Have You Tried Playing Pickleball - Central Iowa has options!

[Sigmapolis]

Ban pickleball and replace all pickleball courts with futbol courts. I want the US to get past the round of 16 once in my lifetime.

My takeaways from this World Cup for the USMNT.

Well, they don't suck anymore. They're an established second-tier regional power. Most of the players play in top-level European leagues. They've come a long ways from the days when the team was a bunch of college guys with mullets, a few Germans accidentally born in the U.S. while their parents were on vacation, and a keeper named Randy who plays for an indoor team called the Seattle Squirt.

But they're a long way from competing with the top European programs.

And frankly they probably never will.

They have installed pickleball courts all over Ankeny and they are stuffed to the gills 100% of the time. My soon to be sophomore in high school goes over there a lot with a big group and it’s not uncommon for them to not even be able to get a court.

"What are ye doin' on me tennis court?!"

That situation is definitely the exception. Everywhere we've traveled, pickleball courts are used MUCH more than tennis courts.

BTW - one of the quickest ways to rile up a tennis player is to bring up pickleball. They hate it for some reason.

Listen up, ye paddle-swingin' lot! This here ain't some fancy pickle field where ye stand in a wee kitchen arguin' over whose turn it is to dink. This is me tennis court!

I spent years keepin' these baselines clean. I trimmed the net. I rolled the surface. I got me can of fresh tennis balls all fuzzy and bouncy. Then you show up with your giant ping-pong paddles goin'...

"Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop!"

All day!

Do ye know what a proper tennis rally sounds like?

THWACK... THWACK... THWACK...

Majestic. Powerful. Like a knight swingin' a sword.

Know what pickleball sounds like?

TOK! TOK! TOK! TOK!

Like somebody's attackin' a Tupperware container with a wooden spoon!

So gather up yer paddles, yer plastic balls full o' holes, and yer suspicious little "kitchen" that somehow ain't for makin' stew...

AND GET OUT OF ME TENNIS COURT!

Go find an empty parking lot! Paint some lines on the pavement! Build yer own courts! But stop invadin' the sacred lands of tennis!

Now if ye don't mind, I've got a five-set match to play, strawberries and cream to eat afterward, and absolutely no intention of listenin' to another hour of "TOK! TOK! TOK!"

Now... OUT OF ME TENNIS COURT!

 

[mj4cy]

They have installed pickleball courts all over Ankeny and they are stuffed to the gills 100% of the time. My soon to be sophomore in high school goes over there a lot with a big group and it’s not uncommon for them to not even be able to get a court.

My wife and I took park and rec lessons there this summer. Yeah its always packed but its cool to see so many teenagers playing and being present vs. on their phones.

Two of the courts you can reserve online for a small fee if you want guaranteed court time. Otherwise, its supposed to be a one game limit if there are people waiting then you go to the back of the wait line....or just play in the mornings.

 

[MeowingCows]

My wife bought paddles and stuff, but I've avoided bringing it up as my knees, ankles, etc would be in danger at this point

It's a pretty solid old-dude-sport until you cross the exact fine line where an ACL/Achilles is instantly terminated

 

[Drew0311]

Pickleball guy is just Cyclist guy in the off season

 

[nfrine]

That's my experience too. I don't even call pickleball a fad anymore, it's here to stay. It was a 'fad', like, pre-Covid time. Years ago.

Soccer seems to be more a "fad" in the US than pickleball...unfortunately.

 

[Kinch]

The one they put in at Gilbert is used all the time, seems like every time we drive by it for a softball game or run over to the school, someone is out there playing on it.
In Bloomfield they converted the racket ball courts at the rec into pickle ball courts so you can play both. The local pharmacy owned a vacant lot across the street from his building right by the square and put in a pickle ball court there last year. Not sure how many people use it, but it looks a lot better than the vacant lot that was there before.

Yes it is. I see the one across from the pharmacy getting used. A lot of times there are kids playing it. That one was well thought out. Keosauqua family donated money for pickleball courts and basketball court and they were just completed.

 

[BryceC]

My wife and I took park and rec lessons there this summer. Yeah its always packed but its cool to see so many teenagers playing and being present vs. on their phones.

Two of the courts you can reserve online for a small fee if you want guaranteed court time. Otherwise, its supposed to be a one game limit if there are people waiting then you go to the back of the wait line....or just play in the mornings.

Some of the kids don’t even play. They are just there to hang out. I agree I love it and I’m happy they are out and about.

 

[gypsyroad]

If you really want to have some good pickleball arguments, head down to Florida or Arizona in the winter. Half of the blue hairs love it and they're playing at 5am. The other half absolutely hate it, and they will go to war at the click of a ball.

 

[BryceC]

If you really want to have some good pickleball arguments, head down to Florida or Arizona in the winter. Half of the blue hairs love it and they're playing at 5am. The other half absolutely hate it, and they will go to war at the click of a ball.

I literally can’t understand the people that get upset about stuff like that. Let people enjoy themselves.

 

[CascadeClone]

Just since it came up in my feed today... I don't play but would.

 

[Nor'MidWester]

The trifecta of pickleball, bucces and savanna bananas can go DIE!
jk I don't care that much. Just things I don't understand lol.

 

[mj4cy]

I literally can’t understand the people that get upset about stuff like that. Let people enjoy themselves.

When I was a kid, my grandparents lived across the street from a school with basketball courts ect. My grandpa told me how some kids would play pick-up ball all through the night. I asked if that bothered him and he said no and that he loved the sound of people doing something like that vs. the ones you hear about on the news or up to no good ect. Pickleball is fun in that you can make it a workout or you can just make it a casual/social thing as well.

 

[ClonesFTW]

I’m a tennis player but I generally don’t hate on pickleball, it has its place and I can enjoy it sparingly. When you’re playing you don’t notice the constant sound, but when you’re around it doing something else it’s just obnoxious. If they improve that over time I will have a more favorable opinion.