Pickleball

Pickleball is a hugely popular game in the US with a growing fanbase in this country too.  It was invented in the 1960s and combines elements of badminton, tennis, and table tennis – it is played either indoors or outdoors on a badminton-sized court, across a net similar to tennis but lower, with bats (“paddles”) that are most similar to table tennis.  It uses a unique ball made out of hard plastic, hollow with holes in (with indoor balls having fewer but larger holes than outdoor balls).  It can be played as doubles (2 v 2 teams) or singles (1 v 1) on the same sized court.

If you’re not sure what a game of Pickleball looks like then YouTube is your friend – check out this Intro to Pickleball & a Beginner’s Guide for how to play for starters, then maybe move on to watching tennis Legends playing pickleball (Agassi & Roddick vs McEnroe & Chang).

Pickleball taster sessions have been running at Lansdown on Sunday afternoons 2 – 4pm since our first successful taster sessions in October 2023.   Whilst primarily provided for our Rackets members, non-Rackets members (Croquet/Social) and guests attending with a club member are also welcome with no fee payable, as well as children where accompanied by a supervising parent/carer club member.  Non-members interested in playing Pickleball at the club should contact reception to arrange attending one trial session then purchasing Social Membership for ongoing Sunday play.  Non-Rackets members can only play outside of Sunday afternoon sessions as a Racket member’s guest.

There is a members only Pickleball WhatsApp group which can be joined via the invite link in Useful Links on our App/members website – this can be used to coordinate Sunday attendance or arrange social play at other times.