A new racket
Clinton gets pickleball, but it was already a thing in Norris and Oak Ridge
Connie Andrews of Louisville, left, and Brittany McAlister of Clinton were on hand to play pickleball on Saturday at Clinton’s Lakefront Park. These are the rackets and plastic ball used to play the game. (photo:G. Chambers Williams III )
The city recently converted one of the three tennis courts there into four separate pickleball courts.
“We have got pickleball in Clinton,” City Manager Roger Houck said last week. “When we resurfaced our tennis courts at Lakefront Park, we decided to turn one of them into pickleball courts, and these are the first ones in Clinton.
“That’s the only place that’s got them so far,” he said. “But we may do the same at Jaycee Park, depending on the demand.”
But if the experience in Norris is any indication, the demand should be great, said Brianne Ross Kibler, chair of the Norris Recreation Commission.
“We’ve had pickleball here in Norris since 2019, and it’s really been fun to watch it quite literally explode,” she said. “Oak Ridge has a cool setup, too. They have at least four courts. They were before us.
“’Addictive’ is a word I’ve heard people use with it,” she said. “We see about 60 people a week playing, and we even have tournaments.”
In Norris, most pickleball play goes on in the gymnasium in the city’s Community Building, where there are two nets that are set up on the gym floor, Kibler said.
“We’re on our second set of indoor nets,” she said. “They are rolled out from against the wall.”
There’s also an outdoor tennis court that is sometimes marked and used for pickleball, but it’s not really set up for it, as it uses the tennis net – which is higher than the standard pickleball net, Kibler said.
Even using regulation nets, they are slightly different for indoor and outdoor courts, she said.
Special plastic balls with holes in them – similar to wiffle balls – and special paddles are used for pickleball, and can be ordered online or now can even be found easily in stores such as Walmart and Target, she said.
“We even had a pickleball expert from Knoxville come up to Norris and teach us how to play,” Kibler said.
Norris Councilwoman Loretta Painter was among the first to embrace the sport, although an unfortunate accident while playing ended her brief foray into pickleball, she said. She fell backward trying to score a point, breaking her leg – which eventually required two surgeries to repair.
It’s not really a dangerous sport, though, Painter and Kibler agreed.
In fact, it was a senior citizen who brought the idea of pickleball to the attention of the Norris Recreation Commission, recommending it as a less-strenuous sport than tennis that could help people of all ages stay in shape, Kibler said.
Now, players in Norris range from middle school kids to senior citizens, and all ages in between.
In Clinton, the Lakefront Park pickleball courts are open from “daylight until midnight every day,” Houck said. “They are lighted, and the lights are not turned off until midnight.
“We’ve got a group of guys who play,” he said. “Anyone from middle-aged adults to seniors play, and it’s catching on with all age groups. Even the Clinton Blaze is doing a (middle school) class in it.
“Right now, we don’t have any recreation department programs, but I’ve had some people say they’d like to set up a league” Houck said. “We’ve just had them about three weeks. We also may do some indoor courts at the Community Center for the foul-weather months.”
Connie Andrews of Louisville (Tennessee) was at the Clinton pickleball courts on Saturday with Brittany McAlister of Clinton, along with McAlister’s brother, Brandon McAlister, from Knoxville, and her father, Joshua McAlister from Sevierville.
“I’ve been playing pickleball for about six months,” Brittany McAlister said. “I got started with a church group.
“I’m glad they opened this court,” she said. “I like the fast pace of the game.”
Andrews agreed.
“It’s fun, and it’s less intense than tennis,” she said. “Plus, you get to meet great people.”
In Norris, “Deb Gilson came to us to see about getting pickleball courts,” Kibler said. “We had never heard of it. So we researched it and ordered the materials.”
Pickleball isn’t exactly new, however. It was started in the state of Washington in 1965
According to USA Pickleball’s website (usapickleball.org), “Pickleball is a racket or paddle sport in which two players (singles) or four players (doubles) hit a perforated, hollow plastic ball with paddles over a 34-inch-high net until one side is unable to return the ball or commits a rule infraction.
“Pickleball is played indoors and outdoors. It was invented in 1965 as a children’s backyard game in the United States, on Bainbridge Island in Washington state. In 2022, pickleball was named the official state sport of Washington.
“While it resembles tennis and table tennis, pickleball has separate rules, paddles, and court dimensions,” the website notes. “The court is 44 feet long and 20 feet wide, and the paddle is larger than the one used in table tennis. The hard plastic ball used in pickleball produces less bounce than tennis balls.”
From 1965 to 2020, pickleball became a popular sport in the Pacific Northwest, and began to grow in popularity elsewhere, the website says. “In 2021, 2022 and 2023, the sport was named the fastest-growing sport in the United States by the Sports and Fitness Industry Association, and by 2023 it was estimated to have over 4.8 million players.
“The growing popularity of the sport has been attributed to its short learning curve, its appeal to a wide range of ages and fitness levels, and its low startup costs. There are now thousands of pickleball tournaments throughout the United States, including the U.S. National Championships and the U.S. Open Tournament, along with two professional tours and one professional league,” the website says.