Space invaders
Played on a badminton-size court, pickleball can be played indoors or outdoors, standing up or in wheelchairs, and it’s relatively space-efficient. In fact — much to the chagrin of die-hard tennis players everywhere (including Chartr’s editor) — you can nearly squeeze playing space for 4 pickleball courts in the same area needed for 1 tennis court.
To meet the booming demand, the SFIA estimates that a further 25,000 pickleball courts — equating to a $900m infrastructure investment — are needed to keep up with demand, on top of the ~44,000 courts that are estimated to already exist nationwide.
Check the rules
As the sport continues to pick up momentum at both a grassroots and professional level (yes, there are a lot of pro pickleball tournaments now), people are increasingly flocking to the first online port of call when you want a quick summary of something you’d never heard of until recently: Wikipedia.
