3 Pickleball players over the age of 70 on why they gravitated to the sport: 'It's more than just a game'

Move over, tennis. People all over the country are turning to the game of pickleball as their go-to recreational sport.

Pickleball is the fastest growing sport in America, according to the 2023 Sports & Fitness Industry Association Topline Participation Report. The report marked the number of pickleball players in 2022 at 8.9 million players in the U.S.

Pickleball can be described as a combination of tennis, badminton and ping-pong. Instead of a racket, players hit a plastic ball with a paddle, and lots of people can be on the court at once. So many pickleball courts are popping up around the country that they're taking over empty stores and malls.

In 2021, the largest age bracket of pickleball players was 55 and up, SFIA's 2022 Single Sport Participation Report on Pickleball found.

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To understand just why this age group has gravitated to pickleball, CNBC Make It spoke to players over the age of 70 about their experience with the sport and how it's impacting their overall health and wellness.

Many of the players we found live in California, where pickleball is a hot topic, but especially in areas like Loma Linda, the only blue zone in America, where people live longer than most.

Mailen Kootsey played tennis for most of his life, starting in his twenties. When he worked at Loma Linda University in California, he also had access to their tennis courts where he would play with a group of friends around his age.

"One day about five to six years ago, a friend of mine had started [playing] pickleball on one of the tennis courts [and] you can put four pickleball courts on one tennis court," Kootsey says.

"He said, 'Watch! Come over and try this pickleball stuff,' so I did and that was it. I never went back to tennis."

Tennis kept Kootsey fit and helped him maintain his physical health, and pickleball keeps him active too. But in Kootsey's experience, pickleball is much more social than tennis was. "I met more people, fun people, and it was a sell from there on," he says.

In Redlands, Calif. where he lives, his pickleball group worked with the city to develop a group of eight pickleball courts. "While they did that, they built a little area with a roof over it with some tables and chairs so people can, in between games, sit and talk," he says.

"Having more courts has brought many more people in. In fact, people not living in this area have heard about the group of people that plays there, so we have people coming in from surrounding cities," Kootsey says.

When asked to choose the best thing he's gained from pickleball, Kootsey says, "It's a toss up between the exercise and social interaction. They're both something that I appreciate."

Breaking into pickleball was not as smooth of a transition for Beth Henry as it was for Kootsey.

"I'm not an athletic type of person. A lot of people who play pickleball are ping pong, racquetball or tennis players. But I never played any organized sport before," Henry tells CNBC Make It. "So for me, pickleball was a lot more of a challenge because I'm not an athlete. I had to work a lot harder at it."

Henry got into pickleball because many of her friends in Rancho Cucamonga, California were playing the game, and she wanted to give it a try. She was able to find a pickleball group to join at a sports complex in her city.

Since playing pickleball, Henry has began prioritizing her physical health. "It's inspired me to hire a personal trainer and to be a lot more active," she says. "One of the things that I do is I make sure I get 10,000 steps a day in, and all of that not only is good for me but it also helps for playing a better game."

Henry's pickleball community extends far beyond the original group she joined two years ago. "My husband and I have made so many new friends. So, not only is pickleball a fun game, it's been a very big social part of my life," she says.

Through one of Henry's pickleball groups, "my husband and I have made friends with three other couples, and we go out to dinner together," she says. "We're going to take the train and spend the day in L.A. together."

With the girlfriends she's made, Henry has also formed a sub-group within her pickleball club which she refers to as "Chickleball." The group has around 15 women who meet twice a month to play non-competitive pickleball games, grab lunch and have fun.

Ryo Shinagawa played tennis for decades before he made the switch to pickleball in 2016. His avenue into pickleball started when a local newspaper in his city of Corona, Calif. highlighted a pickleball clinic for beginners at a senior center nearby.

"I said, 'You know what? Let's go over there and check it out,'" Shinagawa tells CNBC Make It. He didn't need to bring equipment to attend the 9 a.m. session, so he decided to go that same day.

"I just showed up, the gentleman put a paddle in my hand and I played until noon. [I] totally loved it! And I drove to a Sporting Goods store and purchased a paddle. [I've] been playing pickleball ever since."

Shinagawa began playing pickleball three to four times a week, around two to three hours a day. After playing a game, he feels "fantastic" mentally because of the endorphins he gets from accomplishing something.

Though he admits that sometimes he feels "physically worn out," he always recovers from that and his love for the sport keeps him coming back.

As a USA Pickleball ambassador and certified pickleball instructor, Shinagawa says one of the things he loves most about pickleball is the social aspect.

"My kids are all grown, they live in the next county over and I do see them," he notes. "But I tell everyone I have made more friends and good acquaintances through pickleball within the last six to seven years than my lifetime."

Through playing pickleball, Shinagawa was able to make around half a dozen close friends and connect with over 150 acquaintances.

"Pickleball is what brings us together, and then we start to find the common personal experiences in our lives that keep us together," he says.

"It just brings out good people. They may first come out just for the game, but then all of a sudden they start to realize it's more than just playing a game."

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