It seems like everyone is talking about pickleball of late.
Perhaps someone from work has just taken up the game. Or, new pickleball courts are going into your neighborhood. Or maybe someone has posted one of the many New York Times articles on this fast-growing sport on Facebook.
With this collection of exciting pickleball quotes below, we try to capture what many folks are saying about this approachable sport. Enjoy.
Famous Pickleball Quotes
You’ve got to be able to hit the ball hard. Nobody plays golf to putt.
Joel Pritchard (Along with Bill Bell and Barney McCallum, he created pickleball.)
Pickleball continues its incredible rise, becoming the fastest-growing sport over the last two years, with participation seeing a 39.3% growth.
Sports & Fitness Industry Association (02/2022 report)
Oarsmen were chosen from the leftovers of other boats.
Joan Pritchard (On the hybrid nature of pickleball and how it reminds her of the pickle boat in the sport of crew.)
See our Pickleball Team Naming Ideas.
Notables Speak Out On Pickleball
From business tycoons to Hollywood celebrities, it seems everyone has taken to the game.
It’s just super fun.
Bill Gates on playing pickleball
She kills me – if we play six games, I’ll win maybe two.
George Clooney on his wife, Amal
I hope you get to do something that brings you joy this weekend. For me, joy + play = pickleball. I’m obsessed and try to play four to five times a week. The court might be the only place in the world where I’m fully in the now.
Brene Brown
Despite its silly terms and funny name, pickleball is actually quite a sophisticated game. I enjoy watching YouTube videos where I can learn about tactics and strategies from the best players.
Bill Gates
We see pickleball as an incredible medium that brings people together connects communities, and promotes a healthy and active lifestyle.
Drew Brees
See 10 Pickleball Tips For Tennis Players.
Pickleball Pros Quotes
It’s one of the few sports that brings multi-sports athletes all together.
Tyson McGuffin
I prefer playing outdoors more than indoors, even though I spend the majority of my time throughout the year playing indoors. I prefer the outdoors because the ball is a little bit heavier than the one used indoors, and it makes a big difference for me because I get to control the ball much better.
Catherine Parenteau (Pickleball Central interview)
Every loss I have ever experienced, I go back to one of my favorite athletic quotes, “Champions are made by previous experiences.” Meaning every time you lose, you have to critically look at yourself in the mirror and break down why you failed, and learn to get better the next opportunity you get!
Riley Newman on having a pro mentality
I had so many people tell me that I was wasting my time with pickleball and that I should be in school instead. I wanted to be successful more than anything in the world.
Kyle Yates
See Crucial Pickleball Shots You Should (Almost) Never Miss.
Tips From Pickleball Professionals
Good thing the chainsaw got canceled. The Morgan Evans serve is even better!
Zane Navratil
I love competing and games. I love the strategy more than when I played tennis; every match is completely different based on partners and competitors. Tactics make it interesting.
Dekel Bar
The main thing in pickleball is to be patient. Be patient while being extremely aggressive with your legs. You need to get low and be able to dink for hours to wait for the ball that is high and put it away.
Catherine Parenteau (Pickleball Central interview)
The key to the serve is hitting the ball with some pace and hitting it deep. One of the things that I try to teach when serving is to make sure all of your weight, all of your momentum, is going forward to increase the pace of the ball.
Dave “The Badger” Weinbach
Short Pickleball Puns
These are from unknown sources.
Retirement drives me to dink.
My retirement plan includes coffee, tacos, and pickleball.
Never underestimate an old man with a pickleball paddle.
Pickleball junkie and proud of it.
World’s okayest pickleball player.
Get your pickle on.
No more dinkin’ around.
If you wanted a soft serve, you should’ve gone for ice cream.
Ace is the place.
One more pickleball game?
My best shot involves a drinking glass.
Great minds dink alike.
Third shot master.
Ben Johns Quotes
I’m competitive, so any sport I get into, I’m going to try to compete in t.
Turns out that bending your knees in pickleball is just straight magic.
It’s truly a sport for everybody.
I’ve never really seen anybody not like it, and it spans a wide range of ages and people with [different] backgrounds – So I’m surprised that it’s taken off quite so quickly, but I can understand why people love it so much.
Too many people don’t know what [pickleball] is, and I have to explain it, and it’s a lot of effort.
We were raised in a baseball family.
It is what it is; once you’re into it, you don’t even think about the name anymore.
Don’t miss opportunities to attack if you are getting higher balls; there’s no reason you shouldn’t be attacking them. When people feel that pressure of you attacking any time they hit a bad shot, they are going to try and make their shots better, and when they try and make their shots better, they are going to miss more.
See Ben Johns’s Twitter.
Good Ben Johns Sayings
Nice classic tennis volley form, but don’t want any T-Rex arms on those groundies. We can work on that, though 🙂
(When Bill Gates asked for “any tips for my form” on Twitter)
I think it’s kind of funny that the sport has caught on with celebrities and athletes so much.
It’s something that levels the playing field, so you might have an NFL player playing with an NBA player, and they’re like, ‘Hey, we can’t compete with each other in our sports, but we certainly can in this sport.’
So I gave it a try, and like most people, I got hooked very quickly. I never stopped playing it after that, and the rest is history.
I don’t think it’s caught on nearly enough yet in other parts of the world… but I think anywhere it does start is going to see a similar trend in the US, which is just rapid growth, and once that happens in other areas I think it would be perfectly suited to the Olympics. It’s just you can’t rush growth.
See 43 Pickleball Tips To Improve Your Game.
Simone Jardim Pickleball Quotes
By six years old, I fell in love with tennis, and that was what got me into playing tournaments. By the age of eight, my brothers were already playing all over the country in Brazil, playing tennis and playing national tournaments.
The thing about pickleball is that you get a second chance. So you still can come back and win gold even if you lost.
I just believe that the game in person is much faster and so much more athletic than what you see on TV or on your computer.
As you get better, you also need to think that when I talk about a kitchen strategy, you have to think as a chess match. You’re trying to move your ball around to create an opportunity to attack.
So when you get to the kitchen line, you need to have a plan in place to create that opportunity. So moving your opponent around that kitchen is crucial for your improvement, and that’s how you become a better player.
Anna Leigh Waters Pickleball Quotes
My pickleball motto, however, is Rip, Bang, Win, Cake! Rip the ball, bang the ball, win the match, and celebrate with cake!
I love a lot of things about pickleball, but some of my favorite things are getting to play a professional sport at a young age, traveling around the country with my family, and meeting new people!
Most people will say I’m crazy, but singles is my favorite because it’s just me on the court! Win or lose; it’s all on me!
I also believe that I play my best when I hit aggressive shots, so I try to play as aggressively as possible during matches.
We started playing pickleball every day for two weeks. Me and my mom just fell in love with it
My motto in life is to have fun and do what you love!
See Pickleball Court Dimensions and Rules.
J.W. Johnson Pickleball Quotes
I pretty much try to win anything.
I’m just trying to learn his patterns and watch videos to see what I do wrong. (On playing Ben Johns)
(I play pickleball) everyday 3 – 6 hours a day, with one day off.
I love playing doubles and trash-talking the opponents (just in practice).
Playing tournaments a lot and playing players a lot to figure out patterns (Advice to do better in hand battles.)
Zane Navratil Quotes
I’d say Tyson is just as much a Federer, Djokovic, Nadal… He’s one of those guys of pickleball.
On Tyson McGuffiin
My ability to remove my ego to see objectively what is going on in a match. My CPA training gives me an opportunity to look at the game in an accountability way, by the numbers, percentage pickleball. There is risk, reward, and return on investment.
From Pickleball Magazine on his greatest asset
Collin Schick Quotes
It’s a pretty good level; I mean, it wasn’t easy. We had some close games. We lost one or two games.
(On college tournament in Texas)
I tried to come up with a game plan to execute early on and then feel your way into the match.
There were some videos I could watch and develop some game plans.
By Mike O’Halloran
Mike is a pickler and the editor of Sports Feel Good Stories.
Overtime
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