Contributed by Bonnie Schulkers

Woodlake residents Linda and Dave Scott are ambassadors in Chesterfield County for the new and rapidly growing sport of pickleball.   

The pair learned how to play the sport with an odd name at a Florida active adult retirement community and absolutely loved it for its challenges, cardiovascular benefits and addictive qualities. Pickleball is very popular among the Arizona and Florida active retirement communities and is now spreading rapidly around the country, due mainly to other folks like Linda and Dave who learned the sport in Florida and then came back to their “northern” communities to introduce the sport to others.

Pickleball was invented in 1965 on the West Coast in Washington State, as a backyard game. The sport got its name from the family cocker spaniel named “Pickles,” who would chase the stray balls and hide them in the bushes. It’s basically a combination of tennis, badminton and ping-pong and has been referred to sometimes as “mini” tennis or “maxi” ping-pong. The sport is played on a badminton regulation size court (about one-third the size of a tennis court) with wooden or composite/graphite paddles (about twice the size of ping-pong paddles) and perforated plastic balls (known as wiffle balls). The sport employs the basic skills and strategies used in tennis, uses the underhand serving and scoring rules of badminton and the quick reflexes of ping-pong. The sport is primarily played as doubles, but can also be played as singles. The net height is similar to tennis except at the center where it is 34 inches for pickleball, and there is a seven-foot “no-volley” line on each side of the net in which players are not allowed to step inside such zone to volley shots.

Players hit the ball back and forth after letting the ball bounce once on each side before being allowed to volley, and the games are played to 11 points, with points won only by the serving side.

Pickleball is easy to learn for beginners and can eventually develop into a quick fast-paced competitive game for the experienced players. There are over 50,000 players enjoying the pickleball sport around the country. The “seniors” love this sport since there is less court space to cover as compared to tennis and is therefore easier on the body. Yet, pickleball is enjoyed by people of all ages and is great for health and fitness since it promotes hand-eye coordination, stretching, bending and endurance. Last but not least, pickleball is a very fun and social sport with great camaraderie among the players. A video of pickleball can be seen on the USA Pickleball Association internet website at www.usapa.org.
Linda and Dave started up pickleball “open play” sessions at Rockwood Park, located on Courthouse Road, in early June under the sponsorship of the Chesterfield County Parks & Recreation Department.   

Three tennis courts at Rockwood are taped for the pickleball court lines, and play is on Tuesdays and Thursdays each week in both the mornings from 8 to 10:30 a.m. and evenings from 7:30 to 9 p.m. Players drop in anytime during these hours, and Linda and Dave provide lessons and equipment for free. There have been as many as 16 players (mostly over age 50 and retirees) showing up at these sessions. However, the sessions are open to adults of all ages.   

If you are interested in learning this great new sport, contact Linda and Dave Scott at (804) 683-8481 or via e-mail at pickleball4all@aol.com, or drop by the Rockwood Park courts on Tuesday or Thursday mornings or evenings to participate in this activity.