If I could travel back in time and be present when the rules of Pickleball were first codified, I would lobby hard that the court dimensions and net height should conform to existing lines on a standard tennis court. If that had been done at the time, then all courts would be dual-use simply by adding a couple of strips of painter’s tape. The nets could be similarly unperturbed. What a wonderful world it would be.
Alas, even if a pickleball court centerline is overlaid on the tennis service box centerline, that is the only shared line, and only partially so. Pickleball purists will also observe that the net is the “wrong” height at the posts.
A couple of years ago, I was alerted to the existence of “POP Tennis.” The sport originated as Paddle Tennis but was rebranded to “POP Tennis” as a shortened form of the word “Popular.” In related news, naming something “Popular” doesn’t make it so. Currently, there are a few places where POP Tennis is played, but the growth of the racquet sport variation appears to be stunted at best.
One significant impediment to growth is that POP Tennis uses an alternate court size than the existing tennis court or pickleball infrastructure. In fact, two court dimensions are defined for POP Tennis, neither of which corresponds to a standard tennis court. In addition to the court size, a POP Paddle is used, and the sport uses unpressurized balls.
Occasionally, POP Tennis surfaces in dialog as a potential “bridge” sport between tennis and Pickleball. I personally think that the racquet sport variation is a dead end as it would require new court infrastructure. The shortage of tennis and pickleball courts in my local area dictates that new capital projects for courts should be prioritized toward one of those sports.
However, there is an idea of a potential bridge racquet sport variation between Pickleball and Tennis that might have legs. My thinking isn’t mature enough to even call it half-baked. It’s more like trying to figure out a recipe from whatever ingredients are on hand.
“Pickle Tennis” should be a thing. (The game will ultimately need a different name, however. Someone else has already parked the domain pickletennis.com, and I am sure they will want a bajillion dollars for it.)
This racquet sport variation is played on a court that is the precise dimensions of the tennis service boxes. The net is 36″ at the center line, and Singles Sticks are placed in the exact location where they would be for standard tennis. To round out the court, strips of painter’s tape should be used to mark off the “kitchen,” which is the standard 7′ from either side of the net. The court is slightly wider and a little bit shorter than the official pickleball court dimensions.
The equipment is negotiable, but as a start, I am thinking of standard tennis racquets and red QuickStart balls. I am less concerned about the equipment than the court dimensions. The key is to have a game that is accessible to the pickleball demographic without requiring permanent disfiguration of a tennis court to be played. It is an alternative form of the game that could potentially expose some Pickleball players to the joys of tennis.
The idea needs some workshopping and a lot of play-testing. However, I think it has genuine potential.
- POP Tennis Rules – How to Play Pop Tennis [and is it same as Paddle Tennis?], Stan Boone, Racquet Sports World, undated.
- POP Tennis, Wikipedia page, viewed May 19, 2023. (Editorial note: Necessary because the site that hosts the official POP Tennis Rules offers only dead links to that material.)
