fitbody
childhood into adulthood until she transferred her passion to pickleball. She assesses that half of participants are “totally focused on pickleball,” while the rest see it as a way to improve their volleying skills for tennis. “It definitely improves reflexes. It’s easy for beginners to pick it up and have fun.” It also introduces kids to racquet sports. Stretching the shoulders before
Fast-paced action is a hallmark of pickleball.
Court Fitness Racquets and Paddles
New Ways to
Get a Sporting Makeover by Randy Kambic
Two fun ways to use tennis courts for fitness are showing big increases in popularity.
Meet the New “Pickleball” You may not have heard of it yet, but pickleball is a mixture of tennis, squash and table tennis, and it’s one of the fastest-growing sports in the country. The USA Pickleball Association (USAPA) at
usapa.org estimates that 2.5 million players are active now, with the number expected to multiply to 8
52 NA Triangle
www.natriangle.com
million by next year. Regulation tennis courts especially
marked for pickleball facilitate its smaller, 20-by-44-foot playing area. The need for less running about appeals to older players and others, as does the distinctive thud when the hard paddle hits the plastic ball. (Sample video at
Tinyurl.com/Winning PickleballShot.) Christine Barksdale, 48, of Vancou-
ver, Washington, USAPA’s managing director of competition and athlete services, played league tennis from
playing is advised by licensed sports massage therapist Brian Horner, who works with athletes at pickleball, tennis, racquetball and beach volley- ball tournaments in Arizona, California and elsewhere. The shoulder is like the handle of a whip in these sports, says Horner, who authored the new ebook Complete Guide to Winning Pickleball (PickleballTournaments. com). “If it isn’t operating normally, when more pressure is applied it can strain the elbow and wrist.” Swimming, especially backstrokes, is advised because therapists regard water as a friend of shoulders. “Sixty to 70 percent of the people
that play [here] are retired,” says Steve Munro, owner of the West View Tennis Center, in Morgantown, West Virginia. He also sees the sport as a nice transi- tion for older tennis players. Pickleball was invented in Wash-
ington’s Bainbridge Island in 1965 by then Congressman Joel Pritchard and businessman Bill Bell. Along with the Pacific Northwest, some other major pockets of popularity include Chicago, Phoenix, southern Utah, Orange County, California; and Collier, Lee and Miami-Dade counties, in Florida.
Tennis Goes Cardio Participants of Cardio Tennis, a Tennis Industry Association program, benefit from high-intensity, aerobic, interval training, using functional movement to run to return shots and move around the court in preparatory footwork drills. It also increases stamina and endur- ance, which enhances both regular tennis performance and overall fitness. According to
CardioTennis.com
(which includes a sample video), men
courtesy of USAPA/Tom Gottfried
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