By: Eden Hodges
A group of pickleball players eye the yellow, plastic ball that has just been tipped into the sky.
Argued a game fit for all ages, pickleball is one of the fastest growing sports in the country.
The new guy in Statesboro, Zac Wright, jumps over to shoot the ball back at the other team.
“I used to play other sports... but everything seems slow and boring compared to pickleball
now,” said Wright. "It's more strategic... It's not about hitting it hard. It's about placing the
ball."
Wright chats with he and his partner’s match between games. “As someone in their 30's, it's
kind of hard to make friends and integrate into a new community,” said Wright. "Pickleball
was our foot in the door for that."
Wright's partner, Madeleine Aseron shouts the score as she gets ready to serve the ball
across the court. Many of the people that come out to play swap partners and sides to keep
things even and make friends.
Giddess bounces the ball as he readies for a serve. Living with a bad knee, Giddess tries to
take it easy, but he’s found that pickleball is something fun to do that’s easy on the joints.
Giddess reaches over and smacks the ball with an underhanded left swing, saving a
match. “We kid around with the people at the resort that it makes old people still feel athletic,"
said Giddess. "I'm 61 years old, I need a knee replacement and I can still come out here and
and hobble around and do this."
Giddess gets low to attack the ball with the paddle. “The older you get, the more fragile you
are, like you break a wrist,” said Giddess. "This, I don't have to run, but tennis is out of the
question."
Giddess gets ready for another serve, just outside the inner boundary of the court. Pickleball
courts are much smaller than regular tennis courts and make for a lot less running.
Pairs of pickleball players play matches with each other at the Statesboro’s pickleball courts.
Friday’s meetup saw fewer people only because of the light rain.
Aseron pops the ball with her paddle after it’s bounced in “the kitchen” one time.
The area closest to the net on either side is called “the kitchen” where the ball must bounce
at least once before it can be hit - one key difference from tennis.
Aseron looks back at her partner as she gets ready for a long serve. She and Wright have
been in competitions where they were matched with mother-son pairs, old couples and new
couples, and none are to be underestimated.
Aseron passes the ball back with a quick smack of the wooden paddle. The square paddle
was originally a ping-pong paddle when pickleball began as a mix of ping-pong, tennis and
badminton.
Aseron and her partner Wright volley the ball back and forth across the court. The pair joined
up last year and competed in several tournaments.
Wright swats the ball behind him back across the court to Aseron. Formerly a D1 athlete,
Wright has played football, baseball, basketball and more but his favorite game to
play is pickleball.
Aseron and her teammate grit their teeth as they try to get to the ball before its second
bounce. Pickleball has become so popular in the community recently that at the last meet up,
groups had to take turns using the courts.
Giddess balances the ball on his paddle, waiting for the others to get ready for his serve. "I
don't really know that it is better for a bad knee," said Giddess. "But it's what we do where we
live. We enjoy it."
Giddess trots closer to return the ball. The Giddesses are "vacationing" in Statesboro away
from their resort in Palm Beach Florida to see their daughter play on Tormenta's soccer team.
Aseron lunges towards the ball to close the game. Both couples said that they add pickleball
to their travel routines now, finding rivals and teammates, big and small, young and old, every
where they go.
