As pickleball's popularity grows, tennis players left to fight for their courts
Bryce Airgood
LANSING — Think tennis, but with a smaller court, paddles and elements of table tennis and badminton thrown in.
Pickleball is named for either boats or a family pet named Pickles, depending on which urban legend you most believe.
And it's the fastest growing sport in the country.
More than 23.6 million people played tennis in the United States in 2022. That is still about 12.9 million less than the number of people who played pickleball, some 36.5 million, according to the Association of Pickleball Professionals.
About 900 of those players are in Greater Lansing, according to estimates from East Lansing resident and Patriarche Park Pickleball Association Chairperson Gary Beaudoin.
The growth can be seen in local parks and in board rooms where proponents are pressuring public officials to expand access to the sport that began growing in popularity in Michigan about 10 years ago when snowbirds brought it back from Florida and Arizona.
Pickleball can be played by people in their teens through their 80s and takes up less space than a tennis court, about 20 feet by 44 feet with a 36-inch tall net.
Delta Township converted two tennis courts to six pickleball courts around 2017. East Lansing’s Patriarche Park is being renovated with 10 pickleball courts and one tennis court. And Meridian Township officials have discussed converting the tennis court at Hillbrook Park to more pickleball courts.
“It's happening in a lot of communities where there is a battle, let's call it, between tennis people and pickleball people where pickleball people are trying to get more courts,” Central Michigan Tennis Association President Steve Powers said. “And it's coming at the expense of tennis courts.”
Does pickleball warrant more courts?
Powers said pickleball courts replacing tennis courts is a “huge, huge topic right now.”
It’s a difficult issue for him because he enjoys playing both, but he thinks communities need to avoid having a “knee jerk reaction” by transitioning tennis courts to pickleball courts without looking down the road long-term and creating a plan for both sports.
“Does the growth of pickleball warrant more courts? The answer to that is probably is yes,” he said. “But let's do it with the right ideas in mind.”
Mid-Michigan Tennis Association member and Michigan State University Head Men's Tennis Coach Harry Jadun said "you can't find a court here" at any facility in the Michigan Athletic Club, Court One Athletic Clubs or MSU indoor tennis center after 5 p.m. when people are done with work and classes.
Beaudoin said when he goes somewhere to play that has both tennis and pickleball courts, there might be 30 or 40 people playing pickleball and three to four playing tennis.
Jadun estimated there are more than 125 outdoor tennis courts and 30 indoor courts in Greater Lansing. He thinks it’s enough, but knows a lot of tennis players think the fact a lot more pickleball courts are being put on tennis courts is infringing on tennis.
He thinks pickleball's growth is “awesome.” With its lower barrier to entry, a lot of older people can learn and became active, which is good and healthy, he said.
“I think anything that puts a racket in people's hands is really really good,” he said.
At Patriarche Park, Beaudoin said a group of up to 40 people can often be seen playing pickleball while the tennis courts are empty, though conditions of the tennis courts were rough preceding an ongoing renovation. In July East Lansing City Council approved a $896,097 contract to reconstruct the tennis, basketball and pickleball courts at the park.
Meridian Township has money budgeted to resurface the Hillbrook Park tennis, basketball and pickleball courts in 2023, with the configuration at the park commission’s discretion.
Amy Clark wrote to township officials in November, asking them not to change the tennis court at Hillbrook Park, as it's the only community tennis court in Haslett and would "limit opportunities for tennis players."
Joe Kimble, on the other hand, on behalf of the “Hillbrook pickleballers,” asked officials for more courts and sent 62 signatures supporting his request. He wrote there's "a pressing need for more courts" and 10 to 20 people wait to play during the summer and fall, with new players showing up often.
Beaudoin said when he first started playing pickleball about 10 years ago, there were a couple places to play indoors in the area, but none outdoors. Now there are multiple places to play.
He said there’s a group of 16 to 20 people he plays with regularly, mostly retirees, who send out an email every day saying where courts are reserved and where people can meet and play for a couple hours. Because it’s a smaller court the sport is a lot more social, with opportunities to talk to your partner and people across the net, he added.
“You make a lot of friends,” he said, “a lot of friends.”
And with classes at different locations, like Towner Road Park in Haslett, there are lots of opportunities for people to start playing pickleball, Beaudoin said. He teaches a class through East Lansing Parks and Recreation and there's a waiting list of people wanting to learn pickleball, he said.
Pickleball can be a family experience that doesn’t require as much skill as tennis, Powers said.
“I mean, you pick it up and you have success right away,” he said. “I think that's important. And then tennis is not a sport that does that.”
Why are governments converting tennis courts?
Marcus Kirkpatrick, Delta Township’s parks, recreation and cemeteries director, said the pickleball craze there started in about 2013 when a group of residents returned from “winterizing” in Florida and brought the sport back with them.
At the time there were five tennis courts at Delta Mills and Sharp parks and tape was put down as pickleball lines on courts initially in about 2014.
“So pickleball, in some ways, has started on tennis courts, and quite honestly come close to pretty much taking over tennis courts,” he said.
Then in 2017 the township converted two tennis courts at Delta Mills Park to six pickleball courts. From there “it's just taken off in the township,” he said.
He said the Delta Mills courts weren’t being used for tennis that much, which made them easier to convert. And the township made sure there were other tennis courts in the township, like at local schools and Sharp Park. But the pickleball players would have loved to convert the three courts at Sharp Park, he added.
East Lansing’s Patriarche Park renovation includes work on a basketball court, tennis court and 10 pickleball courts. The Patriarche Park Pickleball Association nonprofit donated $160,000 for the project.
Construction is nearly completed and the City Council approved using remaining project funds to install a Herculan TC Club color-coat surface on the pickleball courts, which has a life expectancy three times that of traditional coating, according to East Lansing documents.
East Lansing Assistant Director of Parks and Recreation Wendy Wilmers Longpre said she’s excited to see how the new longer-lasting surface works, especially juxtaposed with the tennis court's surface, which is not getting the special treatment as “the pickleball folks didn’t raise money for the tennis ball courts.”
She said it will be like a test site for monitoring the surfaces and help guide what type of material city officials should use moving forward.
When determining what type of courts to put at the park, Wilmers Longpre said the city looks at many things: existing facilities use, trends in parks and recreation locally and nationally, and the number of amenities in the city.
Not only is pickleball growing locally and nationally, it’s a sport that’s “very friendly” on the joints of the primarily older adults who play. It’s less competitive and slower, and is a park use for East Lansing’s over-50-year-old residents - something not offered a lot in the city, she said.
"We don't have playgrounds for adults over 50,” she said.
Wilmers Longpre said city officials did get some feedback from tennis players who were disappointed Patriarche Park was down to one court. But city officials plan to improve the tennis courts in Valley Court Park and provide better amenities for tennis players, potentially upgrading the hardcourt surface there moving forward, she added.
What’s the future hold for pickleball in Greater Lansing?
Kirkpatrick said Delta Township officials recognize pickleball is part of the township’s future, although finding funding and locations can be challenging.
He thinks every community is dealing with pickleball’s popularity. But the nice thing about Greater Lansing is people can travel and use all of the existing facilities across the region.
“So that's been kind of a saving grace I think for those who may live in areas where there aren't any courts,” he said. “(P)ickleball players are so very welcoming, welcoming of others and always willing to teach anyone how to play.”
Powers said just because pickleball is growing in 2023 doesn’t mean that will be the case in 2028. It’s a very social sport that’s taken over communities, but he thinks it’s a temporary growth issue that will be righted.
"It doesn't have to be a win-lose situation,” he said. “Come up with a plan and a program to make it a win-win situation for both sports.”
Contact Bryce Airgood at 517-267-0448 or bairgood@lsj.com. Follow her on Twitter @bairgood123.
Where to learn more:
How to play pickleball: Here are the rules and things to know before hitting the court
USA Pickleball Places 2 Play: Join the community from anywhere