With all that Hidden Serenity Bed & Breakfast has to offer, it’s no surprise that we also have a Sportscourt located on our property. Our patented Sportscourt allows for the playing of multiple games including two basketball hoops and a short game of tennis. What is more exciting is that we have now added the game of Pickleball to our lineup. If you have not yet heard of Pickleball, then you are in for a real treat!
Pickleball is a racquet sport that combines elements of badminton, tennis and table tennis – all in to one game. In this sport, two, three, or four players use solid paddles made of wood or composite materials to hit a perforated polymer ball (similar to a Wiffle ball) over a net. The sport shares features of other racquet sports, the dimensions and layout of a badminton court, and a net and rules similar to tennis, but with a few modifications.
Pickleball was actually invented in the mid-1960s as a children’s backyard pastime but has only more recently gained popularity across America. The game was created during the summer of 1965 on Bainbridge Island, Washington, at the home of then State Representative Joel Pritchard who, in 1970, was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives for the State of Washington. He and two of his friends, Bill Bell and Barney McCallum, returned from golf and found their families bored one Saturday afternoon. They attempted to set up badminton, but no one could find the shuttlecock. They improvised with a Waffle ball, lowered the badminton net, and fabricated paddles of plywood from a nearby shed.
The pickleball court is similar to a doubles badminton court. The court is striped like a tennis court, with no alleys; but the outer courts, and not the inner courts, are divided in half by service lines. The ball is served with an underhand stroke so that contact with the ball is made below waist level (waist is defined as the navel level) in an upward arc from behind the baseline, diagonally to the opponent’s service zone. A game consists of 11 points, and only the serving team may score.
Pickleball has been gaining serious steam in the past few years. The number of people that play this game has tripled since 2010 with current estimation of over 150,000 active players today. These players are often called “picklers”.
If you are ready to join the league of “picklers” and have a ton of fun, make your reservation at Hidden Serenity Bed & Breakfast today. You can enjoy a relaxing massage in our spa after your thrilling game of Pickleball.
