It seems like there is a new paddle sport coming out of the woodwork every year. Whether it’s Sandy Pickle emerging from the creativity of beachy Pickleball lovers, or Paddleball’s growing popularity in cities with a ton of wall ball courts, many imaginative sport minds across the world are starting to make all racket / paddle sports a big thing in the 21st century.
But with all of these paddle sports cropping up, a casual sports fan might wonder – how are some of these different? This is a natural question for someone who has heard rumblings of both Paddle Tennis or Pickleball. Are they the same sport? Isn’t Pickleball just tennis with a paddle? If so, then how does that make paddle tennis different?
We will settle these questions once and for all!
Is Paddle Tennis the same as Pickleball
Paddle Tennis is not the same as Pickleball! Although it may seem like paddle tennis is just another name for Pickleball, they are different sports. They are, however, very similar to each other. Let’s look at the differences.
What is Pickleball?
Pickleball is a sport that was invented in Bainbridge Island Washington State in 1965. It is a paddle sport similar to tennis. A pickleball court is roughly the size of a badminton court. The court measures 44 feet long and 20 feet wide.
The rules are also similar to badminton and tennis, and it is quite easy is easy to pick up and play with your friends on blacktop or a tennis court. The game involves either 2 pickleball players playing singles or 4 pickleball players playing doubles. Pickleball uses a bouncy hollow ball with holes in it that resembles a wiffle ball.
You can play pickleball on any flat, hard surface. It is widely played on blacktops within a city. Specific courts built and painted for Pickleball specific courts (resembling tennis courts) are cropping up more and more each year as it grows in popularity. Since pickleball players can set up a Pickleball court anywhere there is a blacktop surface, all you need is the right equipment. A pickleball set comes with paddles, a ball and a net and can be bought for less than $75 online and is easy to set up. Because it is so accessible, Pickleball has a very “roots rising” culture as opposed to a racket sport like tennis.
What is Paddle Tennis?
Paddle tennis is a sport that was invented in the early 1900s by an Episcopal Minister in New York City. The goal of this minister, Frank Peer Beal, was to create a tennis-like game for the children in his community. Shrinking the court and replacing the rackets with cheaper wooden paddles and deflated rubber ball made it more condusive to a game kids could play. Thus, Paddle tennis was born!
Today, Paddle tennis is played on a 50 feet long x 20 feet wide court that resembles a tennis court but on a smaller scale. The modern day version of the game features a slightly deflated tennis ball as opposed to the rubber ball orginally used.
Tennis players likely would pick up the sport rather easily as well. The rules are almost identical to tennis. Adult’s Paddle ball allows only one serve per player, as opposed to tennis’ 2 1 fault rule on serves. This is the main rule change within Paddle tennis.
How is pickleball different from paddle tennis?
There are some key differences between Pickleball and Paddle Tennis:
- The net in Pickleball is 36 inches high as opposed to 31 inches high in Paddle Tennis
- A paddle tennis court is 6 feet longer than a Pickleball court.
- The ball in Pickleball is a hollow plastic ball with holes in it. Paddle tennis uses a depressurized tennis ball.
- A pickleball paddles have more of a block shape, where paddle tennis paddles are round and slightly larger. A pickleball paddle is usually solid through and through where as in paddle tennis the paddles usually have holes in them.
- Rules of each game are very different. All of the rules of tennis apply to Paddle tennis, which are different from Pickleball:
- In Pickleball, you can’t serve overhand like you can in Paddle Tennis.
- Pickleball has “the kitchen” area in the center of the court where players can’t enter unless the ball has bounced in it.
How is Pickleball the same as Paddle Tennis?
Both games are really more similar than different. They both use paddles instead of rackets. Both feature similarly sized courts. Pickleball and Paddle tennis are both much easier to pick up and play than more “exclusive” racket sports like Squash or Tennis.
Can you play Pickleball on a Paddle Tennis Court (and vice versa)?
The answer to this question is yes, but only for fun. If we are being super “official” about playing each sport the right way, then no you technically can’t.
However, since the size of both courts are close enough, then you can play Pickleball on a Paddle Tennis Court and vice versa so long as you bend the rules a little bit.
For example, if we wanted to play Pickleball on a paddle tennis court we could make some adjustments. There is a 3 feet wide rectangle area at each end of the paddle tennis court. We would ust ignore these boxes and play within the rest of the 44 feet x 20 foot area. The we could live with the fact that the net is a little bit lower than we want. Lastly we would put markers where the kitchen starts on each side of the court and play by the honor system. And voila! We have a Pickleball court.
So should I play Pickleball or Paddle Tennis ?
Both are fun casual paddle sports that kids, adults and seniors can pick up and play rather easily. If you want to ride a wave of popularity and play with more people regularly here in the US, pickleball would be the right choice. However, if there is a paddle tennis court near you then you should definitely take advantage of it since they are few and far between.