Goovigen introduces new sport for all the family

In the small Central Queensland town of Goovigen, one local tennis club member has brought renewed interest to the area by introducing Pickleball. This is a new game which is similar to tennis only with some clever modifications.

Being older no longer means "too old to play"

Goovigen local Barbara Ball has been playing tennis most of her life, socially and competitively and when she heard about this game, decided to give it a try and ordered a set of bats and balls.

“Pickleball could very well be the fasted growing sport on the planet and once you have given it a try it's easy to understand why,” Mrs Ball said. “I set out the new court dimensions on our local tennis courts and invited people in to give it a try.”

“I was amazed at just how much fun it is and at the same time you get a good workout without having to run all over the court,” she said.

 It's a fun game for everyone

“Everyone that gives it a try seems to fall in love with it and comes back for more each week,” Mrs Ball said. “On a recent Friday night we played a match where I had my grandson Will playing with his mum against myself and my son Anthony. What's so wonderful about this is that we not only get to play a sport together (three generations) but it is still very competitive even with such a difference in the ages on court.”

This new tennis craze is a paddle sport that anyone can play even if you have never played tennis before. It's quick to pickup and whether you are young or old, everyone is having fun and playing competitively.

Pickleball is really a combination of tennis, badminton and ping pong and is played in an area the same as a badminton court. The paddles are usually a composite material with a honeycomb format inside and are a size somewhere between a tennis racquet and a ping pong bat. The game is played using perforated polymer balls with just enough rule changes to keep the game flowing.

All ages can be on the court for the one game

Anthony Ball, the President of the Goovigen Tennis club said that the changes to the normal tennis rules are very well thought out as it stops the server from being able to dominate at the net and also all players from being able to do so during the rallies.

“There is an area on either side of the net that is affectionately called “the kitchen” and if you step into this area whilst playing a volley then you lose that rally,” Anthony said

“It's so much easier on the body and the game really focuses on your reflexes and hones up your directional skills when hitting the ball,” Barbara said. “We have two young ladies at the club who have never even held a tennis racquet in their hands before and after only two nights now coming to our Pickleball Friday nights, they are already hitting the ball like champions and best of all they are having a ton of fun as well.”

 Pickleball is here to enjoy

So whether you are young or old or somewhere in the middle, whether you have been playing tennis your whole life or have never walked onto a tennis court before, if you love having fun but at the same time still get a buzz from competitive sport then give Goovigen Pickleball a try. It's fun to watch and even more fun to play.

Goovigen Pickleball is held every Friday night commencing 7.00pm at the Goovigen tennis courts.  For further information phone 0412962305.

Photos supplied from the internet.