Over Half a Century, Bill Gates Has Been Playing Pickleball (gatesnotes.com) 43
"I started playing pickleball more than 50 years ago," Bill Gates says in a new video — not long after the game was invented...
Now the 66-year-old Microsoft co-founder writes in a blog post that "I've been a little stunned — and delighted — by the sudden popularity of one of my favorite pastimes..." Largely confined to the Pacific Northwest for decades, it has now emerged as America's fastest-growing sport.... It's best described as a mash up of tennis, badminton, and ping-pong. And if you haven't heard of it, I expect you soon will....
Boredom was what got this sport started in 1965. Three dads living on Bainbridge Island, near Seattle, came home one summer evening to find their children complaining that there was nothing for them to do. So, they found a net, a Wiffle ball, some ping-pong paddles, and created a game on an old badminton court that the entire family could play together.... Over the next year, the three friends worked together to develop a set of rules, formalize the court layout, and introduce a larger plywood paddle that was good for striking the ball. And they decided to call it pickleball... Meanwhile, word slowly spread in Seattle of this odd new pastime.
My dad was friends with the game's inventors, Joel Pritchard, a state legislator and later Washington's lieutenant governor, Barney McCallum, and Bill Bell. He learned about their creation and by the late 1960s, he got inspired to build a pickleball court at our house. I've been playing ever since. At the time, the pickleball community was very small. I doubt there were more than a thousand people in the Seattle area who had ever seen the sport when my family picked it up. And I don't think anyone expected it would ever become a national phenomenon.
Today, there are more than 4.8 million players nationwide, a growth of nearly 40 percent over the last two years. And I expect it will only get bigger....
The best thing about pickleball, however, is that it's just super fun. I look forward to playing a pickleball game with friends and family at least once a week and more often during the summer.
Now the 66-year-old Microsoft co-founder writes in a blog post that "I've been a little stunned — and delighted — by the sudden popularity of one of my favorite pastimes..." Largely confined to the Pacific Northwest for decades, it has now emerged as America's fastest-growing sport.... It's best described as a mash up of tennis, badminton, and ping-pong. And if you haven't heard of it, I expect you soon will....
Boredom was what got this sport started in 1965. Three dads living on Bainbridge Island, near Seattle, came home one summer evening to find their children complaining that there was nothing for them to do. So, they found a net, a Wiffle ball, some ping-pong paddles, and created a game on an old badminton court that the entire family could play together.... Over the next year, the three friends worked together to develop a set of rules, formalize the court layout, and introduce a larger plywood paddle that was good for striking the ball. And they decided to call it pickleball... Meanwhile, word slowly spread in Seattle of this odd new pastime.
My dad was friends with the game's inventors, Joel Pritchard, a state legislator and later Washington's lieutenant governor, Barney McCallum, and Bill Bell. He learned about their creation and by the late 1960s, he got inspired to build a pickleball court at our house. I've been playing ever since. At the time, the pickleball community was very small. I doubt there were more than a thousand people in the Seattle area who had ever seen the sport when my family picked it up. And I don't think anyone expected it would ever become a national phenomenon.
Today, there are more than 4.8 million players nationwide, a growth of nearly 40 percent over the last two years. And I expect it will only get bigger....
The best thing about pickleball, however, is that it's just super fun. I look forward to playing a pickleball game with friends and family at least once a week and more often during the summer.
That's some stamina (Score:5, Funny)
"I started playing pickleball more than 50 years ago," Bill Gates says.
Geez, don't you think it's time for a breather?
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Conceiving his two kids must've complicated the game (and the act) quite a bit - I'm surprised he got Melinda to go along with it.
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....Pickleball is not a meme. You're not going to force it into popularity, Bill. Get over yourself.
Soooo . . . fetch [youtube.com]?
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Worse than fetch. Gretchen could make fetch happen. This is Bill we're talking about.
Fastest growing sport in US for the second year (Score:3)
Pickleball is not a meme. You're not going to force it into popularity, Bill.
Actually, Pickleball is the fastest growing sport in the US for the second year in a row. [spectrumlocalnews.com] Its slow pace, low impact, and low cost of entry has made it very popular.
And as of March 2022, It is also the official state sport of Washington state. Pickleball becomes official sport of Washington state [king5.com]
Pickleball was a relatively unknown sport outside the Pacific Northwest until recently, much like Frisbee golf, Floorball, and Kite surfing started small then spread. Even ocean surfing was relatively unknown unti
Pickleball? (Score:2)
Pickleball AKA slow tennis
Re: (Score:2)
Geriatric Tennis like how Tai-Chi is geriatric Kung-Fu.
BillG remembering the inventors of Pickleball like he remembers the inventors of DOS.
Played this in gym class (Score:2)
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I'm fairly close to Bill's age, and I believe he grew up in western Washington like I did. Pickleball was very popular in junior high gym classes around here, especially on rainy winter days - of which (as you might have heard) there are a lot.
Most of us moved on to stuff like tennis or racquetball, but I'm not going to fault the guy for sticking with pickleball. There are plenty of other things to still fault him over, in any case.
Re: Pickle Ball Tourney's at Epsteins house (Score:2)
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Not so much pickleball but the old pickle and balls.
Looks like a lame version of Padel (Score:2)
If you're going to combine sports make them fun and exciting. Pickelball (had to look up Youtube videos to find out what it was) just looks slow and boring.
Re: Looks like a lame version of Padel (Score:2)
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Noisy game (Score:2)
My mom bought a nice house across the street from a park a while back. Unfortunately pickle ball came into fad and now she can hear them playing at all hours of the day throughout her house even with the windows closed. Pickle ball is a noisier game than tennis and the tennis courts in the park were not placed properly for such a noisy game.
For all those playing, if you must play on courts near people's homes at least don't do it before 9am.
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it is popular in a lot of gyms here in the northeast because it is indoor and can work with a small court much like badminton. tennis courts are much bigger.
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There was a big snit about this around Victoria BC some months ago, when they introduced pickleball courts at a local park. Nearby residents lost their shit over it. I think they had it stopped. I saw it played on Vancouver Island in a small town I was staying in for a few weeks. I never saw it before and had to watch a few minutes. It is loud. So I don't blame those folks. It needs to be located a ways away from homes. FWIW, it seems to be a growing thing on Vancouver Island, but I haven't seen it on the m
Urban Dictionary (Score:3)
I don't know what pickleball is, but I hope to god it's something sexual.
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i tried pickling my balls in vinegar but it only made them stink more.
Good for Bill G (Score:2)
It seems that he is keeping himself fit. I suspect that many /. readers do not do enough exercise.
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Whatever his physique it is better than it would be if he did not play pickleball.
People have too much time on their hands (Score:2)
That's obvious.
It's easy for Bill (Score:2)
He's probably got a pickleball court in his basement.
Past the movie theater and the bowling alley. Take a right at the indoor rifle range and there it is.
Not heard of pickleball (Score:2)
No surprise (Score:2)
D'awwwww! (Score:1)
paddleball (Score:2)
We played 'paddleball' at school when I was 10-12 yrs old (mid 60's).
A heavier, slightly larger ping-pong paddle, tennis ball, tennis court or playing against a wall, singles or doubles.
Myself and Ollie Matters won the doubles championship when I was 12. Tennis rules and scoring.
The advantage was the custom made paddle, having the size and weight just right for the tennis ball.
Maybe someone had heard of the game played over in the States, but it seemed just a progression from hand ball.
Game designed for old people (Score:2)
Now that's ahead of the curve (Score:2)
He was playing old-people sports before he was old.
Bill Gates has been playing pickleball - has he /s (Score:1)
When billionaire geeks fall out: Bill, was the big meanie of Microsoft, claims co-founder who says Gates 'tried to cut him out when he got sick with cancer' [dailymail.co.uk]
Melinda Gates (Score:1)