Pickleball played with relish at Avatar’s Solivita®
June 18, 2009
POINCIANA, FL --- The folks at Heinz and Vlasic had nothing to do with naming pickleball, one of America's fastest growing court sports.A hybrid of tennis, badminton, racquetball and Ping-Pong, pickleball is certainly one of the most popular activities at Solivita®, the award-winning active adult community being developed by Avatar® Properties Inc. on the Polk County side of Poinciana. In fact, it is estimated that active adults make up nearly 40 percent of the nearly 600,000 pickleball players nationwide.
"The growth here has been absolutely phenomenal," said Bob Thies, president of The Smashers, Solivita’s® pickleball club which is the largest club sport in the community with 210 male and female resident members. Club members compete in men's, ladies' and mixed doubles leagues throughout the year, as well as daily open play.
"Pickleball is a good aerobic activity that has a similar skill set to racquetball that requires quick reflexes, shot placement, and strategy," said Thies, who moved to Solivita® six years ago from Rochester, New York.
The game with the unique name is played on a court the same size as a conventional badminton court (20' x 44') with a 3-foot-high net, and equipment that includes what look like overgrown Ping-Pong paddles and a baseball-sized plastic ball which is a seamless composite version of a wiffle ball, only 10-12 times more durable. Players serve underhanded diagonally, and either play the ball off the bounce or volley it outside the 7-foot non-volley zone on either side of the net. Teams score only when serving and games go to 11 points and must be won by two points.
"Because of the court size, pickleball is easier on the knees and back than tennis because you're not covering as much territory, and you can usually keep rallies going longer," Thies said.
Founded by Solivita® resident Shari Teeple, The Smashers is one of 144 resident-run clubs at Solivita®. The club plays on nine lighted pickleball courts: five at Freedom Park in the community's Village Center, and four at The Palms lifestyle center and amenity complex.
Because of Solivita's® ample pickleball facilities and the game's growing popularity, the community has hosted the Polk County Senior Games pickleball competition for the past several years which brings in over 100 players from all over Central Florida.So where did the inventors of pickleball come up with that doggone name? As the story goes, the game was invented in 1965 on Bainbridge Island which is a short ferryboat ride from Seattle, according to its co-inventors U.S. Congressman Joel Pritchard, William Bell, and Barney McCallum. Pritchard's friends and family improvised a game on a badminton court using sawed-off badminton racquets and a lightweight, perforated plastic ball to replace their damaged badminton equipment. Pritchard's dog, a cocker spaniel named "Pickles", had a habit of running off with the loose balls, thus inspiring the name of the game that is now 44 years old and continuing to grow in popularity at all age levels.
For more information about The Smashers at Solivita®, contact Bob Thies at (863) 427-0815. For more information about Solivita's® resident-run clubs, activities and events, contact Solivita® Lifestyles at (863) 427-7125 or visit Solivita's® Web site at http://www.solivita.com.
