BRISTOL, Tenn. (WCYB) — Pickleball is a sport that almost everyone has heard of and many have tried. But that wasn’t the case five years ago.
Now the fastest growing sport in the U.S. has brought the pros to the Tri-Cities.
The PPA Tour brings together the best pickleball players in the country. 130 professionals travel and compete on the tour. However, before reaching professional status, all athletes had to start somewhere and pick up a racket for the first time.
Professional pickleball player and PPA Tour member Zane Navratil said, “My dad got me into pickleball in high school. I was a tennis player and I thought it was an old guy’s sport. And in my defense, it kind of was in 2013. He took me to the Caesar Chavez Center and I went there really fast, thought I was going to wipe the floor with them and got beat up by a couple of guys named Harvey, Lyle and Al. I remember their names because I’ve never met anyone my age named Harvey, Lyle or Al. They were all three times my age, beat my ass and I got humbled really quickly and kind of got addicted to it that way.”
Since 2019, the tour has grown along with the sport over the years, continually evolving and taking the game to new levels.
Navratil says, “When I first started playing, I told people I played pickleball and nobody knew what I was talking about. The people who did know laughed at me and said ‘yeah, whatever’ and now everyone knows pickleball.”
Jessie Irvine, also a member of the PPA Tour and a professional pickleball player, adds: “Pickleball is so new and so young in this professional aspect that it will constantly evolve and you will see new things every year and that is what makes it so exciting.”
Pickleball isn’t just for pros though, as everyone is encouraged to give it a try and there are even some tips and tricks provided for players of all skill levels.
“Less is more. I think sometimes people overcomplicate things and overthink things. Honestly, making balls and keeping things simple is probably your best friend in pickleball,” Irvine said. “It’s really easy to learn. It’s one of those things that’s easy to learn but hard to master. So it’s always challenging, but fun at the same time.”
With the tour wrapping up on Sunday with the Bristol Open, there are still plenty of opportunities to stop by and watch players of all levels compete, so don’t miss out on this chance to learn from pickleball pros.
