Pickle What?

Orcas Island is home to a lot of sport opportunities - especially outdoors. Everything from bomb fishing seasons to sailing to biking to running. But did you know that we have quite the Pickleball community here?

What is Pickleball? Pickleball is a racket or paddle sport in which two players or four players use a smooth-faced paddle to hit a perforated, hollow plastic ball over a 34-inch-high net until one side is unable to return the ball or commits a rule infraction. Pickleball is played indoors and outdoors.

With a net height of 34"-36", 2-4 players total hit a plastic ball (as seen above) with a composite or wood paddle back and forth to each other. Much like tennis, whoever hits the ball where the opposite player cannot return it, gains a point. However, tennis is known for its speed and power, whereas Pickleball is more known for its ball placement and strategy

To read a full explanation of the games rules, follow this link https://usapickleball.org/what-is-pickleball/official-rules/rules-summary/

Where did it start?

It was the summer of 1965 when Washington state congressman, Joel Pritchard and Bill Bell, successful businessman, returned to Pritchard’s home on Bainbridge Island, WA (near Seattle) to find their families sitting around with nothing to do. The property had an old badminton court so Pritchard and Bell looked for some badminton equipment but unfortunately couldn't t find a full set of rackets. They decided to improvise and started playing with ping-pong paddles and a perforated plastic ball. At first they placed the net at badminton height of 60 inches and volleyed the ball over the net. As the weekend went on, the players found that the ball bounced well on the asphalt surface and soon they decided to lower the net to 36 inches. The following weekend, Barney McCallum was introduced to the game at Pritchard’s home. Soon, the three men created rules, forming them heavily on the game of badminton.

If you find yourself traveling either direction on Mount Baker Rd on Orcas Island during a sunny, windless day, you will see a quite the gathering around the Pickleball courts as teams strategically battle their way through the game.