By CKPGToday

TYH: Number One Growing Sport In North America

Feb 27, 2018 | 6:17 PM

It’s a racquet sport that combines elements of badminton, tennis, and table tennis. Pickleball is the number one growing sport in North America, and on today’s To Your Health, Catherine Hansen discovers why.

(Announcer:)
And now, “To Your Health”. Brought to you by Hart Drugs, Third Avenue Pharmacy and the Phoenix Pharmacy.

(Catherine Hansen – Reporting:)
The rules are simple, the game is easy to learn. Once mastered, pickleball can turn into a fast paced and competitive game.

(Roy Young – Pickleball Player:)
“I discovered it when I was a snowbird down in Arizona. Been playing for about six years, and I have to say it’s the most addictive game I’ve ever played.”

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(Hansen:)
Pickleball contains elements of several racquet sports – tennis, badminton and ping-pong. It can be played either indoors or outdoors, on a badminton-sized court with a slightly modified tennis net. Singles or doubles can play, using a paddle and a plastic ball.

(Young:)
“It’s a cross between ping pong, badminton, and tennis, and the best thing about all those three sports is the rally.  This game has rules in it, funny little rules, that actually instigate rally. So you’ll have rallies just about on every serve, because of a little rule called the bounce bounce rule.  So it has to bounce twice before you can actually start really getting into playing, and it just goes from there. The rallies get quite intense. It’s huge fun.”

(Hansen:)
It’s not just about fun. There are many health benefits for those who play the game.

(Francois Loignon – Engage Sport North:)
“The court size is quite smaller than a tennis court so people, older people, older adults or children, they don’t have to cover as much space so the impact on the joints is quite low. You still get a moderate-to-intense physical activity, which is really good at that age, and it works on your balance, hand eye coordination.”

(Hansen:)
It’s easy to talk and communicate with your teammates, or those on the other side of the net.

(Loignon:)
“You get to laugh and have fun with your peers, with your friends, and that’s a great way to be happy in life – doing physical activity and also spending time with people. So it’s a great balance that you get with pickleball.”

(Hansen:)
Young is currently lobbying for an outdoor pickleball court in the city. He’s seen huge growth in the sport over the past few years here in Prince George. His group plays Monday, Wednesday and Friday mornings at the Northern Sport Centre, and they are always open to newcomers. To your health, Catherine Hansen, CKPG News.