ELI 5-ing (Explaining Like I'm 5) the Rising Popularity of America's Fastest-Growing Sport

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Over the last few years, pickleball has been rising in popularity from the apparent nowhere. From zero to hero. 

In fact, pickleball is now considered the fastest-growing sport in the United States. Yup, you read that right. Not "one of the most". The most. 

Due to the soaring popularity of this decades-old game (yes, it didn't just get invented last year), many parks and recreation departments are now adding pickleball to their sports programming. 

But what is pickleball exactly, and why is it becoming so popular?

What is Pickleball? Really, what is it?

In a nutshell, Pickleball is a sport that combines elements of tennis, ping pong, and badminton into one family-friendly game. 

Pickleball is a sport that combines elements of tennis, ping pong, and badminton into one family-friendly game. 

It can be played singles or doubles on a court that looks like a tennis court but is much smaller. Instead of tennis rackets, you use paddles and a plastic ball.

​Straight from Wikipedia, Pickleball is an indoor or outdoor racket/paddle sport where two players (singles), or four players (doubles), hit a perforated hollow polymer ball over a 36-inch-high (0.91 m) net using solid-faced paddles. Opponents on either side of the net hit the ball back and forth until one side commits a rule infraction.

But, if you prefer, the ELI5 version is: 

Pickleball is a whimsical mix between ping-pong and tennis that somehow has the appeal to casuals and potential to professional play of  both.

Pickleball — the sport that's suddenly everywhere — explained by a convert - Vox


But... where did it come from? What is the story behind it?

And why is it called "Pickleball", by the way?

Ok, the short version is that it was summer, it was 1965, and two dads and their respective families were bored during a weekend. They improvised a game in an old Badminton court, with spare ping pong paddles and a wiffle ball. Next thing you know, pickleball was born.  

The longer version is very nicely told here, in case you want the version.

What about its popularity? Why am I hearing about it every where?

Here's the trend for "Pickleball" in Google Trends ever since 2004:

Looking closely, you can see that since early 2021 it grew from "don't mind me, just slowly getting more popular" to "wooow" and has been growing exponentially ever since. What happened?

Well, basically, Covid and Instagram/TikTok.

You can read the full story here, but the gist of it is that not only pickleball is a nice, easy-to-learn-hard-to-master fun sport, but it combos with not needing to touch anyone (post-covid world is thankful for that) and with the fact that some influencers are marketing the heck out of it.

There you have it: social media done for good, and some are even speculating that pickleball might end up an Olympic-sanctioned sport.

How to get started

However, you might still have some questions lingering in your head. Hopefully, the main one is: 

"How do I get started??"

Well, you are in luck. Here at teachme.to you not only have access to the best pros to teach you pickleball near you (I dare you to prove me wrong), you also have the best courts and it all wrapped in the best price around and the best user experience from end-to-end.

Don't believe me? Here, try teachme.to/pickleball, pick your location, your pro, and thank me later!

Need tips on gear?

Look no further than PickleballHop, the most trusted source of pickleball reviews, news, and general info about pickleball. We recommend their recent best pickleball paddles list.