A New Generation of Players

As a kid, when I was growing up, the most popular sport to play was football. My friends and I spent our days playing touch football in a vacant lot during summer vacation. We played flag football in elementary school at PE and after school my dad would always manage to find time to toss the football around with me when he got home from work.

In junior high I started playing real rock ‘em, sock ‘em, (tackle) football. By the time I got into high school, I realized that even though I was very athletic, my small physical size, 5’10”, 150 pounds (fully suited out), was creating some painful issues for me when competing against players twice my size, who wanted to tear my head off because I was carrying the football.

That’s when I discovered and started playing tennis. Simply stated, it had everything I was looking for in competitive athletics.

Different than football, it was not a team sport and physical size was not necessarily an advantage (or disadvantage) when competing.

However, like football, it required you to stay in top physical condition, as well as committing to lots of practice to be a good player. It required you to be quick on your feet and have good eye/hand coordination.

It was a game that required an understanding of playing both offense and defense.

It was a game that required you to be precise and proficient in the execution of a strategical game plan and be ready to change that game plan if needed. And it was also the only sport I had ever participated in that I could play with girls!

After spending some 30 years enjoying playing tennis, I discovered pickleball and the transition from tennis to pickleball, (as it is for most lifelong tennis players), was a natural for me. As I began coaching the sport, most of the players I witnessed taking up the game were baby boomers, however, I am now seeing the millennial generation discovering the fun of playing pickleball. As many of these young millennial parents are playing pickleball, they are wanting to introduce their kids to the sport.

So, will the next generation of kids grow up playing pickleball?

As a coach, I think it’s the perfect kids sport for a multitude of positive reasons:

• The learning curve for conquering the fundamentals of the game makes it quick and easy to become an accomplished player.
• The socially fun atmosphere of the sport of pickleball provides an environment that encourages kids to want to participate.
• Pickleball provides both individual athletic challenges as well as team camaraderie.

In addition to all of that, as a parent, (and as a grandparent), I believe that it is important for kids to learn how to be both good winners and good losers, (aka, good sports).

One of the great things about playing social competitive pickleball is that even though we all want to win and winning is great, because everyone is having so much fun, losing is not a big deal because you are instantly on to the next game with a new partner, competing against new opponents.

As the sport of pickleball continues to evolve, I believe, (hope), that it will someday become as popular as soccer, T-ball, flag football, gymnastics, etc. currently are today.

When it does, I plan to one day be able to enjoy spending quality family time playing pickleball with my grandchildren and (hopefully), even get a chance to watch them play on a competitive pickleball school team.

Wayne Clark is a professional tennis instructor with over 25 years’ experience coaching players on all levels of the game. Wayne is also qualified in pickleball instruction and is on staff as an instructor with The Naples Pickleball Center and Training Academy at East Naples Community Park. Contact Coach Wayne by email at coachwayneclark@aol.com, or by or by phone or text at 239-450-6161