Notes from a Pickleball Volunteer Facilitator at Gernon Brown:

A few notes for pickleball beginners:

Shoes:

The best shoes to wear on an indoor pickleball court are either indoor tennis shoes, indoor pickleball shoes, or indoor court shoes. Good support and well-fitting shoes are most important to avoid injury. Pickleball requires some lateral movement as well as lunging forward; your traditional running or athletic shoe is built for movement in a straight line and won't have the support required to stabilize your foot/ankle when moving in different directions.

Paddles:

You don’t need an expensive paddle to play pickleball, however a good grip size that fits your hand is very important as well as a comfortable weight of the paddle. Too heavy a paddle may strain your wrist or arm. Try several paddles before you purchase if you are able and don’t spend a fortune on your first paddle as I promise your 1st paddle will not be your last paddle :) Several players may have the same paddle, so please put your name on your paddle. I use one of my return address stickers to identify my paddle, which is easy to remove.

Water:

Bring a water bottle with ice as the rec center tends to get warm with this summer heat wave we have been experiencing. Some players bring a small towel. Since backpacks are not allowed inside the gym, best to limit what you bring inside the facility.

Rec Center:

One the first day each player will need to obtain a NORD scan card at the front desk when you arrive and sign in. This card will be scanned each time you visit the rec center.

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Pickleball is a lot of FUN!

It's a fun sport that combines many elements of tennis, badminton and ping-pong.

Played both indoors or outdoors on a badminton-sized court and a slightly modified tennis net.
Played with a paddle and a plastic ball with holes.
Played as doubles or singles.
Can be enjoyed by all ages and skill levels

Pickleball is a racket/paddle sport that was created by combining elements of several other racket sports.^[2] Two or four players use solid paddles to hit a perforated polymer ball over a net. The ball is much like a Wiffle ball,^[3] with 26–40 round holes. A pickleball court is similar to badminton, with a net similar to tennis, and the paddles are similar to those in table tennis.

Pickleball was invented in 1965 as a children's backyard game, on Bainbridge Island, Washington.^[4]

The spread of the sport is attributed to its popularity within community centers, physical education classes, public parks, private health clubs, YMCA facilities and retirement communities. There are thousands of pickleball tournaments throughout the United States, including the U.S. Pickleball National Championships, U.S. Open Pickleball Championship, Major League Pickleball, as well as numerous international championships.

Advanced Intermediate Pickleball - Thursday 1:30 to 2:30 --Liz Bowers -- (Gernon Brown Rec Center)(No Instruction)