History of Pickleball (PDF)

UNIT 1: INTRODUCTION TO PICKLEBALL ❖ What is Pickleball? Pickleball is a combination of Tennis, Badminton, and Ping pong played in a doubles Badminton Court. It can be played in both indoors and outside ground surface area. The objective of the game...

UNIT 1: INTRODUCTION TO PICKLEBALL ❖ What is Pickleball? Pickleball is a combination of Tennis, Badminton, and Ping pong played in a doubles Badminton Court. It can be played in both indoors and outside ground surface area. The objective of the game is to get the ball over the net and prevent one’s opponent from returning it. One unique characteristic of Pickleball is the presence of a “KITCHEN” area, 7 feet away from the net. ✓ KITCHEN refers to the Non-Volley Zone and where “DINKING” shots are performed. Another distinct way of pickleball is having the TWO-BOUNCH-RULE which states that after the ball is served, each team/opponent must make one groundstroke before any of the teams/players can volley the ball. Pickleball uses hard paddles bigger than table tennis rackets and a light plastic ball, also known as “WIFFLE BALL” with holes. ❖ HISTORY OF PICKLEBALL In 1965 ✓ Joel Pritchard - has invented Pickleball and since then, he was proclaimed as the “FATHER OF PICKLEBALL”. - He is a Politician, Republican and has served in the U.S Congress during 70’s and 80’s and later became the Lieutenant Governor of Washington State. - The legendary expansion of Pickleball was rooted to him. ✓ During their Summer Vacation in Bainbridge Island in Washington, together with his friend Bill Bell, they made up a game to conquer boredom of their families while on break. - Bill Bell is a lawyer, political advisor, and a businessman. - They have found old ping pong rackets and perforated balls to start and play in a badminton court and net which was elevated 60 inches above ground. - The game was played by volleying the ball over the net and later discovered that the ball bounces more on an asphalt surface thus, they thought of lowering the net to 36 inches. - In pursuing the game, they wanted to modify the equipment and these two men (Bell and Pritchard) began fabricating paddles out of plywood and balls with holes (wiffle-type) they have found in their backyard. - Bill Bell and Joel Pritchard began creating the game and this is when they called upon Barney McCallum who’s in their neighborhood to join. ▪ The three of them formulated and formalized the rules of the game to make it more competitive and official. ▪ They have patterned most of the rules from Badminton and they invented the sport primarily for their entire families to play and enjoy. In 1968 ✓ February 13, 1968 - The game grew an Audience and to validate Pickleball as a sport, Joel Pritchard and several others wrote article for Pickleball, Inc. ✓ In the year 1968, Barney, Joel, and Bill formed a “Pickleball, Inc.” - “Pickleball, Inc.” is the first company to manufacture and market pickleball paddles. - The newly established corporation aimed to develop the game of Pickle ball and advertise and promulgate the game legally. In 1992 ✓ The Pickleball, Inc. began to producing the first ball in Pickleball. The first design was called “DURA 56 Pickle-Ball’ because of its 56 holes. In the later years, the production expanded in Asia and “DURA Fast 40 Pickle-ball was created having 40-holes balls for greater durability. It then became widely used for outdoor play and tournaments.  In the year 2021 ✓ There were 4.8 million pickleball players in the USA which showed as 39.3% growth rate for the last 2 years. Six out of ten players were men and with a mean are of 38.1 years old (Player, 2022). While Joel Pritchard serves as the inventor and father of Pickleball, Bill Bell and Barney McCallum also had their significant contribution to the sport. ✓ Barney McCallum - After the establishment of Pickleball, Inc., he was the one figure out where and how to fabricate paddles to sell. - He was the proponent of the games’ rules on NON-VOLLEY ZONE (NVZ) and the double bounce rule. - His famous line on Pickleball was “the greatest thing about pickleball is the balance between offence and defense” which made a mark on all current pickleball players up to this date. ✓ Bill Bell - His contribution to pickleball’s distinctive rules was his introduction of “the KITCHEN” which added fun and competitive appeal of the sport. ❖ THE ORIGIN OF PICKLEBALL NAME If you here Pickleball for the first time, you will automatically think of pickle, the food. However, up to this date, there is no known definite origin of the game’s name. You may find online which identify two theories of its origin. ✓ One is uttered by Frank Pritchard, the son of Joel. - He said that her mother Joan, created the name Pickleball. - Her mother was a great fan of an active rowing team in her alma mater, Marietta College and continue his adoration to Washington’s rowing program. - They owned a “Pickle Boat” made of an oarsman. - According to her mother, “Pickle ball “was an appropriate name for the sport because pickleball is a combination of the different aspects of other games. ✓ The second theory is “Pickle” the Pritchard’s dog - Their dog has gained credit as to the origin of the name Pickleball. However, Frank said the “Pickles” joined their family in 1996 and was named after the game has been invented. ❖ THE PICKLEBALL TODAY In 1976 ✓ The first pickleball tournament was conducted in Tukwila, Washington at the South Center Club. - A lot of local tournaments recreational or competitive were then held. In 1984 ✓ The USA Pickleball Association (USAPA) was established. - It is the National Governing Body for the sports Pickleball which standardized and published the Pickleball Rulebook that is now used in national tournaments around the world. - The association mission is to promote and develop pickleball in United States. It also provides players with official rules, tournament system, rankings and promotional materials. In 2017 ✓ The Head Sports introduced two of their existing lines of paddles. - These are the Extreme (Tour, Pro L, Elite) and Radical (Tour, Pro, Pro L, Elite). In the next year Prince manufactures five lines of pickleball paddles in partnership with Paddletek. - These are the Spectrum, Spectrum Pro, Response, Response Pro, and the Quantum. All of which have distinct features and characteristics designed for every style of pickleball playing. The emerge of the World Pickleball Federation (WFP) and International Pickleball Federation (IPF) foster the increased participation in Pickleball among other countries. Forms its origin in USA, it has spread to England, Canada, Brazil, China, Italy, Japan, Thailand, Singapore, and Philippines.  As reported in the Association of Picklebball Professionals, there were more than 36.5 million people who were playing pickleball from August 2021-2022. Famous pro athlete like Lebron James, Tom Brady, Patrik Mahomes, and Kevin Durant even play pickleball competitively. In the Philippines ✓ Pickleball began in Cebu at the start of 2016 were Shana, a Filipino from Tennessee, recruited Doug Keener of Pickleball Spring and Sara Ash, a fellow Filipino to teach the sport in Baranggay Subangdaku, Mandaue, Cebu. ✓ This paved way to the establishment of various Philippine-based Pickleball Association and Federation that later spread widely in different schools, colleges, and universities in the country.