The SHARP Pickleball Club was formed in 2024 to provide social pickleball play in the St Albans and Harpenden area.
The Club grew out of a social group formed as something to do when the weather wasn’t conducive to a game of golf.
What started off as a social group of friends has quickly grown into a thriving club offering social pickleball play as well as development opportunities through internal and external coaching linked to Pickleball England.
Pickleball is a sport played with a paddle that combines elements from badminton, tennis, and ping pong.
The game is played on a court with the same measurements as badminton doubles.
The net is similar to a tennis net, but a little lower.
The game is played with a hard “paddle” and a hard, hollow plastic ball with holes in it.
Even though pickleball is like tennis, there are important differences that make pickleball especially more accessible for children and seniors.
The most important difference is the speed of the ball. A pickleball ball travels at about a third of the average speed of a tennis ball. The pickleball court is roughly a third of the size of a tennis court.
The smaller surface area combined with the slower ball speed, and an underhand serve makes pickleball easier to play than tennis.
The game is the fastest growing game in the USA with more than 4.2 million players. The tipping point was around 5 years ago. Now Pickleball Courts are popping up all over the country including in retirement communities. The game started to take off in the UK around 2011 and now has over 120 Places to play and over 4,000 estimated players.
The basic rules for singles and doubles have been established by the World Pickleball Federation.
The game is played by people from diverse backgrounds across a wide age range.
We will do our best to get back to you as soon as possible.
