It’s a question that has popped up from time to time during pickleball’s insane rise in the US. But is pickleball killing tennis?
Is pickleball killing tennis?
Regarding pickleball killing tennis, we need to focus on the US because, in Europe, padel is doing something similar. Pickleball is the fastest growing sport of all time and a fun and easy way to get into racquet sports. The relatively flat learning curve makes it easy to pick up and play, and the smaller court doesn’t put as many physical demands on the player as, for example, tennis. Is easier always better? No, of course not. But the mature reaction to other racquet sports growing is to see it as beneficial for tennis in the long run as there will probably be a lot of overlap and players moving in between the sports.
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Tennis courts disappear
It’s natural to be worried or frustrated as a tennis player or coach because tennis courts are being repainted or rebuilt into pickleball courts across the United States. It’s, of course, sad when tennis courts disappear. We have seen a similar trend in Europe with tennis courts being removed to fit two to three padel courts. It’s understandable for the clubs to do it because the demand for padel is high, and you can squeeze in more courts and people and get more money within the same square meters.
Is this a trend or will it keep going? Will people that flood to pickleball and padel stay in the sport? Tennis has been around for a long time and is one of the five biggest sports in the world, so are we silly to be worried about its future?
We discuss this topic (and a lot more) in our latest podcast episode, which you can check out on Spotify, iTunes and other podcasting platforms. You can also listen to it in the embedded player below. You can find other podcast episodes here or here.
Do you play pickleball or padel? What do you think about these racquets sports growth across the US and Europe?
