By Inger Rarick
Every night, before I head off to bed, I find myself scrolling through videos on my phone. You know the ones—those addictive clips that pop up on Facebook or Instagram, seemingly curated by the internet to cater to your interests. For me, it’s all about fashion over 50, staying fit over 50, skincare tips for women over 50, and so on. But if I’m being honest, my video feeds these days are dominated by my current obsession: Pickleball.
There are countless videos offering tips and tricks to improve my game, alongside humorous ones poking fun at people’s obsession with the sport. I fall asleep with pickleball on my mind, thinking about my schedule for the next day and hoping I can squeeze in a few games between work and errands. Or I dream about how I can improve my skills. Maybe you can relate? If not now, perhaps you will later.
I remember visiting my mother, who lived for ten years in The Villages in central Florida. She lived across the street from these courts I had never heard of called pickleball courts. We would hear the continuous, somewhat rhythmic sound of paddles hitting the wiffle ball—knock, knock, knock, knock. To us, it wasn’t bothersome. It wasn’t even interesting to me at the time. It seemed like a sport for older people who could no longer keep up with tennis, a gentle hybrid of ping pong and tennis for seniors.
Fast forward ten years, and here in California, a good friend who was an amazing and talented competitive tennis player introduced a few of us to pickleball. After the first few lessons and games, I was completely hooked. How did this happen, and why?
I had played tennis my whole life and was an average player, no higher than a 3.5 ranking. I enjoyed the sport, especially the social aspect. But at my age, there were only a handful of friends with similar rankings. I played USTA, but those women were fierce, not social, and sometimes even downright mean. It was no longer fun to play USTA. I tried to play tennis with my adult children, who were long-time swimmers but had resisted playing tennis in their youth. Teaching them was too painful—the learning curve is steep, and tennis lessons are expensive. It just wasn’t going to happen as a family sport.
But Pickleball—it’s easy to learn, super social, fast-paced, fun, competitive but not too competitive. Everyone is nice and friendly. You can play all around the country with friends or strangers. Our kids could easily pick it up as well. I found my sport!
Most recently, with retirement on my mind, I have found myself dreaming about pickleball in the mornings and researching neighborhoods around the country with active pickleball communities. I know there are many factors to consider when evaluating potential retirement locations. Truth be told, I am only 56 years old, but like many of our friends, we are talking about what retirement would be like for us. Will we want to be near a city or in the country? Near grandchildren or not? Somewhere new and different or familiar? Downsize to a smaller place or upsize to a larger one? A place with seasons or just warm weather? Affordable? With amenities?
For me, at the top of that list is pickleball. It checks a lot of boxes: it provides physical fitness, mental well-being, and it’s challenging, affordable, and portable. It’s no wonder that pickleball is now the fastest-growing sport in America for the third year running. More than 60% of the players are over 55 years old, although that stat is rapidly shifting to the younger crowd.
So, while my husband and I are still a few years away from retirement, I’m preparing us for a life that will make us both happy. For me, retirement will most certainly include an active pickleball community.
Inger is a local pickleball enthusiast who, for the past 20 years, has lived, worked and raised her family in Portola Valley, CA. After moving to California from Florida she pursued a career in high tech. While her abilities to operationalize and build relationships and community led her to be a successful customer success leader, she is also passionate about orchestrating experiences that help bring friends, family and community together.
Throughout the “Active You” section of this blog, we will introduce you to ideas on staying active and learning new things.