pickleball every day, but instead I only play once every two weeks,” he said.
That desire led Mackie to create Pickleheads, a website (pickleheads.com) and app where players can find games in their area, connect with local groups and recruit nearby players. More than 150,000 players now use the platform.
Why has the sport become so popular? Mackie, who now plays pickleball almost exclusively, says one reason is how easy the sport is to learn, giving new players a gentle learning curve.
“People go out and they don’t think they’re going to be any good at it, but they learn it, and they even win games the first time out,” he says. “I think that’s really motivating, and pretty unique.”
An even bigger appeal to playing pickleball, Mackie says, is the social nature of the sport, which is almost always played in doubles, with four people on a small court, providing a lot of room for interaction.
“You’re usually playing in open play formats, where you’ve got 20, 30, 40 people all in the courts at once,” he said. “You rotate partners, mix and match on the courts, and you get to just meet a lot of people. I meet five, six, seven people every time I go out to the courts, so I think for a lot of people it’s a social outlet, much more than it is a sport.”
Pete Patterson echoes that sentiment, saying pickleball players talk to each other, make friends, go out to lunch or dinner, and go shopping together.
“They’ve made some wonderful friends for life,” he said. “And I’ll share with you, I can cite six people who have met at P.E.A.R. Park and have gotten married.”
Patterson is now an International Pickleball Teaching Professional Instructor and was part of the team that started P.E.A.R. Park Pickleball. The park, located on Highway 27, features 12 individually fenced courts. The Pattersons offer free lessons for beginners and advanced drills on Wednesday mornings at 8 a.m.
“Pickleball’s taking over America, and we’re honored to be part of that,” Patterson said. “I’ve seen hundreds of people advance, some of them gone into the national championships and come out with gold medals. It’s a wonderful way of life, and you know what, we do it for free because we love it.”
The park now has almost 600 members. They have tournaments once a month for all levels, based on their skill level and age. Players come to the park seven days a week and use the paddle-rack system. It’s suggested new players watch the level of play on the courts and put their paddle on a rack for a court that is consistent with their level of play. If it’s busy and the paddle rack is full, then all four players come off and four new players go in.
Patterson, 78, also works with Special Olympics athletes, as well as people with Parkinson’s disease, for whom, research shows, pickleball can help improve balance, as well as eye and hand coordination.
“It’s about fun and friendship and, you know, fundamentals,” says Patterson. “It’s a wonderful way of life.”
April is National Pickleball Month, and USA Pickleball (https://usapickleball.org/national-pickleball-month) has had themed weeks throughout the month. This week is all about member appreciation, and next week, it’s “What’s Next/Looking Ahead.”
