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Pickleball is everywhere.
You probably have a friend – or several – who plays it. And it’s such a social sport that now they have pickleball friends. Walk past any public pickleball court on a Saturday morning and it’s packed, with a cacophony of “pock! pock!” sounds as players volley the ball back and forth. Even celebrities like Taylor Swift and WNBA star Caitlin Clark are getting in on the pickleball action.
I’ll admit to being curious about what this pickleball craze is all about. So, my husband Vinnie and I decided this summer was it: We’re going to learn to play!
“It’s easy to learn – easy to play from the very first time you pick up the paddle,” says Amanda Gardiner, a Maplewood resident who started playing with her son in 2021 on a public court. They didn’t know the rules at first but quickly met other players and joined their group. She took a few classes. Now she plays in leagues and tournaments.
The cost of entry is low. All you need are paddles and a ball. There are free public courts. The low cost and the social component seem to be what attract people the most.
“I love the social aspect of it,” Gardiner says. “I’ve met people older than me, younger than me … I’ve expanded my friend group across all the towns in this area!”
Jason Morros and Pam Bachorz, who live in South Orange, kept hearing about pickleball. Their son, who is a college student, plays. So they decided to give it a shot. They took a few classes in the spring through the Maplewood Recreation Department.
“Our advice for anyone wanting to get into pickleball is to just go for it,” Morros says. “Use our town’s beginner lessons to learn the basic rules or just find open play times. Start with the basics, have fun and don’t worry too much about being perfect right away. It’s a game that’s easy to pick up and enjoy from day one.”
There are a variety of pickleball paddles that range from $25 to more than $100. They are made of different materials, designed for power, control, spin or sound control. (The game can get loud!) Your best bet is just to get an inexpensive paddle, start playing and find out how much you like it – and what kind of player you are. One thing I learned early on is that although all the balls look the same, there is a difference between indoor and outdoor balls. Outdoor balls are usually larger and heavier to account for wind.
Some players sign up for classes through their town or private facilities such as Pickleball Palace (West Orange and Whippany) or Centercourt (several locations including Chatham and Montclair). Public courts, like those in Maplewood (Walter Park and DeHart Park) and South Orange (The Baird) are generally free, though only local residents can reserve them. With private courts, fees range from around $12 for open play to $100 or more for a private lesson.
If you download the CourtReserve app, you can book time on one of the public courts in Maplewood or sign up for court time or classes at Pickleball Palace and Centercourt. The public courts in Maplewood all have QR codes outside of them so you can download the app and book on the spot.
There are groups that are welcoming for beginners and players of all levels, such as N&K, which is run by longtime Maplewood residents Kent Heacock and Nancy Morelli. They reserve courts for two sessions each weekend morning on the public courts in Maplewood. They have a group on the TeamReach app, in which you can sign up to play or join the waitlist. (There are more than 200 members, so it books up fast!)
“It’s great! It’s a lot of fun. If you ever played tennis or ping pong, you’ll pick this up right away,” Heacock says. When Vinnie and I were ready to get started, I reached out to Anne Mandell, a neighbor I met while walking dogs who I knew played pickleball. (She also works for Matters.) Mandell and her husband Pete play with the N&K crew nearly every weekend. They also play with their sons. She invited us to come and watch a game a few days later.
While we were standing outside the court, Heacock came right up to us. He explained the group and asked us whether we wanted to play. N&K rotates beginners in the mix, so more experienced players take turns playing with – and teaching – newcomers. Games move quickly. The scoring system is designed to avoid a shutout, so it really gives all players a chance to play. There aren’t just a few advanced players dominating the court.
“The reason our group blew up and was so successful was we try to focus on equal play time and having fun,” Heacock says.
He also suggested that we put out an open call to N&K members on TeamReach to see whether anyone was willing to meet with us to go over the basics. Another neighbor, Luise Neilson, readily accepted and met us a few days later at DeHart to go over the rules, such as who serves, where it has to land, what “the kitchen” is, why you can’t volley in the kitchen and how scoring works.
(The kitchen, incidentally, is a seven-foot area on either side of the net. No one really knows why it’s called the kitchen other than maybe the term was borrowed from shuffleboard, but its purpose is so you can’t just stand at the net and smash it on the other side.)
Her advice for beginners? “I think beginners should learn the basic rules first, especially with regards to the kitchen and scoring. Next, I’d suggest either take a lesson, join a beginner clinic, or work with an experienced player to get a feel for the ball and the paddle. And lastly, get on the court and practice dinking, serving, and returning the ball,” Neilson says. “Most of all, find some friends to play with and have fun.”
After that, I decided to sign up for a five-session intro clinic at Pickleball Palace that goes over everything from serves to dinks, volleys and drop shots. (A dink is a soft, controlled shot that arcs over the net, usually near the kitchen line, forcing the opponent to make a difficult return.) Pickleball Palace and its website make it super easy for beginners to get started. During the clinic, I learned some valuable tips, such as keeping a really loose grip on the paddle and how to follow through so I don’t hit the ball too hard or pop it in the air. (I’m still a work in progress!)
Once you learn how to play, there are a variety of ways you can improve your game. First, just keep playing. Second, you can do a “play with a pro” session or a private lesson. You can also buy a pickleball net from Amazon or one of the major retailers, draw chalk lines on your driveway and make your own court. There are tons of pickleball videos on YouTube, where you can learn the rules and drill down on specific types of skills and shots.
You can really go down a rabbit hole with pickleball videos and tutorials. But don’t try to absorb it all at once, Mandell says. “Just try to learn one thing from each video.” Love that tip!
As you get better, you’ll figure out what your skill level is and then work on finding players at your level. Some players are happy in the intermediate zone, while others like to get competitive. There’s a Facebook group called SOMA Pickleball, where you can find other players at your level, teachers, tournaments and more. At the end of each game, no one engages in trash talking or racket throwing. Instead, all of the players come to the net and touch paddles.
“I love that you have to touch paddles at the end of every game,” Gardiner says. “To me, that really signifies the camaraderie of the game.” It’s representative of the camaraderie that is a hallmark of the SOMA community. No wonder this sport is so popular here.
Why is it Called Pickleball?
Pickleball was created in 1965 by two dads, Joel Pritchard and Bill Bell, who spent summers with their families on Bainbridge Island in Washington. They were trying to find something to entertain Pritchard’s 13-year-old son and, in the spirit of those made-up games when you were a kid, created pickleball. There is lore that they named it after the Pritchard family dog Pickles but after an investigation by USA Pickleball, the “official magazine of pickleball,” it turns out that was just a joke that got (furry) legs. There was, in fact, a Pickles the dog, but he wasn’t born until three years after pickleball was first played – and named. The name, which was coined by Pritchard’s wife, Joan, was more likely derived from the “pickle boat” of crew races, where random crews of rowers are thrown together. (Joan grew up in a big crew town.) In this case, the dads threw together what they had to form a game – a couple of ping pong paddles, a plastic perforated ball from a bat-and-ball set and a badminton net.
Cindy Perman is a freelance writer and editor living in Maplewood. She is a beginner pickleball player, so consider yourself warned if you run into her on the court!
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