We have pickleball citywide,
probably in just about every gym in the Seattle parks.
We have about 30 facilities.
I try to play three times a week.
I play at all the community centers in Seattle.
I've played at Bitter Lake, at Meadowbrook.
I play at Rainier and then I play at Van Asselt.
I play pickleball about four times a week
here at Jefferson, and at Yessler Terrace.
Then usually at Miller Recreation Center.
It's all over the community centers now.
And Lifelong Recreation, programs those sports.
Lifelong Recreation is a department out of the Seattle Parks and its arts,
fitness, and social opportunities for people age
50 and better.
Pickleball started here, you know.
I understand it was Joel Pritchard who was
the Attorney General in the state of Washington.
He and his brother had a place out on Bainbridge Island , I believe.
And he had children and they fixed the badminton court in the backyard.
But the kids got tired of playing badminton.
And so he got with some of the other neighbors and they came up with this game.
Doesn't take long to learn.
It takes a little more time to become good at it.
You don't have to have a lot of lessons.
You don't have ...
there's not a lot of rules.
It's like tennis, only it's a smaller court and the ball doesn't
move as fast and the net is 34 to 36 inches high.
We have boundaries.
The blue line is the outside line right there.
You gotta serve behind that line.
You have an underhand serve.
Each side gets two serves.
Basically, it's a combination
of scoring between volleyball and tennis.
And play up to eleven.
And then you have to win by two.
Once you learn the rudiments
of how to hit the ball and the rest is,
I think it's mostly mental.
It's not just return the ball.
Where am I going to hit the ball so that it's more difficult
for my opponent to return it.
Don't hit it into the net, like we do a lot.
If you ever get hit by the ball, it hurts.
Especially when the guys hit.
I would say first thing is know how to hold the paddle.
Forehand grip.
Backhand grip, you just turn a little bit more.
And the overhead you gotta, finger up, down.
That's basically it.
Age doesn't seem to be an issue.
I'm still as competitive at 70 now
than I was when I was 18.
And I still like to do my best.
There are some people
who used to play, I don't know if they still do, in their nineties.
Hidea Tokumasu, 91 years old.
You know, I gotta do something,
and this beats walking.
You've got to exercise, man.
You know, if you want to stick around, you know, and especially your older age
or you may be younger, you got to exercise.
And this is a fun way to exercise.
You leap, you lurch,
you back up, you go forward, and you bend over.
You do all kinds of motion.
It keeps you alert.
I think it's very good for your eyes, the fact that you are always
focusing on something coming and going in all directions.
It's excellent exercise.
It's a lovely group of people.
I didn't know anybody here when I started playing,
and now I'm just part of the community.
We're like, you know, a family.
Most of us
go out together to lunch , it's a lot of fun.
You just meet a lot of different people, and I like people.
But you build up a lot of comradeship and friends,
and yet it offers real competition if you want it.
You want to win and you want to get the ball
and then you're mad when you miss it.
It's not slow,
it's a fast game and that's what's so fun about it.
We don't mind when we lose.
You get off a good shot, we feel good about it.
It keeps us coming back.
They come faithfully.
You know, they are people that invest into their leisure
interests and into their overall health.
If I wasn't playing pickleball,
I'd have to find something else, but I don't know what it would be.
Maybe get new knees. (Laughter)
It's a great group of people, it's exercise, it gets you out.
What more would you want?
It's a great combination.
You wanna try?