Issue link: https://newsleader.uberflip.com/i/207831
Sarasota News Leader November 8, 2013 Page 115 sport and switching over to pickleball, mainly because her new game would be much less stressful on her knees and hips. A very condensed version of the game follows: Two people play against two other people across a net. One person serves the Wiffle ball — always underhand and below the waist — and off they go. As in volleyball, only the server can win a point. A game goes to the first team to reach 11 points. I cannot possibly understand the scoring, but I am assuming one picks it up with time on the court. Whack, whack goes the Wiffle ball as it bounces with a thud a mere 2 feet up from the court surface. Pickleball looks like way more fun than tennis. As I watch the players, I notice a lot of intensity but not as much stress as in a tennis match. Pickleball paddles await players. Photo by Harriet Cuthbert The "Swinging Seniors of Sarasota" have taken to, and taken on, pickleball with a frenzy. I am engrossed in their game at the Arlington Park gym, which has been transformed into a pickleball court through someone's putting up a net in the middle of an area that has been outlined by bright yellow tape. Many of the players are former tennis people who, for various reasons, can no longer subject their bodies to the hard courts of tennis and the frenetic stop-and-go action when chasing a tennis ball. The court here is much smaller and the surface seems more user-friendly than the hard courts of tennis. And, best of all, most of the games are played indoors in the comfort of air conditioning. Pickleball is not as stressful on the body as tennis. Photo by Harriet Cuthbert