Tennis and the Pickleball Menace
According to historical records, the early days of tennis began in northern France in the 12th century, when players hit the ball with the palm of their hands. But it was not until the 18th and 19th centuries that the game developed strongly and was perfected. Meanwhile, the idea of pickleball formation began in 1965.
Tennis is considered a “noble” sport and has developed extremely well, especially in the Open Era - starting in 1968, that is, only 3 years after the idea of pickleball was formed. With pickleball, this sport originated with the purpose of being “for the family”, “for everyone”. Like other racket sports, tennis and pickleball existed and developed in their own way, without collision, without dispute, without threat. Until the past few years…
That is when pickleball developed and became popular. From America, pickleball spread to many countries around the world, so that when people learn more, they understand better the policy of "element for everyone" of this sport. From the rules, how to play, conditions to play, the popularity of pickleball is expressed by the expression as an "invasion". A "total attack".
Because in many places, there are very similar scenes. For example, in parks and public places, if in the past, people played skateboarding, basketball, even baseball and softball, now, all are overshadowed by pickleball.
Described as a combination of tennis , badminton and table tennis, played on a court about a quarter the size of a tennis court, with a lower net and a slower pace, pickleball is suitable for almost all ages and fitness levels.
Also because of the popularity of pickleball, many questions have been raised in the media about whether tennis is threatened by this sport or not? They even think that tennis is being overwhelmed by pickleball. For example, in May this year, Parkrecord had an article with the title "Tennis's time is over"...
But should tennis worry?
Along with pickleball, padel - a sport that has a similar way of playing but in a court with glass walls instead of an open environment, has also developed rapidly to contribute to creating a threat to tennis. Following that trend, not only in Vietnam, many centers and many former tennis court owners have converted their courts into pickleball courts (1 tennis court can be converted into 2 to 3 pickleball courts) because of the increasing demand.
According to the Sports & Fitness Industry Association, pickleball participation has increased 202% in three years. Given the “trend” and “popularity” of pickleball, it’s understandable that playground operators are chasing profits. But even for professionals, pickleball is a “threat.”
Last month, Novak Djokovic, the world’s legendary tennis player, said that pickleball “endangers” tennis. A month later, Nole himself and several other top players also picked up a pickleball racket at an event ahead of the 2024 US Open.
But Djokovic and many others believe that tennis is still in its class and that any threat that pickleball poses can only happen at the club level.
“People enjoy pickleball, yes, but tennis is tennis. Tennis is the king or queen of all racket sports, that's true. But at the club level, tennis is under threat. If we don't do something about this, as I said, globally or collectively, they will convert all tennis clubs to padel and pickleball because it's more economical.”
As you can see, many tennis legends such as John McEnroe, Maria Sharapova, Andre Agassi and Steffi Graf have also played pickleball, but, as McEnroe said - “When you compare it to tennis, you see incredible athleticism in both men and women, so I consider it the king of all racket sports. Everything else is below, it's just a question of how much below?”.
So, one also needs to think about what pickleball will be like after a while when the trend dies down…
