The Group Chat: In a pickle

The Group Chat is our new glowed-up Sunday Scroll, covering the intersection of sports and culture. Think brunch with your sporty bestie — a weekly yap sesh that keeps you in the know and helps supplement your healthy, happy lifestyle. It feels so right to be here with you.

• Summer is just around the corner, which means pickleball is about to dominate your social media feed and your spare time once again. You may know it as yassified tennis, but it’s become a serious athletic pursuit — and serious business.

• Thanks to its benefits for physical and social health, plus its laid-back culture and cute AF accessories, the sport is everywhere…but not everyone is happy about it. So today, we’re busting some myths about the international obsession. Let’s dink.

Myth No. 1: Pickleball is a sport for seniors and retirees.

• Although it’s an extremely popular way for older folks to stay active, pickleball’s recent boom is primarily fueled by young people. Twenty-five to 34-year-olds make up the largest age bracket of pickleball players (28.8%), helping to make it the fastest-growing sport for the third straight year.

• That demographic shift is also reflected in the rapid expansion of places to play pickleball, which increased by more than 50% in 2024. Notably, large cities like Houston and Toronto — aka home to many young, urban professionals — saw the most growth.

Myth No. 2: It’s too chill to make for good exercise.

• For many new players, part of pickleball’s appeal is the ability to do it with friends or on a date, without breaking (much of) a sweat. But with the right opponent who aligns with your rating (aka skill level), it’s a serious workout.

• Example A: Many pickleball clubs hold massive tournaments, and they can be intense — like, “ruin your relationship” intense. Example B: Pickleball injuries are on the rise. Stay safe out there, and remember to stretch.

Myth No. 3: It’s just wanna-be tennis.

• It’s true that pickleball tends to be less strenuous than tennis, but that accessibility has allowed it to carve out a chill, fun-focused identity that sets it apart from the OG country club sport. The sports have different rules, strategies, and setups, too.

• Think of it this way: Pickleball is to snowboarding as tennis is to skiing. Snowboarding and skiing share the slopes and a basic concept, but they’re not the same sport, and their cultures couldn’t be more different. Another way those dynamics are similar? The beef…

Myth No. 4: Tennis vs. pickleball is a zero-sum love-sum game.

• From disagreements over etiquette to plain-old jealousy, the tennis world is sweating about pickleball’s rapid rise. The main driver is competition for limited court space as communities flip tennis courts to pickleball courts, which are smaller and therefore can serve more people. Some argue pickleball is outpacing tennis on a cultural level, too.

• But it doesn’t have to be this way — and some international tennis organizations are embracing the crossover appeal by bringing picklers under the tennis tent (see: last year’s French Open, which set up courts outside Roland Garros for fans to play on).

Myth No. 5: Pro pickleball is a retirement league for tennis pros.

• Andre Agassi and John McEnroe are just a few of the former tennis greats who have graced pro pickleball courts, but many of today’s top picklers dinked their way from relative obscurity to a career as a pro athlete. If you take your talents to a Golden Ticket Tournament, you could even be next.

• Another fun fact about pro pickleball? When the two pro leagues, Major League Pickleball and the Professional Pickleball Association, merged last year, they reached pay equity (!!!) for women athletes. And these gals are making bank: On average, they earn more than the highest-paid WNBA players and more than double the average NWSL player.

🏓 Ready to hit the court? Pick up a paddle and head to the court — we’ll see you out there.