From the origins to the differences in these racquet sports, here's a little primer to get you more familiar with tennis and pickleball.
The Origins
Tennis
While there is some dispute over the exact origins and derivation of the name tennis for this unquestionably ancient game, most historians credit French monks of the 11th or 12th century with its creation. The monks played “jeu de paume,” (game of the palm or hand), a crude version with a ball hit by hand against monastery walls or over a rope strung across a courtyard. When a player served, they shouted “tenez,” which translates to something like “take this,” and that may in fact be where the game got its name. As the game became more popular, indoor courts were introduced and players began using a glove with webbing between the fingers or a solid paddle to hit the ball. A racquet made of webbing attached to a handle soon followed. Balls were initially made from wads of hair, wool, or cork wrapped in string and cloth or leather. Before long, French nobles were playing the game and its popularity spread to England as well. The wood frame racquet strung with sheep gut and cork-cored ball were in common use by the 1500s, but the game was still played on a narrow, indoor court where walls were utilized for strategic purpose.
By the 1700s, the game had lost its luster. But in the mid- to late 1800s, everything changed. It started with Charles Goodyear’s introduction of vulcanized rubber in 1850. The use of bouncier rubber balls on outdoor courts began and the game of tennis was transformed forever.
In 1874, retired British officer Major Walter C. Wingfield published The Major’s Game of Lawn Tennis, essentially introducing the game and equipment as we know it, although the original court he proposed was shorter and had an hourglass shape. Wingfield revised his rules in 1875 but left further development of the game to others. The first tennis courts appeared in the U.S. around this time, mostly in the Northeast, with many adapted from croquet courts. The rectangular court and rules that govern tournaments in the modern format were adopted in 1877, when the All England Club held its first Wimbledon tournament. At that time, the net was still five feet high at the sides, a carryover from the game’s indoor origins, and the service boxes were 26 feet deep, but by 1882, even those specifications had evolved to their current form.
The U.S. National Lawn Tennis Association was founded in 1881. The mission of this small association of men was to promote the standardization of rules and regulations for lawn tennis throughout the United States. By 1975, the USNLTA transformed into today’s USTA and incorporated as a not-for-profit sports association. Today the USTA is made up of 17 individual sections, each representing distinct geographic locations throughout the U.S., with all working to support players and promote the growth of the game across the country for people of all ages and abilities. Their goal is to make the U.S. the number one tennis-playing nation in the world by 2035, with a stated mission to grow tennis to inspire healthier people and communities everywhere. They aim to continue the growth trajectory of the sport – up 33% in the past four years – by increasing the number of Americans playing the sport to 10% of the population, or 35 million players.
Pickleball
Pickleball is a much newer sport. It got its start outside Seattle in 1965. Its history as documented by USA Pickleball and imparted by Bill Carmichael of SSI Pickleball is as follows. Congressman Joel Pritchard and his friend, businessman Bill Bell, returned to Pritchard’s home on Bainbridge Island following a game of golf to find their families sitting around bored, with nothing to do. They looked for some badminton equipment to play on the property’s old badminton court but were unable to find a full set of rackets. Instead, they improvised and began playing by volleying a wiffleball over the badminton net with ping-pong paddles. As they continued to play and discovered the ball bounced well on the court’s asphalt surface, they lowered the badminton net from its original height of 60 inches to 36 inches. Barney McCallum was introduced to the game at Pritchard’s home the following weekend. Keeping in mind the original purpose of this new game – to provide a game that the whole family could play together – the three men created rules for it that relied heavy on badminton.
Two years later, the first permanent pickleball court was constructed in the backyard of Joel Pritchard’s friend and neighbor, Bob O’Brian. A corporation was formed to protect the creation of this new sport in 1972. In 1976, the first known pickleball tournament in the world was held in Tukwila, WA, and “America’s newest racquet sport” got national press in The National Observer and Tennis magazine. The U.S. Amateur Pickleball Association was organized in 1984 and the first composite paddles dedicated to the sport were made. By 1990, pickleball was being played in all 50 states. In 2015, the Sports and Fitness Industry Association (SFIA) estimated that there were just over two million pickleball players. Growth of the sport exploded during the COVID pandemic due to the fact it was played outdoors and did not require close contact. In 2022, pickleball was one of the hottest trends documented in the U.S., receiving an unprecedented level of media coverage by major domestic and international outlets.
According to current statistics from SFIA, more than 13.6 million people played pickleball across the U.S. in 2023. This is a 65% increase from the year before, during which 8.9 million players took up a paddle. Overall, there’s been an average increase of 223.5% participation in pickleball over the last three years.
The Differences
To the untrained eye, pickleball and tennis courts often appear similar because they have similar surfaces, lines drawn on the ground, and a net. However, the games themselves differ significantly in court size, equipment, rules, and athleticism required.
Size of Court
The main difference between tennis and pickleball is court size. The average tennis court is 60’ wide and 120’ long, while pickleball courts are only 20’ wide and 44’ long. In tennis, the edges on the left and right sides of the court are only used to extend the size of the playing area for doubles matches, whereas pickleball courts stay the same size for play whether singles or doubles. Tennis courts are so much larger than pickleball courts that four complete pickleball courts would easily fit inside one converted tennis court. Since a pickleball court can easily fit inside a tennis court, many existing tennis courts are modified for pickleball use by having lines drawn for pickleball on their surface, so both sports can be played there without building separate courts.
Nets
There is one main difference between tennis and pickleball nets. A tennis net is 42” at the posts and drops to 36” tall across its middle length. A pickleball net isn’t pulled as taut and measures 34” tall in the middle (36” at the posts). When tennis courts are modified for pickleball play, the nets often are not adjusted for the different sports and can definitely impact play for more experienced and skilled players.
Rules
The rules and scoring in tennis and pickleball are also significantly different. While singles and doubles matches can be played in both sports, pickleball is usually played as doubles while tennis has more singles matches. In tennis, scores are counted as 15, 30, and 40, and any player can score points no matter who served. Tennis players can serve over or underhand, and often use complicated or aggressive serves to try and win a point or “ace.”
Pickleball is scored using single points and participants play games to 11 points. Only the serving player or team can score a point in a pickleball match, and all players only serve underhand. Pickleball also doesn’t allow players to hit a ball out of the air coming from the other side if they’re in the forwardmost part of the court, known as the non-volley zone and commonly called “the kitchen.”
Equipment
Tennis players use racquets with tightly pulled strings. Size of racquet varies depending on players’ age, comfort level, and strategy of play, such as desired force and control. Tennis uses a felt-covered rubber ball filled with enough air to make it bouncy. When a racquet hits the ball, the strings propel the ball at high speeds to quickly cover large distances.
In pickleball, players use smaller hard composite plastic or wood paddles that are similar to ping-pong paddles. Instead of propelling the ball faster and farther, pickleball paddles are designed to “dink” the ball at slower speeds. The ball used in pickleball is a hollow, hard plastic ball with small holes. The ball doesn’t fly as far or as long as a tennis ball since courts are smaller with less distance to cover.
Athleticism
Tennis is considered a physically demanding strategic sport that involves running and powerful racket swings. Tennis requires much more running, power, and endurance, athleticism, strength, speed, jumping ability, and a higher level of fitness than pickleball. It is more demanding on core strength.
While pickleball is fast and focused, requiring quick reflexes, it is far less rigorous than tennis. The smaller court size in pickleball means less running and more strategy. The lower level of activity required for pickleball makes it more accessible for those with physical limitations or older individuals who aren’t as agile or able to run. It also makes it more of a social activity and fun to play as a family.
