# 96 Pickleball

“Life is like riding a bicycle. To keep your balance, you must keep moving.” 
― Albert Einstein

That's me in the white trying to stay out of the "kitchen" (pickle ball terminology)

And moving it will be.  I've discovered a new sport for me--Pickleball.  It is like playing ping pong on a court instead of a table.  Fast paced, wild and a ton of fun from the first serve until the last ball flies over the net.  There is a learning curve, but I've found it easier to play and a little less highbrow than tennis.

A little background from Wikipedia.

Pickleball is a sport in which two, three, or four players use solid paddles made of wood or composite materials to hit a perforated polymer ball, similar to a wiffle ball, over a net. The sport shares features of other racquet sports, the dimensions and layout of a badminton court, and a net and rules similar to tennis, with a few modifications. Pickleball was invented in the mid 1960s as a children's backyard pastime but quickly became popular among adults as a fun game for players of all levels.

History

The game started during the summer of 1965 on Bainbridge Island, Washington, at the home of then State Representative Joel Pritchard who, in 1970, was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives for the State of Washington. He and two of his friends, Bill Bell and Barney McCallum, returned from golf and found their families bored one Saturday afternoon. They attempted to set up badminton, but no one could find the shuttlecock. They improvised with a Wiffle ball, lowered the badminton net, and fabricated paddles of plywood from a nearby shed.^[2][3][4]

Although some sources claim that the name "Pickleball" was derived from that of the Pritchard's family dog, Pickles, other sources state that the claim is false, and that the name came from the term "pickle boat", referring to the last boat to return with its catch.^[2][4][5] According to Joan Pritchard, Joel Pritchard's wife, the name came "after I said it reminded me of the Pickle Boat in crew where oarsmen were chosen from the leftovers of other boats. Somehow the idea the name came from our dog Pickles was attached to the naming of the game, but Pickles wasn't on the scene for two more years. The dog was named for the game."^[6]

Thanks for reading # 96 of 7777.