We have been hearing lovely stories of players playing pickleball on tennis courts this summer due to the indoor courts being closed. One particularly piqued our interest as the surface was astroturf. Apparently you can play on astroturf!
Guest BLOG from Anthea Rawlence from Matlock, Derbyshire
In my village in the Peak District, after lockdown began to be eased, we asked the playing fields committee if we could play pickleball on the astroturf court next to the school. Permission was given as long as we took precautions which we did as follows:
– We each had our own sanitiser
– Everyone had their own paddle and ball
– The lock to the court was sanitised before and after use
– The winder to the net was sanitised.
What we found:
– We only had the tennis net which we lowered slightly
– We used the singles court with baseline being the tennis serving box
– We used masking tape to make the kitchen area, but this got trampled by other users of the court
– The bounce was different but Ok when the weather was dry
– A damp court meant damp paddles and the ball flew differently
Bonuses:
– An interest in the game from the school children, villagers and the Matlock PickleBall Club
– The court is being used 7 to 8 hours a week for Pickleball
– We all kept fit and enjoyed ourselves
Our usual venue, the Arc Leisure Centre in Matlock, is due to re-open on 29 August.
We asked Anthea what ball they were using on the Astroturf and she wrote back Ace 2 outdoor pickleballs. The balls were bought from the UK Pickleball Shop. Jane Maguire and I spoke recently and she said she has sold loads of outdoor balls and a few nets this summer but not much of anything else. This is another consequence of lockdown. Jane had got stock in expecting a bumper year in 2020 with the growth of pickleball, a number of festivals and tournaments booked.
Anthea is celebrating her 70th birthday later this year. She was thrilled to be presented with a pickleball cake.
Anthea wrote:
“The person who made the cake comes from a tennis family in Alfreton, Derbyshire but none of them had heard of PickleBall! She researched it as you can see.”
“Interestingly my grandson aged 4 was explaining to an adult that granny played the PickleBall. She was knocked out as she had lived in the States in her teens (now mid 30s) and had played the game there. She could not believe it had come to Matlock.”
“Been wonderful for us this summer.”
Pickleball England wishes Anthea happy 70th birthday in October.
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