Valinda Dudley, whose husband is stationed in Japan, said she spends part of her time while he’s away playing a cross between tennis, racquetball, and badminton. The name of the game is pickleball and Dudley said it’s one of the fastest growing sports among senior citizens. In fact, she and her doubles partner, Jimmy Mclean, were in Destin this weekend for a pickleball tournament. The Emerald Coast Pickleball Classic is at the Destin Life Center and began Friday. Tuesdays and Thursdays, pickleball practice at the Guy Thompson Community Center begins at 8:30 a.m. with three courts available.
Dudley, playing the game since April of last year, explained some of the aspects of pickleball. First off, she said the ball doesn’t bounce as high as a tennis ball nor is the paddle as big as a tennis racket, small like a racquetball racket, without the netting. In fact, the ball resembles a small Wiffle ball. With a shorter court and slower ball than tennis or racquetball, it’s an easier game. Dudley said, “It’s still a good workout but you’re not killing yourself. The most difficult part is keeping score.” She said before serving, a required underhand, the server calls out each team’s score and the serving position. Like tennis, a team only scores when serving, but there is an additional boundary, the “kitchen,” a seven-foot zone between the net and rest of the court.
Mclean said the sport started back in the 60s in Washington State. Now, he said, there are places to play all over. In South Florida, down in the Villages, a retirement community, he said there are twenty to thirty courts. Dudley said most of the players in the county are retired, many from the military. Mclean said he is retired from Santa Rosa County’s road department.
Dudley, Mclean, and Suzanne Frugh, 10-year retired US Navy sailor, gave this reporter a taste of pickleball in a game at the Guy Thompson Community Center Thursday. While pickleball doesn’t require the cardio endurance of tennis, the weight of the racket, chasing the ball, and finesse required for a serve and return create a sport fit for anyone looking to get active.
This article originally appeared on Santa Rosa Press Gazette: Pickleball players attend weekend tourney