Pickleball picks up in Eastern Idaho

If you’ve never heard of pickleball before, listen up, because it’s one of the nation’s fastest-growing sports.

The game is somewhere between a miniature version of tennis and a larger variation of ping pong. It’s played with a paddle and a perforated ball on a 20×44-foot court with a 34-inch high net.

The game started in the 1960’s but didn’t truly catch on until the last half decade. According to the USA Pickleball Association, the number of places to play has nearly doubled since 2010.

Wendy Cavan gets a group of players together at Idaho Falls’ only pickleball courts at Lincoln Park.

“We play everyday,” said Cavan. “There’s somebody out here everyday, basically.”

Cavan and fellow Pickleball player Bill Lowrance play the game year round. Winters in Arizona, and Summers in Idaho Falls.

“When we first started, gosh,” said Lowrance. “We could barely scrape together maybe four or five people to play pickleball, and now you look around and there’s probably 20 people here, so it’s growing pretty darn good here.”

Pickleball is most popular among the senior crowd.

“I would say the average age out here is probably sixties,” said Cavan.

Lowrance said he’s seen pickleball players nearing 100 years old in Arizona.

“The last tournament that I played in I think there was a guy there that was 90 years old playing a tournament,” said Lowrance.

Many players said the smaller court makes the game easier on the joints, while still providing a solid workout.

“Most of us have bad knees, bad hips,” said Cavan. “I had a knee replacement 14 weeks ago, and I’ve been playing full-bore.”

The USA Pickleball Association said it tracks more than 150,000 pickleball players in North America, and that number keeps growing.

“Exponentially, just growing by leaps and bounds,” said Cavan. “Every community seems to be getting more and more pickeball players.”

If you want to learn more about pickleball visit: http://www.usapa.org/