Tennis has long been a beloved sport in the US, beginning its rich American heritage in 1874 in Staten Island, NJ. It has a storied tradition in the US and exploded in popularity in the 1970s when players like Bjorn Borg, Jimmy Connors, Chris Evert, and John McEnroe burst onto the scene via live television coverage of international events. These players became instantly recognizable and, therefore, household names. Tennis's popularity among recreational players surged in unison with the public interest in its television audiences.

Conversely, pickleball was invented on Bainbridge Island in Washington State in 1965 and remained relatively obscure until 2014, when its popularity rose to 2.5 million players. The number of active players increased steadily each year as the sport became more popular among the retirement community. Fast forward to 2020, when COVID-19 forced the planet into mandatory quarantine: pickleball served as the perfect antidote for people being locked away in their homes for months on end. What was everyone looking for in 2020? The most straightforward answers: social interaction, outdoor activities, fitness, and competition, all while maintaining social distancing. Pickleball was just what the doctor ordered (literally).

Pickleball’s explosion began taking hold in 2020 and has not looked back since:

✔️ 4.2 million (2020)
✔️ 4.8 million (2021)
✔️ 9.0 million (2022)
✔️ 13.6 million (2023)
✔️ 36 million (latest estimate for 2024)

Tennis has also experienced a steady rise in recent years, reaching an all-time high with nearly 25 million players. However, pickleball has blown past tennis like a cheetah racing past a snail, making it America’s fastest-growing sport. The rapid growth of pickleball appears to be coming at the expense of tennis, as evidenced by the numbers showing how pickleball is outpacing tennis at a massive rate.

The reasons most commonly given include:

Investment

Pickleball is a sport that does not require a significant investment in lessons and equipment. People can literally play competitive games on their very first day on the court.

Clean Hits

Because the ball does not bounce as high or travel as quickly as a tennis ball, it is much easier for people to track the ball and make a clean hit. This tends to require a little less coordination and is perfect for people who have never played a competitive sport before.

No Skill Matching

Tennis requires players to arrange their matches with others of similar skill levels, making it hard to field a steady game. In contrast, pickleball embraces the “pick-up basketball” mentality. Just show up to the court, put your paddle down in line, and you can get into a game within minutes.

Court Size

Pickleball courts are only 25% the size of tennis courts, so there is much less court to cover. Additionally, since the majority of players prefer doubles to singles, there is even less court to cover.

Social Game

Lastly, because of the closer proximity between players, pickleball is an incredibly social game. Players are constantly paired with new partners and squaring off against new opponents, making it easy to meet new people. In many cases, this replaces the need for singles to go on dating apps and hang out at singles bars.

The one advantage of tennis, however, is the ease of picking up the ball without bending over at all.

Players can simply trap the ball against their foot with the racquet and pull it up. Unfortunately, pickleball requires players to bend all the way down to retrieve the ball.

There have been gadgets intended to help with this, such as suction cup devices that attach to the bottom of the paddle handle, but they are cumbersome and heavy to deal with. But not Pickle Putty—a lightweight putty material that sticks to the top edge of the paddle to aid in ball pickup.

Overall, both tennis and pickleball are great games, but the explosion of pickleball has been undeniable and is the reason we see so many new pickleball courts being erected every day, many of them converted from dormant tennis courts.