'It's really addicting' – Pickleball craze sweeps Bay Area
REDWOOD CITY – Part tennis, part ping-pong, part badminton, pickleball is arguably America's fastest growing sport, with many in the Bay Area picking up a racket.
But don't be fooled by the funny-sounding name. Players said this latest craze should come with a warning.
"It's really addicting, once you start playing you can't stop," said Cecilia Lau.
When the pandemic first hit, Lau — a long time tennis player — was having a hard time getting her 12-year-old son Nicolai off the internet Lau eventually managed to pull him offline with the help of a different kind of net.
It worked. Two years later, the entire family is pickleballing up to four times a week.
"It's a fast game," Lau told KPIX 5. "It's a lot of fun and it's very interactive."
Lau is one of about 5 million pickleball players, or picklers, in America, a sport that grew 40% in the last three years. Part of the appeal is it's much easier to learn than tennis, so pretty much anyone can play it.
Nobody knows for sure why it's called pickleball. Some say it was named after the inventor's dog, Pickles. Others believe it's a nod to pickle boats, which have mixed crews, since pickleball is a mix of other sports.
Either way, it's clearly having a moment. It's become so popular, local sports clubs are now getting in on the action.
Todd Kramer, the executive vice president at Bay Club Redwood Shores in Redwood City, said the facility converted one of its tennis courts into four pickleball courts, and that's just the beginning.
"I think it has the potential to be one of the major racket sports of this generation," he told KPIX 5.
For Lau, it was a chance to spend some quality time with her son, who is growing up way too fast.
"It's so nice that he can participate in this sport," Lau said. "We can actually compete together."