Pickleball Players Get Threatened

Hey everyone, we’re coming in hot today…

It seems like we’ve all come across it.

Between turf wars with tennis and pickleball players, threats, vandalism on the courts, and the efforts to slow the development of pickleball courts, it looks like our sport is driving our friends in the tennis community crazy.

Well, hey, as the saying goes; all publicity is good publicity, right?

Okay, on a serious note though, what’s driving all this hate for the country’s fastest-growing sport? (Hopefully not jealousy 👀).

You might think it’s simply a matter of preference - we all have our own preferences after all. But no, there’s more to it than that folks.

For starters, many tennis players (including pros) see pickleball as a “lesser” sport- not as competitive and doesn’t require much athleticism. This notion couldn’t be further from the truth. Pickleball requires just as much skill, strategy, and athleticism - if not more- than tennis.

Anyways, the growth of the sport has driven some tennis players over the top. We’re seeing cases like the one in Santa Rosa where tennis players vandalized the pickleball courts with motor oil.

Ouch, right?

Well, apparently that wasn’t enough. There was also a note found that threatened to key the cars of pickleball players, and called tennis players who didn’t defend their sport “chickens.”

Look, we get it. You don’t like the sport (and BTW we’re not telling you to). But why threaten others for playing a sport they love and enjoy?

Ironically, we continue to see many tennis pros such as Sam Querrey and Noah Rubin becoming pickleball converts. Will this help alleviate some of the resistance tennis traditionalists have towards PB? Or will it only fuel the divide?

Well, what’s it to us? Hate it or love it but the sport is growing like wildfire and we’re gonna keep on dinking.

It's time for your weekly scoop of happenings:

1- First off, we're thrilled to announce that the PPA and CBS Sports have made an agreement to bring live pickleball coverage to our homes! This is great news for the sport and furthering its growth. So, grab your popcorn folks and get ready to kickback to some good ol’ pickleball action!

2- In other news, India now has a national governing body for pickleball - the Pickleball Association of India. This is a huge step forward for the sport in India, and we can't wait to see more of the sport’s growth on a global scale.

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