Is pickleball on the decline already?

J011yroger said:
Feels like fewer people are talking about it and they are building facilities left and right. I don't think there will be enough people to support all of them.

Having lived through racquetball, rollerblading, pogs, and poker, I have seen this movie before.

J
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dailydot.com

Is pickleball dying? Analyst lays out signs that the fastest-growing sport is past its prime

Pickleball facility closures and other signs have one business TikToker predicting that the sport is on its way out after years of growth.
dailydot.com dailydot.com
 
I mentioned in another thread years ago that pickleball reminded me of racquetball when it was the hot fad. People said it would overtake tennis and racquetball centers were opening up all over. Now it seems generous to even refer to racquetball as a niche sport.
 
JW10S said:
I mentioned in another thread years ago that pickleball reminded me of racquetball when it was the hot fad. People said it would overtake tennis and racquetball centers were opening up all over. Now it seems generous to even refer to racquetball as a niche sport.
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That was in the era before social media. Now there are many opportunities to attract people. Let us see what happens.
 
I don’t have an accurate answer to this question.
By many accounts the USA had the biggest rise in Pickleball and I can’t comment on other countries experience.
Here in Australia I think the growth has been steady and I went to the NSW championships in 24 and they had to close entries once they got over 700 entries.
One of the challenges here is that we don’t have as many hard courts, we have more synthetic grass courts therefore we have the option of playing a scaled down version of tennis called pop and spec tennis which hasn’t had much promotion except that coaches are able to use the green and orange balls. Even red ball tennis is an option as well.
The other thing here in places like Sydney and Melbourne is that many people of the Indian and Chinese background will go tennis first and then badminton and table tennis respectively. They have clubs here where they hang out till 3am playing table tennis and badminton. The other sport people like is the 5-A side soccer which basically takes up a whole tennis court.
As far as tennis is concerned the numbers attending the AO has bern very good with even qualifying events attracting good crowds and the stadiums are pretty full so there is good support there.
I’m conclusion I think most sports are popular in Australia and parents are keen to book their children into organised sport and coaching.
 
Crocodile said:
I don’t have an accurate answer to this question.
By many accounts the USA had the biggest rise in Pickleball and I can’t comment on other countries experience.
Here in Australia I think the growth has been steady and I went to the NSW championships in 24 and they had to close entries once they got over 700 entries.
One of the challenges here is that we don’t have as many hard courts, we have more synthetic grass courts therefore we have the option of playing a scaled down version of tennis called pop and spec tennis which hasn’t had much promotion except that coaches are able to use the green and orange balls. Even red ball tennis is an option as well.
The other thing here in places like Sydney and Melbourne is that many people of the Indian and Chinese background will go tennis first and then badminton and table tennis respectively. They have clubs here where they hang out till 3am playing table tennis and badminton. The other sport people like is the 5-A side soccer which basically takes up a whole tennis court.
As far as tennis is concerned the numbers attending the AO has bern very good with even qualifying events attracting good crowds and the stadiums are pretty full so there is good support there.
I’m conclusion I think most sports are popular in Australia and parents are keen to book their children into organised sport and coaching.
Click to expand...

812 million have played pickleball as Asia overtakes the US as the sport’s fastest-growing market: study​


India emerged as the standout market in Asia. According to the report, the country had an estimated 178 million players, including amateur and professional participants, who played pickleball at least once a month. This placed India well ahead of other Asian nations and positioned it at the forefront of pickleball’s rise on the continent.

 
Asia is not being very bright. They should invent their own version, just like Russia and China have done with social media. Otherwise they are just sending money to the US.
 
Bartelby said:
Asia is not being very bright. They should invent their own version, just like Russia and China have done with social media. Otherwise they are just sending money to the US.
Click to expand...
No, Indian organizers are minting money by hosting Pickleball tournaments where pros from SE Asian countries also participate. These tournaments are even being shown on US Pickleball channels.

Pickleball itself is not a licensed sport so no organizer has to pay anyone.

BTW next biggest Asian country for Pickleball is China.

Social media and Pickleball are not the same thing.
 
atatu said:
I think it's hilarious when pickleball professionals flex and talk smack. There's one guy named Tyler McGruff or something and he's constantly doing this. Does anyone ever tell him dude, you're playing a backyard game for old people and little kids ?
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I think singles Pickleball is more difficult than singles tennis, but maybe just for me.
 
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700 entries is not all that great in the scheme of things. Pickleball is being pushed and there is some take up.

I don't detect any meteoric rise driven by faddism and promoters as in India. Racquet sports seems like a mature market here.

Crocodile said:
I don’t have an accurate answer to this question.
By many accounts the USA had the biggest rise in Pickleball and I can’t comment on other countries experience.
Here in Australia I think the growth has been steady and I went to the NSW championships in 24 and they had to close entries once they got over 700 entries.
One of the challenges here is that we don’t have as many hard courts, we have more synthetic grass courts therefore we have the option of playing a scaled down version of tennis called pop and spec tennis which hasn’t had much promotion except that coaches are able to use the green and orange balls. Even red ball tennis is an option as well.
The other thing here in places like Sydney and Melbourne is that many people of the Indian and Chinese background will go tennis first and then badminton and table tennis respectively. They have clubs here where they hang out till 3am playing table tennis and badminton. The other sport people like is the 5-A side soccer which basically takes up a whole tennis court.
As far as tennis is concerned the numbers attending the AO has bern very good with even qualifying events attracting good crowds and the stadiums are pretty full so there is good support there.
I’m conclusion I think most sports are popular in Australia and parents are keen to book their children into organised sport and coaching.
Click to expand...
 
Anywho....I dunno about fading, as our courts still have a lot of folks around for PB. But definitely not exponentially growing like it was. Anecdotal I don't see as many weekly new faces like I was.

PB in Vietnam/Thialand and such is exploding like it was here years back, so still global appeal.
 
Bartelby said:
700 entries is not all that great in the scheme of things. Pickleball is being pushed and there is some take up.

I don't detect any meteoric rise driven by faddism and promoters as in India. Racquet sports seems like a mature market here.
Click to expand...
@Sentinel what are you seeing on the ground about the spread of Pickleball?
 
ChaelAZ said:
Anywho....I dunno about fading, as our courts still have a lot of folks around for PB. But definitely not exponentially growing like it was. Anecdotal I don't see as many weekly new faces like I was.

PB in Vietnam/Thialand and such is exploding like it was here years back, so still global appeal.
Click to expand...
Especially attractive in crowded Asian cities where land is precious.

In Singapore, a scientific study is ongoing to look into noise complaints and new designs have been proposed for acoustic shielding.
 
ChaelAZ said:
Anywho....I dunno about fading, as our courts still have a lot of folks around for PB. But definitely not exponentially growing like it was. Anecdotal I don't see as many weekly new faces like I was.

PB in Vietnam/Thialand and such is exploding like it was here years back, so still global appeal.
Click to expand...
It will ultimately be population-limited so it cannot grow forever. True for any sport.
 
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The other thing about pickleball in Australia is that it attracts the much older generation.

This means it's never going to generate the "noise" that a youth culture phenomenon would.
 
Bartelby said:
The other thing about pickleball in Australia is that it attracts the much older generation.

This means it's never going to generate the "noise" that a youth culture phenomenon would.
Click to expand...
In the US, there is a tremendous push to introduce it is schools for PE and to promote it in college.
 
sureshs said:
In the US, there is a tremendous push to introduce it is schools for PE and to promote it in college.
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In high schools in the area, pickleball started showing up 20+ years ago in PE classes.

In some schools, it’s replaced tennis as a PE class. Typically, high school PE classes spend, at most, 3 weeks per sport. Very few novices can develop tennis skills to the point where they are sustaining rallies or are getting much exercise in a 3-week class. Pickleball has a much quicker learning curve so this fits much better with a 3 week format.

Pball appears to be thriving in high school, junior high & middle school in the US. It’s even become a varsity sport in some schools.
 
Last edited:
Sudacafan said:
Off my usual path to the tennis courts, far way, I came across the only pickleball court of my club.
Derelict. Empty. Decaying. Abandoned.
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No Gabriel ****io effect yet? Sad.

https://ppatour.com/athlete/gabriel-****io/

What’s even sadder is the guys name is censored.
 
RSJfan said:
The guy ranked #1 in doubles (which in PB is much more popular than singles). TTW is erasing Bolivian sports figures. Sad.

Player Rankings (Table) | PPA Tour

Official PPA Rankings of the world's best pickleball players, including Anna Leigh Waters, Ben Johns, Catherine Parenteau, and more.
ppatour.com ppatour.com
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Wow, that’s news to me.
If the PB world No. 1 from Bolivia can go unnoticed here, then we’re clearly safe.
 
As a Bolivian myself and follower of popular sports figures from there (that most would consider fringe athletes), this is the first I hear of this person. so this tracks honestly
 
SystemicAnomaly said:
In high schools in the area, pickleball started showing up 20+ years ago in PE classes.

In some schools, it’s replaced tennis as a PE class. Typically, high school PE classes spend, at most, 3 weeks per sport. Very few novices can develop tennis skills to the point where they are sustaining rallies or are getting much exercise in a 3-week class. Pickleball has a much quicker learning curve so this fits much better with a 3 week format.

Pball appears to be thriving in high school, junior high & middle school in the US. It’s even become a varsity sport in some schools.
Click to expand...
Meanwhile E-sports is becoming a college varsity sport, it is more accessible, requires more skill and has more players worldwide.
 
J011yroger said:
Feels like fewer people are talking about it and they are building facilities left and right. I don't think there will be enough people to support all of them.

Having lived through racquetball, rollerblading, pogs, and poker, I have seen this movie before.

J
Click to expand...

I bet the new old person game they invent for you will be even more lame ... and you will hit something the fastest. :-D
 
sureshs said:
Especially attractive in crowded Asian cities where land is precious.

In Singapore, a scientific study is ongoing to look into noise complaints and new designs have been proposed for acoustic shielding.
Click to expand...
Given Singapore’s repressive tendencies, being fined for pickleball noise wouldn’t be surprising.

And not too bad.
 
atatu said:
Meanwhile E-sports is becoming a college varsity sport, it is more accessible, requires more skill and has more players worldwide.
Click to expand...
Oxymoron.

Good though for people that would like to live in a metaverse, if that’s still a thing.
 
Metaverse was pushed by Meta (renamed from Facebook) as the Web 3.0 platform. People would interact in a virtual environment, chatting, shopping, playing games, learning lessons, etc.

Unfortunately, biology got in the way. Wearing headsets for a long time caused headaches and nausea.

But usually these ideas make a comeback when conditions are right.
 
sureshs said:
Metaverse was pushed by Meta (renamed from Facebook) as the Web 3.0 platform. People would interact in a virtual environment, chatting, shopping, playing games, learning lessons, etc.

Unfortunately, biology got in the way. Wearing headsets for a long time caused headaches and nausea.

But usually these ideas make a comeback when conditions are right.
Click to expand...

The Meta name change and the ridiculous focus on the metaverse came about because Zuckerberg was huffing too many of his own farts. Nobody wanted this delusion except him and the yes men that he placed around himself. Sadly, my former company invested a few million into creating virtual products to sell in the metaverse. They never made a penny on that and ended up laying off all the staff that had worked on it.

This feels a lot like the over-hype of AI. Nobody in the real world asked for this. Automation of mundane tasks or sorting through huge data sets makes sense, but most people don't want to pay extra for that. So, the billions that are being spent on AI are not getting any positive return on investment. There's going to be a big crash and a lot of layoffs when that bubble bursts because it's more widespread than the metaverse was.
 
The relevant question for Gentle Readers of TW, who are witnessing the cannibalization of their beloved public tennis courts every single day, is pickelball's growth relative to tennis.

Kindly inform us when you see a pickelball court converted to tennis.

It has never happened.

:rolleyes:
 
Reports of the demise of pickleball have been greatly exaggerated…

The “explosion” might be somewhat less logarithmic in some areas but it continues to be explosive nonetheless.

https://dilldinkers.com/blog/future-of-pickleball-insights-on-2026

pickleland.com

Pickleball Trends in 2025 and 2026: Explosive Growth

Pickleball Trends in 2025 and 2026: Explore explosive player growth, booming participation, and rapid court expansion shaping the future of the fastest-growing sport.
pickleland.com pickleland.com

www.dupr.com

DUPR Blog | National Sports' Day: Data Reveals How Pickleball is Taking Over America

Celebrate National Sports’ Day with the latest data on pickleball’s incredible growth in the United States. Learn how DUPR is helping 36.5 million players track progress and power the sport’s global rise.
www.dupr.com www.dupr.com
 
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Despite what many seem to believe, pickleball was not birthed 5-6 years ago. Nor did it come into existence 10-12 years ago. I started seeing evidence of pickleball, on high school tennis courts, more than 20 years ago.

I found / obtained an odd abandoned wooden paddle back in the mid 00s. That low-tech paddle included “www.pickleball.com” painted on its surface. Despite the discovery of this wooden relic 2 decades ago, I did not start playing until 2018.

It appears that pickleball had started showing up in high school PE classes on the early/mid 00s. In some high schools, pickleball started replacing tennis in PE classes — cuz tennis is just too difficult for most ppl to pick up in 3 weeks (the typical duration of a sport in high school PE)

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