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For many die-hard tennis fans and players, Pickleball poses a threat to the world’s dominant racquet sport. What future lies in store for two racket sports that refuse to co-exist?
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Would love to see a video on Padel Ball with that growing in popularity in the US and UK.
I THINK YOU MEAN THAT “THE GAME OF TENNIS IS IN A BIT OF A PICKLE”
I never saw anyone playing pickleball. People are always on the courts playing tennis. Who actually plays pickleball???
Missed a golden opportunity with the video title: Tennis is in a pickle
Fo’ Pickle Mah Nikel!!!
I think the biggest thing that benefits pickleball is its low barrier for entry. As a long time tennis player it's much easier to get people who have never played to try out pickleball since its easy simple and the technique required to play at a base "fun" level is significantly lower. I will always continue to prefer tennis due to the depth and complexity but whenever I can get four random friends together pickleball is a significantly easier and more fun adventure to go on.
It's big ping pong. Tennis takes weeks to get from 0 to recreationally semi-competent. It takes about an hour to go from 0 skill to recreationally semi-competent in pickleball, and it's not nearly and physically fatiguing. Where I live, tennis has such a gatekept and country club attitude. Beginner level lessons are expensive as hell, consistent play is tough to come by unless you're a member of some club or organization, and most people would prefer just to hit around as opposed to playing a set.
@@parkercrossland410 Funny thing is that my biggest annoyance is that it is really just big ping pong rather than big table tennis. Hard rackets with no grip make volleying too much of a part of the game. I love table tennis because you can have small rallies over the table, but you can also get extended rallies 10-15 ft away from the table where you're really ripping the ball. But I do get annoyed because we all know that the same people here complaining their ass off about pickleball were the same people making fun of pickleball players for being "lazy fat americans" before they started playing. Let people be active, hell some might even come play tennis. I started playing tennis this year because I enjoyed playing pickleball with my parents.
This is a really good point. I always say yes to playing tennis with friends but i know I'll be kinda bored when i do because I'm more experienced. Playing pickleball would be way better considering how much it levels the playing field
Yeah anyone who's played tennis should be able to tell you how boring it is just suddenly picking up rackets and playing with people who have no experience or just a couple weeks of experience, the struggle to get single rally is painful. Pickleball indefinitely extremely accessible and easy to pick up on for new players.
@@rcbuggies57 As some one who was a super aggressive poacher in mixed, I love playing pickle ball. But like you said its not even Table tennis, the finesse required with spin and deception in table tennis is insane. Pickleball really gets boiled down to quick hands and volley and dink strategy (which I personally love).
In summary, this is "scooter kids at the skate park" of tennis
I'll give you "snowboarders on ski slopes in the '80s".
It's more like the putt putt course to keep the kids occupied as the parents play real golf.
@@tyrone-tydavis5858 cute
I was the scooter kid 😭 but spot on
These pickle ball people steal the indoor basketball hoops too. This is getting out of hand
"Low skill barrier" about sums it all up
It's cheaper, requires less space, and it can be played really easily by beginners. Also the closer confines make it more social. When you play tennis you are about 50 feet from who you are playing with but when you play pickleball they are very close so you can have a casual conversation as you casually play.
OK. F### pickle ball.
@@PsRohrbaugh why though? Everything Alex said was positive
so it's basically like what mini golf is to real golf
@@zedtheexplorer5206 get your own court and then be positive about it. If you're just living out the fantasy of playing ping pong on the tennis court then please stop :D
@@khoango6450 cope lol
Pickleball might be popular in the United States, but i never heard of it outside of that country. Padel is really popular in Spain and Argentina and its getting bigger every time for maybe the same reasons
I thought padel/pickle was the same thing Same here in the nordics, but The padel craze has already died down a bit since a year ago
@@vauhtihirnuCOLA No, padelball is a more interesting sport than pickle imo
exact
and Beach Tennis in Brazil
There's a gazillion other games aside from the 2 you mention including table tennis. It's the fact that it's popular in America that bothers them.
You forgot to mention that pickle ball is 10x easier to learn and become proficient at. As an avid tennis player, the main flaw of tennis is that it’s very hard to get even just ok at the sport. It’s not very fun before that point. Anyone can play pickle ball though.
Its also the physicality. I have prosthetic legs I cannot play tennis with any reasonable degree of competence, I either play half court and still lose cause I can't move fast enough to cover the corners or they lob and I can't rush the net fast enough. I can however play pickleball with my disability and not be a liability to a teammate or get flat out embarrassed. Its a much better sport to play casually, and is more inclusive in that way.
Try pop tennis. It's a blast!
He mentioned it at 2 mins. No?
It's hard to play tennis casually, basically just hitting the ball back and forth to each other In Pickleball casuals can play to win
I say 100 times easier than tennis. Tennis is beyond difficult.
Pickleball is like the love child of table tennis and tennis. The small size of table tennis mixed with big tennis fundamentals and low barrier of entry can fuse the two sports into getting more players. I see pickleball players getting good enough to want to make the jump to either table tennis or tennis themselves.
Pickleball isn't just taking over tennis courts. Where I live, the issue is that older people who happen to be on civic commissions who happen to like pickleball have taken out things like hockey rinks, skate parks, and other areas used by youth to put in pickleball courts instead to serve their own interests. Its infuriating as pickleball can easily be played in a gym, many area churches already use their gyms for this, while these other activities don't have other decent natural outlets.
I'm sorry that's a thi g where you live but it's not where I am so I don't think it's a pickle problem I think it's a you need to encourage you get people I to positions of leadership problem
softball field by my house is getting converted to 12 pickleball courts or something. 50 yards away in the same park there are already 8 courts. Not sure where the nearest rec softball field is once that one goes. People want what they want I guess.
Soccer and Football in the US can share the same field, why can’t Pickleball and Tennis?
The old people have taken over the few courts we have in my town. And they are pretty snoby
@@thepinkestpigglet7529 we already banning them in Denver, so no we are not threatened
As an avid tennis player and coach, I have nothing against pickleball I play it occasionally and its a lot of fun. The thing I do have a problem with is when people try to put lines on tennis courts, very rarely you will see people attempt to put pickleball lines on a tennis court and not screw it up either they use tape and its to thick that it will cause bad bounces when playing tennis or the paint will be all over the place and not even having straight lines making the court an eyesore. I do think its a good idea to add pickleball lines to tennis courts especially in these big facilities that have 20+ courts
Just the sound when the ball hits the racket is just stupid
Badminton players enter the chat
i agree--pball lines dont belong on a tennis court--that said--its because townships with with no foresight and cheapness try to kill 2 birds with one stone...pball folk hate playing on tennis courts--we would like our own designated courts..and plenty of them..my town(PEQ..NJ) finally after 40 years fixed our disgraceful tennis courts and then out of cheapness put pball lines on them--
Is spin a factor in pickleball? without spin, such as topspin, sidespin, slice, the game would be more like squash then. but even if it did, I'm not sure how much of an effect it would have since the court is very small. Also does the pickleball moves in the air like a wiffleball? The game would be much more challenging and fun if it did.
@@rolandknaap3577 You mean the wiffle ball?
The financial side of it makes it more interesting. So few players can make it through future’s and challenger events to make tennis financially viable.
Yeah also at my local courts, the pickle ball players don’t even go on the courts with the eyesore of lines they have, but instead go in the courts without the pickle ball lines, and all around they push down the net, which has cost our local courts 8 nets and 2 separate courts net posts. It blatantly unacceptable when the pickle ballers could fund a new pickle ball facility
Bro video games bring in tons and tons of money. Its an avenue to get to the non-athlete athlete. Video games, cornhole, spikeball, pickleball, list goes on.
@@markheinle6319 You’re funny.
I don't play either but I used to see empty tennis courts at the parks by me all the time. I never see any empty pickleball courts if the weather is decent. It just makes more sense for public parks to make the tennis courts into pickleball courts.
Tell that to people who live next to them
I've worked at several top country clubs and tennis is by far the most popular sport at all of the clubs, its just depends on the region
No it doesnt make sense. Ruining tennis courts for a fad game is a terrible idea.
@@dthorne4602cry
Not if you live next to one. Its so noisy...people are filing lawsuits.
My grandmother lives in a condo building that just converted one of its tennis courts to pickle ball and she said the noise is insane, the courts are surrounded by tall buildings so the noise bounces and travels up.
Honestly it baffles me how little consideration people have about noise. If you build a house near to an existing racetrack - sure, you have no right to complain, I get it, you asked for trouble yourself. But moving in somewhere and getting flipped over a while later by 2x as noisy sport with potentially 4 times more games being played at the same time? That's ridiculous. Just using tennis or badminton rackets would make pickleball so much more bearable.
That's terrible. I am a pickleball lover but I gotta say they need to come up with a good ball that doesn't sound so loud when hit! The noise situation is awful for many esp those who live near those courts.
we have tennis courts near me, and its so quiet next door there it sounds like no one is even playing.
Cult tennis once again does not fail when it comes to making an absolute banger of a video
Huh? This video is horrible and makes no sense. Its just misinformation. Its like blaming bowling because cornhole got popular. Bowling should have had control of the market on underhand sports!!!! No pickleballs just a zero barrier to entry game. Thats it. Tennis couldnt have stopped pickleball anymore than volleyball could have stopped spikeball. This is just an ignorant, misinformed, agenda driven video. It should be taken down by youtube for misinformation. And I do not like pickleball.
@@markheinle6319 keep coping bro
@@anishg777 what cope? do you think darts should have stopped cornhole or something? i have no idea what youre talking about. instead of saying internet phrases try actually using your words.
@@markheinle6319 Then how come you deleted your first response? All I said was that it's a good video 💀And I do agree with the fact that pickleball lines and nets are annoying to see on tennis courts, let alone the noise.
@@anishg777 fr bro!!
This is a great video. I play tennis 3-4 times a week plus USTA matches and I occasionally play pickleball with friends. It is always fun and I can understand the mass appeal. The video said it best: 1. low skill barrier, 2. any fitness level, and 3. budget conscious. It is the activity for the masses. Tennis is the complete opposite of this in an extreme way.
I agree with point 1 and 2 but tennis has gotten much cheaper. If you just want to play you can get even court specific gear for very low costs. I don't know though if you need to purchase new pickle balls like tennis balls. That could be an argument against me.
@@derKischda pickleball is still cheaper than tennis due to tennis rackets being more expensive than pickleball paddles
Tennis has never been and never will be a sport of the masses. It will always be stuck in this "elitist" mindset.
I kind of disagree with 1 and 3. As someone with a blown knee, I can no longer play tennis well, but I can play pickleball, so I concede 2. That said, when I was first getting into tennis, I went out and bought 2 rackets and 2 cans of balls for $45, and kept them in my trunk. (Sure, I guess 2 pickleball rackets would only be about $25, but a beginner’s racket is still fairly cheap and will be fine for a couple years. If that $15 is the only thing holding someone back from tennis, they don’t actually want to play.) Anytime I was out with friends and we were near a court, we’d play a game or two. I played with people who’d never held a racket before and I played with people who were weekly players and always had a good time - a friend and I once even snuck away for half an hour during a wedding reception and played while wearing a suit and tie. Yes, sometimes, especially with new players, I spent as much time outside the fence finding the ball as I did inside the court, but frankly that gave them enough of a handicap to keep the rallies more even. I think fun at tennis is what you make of it. Absolutely, if what you want is a solid rally and good competition, my stories probably just sound frustrating . But some of my fondest memories are tennis games with friends. I don’t think it HAS to be elitist. I think people are just scared they’ll suck and people aren’t willing to teach them.
yeah because tennis takes actual skill and practice, you also have to be an athlete.
The park down my street had two tennis courts. For years they would sit mostly empty, with someone playing less than once a week. Then one was converted to a set of pickleball courts. Those courts were full almost every day with pickleball players and there was usually a wait to get on the court in the evening after work. So, the city converted the other tennis court as well. Now that park doesn;t have tennis at all. Times change. You don't see many bowling alleys any longer either.
happened the same thing in chicago
literally never see people play tennis where i live
Tennis requires athleticism and the learning of difficult skills so it isnt as popular these days with all the fatties. Pickleball is perfect for fatties.
Many public park tennis courts are used during the workday. In fact, where I live weekdays are the busiest times at our local tennis courts. People think they are empty because they aren't there when they are being used.
Seeing this everywhere I travel. Go all over for work and always play PB, 2 tennis courts gets you 4 PB courts.
The mismanagement of tennis streaming is really killing people’s engagement with the sport. I wish a whole video was made on that because it’s ridiculous how many different barriers there are to watch 1 match. Not to mention college tennis or ITF which is a whole other mess in itself
You could say that about so many sports. It is ridiculously hard to watch sports like figure skating, swimming, or volleyball unless it’s the Olympics or something. They always have these antiquated and frustrating distribution contracts. All of those sports look great on tv but finding any place to watch them is such a pain and they aren’t even that obscure! Everyone knows about the sports that I listed and some of them have household names attached to them! A lot of these “B tier” sports have federations that complain about declining viewership and other financial woes. Can’t imagine why people, aren’t watching your matches or events when the only place to see it is on some D list streaming service. Truly one of the great mysteries of the universe
The skill floor in pickleball is very high. It's not that hard to keep a rally going, and even if you're fat and unathletic, you can play semi-competently. In tennis, that's not the case at all. It's actually quite difficult to even have a 6 ball rally in tennis, let alone try to win the point, rather than just keep the ball in. I think that accessibility is a big part of what makes pickleball attractive.
Bottom line, the skill and athleticism is a few levels below what tennis requires, even at the basic level. Like you said, you can be old, fat and unathletic and still have a decent rally going. Its more of a pastime really than a "sport". Sorry, but that's the way it seems to me.
You mean the skill floor is low, not high. High skill floor means its hard to get into
@@Gustavo-xz8os Skill floor meaning the skill expression at the lowest levels. It's high - even the lowest levels are decently skilled when it comes to pickleball. The least skilled pickleball player is still a decent player.
Ya I have no idea how OP wrote this whole video then randomly said its tennis organizations faults. Its a zero skill barrier "sport". Thats gonna fly. Even tennis players play it! No amount of "marketing" was going to stop it. Or spikeball. Or cornhole.
@@markheinle6319 No he's right about the ATP monopoly though. They'd do ridiculous shit like ban players that played WTT from playing in their tournaments.
All these people are joining pickle ball because of a few things. 1: it’s way easier. 2: it does not have the pretentious stereotype. 3: because it’s so new everyone is just starting so skill levels are much closer between so more people can play together together.
Both ball golf and tennis have the pretentious stereotype.
Pickleball doesn't rely on viewership. It's more of a drinking game or hobbie. Tennis has a bad monetization strategy and is too much for the average person to casually play. Especially while drinking or being social.
The bottom line: drive by any tennis court and it is most likely empty. Drive by any pickleball court and it is likely full of players. Pickleball is good for America because people actually go out and play which is good for health. Why? Tennis and Ping Pong (table tennis) take quite a bit of time and practice just to be able to keep the ball on the court/table. It takes a long before it gets to be fun. Anybody can have fun their first or second time playing pickleball but there is still plenty of challenge. Pickleball is easy to get started but hard to get good. Another huge advantage to pickleball is that a paddle can last for 10 years and the ball is good for a few weeks. Those crazy tennis balls don't last nearly as long. I'm a long time table tennsi player and I've switched to pickleball.
Doesn't look like Pickleball (or padel/beach tennis...) is steering tennis players away from tennis BUT it might take surface area away from tennis. And that is a real threat for tennis.
Many of the Pickleball players I meet are or were also Tennis players. Some quit Tennis, but I think most play both. I also know many Pickleball players that play Ping Pong, Badminton, Racquetball, as well as other non-racket sports. As for the space, the place I played the most when I lived in Dallas, was a 5 court Tennis facility that had been converted to 3 Tennis and 4 Pickleball courts. Every single time I go there, there are FAR more Pickleball players than Tennis players. The MOST Tennis players I've ever seen there was 8, and there are always 20-40 Pickleball players there, with people waiting for a game. The threat to Tennis is not losing courts, but waning interest.
This is an insane take
As others said, Pickleball seems to be an amercian 'problem'. Here too Padel is entering the scene, and honestly, it might be needed to keep tennis afloat. I've seen a fair number of tenniscenters struggling with upkeep because fewer and fewer members are ready to pay full membership. So rather than the center closing alltogether, I think it's better to repurpose extra space into something that can generate more money. As long as tennis remains the main focus there should not be an issue
Americans waiting too long for a long standing no1 so had to downgrade and leave the cream behind. The Tennis DNA pool is now stronger.
Yet, he said that “tennis had more new member than pickleball has members.” Really? Who’s recording those statistics? Every time I see tennis courts and pickleball courts at a park, the tennis courts are empty, and the pickleball pickleball courts are full.
@@altruismfirst6489uh wat
I really think there is an easier answer. Pickleball is just a lot easier. You don't have to be in shape or have much skill to play it. The average person can't pick up a tennis racket and perform 7/10 serves that land in the box. The average person can do everything in pickleball though. That simplicity is it's biggest strength. The issue isn't that pickleball is growing in popularity (especially as a casual recreation). The problem is who cities and parks are trying to add pickleball courts. I never saw an issue with painting some extra lines in a different color on the tennis courts. That was smart. You get to use that court for whichever group shows up to use it, great. The issue came when places start adding pickleball ONLY courts (often times by removing a tennis court). Where I live, a park generally only has 2 tennis courts. When those courts are full, you have to drive to the next park. It's not uncommon to find the courts are full. But now that issue has only gotten worse as tennis courts get replaced. It would be one thing if the demand for tennis courts weren't there but we literally have to drive around to find the open courts already. The answer isn't removing tennis courts to get pickleball. We just need more courts.
I played tennis in high school and it's still my favorite sport. Of course I scoffed at pickleball. But my local high school has 8 courts largely unused, and I tried hooking up with players online for matches without much luck. On the other hand, pickleball courts are jammed, and the game is much more social and quite fun. I now play on a ladder league and I look forward to match day eagerly. It's simply easier to get a game and quite challenging as you level up.
lol challenging
@@joefitzgerald2762 I get the disdain, when I saw pickleball and who I saw playing it I thought "never!". But it's fun as hell and yes competitive just like tennis, as you keep levelling up you will find players with tremendous skill and technique. About half the people I play have played tennis, you can tell by power topspin groundstrokes and perfect technique on overheads. Try it out sometime vs. high level players and tell me it's not fun... p.s. the dink game is boring, most of us live for speed net battles, but will dink if we find a weakness in our opponents.
@@joefitzgerald2762 If anything is easy then that means it's equally easy for others. Meaning playing against other equally fit people will be challenging. This is common sense.
@@trevorhirby but it's a joke. It isn't a sport. Ping pong is more athletic than pickleball. A real athlete will not get a workout from pickleball, even at a high level.
@@dthorne4602 yes they will. You don’t know shit
Reminds me of when rollerblading got really popular
Or when snowboarders got yelled at for being on ski slopes. End of the day, it's going to keep courts from getting turned into parking lots.
It's hard because I am on the fence with this sport. Any racket sport has my admiration but it's hard seeing tennis courts losing their space. I have also recently befriended a pro Pickleball player who taught me the game which I am grateful for. Plus, a lot of older people are becoming active again and seeing them light up from joy is hard to hate.
I went to a community centre for my first intro to PB and everyone was so welcoming. After say 3x out playing and figuring how the scoring works I was good to go. For tennis, my head spins if I tried to add up what I spent on lessons over the years.
how I see it, past a certain age you can still play both padel and pickelball with no mercy and enjoy it. You can even play people a lot younger and fast than you and enjoy (there is an advantage but it's not game breaking). Past a certain age tennis is extremely hard and frunstrating: you can generate speed in the ball that you opponent does not have the speed to handle anymore (and same for him vs you). That means very few funny rallies unless you tone it down. Personally (padel player) the ability to play serve and volley, and the cage that helps with fast balls forcing you to play smart make all the difference in the world. Easy to play and enjoy and hard to master is what tennis lacks compared to his little cousins.
I’ve never seen tennis courts being used. The only exception is the one or two courts being used in a area with 20 courts. I see it as a big waste of space considering not many people apparently play
@@subyouwont No doubt that people use them all the time. But you also seem empty soccer and football fields, which is hardly a waste. Tennis is a one-on-one or two-on-two support. There needs to be a large number of courts so that, when a tournament happens, everyone can play at the same place. But a consequence of having so many courts is that they mostly only fill up at events. I hardly think this is a waste. Where I live, all (except country club courts, which are used all the time, and one at a park) of the courts are used by middle or high schools. If you expect a bunch of middle schoolers, or even high schoolers, to play one at a time... not only is that an absurd expectation to place on them, but games would probably end up going until the next day.
We have something similar in Germany, it's called Speckbrett ( literally "cutting board for ham") because they used to use cutting boards as rackets. The court is only a bit smaller than tennis and it still uses a tennis ball so it is not as loud as pickleball.
It's called pop tennis now and it's a great social game Used to be known here as paddle tennis but that got confusing with the growth of padel.
It’s kind of sad what the state of tennis courts are like at the high schools around me. A lot of them just have multiple cracks on each court and the only one that doesn’t have multiple cracks is starting to show cracks!
Also a Padel problem (in Europe)
Like others have said here in the comments: Tennis has a padel problem. In Chile it didn't exist 2 years ago and now is huge. Most of my tennis playing friends are playing more padel than tennis. In the UK and Sweden is getting bigger and bigger and even in Australia is getting more popular. Ahh and in Kuwait, Qatar and UAE is huge also.
same here in the Netherlands to the point that over saturation is getting very rapidly there. I worry if it will stay as big or falter after the big first craze is over.
@@sirBrouwer in Chile is definitely saturated. The city where I used to live when from 2 to 25 courts in less than 2 years. I any case, there’s so much people playing it.
@@RoPuffe as long as people are playing it's fine. It is more as soon as the hype goes down even a bit for the next sports craze people flock to. Will the group that stay and keep playing be big enough to cover the conversion of all those courts.
How much does it cost to build a pickleball court if you have an available surface? maybe $150. Same question for padel? Additionally, you can undo the making of the pickleball court on the fly and not even know it was there. Padel? Doubt it.
@@offthefront7537 that’s 100% true. Padel courts need to be build from scratch, but I would say the feeling of hitting the ball is way more satisfying than pickle ball.
I played my first game of pickleball this past Thanksgiving week. I was amazed at the ease of entry. I used to play tennis up to my teens, so I know what that game is like. My sister and I were able to buy 2 decent PB paddles and a set of balls at Wal-Mart for $70 total (paddles started at $9.99, we bought the $30 ones). We went down to the local rec center and were playing rallies within 15 minutes. I'm 55. I have not picked up a racket of any kind in 40 years, my sister has never played and within an hour we were playing real games and keeping score and everything. To get to the same level in tennis my sister and I would have to take months of lessons. The beauty of the game is that literally anyone from age 8 to 80 can pick up a paddle and be playing in a few minutes. I was able to play with my 74 year old mother and we had a great time. There is no way she could play tennis at her age. Obviously, tennis is the more dynamic sport. It has greater dept at the pro level and is more enjoyable to watch on TV. I agree that PB doubles on TV looks dumb and boring. PB singles on the other hand is pretty interesting to watch. At the recreational up to league level there is a lot to be said for pickleball. The sad thing about tennis is that because of the cost of entry and the skills needed it has turned itself into an elitist sport, similar to golf. I'm sold on pickleball. I can't wait to get a little better so I can join a local league myself.
Tennis is an aristocrat spectator sport. Despite having 50 years on the throne it has done very little to improve the health of the public. PB is another American ingenuity that is easier to play than basketball and can help the nation with physical exercises.
This is like if disc golf and ball golf players had to fight over courses getting converted, lmao
In Brazil it is the beach tennis. Tennis has never been popular here, but many many football courts have been switching to BT. It has been also getting a lot of attention from public and business. Note that people that have never had any sport experience in life have been training and playing on amateur leagues of BT. This is very motivating for people of every age and gender to start a sport after adult and feel the challenge of training, preparing for a tournament, things that in tennis for example would be only reserved for top players on their peak of fit and tecnics
Brazil is probably the most boring sports country. Just a bunch of soccer. No variety
@@westhoodqualzini7884 no voleyball, futvolley, jiu jitsu, skateboard, judo, among the ones that are very popular here.
@@ArturVarejao i have no idea what a futvolley is
@@westhoodqualzini7884 search in google
@@westhoodqualzini7884probably the most stupid opinion ive ever heard ofc youre american
Donald Young went to play pickleball? What a downfall....
For pickleball 🤓
Well, he wasn’t cracking the ATP top 20
Sam Querery switched to pickleball now. But he was as done with tennis. I think. He claimed he would be the #1 pickleball pro in 3-4 months. He had no such luck. Jack Sock also played in the same spectator tournament and Jack was an amazing natural. Michael Played, but he really sucks.
Hard to reach a higher height than former Delray Beach finalist…
@@RichardsWorld it has still only been 2 months lol
I used to play pickleball with my parents every week pre-Covid. I'm guessing a little less than half the people we played with were current or former tennis people. Some enjoyed both, others got too old for the physical demands of tennis. I never once got the feeling there was a rivalry or anything.
Pickle ball is substantially more enjoyable than tennis. This is coming from someone who played tennis 3-5x per week for 30+ years. The game is faster. There’s a ping pong element that drives adrenaline. You interact with way more people.
I know I'm biased because I'm a tennis player, but I just can't shake the feeling that pickleball in the long run won't be financially viable. There's been some heavy investments by celebrities, media giants and corporate sponsors, but pickleball is boring to watch on TV (especially doubles) which the primary medium they are relying on. And if the interest isn't there, than you're pouring money away on nothing, and you can only spend more than you make for so long. In other words, it feels too much like a regional trend, and won't have much appeal outside the US, like Padel.
You may be right, to many spectators, pickleball is boring to watch, especially if you come from viewing tennis. Many also find tennis boring, considering how serve dominant the game has become. Pickleball will definitely continue to grow its player base though (unlike tennis), due to the low barrier to entry. It can be fun almost instantly, unlike Tennis.
I agree with the pickleball part, except Padel is actually growing all around the world, really fast.
I like watching it...
I agree. I think pickleball is here to stay as a past time that a lot of people will play. But as a spectator sport? Tennis is just better to watch with the athleticism on display. Even if you want a tennis alternative, ping pong or sqaush are much more exciting to watch.
Yall say it's boring to watch, but many people (myself included) would say that Baseball or Golf are boring to watch as spectator sports and yet they do quite well in ratings.
The quality editing, the thoughtful story telling, instant subscribe!
We get it, you are a tennis SHILL. . .
As a 58 year old tennis player, I still enjoy tennis more than pickleball. But sometimes my knees look over at the pickleball players on the court next to us with envy. But most pickleball players seem old to me. The courts in my community are marked for both, which is sometimes frustrating as a tennis player.
A great video. Thanks for spending so much time putting it together!
Nice analysis! You might need to add that tennis can be played in different surfaces like grass and clay courts while pickle ball can only played in hardcourt or maybe some kind of wooden surface.
As a competitive tennis player, I did try some pickleball. Just not for me, but I am all for it if it’s gets people on the court who wouldn’t ordinarily be active. My club has converted 3 courts into 12 pickleball courts and they are jammed. I have also played Padel and really enjoyed it. Much faster and athletic than pickleball. Great sport.
Too hard or fast for you shame sorry Pball is more fun than tennis 🎾
@@carlrodrigues6919 Haha, considering I played Div 1 college tennis I would definitely say pickleball wasn’t too fast for me. Actually, the opposite. But that is its appeal and has led to its growth. People can pick it up pretty quickly and be able to play decently, which is the opposite of tennis which is much more difficult. If you read my original comment I am all for pickleball as a sport, just wasn’t for me.
The majority of people just want to have fun playing a game. To the average player, tennis can be fun when you are young and have an aptitude for play. I don't know much about Pickleball but it looks like it is fun for all ages, you don't have to have an "aptitude" for it to play, and I imagine there is less "running after balls". Maybe they can fix the noise levels by applying Ping-Pong padding material to the rackets.
The noise of 1000 pickleball courts pales in comparison to two tennis players screaming every time they swing 😂
Pickleball is simple to get into and much slower paced. The level between an intermediate and a beginner is not as wide as in tennis. It's a much more welcoming sport, but it also means that at the very highest level, it's not much higher than most advanced players. I feel like it's really caught on in America because it's a low-fitness sport and a lot of celebrities can also play it without looking like idiots. I'm not sure pickleball is as viable in, say 10 years, and I doubt it'll catch on globally. Plus, because pickleball tends to be more boring to watch, even though investments are high now, when they see that it's not realizing financial returns, the investments will drop. Tennis has a visibility problem and pickeball doesn't. Imo that's the biggest difference.
so are you saying that pickle ballers are people who would look like idiots trying to play tennis?
@@jaydubb2005 Casual pickleballers *may* look like an idiot when playing tennis, but this is not exclusively the case. Nobody wants to be recorded swinging at a tennis ball and missing, especially celebrities/influencers.
@@deathlightning55 excellent point about high profile personalities being image self-conscious
Up until 2 years ago I had never heard of pickleball, and when my tennis club installed 2 new pickleball courts I thought they were baby courts for the junior groups
maybe high population of dwarfs in the area?
@@golfmaniac007 you might be onto something here
Then you got educated Pball most fun period
@@carlrodrigues6919 pickle trash is fun for unathletic normies. Why don’t you play a real sport instead of a gimmick knockoff?
Very well put. The irony of all of this (in my case) is that I only heard of this channel because I play and watch pickleball videos on YT, and therefore have been recommended other racket/paddle sport videos. Having grown up with table tennis, taking up pickleball has reinvigorated an interest in other similar sports, so I may start playing tennis at some point. It's possible that PB could help tennis in the long run.
I personally like both sports. There really doesn’t need to be turf war. They can both coexist. Heck, pickelball might be a gateway for more kids playing racket sports. It could increase tennis players nationally in a couple decades.
It isnt a gateway sport at all. Its the reverse. Its what you play when you get older because you dont want to run anymore or didnt play tennis as a kid. You aint picking up tennis at 60....
Great video! Next time you should cover Padel, which is very popular in some parts in Europe and makes a great competitive sport
The visuals in this video were amazing. Please give whoever did the visuals and editing a raise.
Just as tennis rackets (and I assume the governing rules changed) in the late 1970's to allow larger beginner friendly rackets, there is room for pickleball to introduce some technology to reduce noise. Particularly the rackets. If a new quiet design is developed, even if not as playable as the current, ones are, the new technology can be mandated. Many sports have required certain technologies to improve the sport, such as restrictions in motor racing, and certain club designs in golf.
Rather than changing paddle technology to be quieter, it would be easier to mandate quieter pickleballs. Of course, this would change the game quite a bit, but balls are easier to regulate. However, the force exerted by various players makes a difference in the sound, and that may be impossible to regulate. Either way, the tapping sound people are hearing is the sound of America getting more active. It’s funny that there is any controversy in pickleball. It checks all the boxes: easy to start to play, inexpensive, social, FUN, healthy. Even the silly name is a plus because it reminds us that it’s a game played for fun.
It's horseshit.
@@robsutton3092 its not getting people more active, its an incredibly immobile sport. a study on total exercise from a picleball matchshowed that it was equal to only half of the exercise they would get if they literally just walked around during that time.
@@TheFamousMockingbird That’s a good point. There are pickleball players that move very little during a game. Usually these are people with limited mobility to begin with. It is good that they are doing any sort of physical activity. But perhaps they would have more fun walking around. However, the amount off exercise you get playing pickleball depends on how hard you play it. Like most sports, you choose how much you exert yourself.
Tennis IN THE US has a Pickleball Problem, nobody outside of the US plays this
Just wait. It has spread dramatically in Canada in the past few years.
@@kennyg1358 As far as I know, the US only borders Canada and Mexico, and one of them isn’t exactly fond of the US. It’s going to become a sport thats pretty much only played in the US and other random countries, like American Football (hint is in the name) and Baseball. I don’t want to be an ass, but I could bet everything I own on the fact that if I at least went through the streets of Serbia right now, which has boomed in tennis popularity for obvious reasons in the past 2 decades, there’s a small chance that 1 out of 100 will have ever heard of Pickleball. It looks fun to play, but not to watch
Actually it is becoming popular in India, something often overlooked.
Cult Tennis always crushes it with these videos! This one was no different. Great video right here!
Reviewing videos now , when does it end ha :)
I have an idea for a video: Could you or someone else do an "iceberg" video on Tennis? The sport interests me, but i have little to no clue about the history, strategies, and drama. It would serve as a nice introduction to the sport.
id love to see Real Tennis become the next popular racket sport. for anyone unaware its the original version of tennis played in a special indoor court, where hitting off of the walls is allowed (and from what i can tell, there is no real out of bounds other than the stands) and other odd rules
I think it's funny referring to the two sides as "refusing to coexist" when from my experience I see pickleball players just wanting a place to play and tennis players just not wanting pickleball players to have a place to play. That might just be my experience but I don't see a lot of hostility come from the pickleball side.
@@ryyichy overall hostility homie not just a few random incidents
I hate both pickle ball and tennis, but at least tennis is quieter.
Around here the pickleball players want to force out children and basketball from all paved surfaces in my county.
As an ‘outsider’ (guy who plays predominantly video games rather than sports) looking in, that’s exactly what it looks like to me. Tennis players need to learn that sharing is OK, and shed this seemingly ‘elitist’ mind set they have. And they best do it before they start looking like those elitist FPS players, the “real gamers” and all that.
Lmao I should rewrite that one copypasta just to make fun of them…
I've always taken the stance that anything that draws people into something you like is a good thing. For example, I box, and a lot of boxers complain about the Paul brothers and all these KZheadrs boxing, but if it gets kids into boxing, I see it as a good thing.
Yeah, just wait until people get into Tennis from Pickleball and try to change Tennis into being more like Pickleball.
The problem is when they come in with the wrong attitude and wanna act like their dickhead idols and need to have the humility beat into them.
I don't think that more kids with head injuries that lead to Parkinson disease is "good thing".
@@prkp7248 you're right, we shouldn't allow people to do anything that could ever be bad for them. Just vegan food and wearing helmets everywhere you go outside of the house...
@@NotKimiRaikkonen therr is difference between prohibition of everything and what I wrote - that more kids in Boxing as in american football is not principally good idea. There are more sports and better than those two.
I was searching KZhead cause I wanted to get into tennis but then saw this video. I drive by tennis courts on the way home and they were always empty. They converted one to some pickleball courts and I now see people playing every day I'm heading home from work.
The other day my city announced they were building brand new pickleball courts in a park and now I'm hearing about it everywhere even though I've never heard of it before then.
And let’s not forget the massive growth of Padel worldwide. Amazing spectator sport. More entertaining to watch on tv than Pickleball.
Not really
Paddle courts are super expensive Pball the best fun hands down
I agree Pickleball is a ton of fun. I play Pickleball myself and love it. But if I have to chose between watching Padel or Pickleball on tv. Padel wins hands down. Now playing Pickleball wins LoL.
I think badminton gets left out of the picture a lot, its great fun to play/watch as well
It's insane to me that college tennis hasn't been capitalized. A shame really
Listen, college football is nothing but exploitation on the college side. Let’s not encourage that to spread to other sports.
They just set up some pickleball courts at my gym. I should give it a try. It seems like it'll help with my reaction time at the net. Plus, it looks easier to learn, so maybe I can play with my wife.
It's definitely easier to learn because it's slower. There's way more ball control involved though so the skill ceiling is actually probably higher than tennis. A tennis ball simply can't move in such varied ways. A wiffle ball can be controlled waaaaaay more than a tennis ball, purely because the design
@@AdaptiveApeHybrid are you allowed to bring the ball to a stand still? if yes that game is broken and cant be fun.
Honestly, my biggest annoyance with pickleball is that if they're at my local courts, the wiffleballs blow into my court really easily AND the sound of the ball hitting the paddle annoys the hell out of me. Especially when I'm trying to serve. Idk why but it does.
Same! 🤨
Maaan, it is just a cacophony of noise, and they have no problems screaming at the top of their lungs for points, when there are a bunch of tennis players serving in matches nearby. Most of the players seem to be older or out of shape, so I guess it's good they're getting exercise, if they could just keep the noise to a low roar and stop screaming...
When they scream while I am trying to concentrate on my tennis serve 😒. Sometimes I want to tell them to calm down, there is no freak accident to cause that screaming. Their screaming and "COME ON" for every point can be so distracting from my tennis match. I have noticed that most pickle ball players are out of shape seniors. I have seen middle aged males and females form cliques
Skill issue
Honestly, skill issue tho
I know coming up with new interesting videos for Tennis must be a daunting task.. so I cherish each video this man produces :') appreciate the effort !
Your videos are so so good. Thanks man. Learned a lot
The rise in pickleball is interesting to me. I graduated highschool in 2006 and we played it all 4 of my highschool years. I’ve been wanting to play it but could never find courts.
Why don’t you get in shape and play a real sport not a gimmick knockoff
my local tennis club was recently sold to a pickleball company and it honestly pisses me off. I have played tennis there for years and it feels really strange that the tennis courts I loved for so long will be gone.
same exact story here 😢
I know that feeling very well...
As it was with raquetball.
You have to admit that tennis is a dying sport. Most of the time tennis courts are unused
@@dantu5377 I've been hearing that refrain regarding the sport since at least the 1990's, after the "Golden Age" of tennis seemed like it had ended. And in the realm of keeping clubs (particularly indoors) open, and courts available, you have a point; I think the sport is very popular in terms of viewership, but perhaps when laymen go and pick up a racquet and try to play like their idols, there is a large let-down. Tennis has always been deceptively simple to watch, and to make matters worse, the scoring is weird for beginners. Hopefully there are enough grass-roots programs and initiatives available through USTA and smaller tennis clubs, to say nothing of the variety of smartphone apps that help players link up with one another so that new life may be yet be breathed into the staid sport of tennis.
Stellar video. I play both; Pickle is fun too, but Tennis will always reign Supreme.
Everyone always talks about wanting options but if an option pops up and it is accessible; suddenly options are pointless and irritating. They'll say we have enough options now.
Fun fact: You shouldn't be arguing about the sports you should release that this is good that people are even coming out of their homes and playing the game.
Common Sense isn't really common anymore
I’m an American. It’s really not that hard. The appeal is 100% being able to feel like a tennis player but not having to run as much or be as skilled to hit good shots. As someone who plays and enjoys both, that’s literally it. We’re lazy
Thanks for your honesty. 😉
I remember playing pickleball in gym class around 2012/13 and hated it, it came around late last year hearing people talking about it and taking it seriously
You're right, it's trash.
padel is taking over. packed with action and amazing dramatic shots in each single rally. fun to watch and play
Pickleball is boring to watch but 1vs1 is honestly fun to play.. Ps i like playing tennis and pickleball or padel can involve people to racket sport
1 v 1 would be nice, but pickleball can't take that route because of the social aspect as well as age demographic
The noise of pickleball sounds annoying, to me, when the tennis ball meets the strings theres a relaxing pop rather than a hard impact against 2 hard surfaces
The frequency of pickleball impact is in a range that travels a long way and it penetrates. They also hit the ball a lot more often...oh and because they arent running very much they are drinking and yelling. Its like Top Golf....
My college converted one of the tennis courts into four pickleball courts. They are constantly full in the afternoons while the 7 remaining tennis courts are only full when the varsity and/or club teams are practicing. I had never played pickleball before, but had played some tennis when I was younger, and within maybe 3 sessions I was able to be competitive with my friends who had played 10x as much. I find it really fun to play, but I would never watch it.
I don't know. In sweden we have a relatively new sport called padel, which is a mix between racket ball and tennis. I don't know how similar it is to pickleball but it also started taking over tennis for a few years. But now most of the padel courts stand empty, and people keep playing tennis.
Im from Europe and the exact same phenomenon is happening but with Padel instead of pickleball. Super interesting
Padel and Platform Tennis are proper sports. In the US...its what tennis players typically play when they live in areas that are too cold and the courts shut down for the winter. I would play Padel or Platform Tennis....you can keep Pickleball.
Good video. As a longtime tennis player who recently got into pickleball (more due to availability than any other reason), I really hope some of the "wars" between the two end soon. Both are awesome for different reasons.
Tennis hierarchy also continually ignores that the vast majority of players, tennis and pickleball, play DOUBLES. Pickleball on TV is almost exclusively doubles; tennis on TV is almost exclusively singles.
Thats because mixed tennis doubles suck hard.
@@nox5555 - Huh?
Excellent elucidation. Haven't played tennis since high school in '72. Been wondering what this pickleball stuff is. A couple notes on the sound thing: 10 db can be a lot. Both our ears and the db sale are logarithmic. A 3 db change is the smallest that we can easily hear, and it takes twice the power to get a 3 db increase. So a 100 watt amp is only 3 db louder than a 50 watt amp. NOT twice as loud. So a 10-12 db change in sound pressure level is a BIG change in the power being applied. As you might guess, the closer you get to 100 db, the more radical those changes are. 100 db is jackhammer/jet engine territory.
I'm just as uninterested in pickleball as the next tennis player but vandalizing courts is unacceptable. I think eventually people will get bored of how unathletic pickleball is compared to high-level tennis. It's a fun game to play and can be interesting to watch at it's highest level but comes nowhere close to pro-level tennis. We're experiencing a high-burn fad that will eventually cool down Also props to you Cult Tennis for putting together such an unbiased and well researched video.
I think you’ll see the big money run out eventually. The social aspect and low skill floor will keep the casual players’ attentions far longer than other activities. I don’t think pickleball is necessarily stealing market share from tennis, but rather reaching a different audience, but meeting on the same court.
@@thomaskrueger1457I think that's the really big issue, that pickleball is not just taking some of the tennis real estate, but actually completely overtaking whole parks, to the point of canceling out tennis completely. Pickleball really should just have been a pastime activity relegated to the older communities. And yes, I'm an older person myself. But, really, it's getting a bit out of hand.
@Thomas Kreuger I think the opposite. Casuals are fickle, they move on to the next fad hobby. Maybe paddleboard yoga, zumba dancing, or whatever. A sport is sustained long term by the dedicated players and audience.
Pickleball has passed the fad stage somewhat since it's been a few years and people are still doing it in greater numbers than 10 years ago. I was interested in tennis but I have to take lessons to become proficient. I tried PB and am proficient after a few months of just playing with friends. This to me is the draw for so many folks. However, all the big money that's going into it is likely just BS... watching PB is a snooze IMO especially watching the pros dink endlessly in a match. It is not that interesting, esp compared to watching Federer, Nadal, Alcaraz, and others in tennis who are just incredible to watch. Bottom line: I'll play PB because it's here to stay, but I'll watch tennis to see some real athleticism.
@@fernandoherranz4095 I agree with you. I don't think people are going to stop playing PB altogether i just think it'll become another niche sport like badminton or table tennis. By fad I just meant the TV coverage it's been getting. People will eventually go back to watching other sports when it becomes obvious that PB isn't as much fun to watch.
“No skill barrier” sums it up perfectly.
The intro is how I feel about disc golf lol
I work at both a park and a community center. The center has court lines for pickleball and the park will be getting courts in the next few months. They center gym times for pickleball are always packed and the programs fill up within a week of registration going live. We actually had to stop selling guest passes for it because there were so many people it got out of control. I can’t imagine how it’s going to be at the park this summer.
Oh my, that's horrible. I hope the fad hurries up and goes away. What a mess.
I was shooting hoops at a neighborhood basketball court the other day, and a bunch of pickleball players showed up and set up right there in front of the net. They’re becoming an absolute menace, it’s not just tennis that’s being threatened…
Who puts a basketball net in a pickleball court
At my city, I find many people playing Beach Tennis insted
I play both, they're great games. But I can talk anyone into trying pickle, and they usually have fun. Unless someone already plays tennis, I'd never be able to play with them.
They had pickleball at our swim club back in the 80's-90's and there was a group of old dudes that took it really serious and had tournaments. I somehow started playing with them as a young kid and was actually pretty good, but we played with racquetball racquets instead of the paddles. It's way way better that way. I recently tried playing with the proper paddles and it was awful, especially the sound. Maybe when I'm too old to enjoy tennis anymore I'll try it again, but until then, I'm sticking with tennis.😂
Legendary video as always! Everything inch perfect. I'm honestly very worried about Tennis from the insane rise of Padel as well. I think it's even more dangerous than pickleball too at this point.
Dangerous in what sense?
Tennis is hard, has kinda high barrier entry and requires dedication to reach the "playable" state. Though the sport is very fascinating and has almost unlimited room for improvements, it also drives "less-atheletic players" who doesn't want to spend the next 3-6 months away to coaching or intensively training.
Yeah that's valid. If you know competitive video games, it's kind of similar why VALORANT has become so popular in comparison to CS:GO
@@fightmeonclubpenguin7748 I'm a competitive gamer indeed :) CS:GO is so hardcore at this point compared to other competitor like Valorant or Overwatch 2, it's just gun duel at this point which depends on how good at mechanical skills you have.
pickleball has the same advantage as table tennis when compared to tennis; it's way easier to pick up. And I don't mean just in terms of skill, I'm talking about the requirements for the person playing. Tennis has always benefited from being a sport where seniors can play, but pickleball is a sport a senior with no racquet sport experience can play even with lower fitness and athleticism. Now more than ever, there's an increasing drive for people to do things that make them feel athletic even when they're not, and pickleball is so perfect for the guy who is intimidated by tennis' requirement for sustained sprints and strength/agility. This is such an unfortunate situation because I love tennis and even though I have virtually no experience playing pickleball at any level above "extremely casual," I think pickleball is a sport that deserves to exist. I love that it allows me to go out with people who aren't super good and still have a good time, because it's so hard to find people to rally with in tennis who aren't either bored by me or make me feel like I'm wasting my time. I think the physical limits of wooden paddles and wiffle balls make professional pickleball little more than a flash in the pan, but the viability of a professional league does not affect 99.9% of players who just enjoy playing a game. Yeah, I've had a couple experiences with pickleball players taking up space on tennis courts, but I've had equally as many experiences with people saying they wouldn't be interested in tennis if it weren't for the sheer accessibility of pickleball as a bridge to more intense and richer racquet sports.
Just come to Europe we have never even heard of pickelball
It's an American ingenuity. It will catch on in Europe too.
@@mandatorym_y_o_c_a_r_d_i_t_i_s I wouldn't count on it, American sports don't do well in Europe. American football, baseball, basketball & ice hockey - while they all exist in Europe, they have extremely niche player bases in comparison with most other professional sports. Here in the UK, I've never even met someone who's played American football, baseball or ice hockey. Basketball is the only really popular US sport that even has any facilities to play it here (with the exception of a few ice rinks dotted about the country where ice hockey is an option).
I love tennis and I’ve been playing my whole life. But tennis has a lot of barriers to entry. It’s hard to learn and not a lot of fun or exercise when you’re starting out. Also, without paying a lot of money for professional lessons, your ceiling is likely going to be very low. Pickleball seems to fix some of those problems and be a more accessible sport. I just hope they don’t destroy too many tennis courts. They should have their own courts.
That's the difficulty. Pickleball has exploded over the last two years and communities are rushing to accommodate the demand. This is causing a backlog in available contractors to make courts for both sports.
@@golfer435 gimmick sports are for normies who are not athletic. I’m not into knockoff gimmick sports. When I play sports I play a real sport
@@westhoodqualzini7884 Go play someone who plays regularly and tell me if it's a gimmick sport
Are you kidding? Its a total joke, its a game, not a sport. any tennis or ping pong player who shows up on a pickleball court will beat everybody there at their own silly game, the first time they ever play. Lol.
As a long time handball, racquetball, tennis and ping pong player this sport is great because it is easy to start yet can be played at a high level and fast pace with the right opponent. Fun for literally everyone.
I remember learning pickleball in high school PE back in like 2013. I literally thought it was something our school made up. Pretty cool seeing it making waves in tennis I love when Americans ruffle up old traditions lol
Bro, I wouldn't exactly call caravana a thriving sponsor. For all we know pickleball will last longer than caravana.
I disagree, pickle is just a usa sport, not played in other country’s. For sure Padel is the nextr big racket sport, if it isn’t right now
I thought it's the same, isn't it?
@@grunchlk Pickleball is a friendlier/american/amateurish version of Padel. You know how Americans invent their own sports no one plays, right? This is a recent example.
@@Symphonicrockfran 🤣🤣🤣 probably so they don't lose in world championships...
@@grunchlk Exactly haha. That's the American mindset
I'm from northwestern MI, and as long as I remember pickleball was the game we played, not tennis. its weird for me to think that tennis is what normal people think of when they think ball and racket sports