Pickleball Physics Explained, from Balls and Paddles to Shots
Pickleball has been the fastest-growing sport in the U.S. for four years running. More than 13.6 million people now play, according to one trade association. Towns, schools and sports clubs are building courts everywhere, and people of all ages and abilities are flocking to them.
If you haven’t played or seen pickleball, imagine a tennis court and net but downsized. And instead of rackets, players use shorter, solid paddles. At the center of the craze is the ball, a bit larger than a tennis ball, which is often bright yellow and resembles a Wiffle ball—a hard plastic ball with small holes in it. A pickleball can rocket between opposing players who are drilling it at each other from only 14 feet away, or it can float for what seems like an eternity when it is lobbed skyward. The “pop!” the ball makes when it is struck hard by a paddle is so loud and distinctive that it can be heard a block away if the neighborhood is quiet, and yet the sound is muffled when a player taps a really soft “dink” shot (my personal favorite when I’m playing) over the net.
The truths and myths that abound about the balls, paddles and shots come down to physics, of course. Scientific American found an expert who has gone to extremes to investigate: Phil Hipol, an acoustics and structural dynamics engineer who has worked in the aerospace, semiconductor and building industries and is a licensed professional engineer in Florida, the global epicenter of pickleball fanaticism. I’m going to call him Professor Pickleball. Of course, he’s also an avid player. You can find his insights below. And if you really want to dive into the abyss, go to his blog, Pickleball Science, where you’ll find experiments, equations and some incredible homemade rigs he’s created to test all things pickleball.
