Oct. 19, 2022-While on the quest for life’s great equalizer, some might say it is time or death. However, I argue that the great equalizer of us all is Pickleball.

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Enjoyed by everyone-from Oscar-winning actor Leonardo DiCaprio to the grandmother in a retirement home-Pickleball is one sport that is enjoyed by all. 

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According to USA Pickleball, the sport was founded in 1965 by Joel Pritchard, a congressman from Washington state, and Bill Bell, a businessman. When the two friends couldn’t find the equipment to play badminton together, they grabbed some ping-pong paddles, a perforated ball, and improvised. 

Since then, the sport has exploded in popularity. One recent surge occurred during the pandemic. The New Yorker estimates more than a million Americans began playing while stuck in lockdown; one was my grandfather, Don Green. 

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Don, or as I know him, FarFar, has a storied athletic background, beginning with his passion for baseball. 

 

“Baseball was the only thing I really played before high school, during high school, and in college,” Green said. 

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In high school, he was named MVP on his American Legion baseball team, which won the state championship. While playing for the University of Tulsa, Don was named second-team All-American. 

After baseball, he moved to handball. 

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“My professor at the University of Oklahoma taught me how to play,” Green said. “I played probably three times a week for 59 years.”

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However, COVID-19 threw a wrench into his handball plans. With all of the handball courts at the gym closed, he and his buddies began playing Pickleball. 

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“It’s just fun to hit the ball,” Green said. “I’ve always hit a ball all my life.”

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His fellow players include a friend from KU’s Electrical Engineering department and another from Chemical Engineering (Don was a Deane E. Ackers Emeritus Distinguished Professor of Chemical and Petroleum Engineering at KU). 

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Although the people he’s playing with are 10 to 15 years younger than him, Don showed them the Pickleball ropes (FYI: Don celebrated his 90th birthday last July).

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“I can still move on the pickleball court okay,” he assured me with a grin. 

Because it is not too physically strenuous, Green recommends the sport for other seniors. 

“I can’t think of another sport where it’s like a competitive sport and you get out there and move around,” Green said. “It’s more fun than exercising or running.”

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Green has certainly seen the competition aspect of the sport in action. 

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“When I was playing in Estes Park, I found that you could have little old ladies in their 80s would beat your tail,” Green said. 

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The benefits of pickleball for the senior community have been echoed by experts; according to TIME magazine, it’s a low-impact way to get moving that leads to better cholesterol, lower blood pressure, better balance, and avenues for socialization.

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Green speaks to the social aspect of the sport. 

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“Usually people have a group that they play with,” he said. “It’s a kind of social gathering as well as playing the game.”

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For seniors looking for a carefree, low-impact way to get moving, Pickleball is a wonderful choice. From its proven health benefits to the opportunities it creates to make new friends, grab a paddle and enjoy what I believe to be life’s greatest equalizer.