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Outside/In: Order on the pickleball court

About a dozen people playing pickleball on the South Street Courts in Jamaica Plain, Boston. It's a sunny day and trees line the court.
Felix Poon
/
NHPR
People playing pickleball on the South Street Courts in Jamaica Plain, Boston.

Three sports. One court. What could go wrong?

Pickleball is the fastest growing sport in America. It may also be the most hated. Tennis and basketball players are complaining about losing court space because of an “invasion” of pickleballers. Residents are losing sleep because of the incessant noise. Fights over pickleball have led to a slew of petitions, calls to the police, and even lawsuits.

So why do pickleball players love this sport so much? Just how annoying is it to everyone else? And what will it take for everyone to just get along?

Producer Felix Poon visits one of the most popular courts in Boston to see how the drama is unfolding there.

LINKS AND ADDITIONAL READING

A vinyl banner hanging from the fence at the JP South Street Courts. It has instructions for tennis, basketball, and pickleball players and sets community norms for sharing the space.
Felix Poon
A banner hanging from the fence at the JP South Street Courts. It was drafted by the local community after a petition complained that pickleball players were dominating the space.

Want to play pickleball, but don’t want to annoy the neighbors? Check out this guide to quiet pickleball paddles.

Read the petition that first raised concerns over the popularity of pickleball at the South Street Courts in Jamaica Plain.

Learn more about the history of pickleball, which was invented near Seattle in Bainbridge Island, Washington.

Learn more about the consulting firm, Pickleball Sound Mitigation, that’s trying to solve pickleball’s noise problem.

For more on the various conflicts arising from pickleball’s growing popularity, read One Man’s Lonely War on Central Park Pickleball (NYTimes), and Shattered Nerves, Sleepless Nights: Pickleball Noise Is Driving Everyone Nuts (NYTimes)

Felix Poon first came to NHPR in 2020 as an intern, producing episodes for Outside/In, Civics 101, and The Second Greatest Show on Earth. He went to work for Gimlet Media’s How to Save a Planet before returning in 2021 as a producer for Outside/In. Felix’s Outside/In episode Ginkgo Love was featured on Spotify's Best Podcasts of 2020.
Outside/In is a show where curiosity and the natural world collide. Click here for podcast episodes and more.
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