It's a sport still a little unknown on European soil but our American friends love it: pickleball.

Indeed this discipline created more than 60 years ago in Florida by the politician Joel Pritchard meets a real success in the country.

But what exactly is pickleball?

Very similar to tennis, this one is played on a smaller court with rackets resembling the first padel palas. As we tell you explain it in 2020 Already : “In France, the Pickleball France Federation is in charge of the development of this sport. The game counts in 11 point, like table tennis. The rules are quite subtle: we spoon and on the volley (unlike padel where you have to let the ball bounce), and following the serve, each team must hit a ball at the back of the court before being able to volley. Then volleys are allowed, but not all over the court: it is no volleyball in the area closest to the net. In summary, we can say that it is a game that requires great flying skills, and it may very well be complementary to padel".

A game of pickleball in the United States

Celebrity Padel Fans

Former tennis player, billionaire businessman Wayne Boich has become a true padel fanatic. In 2014, when the coal entrepreneur was building his waterfront mansion in Miami Beach, he decided to build a track in place of the tennis court originally planned, regularly inviting celebrities like Dwyane Wade and Ivanka Trump.

The CEO of Boich Investment Group discovered padel for the first time 10 years ago during a trip to Europe and, like so many former tennis players, he fell in love with the discipline. In 2022, he was behind the Blockchain.com World Padel Tour Miami Open, with Frenchman Nallé Grinda. A very successful tournament combining padel, entertainment and concerts, with the presence of a large number of celebrities: Ludacris, Jimmy Buffett, Jimmy Butler, Alonzo Mourning, Wyclef Jean, Dominic Thiem, Rick Ross, Shane Battier…

jimmy butler basket padel
Miami Heat basketball player Jimmy Butler at the Blockchain.com WPT Miami Open

This is how the American public was able to discover or rediscover padel. Florida is currently “the place to be”, with in particular the already legendary Wynwood Padel Club, a lively place where celebrities like David Beckham like to go to play their games. And when these personalities with millions of Instagram followers share stories on the padel courts, it contributes greatly to the popularity of the sport.

Moreover, the development of padel is spreading throughout the country, particularly with the new Pro Padel League which is launching as the first professional padel league in the United States. And while it's still early, padel fans like Boich are confident that the sport will take off in the United States in the coming years:

« We believe the sky is the limit for padel “, he declared to our colleagues from the New York Post. " The plan now is to stimulate growth throughout the country by opening clubs, and organizing tournaments to introduce this discipline to as many people as possible."

Even if all the lights seem green for padel in the USA, it will still have to work to get ahead of pickleball, which according to the specialist site The Dink, would have more than 36 million practitioners today!

Sebastien Carrasco

Future naturopath and padel enthusiast, Seb is the health/food man of Padel Magazine. He juggles between pala, quinoa and essential oils. For almost two years now he has been dealing with the news of the little yellow ball with the same passion.

On the same subject

Tags