GRAND Magazine - November/December 2019 - 23

sports
Thom (last name coming) picked up the sport about four years ago and now plays
five days a week. He says "For a guy of my size with two fake knees, it's the right
exercise." Although fast-paced and challenging, it's easy to learn and relatively kind
to the body.
Kathy Muller, who is by profession a teacher, took a free pickleball lesson after she
retired and was instantly "addicted." She liked it enough to share the time she has to
exercise with Zumba classes, which she's been doing for almost eight years.
They agree it's competitive but friendly and social. The team that scores seven
points wins; those players split sides, the players whose team lost leaves the court
and anyone waiting on the side enters the game. So, in pickleball, you get to meet a
lot of people.
Bill Voigt, who was an early adopter and now teaches skills classes, said its appeal
is that its mixed age, mixed gender and a "flash mob" kind of game. You just show
up where people are playing and join in. That means you avoid committing to a certain time or a certain partner and can come and go as your schedule permits.
Kathy Mueller agrees there's no age discrimination; she plays with her nine-yearold grandson. Many middle schools and high schools have added pickleball to their
PE offerings.
Best of all, the pickleball players at my club have become a "community." They
started as mostly strangers and now get together socially and have even in the past
few months, attended the funeral of two of the
players' parents.
So how did my pickleball journey progress? I borrowed a paddle and then after a few
games, liked the game well enough to buy
one. I grasped the quirky scoring, which for
Cheryl Harbour is a special
editor
for GRAND and
tennis players, can seem confusing at first. I
author of Good to Be
learned to dink and to bang and, best of all, to
Grand: Making the Most
of your Grandchild's First
stay out of the kitchen.
Year.

23 GRAND

Nov-Dec 2019

What started as a family game
is now one of the fastestgrowing sports in America.

Take a rainy weekend, some bored kids, a couple of dads coming
up with ideas, and some borrowed equipment - and what do
you have? Pickleball! Learn how pickleball started on Bainbridge
Island in the 1960s.

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GRAND Magazine - November/December 2019

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of GRAND Magazine - November/December 2019