Revised for updated statistics, minor factual corrections.
By Rod Bacon
A game created on the West Coast 60 years ago has become the fastest growing sport in the United States.
The brainchild of three fathers — Joel Pritchard, Bill Bell, and Barney McCullum — Pickleball was designed as a backyard game to entertain families. Using elements of badminton, tennis, and table tennis, they used ping-pong paddles, a wiffle ball, and a lowered badminton net to develop a game that has been sweeping the nation in recent years.
Joan Pritchard came up with the name, referencing the “pickle boat” in competitive rowing, which is a crew comprised of non-selected rowers from other teams that compete in a final, often less competitive, race at the end of a regatta.
According to the Sports & Fitness Industry Association’s Topline Participation Report for 2025, there were an estimated 19.8 million pickleball players in the United States in 2024, which is a 45.8 percent increase over the previous year. Over the last three years, participation in the sport has grown 311 percent.
While the 25-34 age group leads the number of players at 2.3 million, those over 50 rank second at 1.4 million. Sixty percent of the latter group are 55 or older and more than 33.7 percent are 65 or older.
Many of these participants are considered “core” players, which typically refers to someone with a 3.0-4.0 skill level out of a possible 6.0 or 8.0, depending upon which system is used. These players have a good understanding of the game’s fundamentals and can sustain rallies, but might still be developing advanced skills. Pickleball.com suggests that a core player typically plays 10 or more times a month.
Ed Koivula, who teaches at the Lake George Club and the Malta Community Center, says that 80 percent to 90 percent of his students are in the senior age group.
“I think that’s because of the way the game was originally marketed,” he said. “It targeted the older demographic at first but it is definitely catching on among younger people.”
Koivula is a former collegiate tennis player who transitioned to pickleball because of injuries.
“Pickleball is a low-impact sport that doesn’t put the same strain on your body that other sports do,” he said.
He noted it’s also a social sport where people can develop new relationships while playing or waiting to play. One facility with which he’s familiar has a paddle rack into which people waiting to play place their paddle and move it up the line as other players finish their games. While they are waiting for it to get to the head of the line they often carry on conversations and make new friends
Kayla Benner, who teaches at Ballston Spa Community Center and SUNY Adirondack, said that while she will teach any age group the majority of her students are in the 40-50-year-old range.
Benner was introduced to pickleball when she worked at Gavin Park in the Town of Wilton. She was just performing general duties but watched the pickleball players when she could. They asked her to play several times but she declined. She finally capitulated one day when they needed a fourth for a doubles game, and her enthusiasm grew. From there, she started studying to be an instructor, achieving that goal several years ago.
“I grew up playing sports so I already had good hand-eye coordination,” she said.
In order to avoid injuries she strongly recommends that players, regardless of their skill levels, warm up before playing. She said five minutes or more of dynamic stretching, which can include leg swings, tree trunk twists, or any sort of body movement, is important before hitting the court.
Growing interest in the game is evident in the Capital District. East Side Recreation Park in Saratoga Springs has converted existing tennis courts and has added dedicated pickleball courts. The Saratoga Springs Recreation Center has courts outlined on their gym floor, Gavin Park features indoor courts on its gym floor and pickleball lines on its tennis courts, and the Southern Saratoga YMCA offers numerous programs and open play.
In Warren County, two courts are available at Hudson River Park in Queensbury and Delong-Usher Park in Lake George, respectively. Three are available at Derby-Moran Park in Hudson Falls, five at Rogers Memorial Park in Bolton Landing, Ridge/Jenkinsville Park in Queensbury has eight, and Crandall Park in Glens Falls has recently installed four.
Courts at private facilities available to members only include those at the Glens Falls Family YMCA, Glens Falls Country Club, Lake George Club, Lake George RV Park, Lake George Camping Village, Lake George Escape Campground, and Melody Manor Resort in Bolton Landing.
In Saratoga County, the Racquet Club at McGregor Links Country Club offers six pickleball courts for members only, and The Paddocks at Saratoga provides two outdoor courts for residents of the community.
The game can be played by two or four competitors. A smooth-faced paddle is used to hit a perforated, hollow plastic ball over a 34-inch-high net. A regulation sized court is 20 feet by 44 feet for both singles and doubles. Service must be done underhand without the ball touching the ground. Complete rules of play and strategy are available in the USA Pickleball Rulebook published by the Global Pickleball Federation and PFA Pickleball Americas.
The rapid growth of the game has required the construction of new courts. One local company that has been kept very busy in this area is Adirondack Sports Surfaces, a sister company of Glens Falls-based O’Connor Construction, that was started in 2016.
According to Pat O’Connor, who is president of both entities, Edward and Thomas O’Connor Construction would do all the site preparation for the sports courts they were contracted to build but had to have a sub-contractor do the final surface work.
“It was difficult to coordinate our respective schedules so we decided to form our own company and get a team together that specialized in surfacing the basketball, tennis, and pickleball courts we were building,” he said.
O’Connor estimates that between new-builds and refurbishing of existing courts the company does 30 jobs per summer. It typically takes one to two weeks to prepare a site and lay the asphalt, which then has to cure for three weeks. Putting the coating on is a three-to-five-day process. The work can only be done between May and September.
O’Connor said that due to the growing popularity of the game, 40 percent to 50 percent of the company’s sports court work involves pickleball in some form. Even customers who want basketball or tennis courts are asking that pickleball lines be incorporated into the project.
“I enjoy going to a site and seeing nothing but a grass field and then going back after we’ve built the court and talking to people and hearing how much fun they’re having,” he said. “It really doesn’t feel like work because it’s almost like you’re an artist; you’ve build something and then painted it and people are enjoying it.”