[ThirdOfFive]

[QUOTE=kingofbeer;2546581]

Originally Posted by Laker14

Pickleball is a silly sport. The ball does not bounce much, so you have to bend down to your ankles to hit the ball back. So many injuries can and will happen when you play this game. Especially harmful for the seniors here. I have watched the level of play at the local courts here and it is poor. I know many of these players play every day. Not sure what their level is 2 or 3. Where I used to live, they had a semi-pro tournament and you could see how the game is played at the highest level and it is completely different. These players glide on the court when they move. It almost looks like tennis is being played. Here the seniors struggle to get to the kitchen. I won't waste my time playing this silly little game risking getting hurt badly.

Pretty much true. Pickleball is a fad sport, and like all fad sports it is destined to enjoy a certain popularity among a certain part of the population for a certain time, but will eventually go the way of all such "sports".

Remember Ultimate Frisbee? or maybe Pogo Sticking? Dance Marathons? Those are just a few examples of fad "sports" that enjoyed a brief moment in the sun but faded in popularity pretty quickly once the novelty wore off. I particularly remember Roller Derby (not so much a participant sport but followed by many). Back in the 70's it was hugely popular with a large TV following, but today is largely unheard-of except among a few True Believers.

Now, if full-contact golf became a thing...

[kingofbeer]

[QUOTE=nhkim;2546591]

Originally Posted by kingofbeer

Oh, my. Someone is clearly not enjoying their retirement in The Villages.

I love living here. It's the greatest place to retire IMHO. Care to send us a video that shows you playing the sport.

[MrFlorida]

Most advanced players don't want to play with new players. It's just a few bad players that want to take advantage of newbie's..

[Aces4]

Originally Posted by village dreamer

a few bad apples , I'm a 3.5 and will play with anybody, i just like to play. and i like to teach a newbie how to play. todays beginner ,will be tomorrows great player.

I don't believe any "teachers" were hired by The Villages. One should move off the court and take their ego with them.

[Jim1mack]

I tried to take up pickle ball and just try to volley back and forth. Found too many people play for blood. So I just golf.

[Aces4]

Originally Posted by La lamy

You obviously have never played pickleball. There's nothing embarrassing about the game, whether you're a beginner or professional making millions from it. It's as physical as you make it, as strategic as you make it, as mentally challenging as you make it (especially when you learn how to keep score), and a great way to be social.

Sure and it's just great for old people. Can't figure out why the younger generation would be interested unless there is the almightly "sports dollars" involved.

[Laker14]

[QUOTE=kingofbeer;2546581]

Originally Posted by Laker14

Pickleball is a silly sport. The ball does not bounce much, so you have to bend down to your ankles to hit the ball back. So many injuries can and will happen when you play this game. Especially harmful for the seniors here. I have watched the level of play at the local courts here and it is poor. I know many of these players play every day. Not sure what their level is 2 or 3. Where I used to live, they had a semi-pro tournament and you could see how the game is played at the highest level and it is completely different. These players glide on the court when they move. It almost looks like tennis is being played. Here the seniors struggle to get to the kitchen. I won't waste my time playing this silly little game risking getting hurt badly.

[QUOTE=npwalters;2546582]

Originally Posted by kingofbeer

A firm opinion spoken by someone who knows almost nothing about the game.

Hey, somehow I got blamed for the quote saying PB is a silly sport. I feel very strongly that it's a great sport. I played a lot of it, until I couldn't.

[Topspinmo]

Bottom line open play is for EVERYONE who’s card carrying villager, we have no right to dictate who they play with, when they play (till 10 AM). or where they play. They are paying amenities also. So they have just much right to be on any of courts in villages as the upper crust. Few years back there use be few thought they was top ranked player of world (now they are nobodies like rest of use due to level play now?) they would hog certain rec center courts for hours and run anybody off.

As far as beginning times as long as they fill up courts at rec center, if they only have enough beginners for half courts they other have should be open play. Problem nobody takes command so it’s free for all. I use play over at Chula Vista few year back at 10am the rec center head gal would come out and run all players off stating beginners play time. She would have the beginners lined up out side and when 10AM strike she would march them in. Only rec center I ever played at where it was controlled, haven’t played there for years so don’t know it still same?

[TheVillageGlossator]

Originally Posted by nhkim

Says the couch potato who has never played pickleball...

Yes, I tried pickleball. Twenty minutes of swatting a Wiffle ball with a beach tennis paddle confirmed what I had always suspected: it’s an amusing pastime, but hardly a serious sport. I’ll stick with tennis.

[rsmurano]

Before stating anything in public, make sure you know the rules, which most people don’t.

There are many rec centers that have all levels of play, so there is no excuse for a beginner not to be able to play with people at their level.

There are many reasons that the more advanced players don’t want to play with beginners and a few are;
1) safety! The more advanced players can hit the ball hard: overhead smashes, line drives, where if a beginner isn’t prepared for these shots, it might be safe for the beginner.
2) better players want like abilities for a better game.
3) it’s not fair to put restrictions on the advanced players like overheads, line drives.

There are times when there is a true mix of levels and at this time, the better players will restrict their harder shots, but this play is different than play during their controlled groups

[Tvargo]

You are right on in your comment. Pickleball is basically the sport for people who can't do anything else.

[Howdy]

Originally Posted by TheVillageGlossator

Yes, I tried pickleball. Twenty minutes of swatting a Wiffle ball with a beach tennis paddle confirmed what I had always suspected: it’s an amusing pastime, but hardly a serious sport. I’ll stick with tennis.

Here is 100% facts on " Pickleball ".

#1 It is the fastest growing sport in the USA, with over 24 million of Americans playing in 2025.

#2 Pickleball has grown over 300% in the past (4) years.

#3 It is now a popular sport activity in schools nationwide as opposed to tennis in schools in popularity in all age groups. 100% fact.

#4 Comparing a Pickleball to a Wiffle Ball is cute, however the comparisons are fare fewer holes, smaller in size, and structure. Sort of like comparing Baseball to Softball. Or 10 Pin Bowling to Duck Pin Bowling or Skittles.

#5 Something that for you to annotate, research even though it isn't foreign here in the USA although it has gained a huge popularity in many foreign countries.

#6 Curious that you only played (20) minutes. Interesting.

[nhkim]

Originally Posted by Tvargo

You are right on in your comment. Pickleball is basically the sport for people who can't do anything else.

Sounds like somebody got their feelings hurt by a pickleball player and decided to lash out at the whole sport.

[kingofbeer]

Originally Posted by Howdy

Here is 100% facts on " Pickleball ".

#1 It is the fastest growing sport in the USA, with over 24 million of Americans playing in 2025.

#2 Pickleball has grown over 300% in the past (4) years.

#3 It is now a popular sport activity in schools nationwide as opposed to tennis in schools in popularity in all age groups. 100% fact.

#4 Comparing a Pickleball to a Wiffle Ball is cute, however the comparisons are fare fewer holes, smaller in size, and structure. Sort of like comparing Baseball to Softball. Or 10 Pin Bowling to Duck Pin Bowling or Skittles.

#5 Something that for you to annotate, research even though it isn't foreign here in the USA although it has gained a huge popularity in many foreign countries.

#6 Curious that you only played (20) minutes. Interesting.

#1 National estimates show approximately 24,461 pickleball-related emergency department visits per year in the United States, based on recent data from the National Electronic Injury Surveillance System (NEISS)

[Packer Fan]

Originally Posted by TheVillageGlossator

Yes, I tried pickleball. Twenty minutes of swatting a Wiffle ball with a beach tennis paddle confirmed what I had always suspected: it’s an amusing pastime, but hardly a serious sport. I’ll stick with tennis.

Spending 20 minutes hitting a wiffle ball with a beach tennis paddle is nothing close to playing actual pickleball. We love when tennis players want to play pickleball and think they're going to be so good. Yes they progress fast if they drill and learn the game correctly. Some do some don't. The ones who hang back at the baseline get slaughtered eventually. Real pickleball has way more strategy than tennis, and on top of it it's a much faster game. Once you get to the intermediate level you have to anticipate because that Ball's coming pretty fast.
The reality is tennis is a dying sport, and tennis courts all over the world are being converted to pickleball courts. Somebody said something about pickleball being a fad, well it started in 1965 and has been growing ever since and the growth is accelerating. I wouldn't call a sport that's been growing for 60 years a fad.
There was also some criticism in an earlier post about the PVGC being some sort of outside group that takes over the courts. That could not be further from the truth. They are a full-fledged Villages club and you have to be a village resident to even belong. They're the ones who reserve the courts for different Play levels. If you would have started your journey by taking the introduction to pickleball they offer and going through all of their different free classes, you would probably be a pickleball fanatic at this point. It's a bunch of people who volunteer their time, some of them almost every day, to help people learn and progress in a sport that they love. It's an awesome group and the person who posted that should be ashamed of themselves.
As far as the people who are best in the sport being ashamed of it? I doubt that Ben John's and Anna Lee Waters, who are both multimillionaires playing on the pro circuit are ashamed of themselves any more than Rodger Federer or Billie Jean King should be. Many of the top tennis players now play pickleball such as Andre Agassi, but they can't beat the top pickleball players.
My last comment is about the OPs initial statement, which I have seen. It is highly dependent on the court. If you're not comfortable at one of the courts, go to another one. There are courts I tell beginners to avoid like Big Cypress, where there are a lot of people like that. I would suggest Coconut cove or Bradenton for beginner open Play, or manatee on Wednesday afternoon. There is also a fantastic group called The tadpoles which controls who gets in. If you're interested in getting into the tadpoles DM me. The biggest thing you can do for yourself is get into the PVGC instructional program. There is also an excellent program called 316 pickleball, that does drill and play for beginners up and they control who's on what court by skill level. It's an awesome program there's no sign up and you just show up at Churchill on Mondays at noon or Riverbend Fridays at noon.
The reality is there is nothing more satisfying than going back to a beginner open Play, playing against those guys, and beating them soundly. The first time you reset one of their drives into the kitchen, or drop a third shot drop at their feet that they put into the net, it's a great feeling. The only other thing you can do is call them out or avoid them. It's much more fun to get good enough to beat them, but that takes a lot of time and years of commitment, because pickleball is a lot tougher sport to learn and play well than tennis.