YMCA of CENTRAL MASSACHUSETTS

While vacationing in Florida, Westborough resident Nelson Ball stumbled upon an advertisement for Pickleball at a local senior center and wanted to learn more.

Popular among seniors and retirees, Pickleball combines aspects of badminton, tennis and ping-pong to create a fun and unique sport.

“It’s a very social sport,” Ball said. “If you’ve never played, there are always people willing to teach you.”

Ball, owner of Ball Financial in Westborough, said when he returned home he noticed there weren’t any places to play Pickleball, and wanted to change that.

“I wanted to continue to play,” Ball said.

Thanks to Ball’s suggestion, area residents can now play Pickleball at the YMCA on Valente Drive in Westborough and in the Town Hall gymnasium in Northborough.

“Last fall we held a demonstration and it just took on a life of its own,” said Betsy Moquin, Director of Membership and Community Relations at the Borough YMCA. “The funny thing is that there wasn’t a demand for it here at the Y, and I guess we kind of created the demand simply by offering it. I think the name helps because once you start talking about it, people immediately want to know more.”

Pickleball can be played indoors or outdoors, but must be on a hard surface. Players use a flat paddle to hit a hollow, plastic ball back and forth, and typically play to seven, 11 or 21 points. At the YMCA, the group plays doubles, but the game can be played with single players.

The court is smaller than a tennis court, measuring 44 by 20 feet, with a net splitting the court in half. It includes a 7-foot “no volley zone,” where players cannot set foot inside. The smaller court is ideal for older players, Ball said, as it allows them to play for a longer time without getting tired.

“It allows older people to play because it’s a smaller area they need to cover,” Ball said.

But even with the smaller court, Ball said playing Pickleball could be strenuous.

“When you play you know you’re getting a workout,” Ball said.

Unlike tennis or badminton, the Pickleball paddle is made of wood or a hard composite material, instead of strings that can help the ball bounce back over the net.

“You can’t rely on the strings to hit back,” Ball said. “The real power has to come from the individual.”