The pickleball revolution: how a game for all ages became one of the world’s fastest-growing sports

A gentle cross between tennis, badminton and ping pong, pickleball is an easy game to pick up. Sam Wollaston has a little dink @samwollastonFri 27 Jan 2023 11.00 GMT

The sports hall of a school in New Malden, south-west London, may seem an unlikely venue for a revolution. But here, on an icy Thursday night, a revolution of sorts is taking place. Comrades are facing off, honing their skills and sharpening their reflexes.

A group of raw new recruits, a motley rabble of women and men sucked inexorably into the cause, looks on. The local commander, a no-nonsense but cheerful woman named Lou, will take them to the end of the hall to issue them with equipment, show them how to use it, and explain the rules of combat. I say them. I mean us – for I am one of these raw recruits. And our weapons? Not muskets and bayonets, but paddles and wiffle balls. Paddles are like outsize table tennis bats, those cheeseboards with handles or, indeed, paddles. A wiffle ball is a light plastic one with holes (not to be confused with a Harry Potter quaffle).

Welcome to the pickleball revolution.

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