About Pickleball

What is Pickleball?

Pickleball is a sport that was created in the United States in 1965, combining elements of tennis, badminton, and table tennis. It is a sport in which players hit a plastic ball with holes using a flat paddle on a court the same size as a badminton court. Compared to other sports, it is easy to master, and can be enjoyed by people of all ages and genders. On the other hand, professional matches are a deep sport in which not only power and speed but also strategic aspects are important.

If you show up to practice alone with a paddle, you will be randomly paired up with various people to play with, making it a sociable sport where you can make lots of friends.

The mission of the Japan Pickleball Federation is to spread the joy of pickleball through hosting international tournaments and activities to promote pickleball, to foster an inclusive culture that promotes human connections, and to create a diverse and happy community.

Rules Trivia

Serve: Only one serve is allowed. The serve must be underhand and below the waistline. The serve must be hit into the service area diagonally across from the opponent's court. The serve must go over the kitchen line. If the serve touches the net (a let), it is OK as long as it goes over the kitchen line, so play can continue.
Scoring: Only the serving team can score points. If the opponent misses the ball, the server scores 1 point. First to 11 points wins.
Two Bounce Rule: After the serve, the opponent must return the ball with a bounce and the server must return it with a bounce. After that, the ball can be volleyed. Serve-and-volley in tennis is not allowed.
Kitchen rule (non-volley zone): There is a non-volley zone called the kitchen on both sides of the net. Volleys are not allowed in this area. If you volley on the kitchen line and then step into the ball with too much momentum, it is a foot fault. It is okay to enter the kitchen at any time when hitting the ball after one bounce.
"Drop shot" technique: Pickleball is a sport where playing forward (on the kitchen line) is an overwhelming advantage, so it is important to get forward. As a pickleball strategy for advanced players, there is a "drop shot" to get forward (on the kitchen line). This is a technique to lightly drop the ball into the kitchen (non-volley zone) and not allow the opponent to hit it hard.

The origins of pickleball and where its name came from

The birth of pickleball: In 1965, Congressman Joel Pritchard and his friends Bill Bell and Bernie Marcom invented the game on Bainbridge Island in Washington State to keep their families from getting bored. They started playing on an old badminton court.

Origin of the name: It is said that the name was inspired by Joel Pritchard's wife, who was inspired by the competitive rowing term "pickle boat." A pickle boat is a mixed boat rowed by the surplus rowers left behind in a race.

One theory is that it was named after the rules of the sport, which combine elements from tennis, badminton, table tennis, etc. Another theory is that it was named after Pickles, the family dog of Joel Pritchard, the inventor of pickleball. It is said that the dog liked to chase the ball during the game, so the name was adopted for the sport.

However, recently the pickleboat theory is said to be correct. There was a dog named Pickles, but he started keeping it in 1968, three years after pickleball was born. More detailed explanation: In sailing races, a pickleboat is the boat that finishes last in a race. The word comes from the practice of fishing fleets, where the last boat to return to port would salt (pickle) its catch while at sea. From this origin, the name "pickleboat" was also used for competitive boat races.

In the race, boats 1, 2, and 3 form pairs to compete against each other, but in order to give all athletes an opportunity to participate, the "leftover" athletes in the final race will form a team called the pickle boat.

Pickleball was invented by the Pritchard family of Seattle as a combination of "leftovers from tennis, ping pong, badminton and platform tennis." Pickle the dog appeared a few years after the game was created, but is not the name of the game.

Statistics and Facts

Fastest Growing Sport: Pickleball was reported as the "fastest growing sport" in America in the 2020s.

According to USA Pickleball statistics, the sport is growing by 158.6% from 2020 to 2023. Number of players nationwide: The playing population is expected to reach 13.6 million in 2024, a 223.5% increase over the past three years.

According to statistics from the Pickleball Professional Association, the number of people who have played pickleball at least once is expected to be 36.5 million in 2022 and 48.3 million in 2023. This means that one in six people living in the United States plays pickleball.

Number of players in Japan: It was said to be 3,000 in 2023 and 5,000 in April 2024, but there has been more media coverage in 2024, with some newspapers reporting 10,000 in December and 20,000 as of January 2025.

Pickleball market: The global market size is expected to reach $1.47 billion (approximately 230 billion yen) in 2023 and $2.91 billion (approximately 450 billion yen) in 2030 (according to Maximize Market Research PVT.LTD.)