[Minoletti]

I understand these are two completely different games. But, looking at the net height and playing surface dimensions, they are fairly close dimensionally. Pickle ball courts are very busy and in demand. Platform tennis courts are mostly unoccupied. Why cant a single court be designed for multi use with adjustable net height (if different), and two different color sets of lines be painted on the same surface for the two different sports?
Seems a waste of resources with some courts filled, others sitting empty.
Educate me please.

[Pugchief]

The same could be said of the tennis courts. 90% of the time I am playing PB, the tennis courts are unused. Not always, but usually.

It would make a lot of sense to take some of the tennis and platform tennis courts and turn them into more PB courts since that is what is popular. But then the people who do play tennis and paddle will scream, so I don't see it happening.

[Laker14]

Last year I reached out to the Recreation Department with the idea of taking ONE PART of the 2 tennis courts, striping for PB, and having a portable net so when the PB courts are jammed, and nobody is playing tennis, people could at least go over there and warm up, or if a couple just wanted to practice a bit they could do that. I even suggested a big bold sign stating that any tennis players would have preference and picklers would have to leave the court if the space was needed for tennis. I got an emphatic "NO". I was told that if I couldn't find a PB court near me (I'm in Poinciana) I should travel down to one of the newer areas like Franklin (an hour by golf cart) and see if they had a court open.

[Altavia]

There many (over 300 now and growing?) pickleball courts in the Villages.

Joining some groups with scheduled court times is the best way to guarantee play time.

I hate playing on multi purpose courts - non regulation nets and too many lines are distracting.

The platform courts are great for drill's/practice if not in use.

The tennis courts are well utilized near me.

[charmed59]

In the mornings before 10:30 tennis courts are well utilized everywhere. I know folks trying to get new court reservations because their reserved courts at Rohan and Burnsed were closed. It was pretty much impossible to get early morning. They ended up cutting a number of players from their group.

That said, wander to Seabreeze at 9 on Thursdays at Seabreeze and there are people playing tennis, sand tennis, touch tennis on the platform courts, and platform tennis and yet the pickleball courts are empty. People don’t show up until around 10.

At any moment in time there are tons of resources that are not being used. Neighborhood Pools, horseshoes, shuffle board, bocce, bean bag toss everywhere are all empty about 15 hours a day. Not to mention the parking lots. But people do use them. And it would be a shame to lose any of the amenities.

[Topspinmo]

Originally Posted by Laker14

Last year I reached out to the Recreation Department with the idea of taking ONE PART of the 2 tennis courts, striping for PB, and having a portable net so when the PB courts are jammed, and nobody is playing tennis, people could at least go over there and warm up, or if a couple just wanted to practice a bit they could do that. I even suggested a big bold sign stating that any tennis players would have preference and picklers would have to leave the court if the space was needed for tennis. I got an emphatic "NO". I was told that if I couldn't find a PB court near me (I'm in Poinciana) I should travel down to one of the newer areas like Franklin (an hour by golf cart) and see if they had a court open.

Most tennis are are stripped for master tennis. Tennis nets are 2 inch higher than pickleball. Makes more sense to add strips to some platform tennis courts due to dimension are same or close including net height. they are usually besides pickleball courts plus in cage so you don’t have to chase ball all over big tennis court.

[Topspinmo]

Originally Posted by charmed59

In the mornings before 10:30 tennis courts are well utilized everywhere. I know folks trying to get new court reservations because their reserved courts at Rohan and Burnsed were closed. It was pretty much impossible to get early morning. They ended up cutting a number of players from their group.

That said, wander to Seabreeze at 9 on Thursdays at Seabreeze and there are people playing tennis, sand tennis, touch tennis on the platform courts, and platform tennis and yet the pickleball courts are empty. People don’t show up until around 10.

At any moment in time there are tons of resources that are not being used. Neighborhood Pools, horseshoes, shuffle board, bocce, bean bag toss everywhere are all empty about 15 hours a day. Not to mention the parking lots. But people do use them. And it would be a shame to lose any of the amenities.

Expect for soccer fields at first responders, they are hardly ever used.

[Topspinmo]

Originally Posted by Laker14

Last year I reached out to the Recreation Department with the idea of taking ONE PART of the 2 tennis courts, striping for PB, and having a portable net so when the PB courts are jammed, and nobody is playing tennis, people could at least go over there and warm up, or if a couple just wanted to practice a bit they could do that. I even suggested a big bold sign stating that any tennis players would have preference and picklers would have to leave the court if the space was needed for tennis. I got an emphatic "NO". I was told that if I couldn't find a PB court near me (I'm in Poinciana) I should travel down to one of the newer areas like Franklin (an hour by golf cart) and see if they had a court open.

Good. Stripping platform tennis cages better idea nearly same dimensions as pickleball courts. May be same I haven’t look up the small differences.

[Laker14]

Originally Posted by charmed59

In the mornings before 10:30 tennis courts are well utilized everywhere. I know folks trying to get new court reservations because their reserved courts at Rohan and Burnsed were closed. It was pretty much impossible to get early morning. They ended up cutting a number of players from their group.

That said, wander to Seabreeze at 9 on Thursdays at Seabreeze and there are people playing tennis, sand tennis, touch tennis on the platform courts, and platform tennis and yet the pickleball courts are empty. People don’t show up until around 10.

At any moment in time there are tons of resources that are not being used. Neighborhood Pools, horseshoes, shuffle board, bocce, bean bag toss everywhere are all empty about 15 hours a day. Not to mention the parking lots. But people do use them. And it would be a shame to lose any of the amenities.

This is simply false. My idea may have been a bad one, and we needn't argue it since it was categorically shot down by Rec Department, but the statement enlarged in the quote is simply not true.

[Altavia]

Originally Posted by Laker14

This is simply false. My idea may have been a bad one, and we needn't argue it since it was categorically shot down by Rec Department, but the statement enlarged in the quote is simply not true.

Agree.

But plenty of opportunity for paddle sports here.

Have you tried Platform Tennis? It's fun and the ability to play the ball off the screens is very challenging.

They have a very organized group with great instructional programs.

Same is true for sand tennis.

Just wish each sport didn't require a different racquet :-)

[Michigan Farmer]

For the life of me I don't understand why after spending hundreds of thousands of dollars to rebuild platform tennis courts at Rohan and Eisenhour they can't spend another couple of dollars to put down a NVZ line on the courts which would make them multi use. I can count on one hand the platform tennis games I've seen played at Eisenhour over the past eight years, they get more hours of pickleball play in a day month than PTwill ever get in a year.

[Laker14]

Originally Posted by Altavia

Agree.

But plenty of opportunity for paddle sports here.

Have you tried Platform Tennis? It's fun and the ability to play the ball off the screens is very challenging.

They have a very organized group with great instructional programs.

Same is true for sand tennis.

Just wish each sport didn't require a different racquet :-)

Actually I am very familiar with platform tennis. I played a lot of it in the '70s, '80s and early '90s up north. Traveled, played a lot of tournaments. Loved it. Kind of wore my shoulder out hitting all of those overheads, and had some back problems so I quit. It never really took off in my town the way I hoped it would, and the way PB has, so getting good competition became impossible unless I was willing to travel 2 hours or more. That gets old in Western NY in the winter.

[bowlingal]

Minoletti...platform tennis is performed in a cage and the ball can be played off the walls of the cage. Pickelball has no such cage. Could be one reason you can't have a universal court.

[rsmurano]

I tried platform tennis thinking it would be similar to racquetball, it wasn’t. Actually, it was a let down. If you wanted to do pickleball drills, just a couple of guys, then the platform tennis courts would be good. We tried using tennis courts and the net is too high and you chase the balls a long way on tennis courts.
If you want to see a new sport that looks like it would be a lot of fun, check out Padel.

[jimjamuser]

Originally Posted by Minoletti

I understand these are two completely different games. But, looking at the net height and playing surface dimensions, they are fairly close dimensionally. Pickle ball courts are very busy and in demand. Platform tennis courts are mostly unoccupied. Why cant a single court be designed for multi use with adjustable net height (if different), and two different color sets of lines be painted on the same surface for the two different sports?
Seems a waste of resources with some courts filled, others sitting empty.
Educate me please.

The problem with Pickle Ball is that the ball tends to bounce LOW, which is hard on the players knees. The other problem is that BOTH the ball and the racket are VERY STIFF. If you don't believe that, then just LISTEN to the strange "KLUNKING" sounds coming from the pickle ball courts. These are the sounds of STIFF objects colliding. I have been very surprise that some equipment manufacturer has not devised a Pickle ball with a softer coating that also allows the ball to bounce up a little higher. The racket could also be improved to have some "softness" at the point of impact. Possibly the use of strings would help or some rubber coating like on a table tennis racket. Go to the table tennis club when they are playing and LISTEN to the sound of the ball hitting the paddle. The ball is made of plastic (like the pickle ball), yet the sound is more mellow and satisfying.
......To me Pickleball is a game that is hard on the knees and the elbow, so it strikes me as strange that this game has become SO popular with seniors..........who have notoriously UNSOUND knees and elbows.
........Now a tennis type game played on sand makes MUCH MORE sense to me. The sand is obviously EASIER on the knees and the strings of a tennis racket provides shock absorption for the ELBOW.
.........The tennis-like game called short court (I think) would seem to be IDEALLY suited to seniors. It uses the standard tennis court and net height ( NO need to build a special court like Pickle ball). The only change from regular tennis is some line changes and a tennis ball with less air pressure inside.