When I was growing up with my three brothers, we didn’t have TV, internet or mobile phones, so we passed the long hours of the holidays with any of the following recreational activities. French cricket. Reading. Hitting each other. Gathering logs (there was no central heating either). Lying on our beds trying not to hear our father shout, ‘Kids! Woooooding!’ – which meant being ordered up vertical hillsides to ‘source’ yet more firewood. That was on Exmoor.
When we went to our maternal grandparents in Berkshire, however, there was one undeniable attraction: Swingball. We whacked six bells out of that poor ball on a string attached to a pole from dawn ’til dusk. Since then, I’ve never seen a ball game I don’t like and don’t want to win – and nor have my brothers.
We all play tennis, table tennis and badminton like fiends, so when I discovered that a new bat and ball game was sweeping all before it – a game that all ages and abilities could play, that already boasted superfans including George Clooney, Kim Kardashian and Leonardo DiCaprio – I couldn’t wait to get on court and beat everyone. It’s called pickleball, and I’d never heard of it until recently. It’s a big thing in America – getting bigger all the time – and now it’s arrived here, so you too can start your pickleball journey.
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