Pickleball is Addictive!
In a good way…
I came across Pickleball in May 2022, started playing it in August 2022 and will be playing in the English Open in August 2023. And I’m 63!
Taking up a brand new sport at 63, would normally be highly unlikely, but not Pickleball. People in their 50’s, 60’s, 70’s and 80’s are taking up Pickleball. How does that happen?
There is a scientific answer to the question, which I’ll share in a bit.
First, let’s examine the gym and fitness industry. We have been told to exercise at least for 30 minutes 5 times per week. This is the official guidelines from gov.uk: Do at least 150 minutes of moderate intensity activity a week or 75 minutes of vigorous intensity activity a week spread exercise evenly over 4 to 5 days a week, or every day.
But we’ve never been told what type of exercise. Treadmill, stationary bike, bootcamp, cross-skier, weights, rower, spin etc. Most of these activities are boring, done on your own and often not sustainable, prone to injury and they often never become a habit that we will do over and over without any hardship or complaining. We get bored fast and therefore, although we know we need to do it regularly, we eventually stop. Something else (life) gets in the way and actually the exercise is not something that keeps us that interested or inspired. Sometimes we may have to decide on a massive goal like running the London Marathon in order to keeps us motivated. There’s nothing wrong with having a goal to inspire you to exercise, but what if there was a sport that just made you want to exercise ALL the time?
This type of ‘workout’ isn’t really working out any longer, although the fitness industry has made billions from our monthly subscriptions that we continue to pay and rarely stop, because we tell ourselves that one day we will go back to it, but of course that ‘one day’ never comes. There are exceptions of course, but it’s only a handful of us.
Now think about when you were a kid and playing outside, maybe playing hide and seek, playing football or just playing at anything? When you played outside you lost track of time, the same happens with Pickleball. When you play, time seems to move faster and before you know it, your hour or two of playing several Pickleball games comes to an end.
The benefits of ‘PLAY’ is also proven scientifically. We know that when you’ve exercised by doing a run or working out in the gym, you do feel great, but the feel-good effect wears off quickly until the next time and depending on how your muscles feel the next day, you may decide not to go back that quickly.
There are chemical and biological reasons why the act of play makes you feel better. Even 30 minutes of play can unlock powerful feel-good hormones and change the way the brain responds to the signals it receives. These feel-good hormones — endorphins, oxytocin, dopamine, and serotonin, norepinephrine and GABA — are the key to some incredible mental health benefits, including improved mood, reduced stress, greater happiness and a feeling of being more alive.
The benefits of this cocktail of feel-good hormones lasts longer and guess what, you want to do it all again as quickly as possible. I had a call from a Pickleball player to come and play at our local club. She said and I quote, ‘I woke up this morning (this was a Monday) and wondered where can I play Pickleball today! This is completely normal in the world of Pickleball, this sport is totally addictive and it just makes you feel fantastic. Have you ever come across an exercise routine that is addictive, maybe you have, I haven’t.
Daryl Edwards is the founder of primalplay.com he’s doing brilliantly in promoting the benefits of PLAY. It was seeing him speak in a video interview, which made me research him further and gain some of the knowledge I am sharing with you here. It really made me consider why Pickleball is so addictive. Here is his TEDx video.
At the end of his TED Talk Daryl Edwards reads out the following 3 lines:
PLAY can help us to remain vibrant, happy and joyful.
PLAY can significantly aid the health outcome of our lives.
PLAY can make us fall in love with movement again.
I can testify that all 3 lines are true of Pickleball, you just have to find out for yourself.
Pickleball is the fastest growing sport in the USA and 9 million people who play every week can’t be wrong about how addictive and beneficial it is for us. In the UK we only have around 5 thousand players, which is just a drop in the ocean, but all the signs are there that it will grow here too, but probably not as fast. Our facilities are just not geared to catering for Pickleball, most leisure centre owners, management and tennis coaches haven’t even heard of it. Tennis players and clubs turn their nose up when they hear the word Pickleball and a Badminton player walked up to me recently at the end of a Coach and Play session I was teaching and told me, he wasn’t interested in all this USA crap. Our attitude in the UK is wrong, but a small army of players, county representatives (includes me in Worcestershire), PickleballENGLAND are all trying their hardest to assist in growing the sport.
I hope to see you on court at some point and hopefully the English Open in 2023 or in future years.
Visit wyreforestpickleball.com to witness all I’m doing to grow the sport in the my neck of the woods.
~ Michael
