Pickleball gaining popularity in Western Pennsylvania

A certified tennis instructor for more than 20 years, Bill Hinkel learned of pickleball three years ago when a friend introduced him to the sport.

The first time he witnessed a game, what he saw intrigued him.

“I was very impressed with how easy it was to learn to play, how it just brought you right into the sport,” said Hinkel, 76, of McCandless. “Anybody can do it with a little bit of practice. I likened it to if you go to a party and there's a pingpong table in the corner, everybody knows how to play pingpong,” he said. “Whether they're ready for championships or not, they all like to hit and laugh and giggle.”

The longtime tennis practitioner now plays pickleball regularly, mirroring a trend from around the country. The Sports & Fitness Industry Association's 2015 Participant Report listed pickleball participation at 2.46 million people, and the USA Pickleball Association reports the number of places to play has nearly doubled since 2010.

So why the growing interest in pickleball, a sport similar to tennis but played on a smaller court with a wiffle ball and what Hinkel called “pingpong paddles on steroids?”

For one, the sport is popular with an ever-growing population age 55 and older, owing mostly to the smaller court and slower pace of play.

“You still run around, but it's not like tennis,” said Helen Brincka, 70, of Whitehall, who travels with her sister Mary Ann to various Western Pennsylvania communities to play pickleball.

“In tennis, you're really hitting with the racket. (Pickleball) isn't as strenuous. It is in some ways; we play with people who are really tennis pros, and they really hit the ball really hard. But it's just a fun sport,” Brincka said.

The “fun-loving sport” creates a level of camaraderie, Brincka said.

Hinkel is involved with a group that plays pickleball several times a week at various locations. It began with five members a few years ago and now numbers more than 100, he said.

Although pickleball is most popular among older generations, Hinkel said a growing number of younger people play it in schools.

“The schools that do the best in promoting pickleball in their gym classes also tend to have better tennis players because you gravitate from one sport to the other,” said Hinkel, who incorporates pickleball into his own tennis lessons.

“The strokes are pretty much the same, and you're able to then learn that special distance that the ball is from your hitting area.”

More than a dozen Western Pennsylvania communities now have places for people to play — whether in a gym with a temporary court setup, on a community tennis court with added pickleball lines or on a specialty pickleball court.

Collier built two official pickleball courts at Collier Park.

Brincka, who traveled to various South Hills towns to play, asked Whitehall over the summer for a court there and council voted to install posts and netting at Snyder Park.

Baldwin Borough officials are discussing adding lines for pickleball to tennis courts in Elm Leaf Park.

Renovations completed early this year at the Richard G. Synder YMCA in Kittanning included space for pickleball.

“It was something that could be for all ages, as well as families,” said fitness director Hillary Brown. “It was a little costly to buy the equipment initially, but it was just something else for us to offer our members.”

From a municipality's perspective, pickleball is a good offering because it's relatively inexpensive and has a dedicated following — bringing bang for the buck.

The Ross Community Center offers pickleball three times a week during the fall, charging $4 for residents and $5 for non-residents to play for two hours.

“It's a great program,” said Eloise Peet, Ross' parks and recreation director. “They get a really great response. It's ongoing, so you don't have to sign up for a 10-week thing or anything.

“You can just come.”

Ross began offering pickleball three years ago, and it continues to draw a dedicated following. Peet called it one of the department's best values.

Brown believes the pickleball boom will continue.

“I know how quickly it grew here,” she said.

“Nobody even knew what it was, and now we have people waiting outside the door for the gym to be open for them to use it.”

Doug Gulasy is a staff writer for Trib Total Media. Reach him at dgulasy@tribweb.com or via Twitter @dgulasy_Trib.