Pickle ball

My new sport is pickle ball. It is like playing ping pong while standing on a very large table. The court is the same size of a badminton court (44 x 20 feet) and the games are almost always foursomes. A tennis court is 78 x 27 feet, so the recreational space is more efficiently used in pickle ball, which I am sure appeals to RV park owners. Needless to say, there is less running in pickle ball than in tennis.

Which is not to say that you don’t get plenty of exercise. After my first 90-minute pickle ball session my shirt was so wet I could wring it out. I lost 3 pounds. And my legs cramped up on my for the next 24 hours. It was a workout.

The equipment consists of a paddle – usually composite but sometimes wood (if you are cheap like me) – and a ball which more closely resembles a wiffle ball than a tennis ball. A game is up to 11 and a team can score only if it is serving. Service changes if the volley is lost – to the second person on the team if the first person was serving and to the first person on the other team if the second person was serving. Figuring out who is serving is the most complicated part of the game.

I am not very good yet. I held my own on the first couple of days, but then the good players returned from Christmas vacations and I have been toast ever since. I lost 9 straight games this week. Humiliating.

But it is fun even when losing. And I will improve. Eventually.