Skip to main content
  1. Home
  2. Outdoors

Here’s why you should join a pickleball league

Pickleball is the trendy, social workout for twentysomethings, senior citizens, and everyone between

Dawn Miller
By
A person playing pickleball
Ron Alvey / Shutterstock

Ready to hit a dink? Not sure what a dink is? If you’re new to pickleball, a dink is like a drop shot in tennis; just clearing over the net enough to catch your opponent off guard. Pickleball may sound silly, but it is the hottest sport around these days.

While pickleball lovers may think this fast-growing sport is new, it’s not. Pickleball was invented in 1965 by a Washington state congressman. Joel Pritchard and his buddy Bill Bell were looking for a backyard game to entertain their kids, and pickleball was born.

Recommended Videos

A cross between tennis, badminton, and ping-pong, pickleball has exploded in recent years, with courts popping up indoors and out all across the nation. The funny name may or may not have come from Pritchard’s dog Pickles, who enjoyed running after the wiffle-like ball. If you’re looking for a new sport or just want to change up your workout, pickleball is a perfect pick. Even better is joining a pickleball league.

A player getting ready to play pickleball.
Joan Azeka / Unsplash

Why join a pickleball league?

There are quite a few reasons why you should join a pickleball league, especially if you’ve been bitten by the bug. Joining a pickleball league will put you together with other people who share an enthusiasm for the sport. Pickleball is also a sport that spans the ages. Since it’s easier on the joints, as say, running up and down the basketball court, pickleball is a sport that has longevity.

Related

It’s why it’s mistakenly associated with seniors. You may have to stop playing pickup basketball because of that old knee injury from flag football in college, but you won’t have to hang up the paddle. That doesn’t mean pickleball isn’t a great workout. It’s a fabulous low-impact workout that gets the heart pumping and burns calories. Pickleball is also mentally stimulating and just plain fun.

When you participate in a pickleball league, you are meeting new people and potentially making friends, as well as connections. Pickleball leagues are also mostly seasonal, depending on where you live. So, joining a league isn’t a huge year-round commitment.

Group playing pickleball
bhpix / Shutterstock

How to join a pickleball league

If you’re looking to become part of a pickleball league in your community, it can be daunting, especially if you’re new to the sport. Rest assured, there are plenty of pickleball leagues for novice and seasoned players. The best place to start looking for a pickleball league is online. Begin by searching pickleball leagues close to home by looking at recreation department websites in and around your area.

Another ideal place to start is by checking out local community centers. If that doesn’t yield a league, then try local tennis and racquetball clubs. Since the explosion of pickleball, many tennis and racquetball clubs now have pickleball courts and leagues.

People playing pickleball outside
Seattle Parks and Recreation / Flickr

Other ways to find a pickleball league

You’ve been looking for a pickleball league near you and haven’t found one. Here are additional ways you can find a league close to home.

  • Ask pickleball players at your local courts.
  • Check the information board at the park where you play. Leagues are often advertised.
  • Facebook forums like Pickleball Minnesota or NJ Pickleball Forum are ideal for connecting with players and leagues in your area.
  • Visit the USA Pickleball website to find everything and anything pickleball, including where to play.
A view of pickleball courts
Frankie Lopez / Unsplash

Pick up a paddle

If you’ve been wanting to try pickleball, do it. The sport is growing by leaps and bounds because it’s fun, social, and an awesome workout. A pickleball league is an ideal way to take your game to the next level while making new friends and getting involved in your community. Finding a league near you is easy. You’ll be lobbing, volleying, and getting those competitive juices flowing before you know it.

Editors' Recommendations

Topics
Dawn Miller
Dawn Miller
Contributor
Dawn Miller began her professional life as an elementary school teacher before returning to her first love, writing. In…
New to snow sports? We have one clever trick to decide if skiing or snowboarding is right for you
Face forward - or don't, it's up to you
Snowboarder with orange board

Choosing between skiing and snowboarding used to mean pledging your snow sports allegiance for life; the two sports were at loggerheads with one another. Recently, the two sports have developed a more peaceful coexistence, with riders from each discipline shredding the slopes together. Some even have a full quiver of skis and snowboards, picking their ideal ride depending on conditions.

When you're kicking off your snow sports career, the best way to ensure you progress and can start exploring the mountain is to stick to one or the other. But how do you decide? Is it a case of thinking about which sport looks cooler or easier, or pick the one all your buddies are doing? Well, it turns out there is a trick to choose between the two and to give you the kickstart to your skiing or snowboarding career.

Read more
Our simple guide tells you which ski and snowboard wax to use for any conditions
There's a simple trick for knowing which ski or snowboard wax to use, and we have it
Snowboard ready to wax

Thanks to new snowmaking technology, the ski and snowboard season is getting longer each year, in some areas, it can even stretch into summer. If you want to take advantage of the extended season, instead of the usual springtime storage wax, this year, you might need to keep your snowboard gliding into July. Waxing your skis or snowboard is one of the fundamental skills that every rider should learn as part of tuning their setup. Sure, you can drop your gear at the store to have it tuned — it's good to support local businesses, and getting a pro tune once a season is not a bad thing — but if you're riding regularly, the price starts to ramp up.

By the time you've paid for a few waxes, you could have got yourself a tuning kit and gone for the DIY approach to ski care. That means ironing on the ski wax, letting it cool, and scraping off the excess. While your iron and scraper will do the job for every waxing session, your wax won't. Snowboard wax is temperature dependent, and getting it wrong can affect your riding, so here's our guide on how to pick the right wax for your ride and how often you should wax your snowboard or skis.

Read more
This site is like Airbnb for pickleball courts, and it’s incredible
Rent out a pickleball court at a private home or a hotel
A pickleball court in the U.S.

Airbnb has been around since August 11, 2008, when the first site, Airbedandbreakfast.com, officially launched. Since then, official websites like Airbnb, promising long and short-term stays and experiences, have become increasingly popular, with more and more sites following suit. 

One such site that’s becoming the go-to choice for individuals interested in booking stays and finding pickleball courts is Swimply. This site is incredible, offering many of the same features Airbnb provides, with the added bonus of matching people with sporting experiences.
What you need to know about Swimply
First established in June 2019 as an online marketplace allowing pool owners to profit from unused pools by renting them out at a set charge per hour, Swimply has grown and expanded. Today, Swimply offers the same pool renting service but for other sports, including tennis, basketball, and pickleball -- a sport that is taking the nation by storm.

Read more