Pickleball is a racquet sport that combines elements of badminton, tennis, and table tennis. Two, three, or four players use solid paddles made of wood or composite materials to hit a perforated polymer ball, similar to a wiffle ball, over a net. The sport shares features of other racquet sports, the dimensions and layout of a badminton court, and a net and rules similar to tennis, with a few modifications. Pickleball was invented in the mid 1960s as a children's backyard pastime but quickly became popular among adults as a fun game for players of all levels.
The game started during the summer of 1965 on Bainbridge Island, Washington, at the home of then State Representative Joel Pritchard who, in 1970, was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives for the State of Washington. He and two of his friends, Bill Bell and Barney McCallum, returned from golf and found their families bored one Saturday afternoon. They attempted to set up badminton, but no one could find the shuttlecock. They improvised with a Wiffle ball, lowered the badminton net, and fabricated paddles of plywood from a nearby shed.
Music by Richard Rodgers, Lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II
Most people live on a lonely island
Lost in the middle of a foggy sea
Most people long for another island
One where they know they would like to be
Bali Ha'i may call you, any night, any day
In your heart, you'll hear it call you,
come away...Come away
Bali Ha'i will whisper on the wind of the sea
Here am I your special island
Come to me...Come to me...
Your own special hopes, your own special dreams
Bloom on the hillside and shine in the streams
If you try, you'll find me
Where the sky meets the sea
Here am I your special island
Come to me...Come to me...
Bali Ha'i...Bali Ha'i...Bali Ha'i
Someday you'll see me floating in the sunshine
My head sticking out from a low-lying cloud
You hear me call you, singing through the sunshine
Sweet and clear as can be,
Come to me...Here am I...Come to me...
If you try, you'll find me,
Where the sky meets the sea,
Here am I your special island
Come to me...Come to me...
Bali Ha'i...Bali Ha'i...Bali Ha'i...