icouldbewrong.blog

A recent AP News piece (go to apnews.com/article/tennis-pickleball-us-open), also carried by a number of other national media, offers what has become an all too familiar, and misleading, diatribe about how pickleball is dinking US tennis to death.

Sorry, heard this shit before, but here we go again. It’s the same old story. Someone trying to stir up controversy where it doesn’t deserve to exist. You know, that old false ‘tennis vs pickleball’ binary logical fallacy.

It’s a ridiculous argument, as I have regurgitated ad nauseum before. So let’s run through this one more time because some feel compelled to turn this into an ‘either/or’ phenomenon and can’t seem to stop themselves from barfing it up.

Is pickleball whisking tennis players away from tennis?

Short answer? No. First, many who play pickleball would not or do not play tennis so the suggestion that p-ball is stealing players from tennis is specious at best. And yet, there are also players who play both. That’s a cool thing. Folks are getting exercise and having fun with either or both activities.

So, if there is a pee-ball vs tennis problem, what is it?

Short answer? Court space and location location location.

Yep, there are ongoing battles over court space. These battles too often derive from pball-teetollers wanting to transform what they perceive as unused tennis courts into high demand pball surfaces. Many tennis club owners who are focused on the revenue-generating potential of sour dill courts, some rightly so, are all too willing to make the transition, without contemplating the adverse effects of pickleball conversion. That said, the problem really is growing demand for BOTH tennis courts and p-ball courts. In some ways, that’s a good problem!

And what are these adverse effects of p-ball that we speak of?

Short answer? Again … It’s location, location, location!

The location of ‘I got to pee’-ball courts adjacent to tennis courts is a problem due to the distractive noise of pickleball. But, it’s not just an irritant to tennis players. The p-ball noise pollution is also rearing it’s ugly ears in residential neighborhoods where ‘I peed in my pants’ p-ball courts are unthinkingly located next to homes where the noise causes the heads of nearby residents to explode.

So, what to do? Locate piss ball courts far enough away from tennis courts AND homes so the incessant thwacking sound does not disturb the peace.

Oh, and I’m not even gonna delve into the plethora of injuries that p-ball is delivering to ERs and orthopedic surgery offices across the USA. Yes, p-ball has become the orthopedics favorite sport, and not because these docs play it.

Ok, but really, isn’t tennis on the decline so why not just let pickled courts take over the globe?

No, tennis is not on the decline, pickle breaths! Let’s just start with, how about those record crowds at the US Open, again? Yeah, public interest in tennis continues at an all time high.

Furthermore, the best evidence of tennis participation we have indicates that tennis participation continues to grow. For example, according to the United States Tennis Association, tennis participation in the U.S. grew by 33% between 2020 and 2022, and in 2023, the number of participants reached 23.84 million, which is about 7.7% of the population.

This growth is occurring across a variety of communities with particular growth in Latino (up 105% over the past 5 years) and Black players (up 63%) for the same period. Need cites for these stats? Just Google “Is tennis participation increasing?” and numerous sources appear. Add to that, these are just U.S. figures. In places like China and Europe, tennis participation is also experiencing substantial growth.

In addition, tennis industry/equipment sales continue to increase (once more, just Google “Are tennis equipment sales increasing?” and various sources appear). In 2023 alone, for example, wholesale sales of tennis racquets in the U.S. were $110.5 million, which is a 20.6% increase from 2019.

In other words, it’s not just pickleball that’s growing, tennis is too!

So, for chrisakes, stop the false dichotomy. It ain’t one versus the other. Yes, the battles over court space are real, but that’s because so many folks want to participate in either or both activities.

Soo, here’s my unsolicited advice to those who want to play pickleball and/or who can’t resist stoking this inane argument. If unsuspecting folks want to injure their backs and other joints playing ‘I gotta go pee’-ball, go for it. Just locate your courts where it ain’t loud and stupid. And, have the number of a good orthopedist on hand. You’re probably gonna need it. And I doubt I’m wrong. 👍🏼😉