Raves: If they say that it's too cold for tennis, take paddle to 'em
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Paddle tennis is played outdoors in winter, the colder the better.
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There is an addiction here in the Pittsburgh area that only the addicts (and their families) seem to know about.
"Outside? In the winter? In the rain and snow? Are you crazy?" are just some of the questions we addicts have to regularly answer. No, we are not crazy; we are paddle tennis players.
There are in excess of a thousand of us paddle devotees playing at more than 15 clubs in the Western Pennsylvania region; yet, most people have never heard of the sport.
For those of you unfortunate souls who have been living in ignorance all these years, here is the "CliffsNotes" summary of the sport.
It is officially known as "platform tennis," but the junkies call it just "paddle." It began in 1928 in Scarsdale, N.Y., when two ingenious men, wanting to play an outdoor winter sport close to home, built a wooden platform they could play deck tennis on.
In order to keep the ball in the court, chicken wire was attached to wooden uprights built around the court. Over time, rules evolved, and hitting the ball "off the wires" became an integral part of the game.
In short, it is kind of a combination of tennis and racquetball on a court one-third the size of a regular tennis court. Also, there are lights so we can play both day and night -- whenever the craving hits. Oh, and it's played outside, in the winter, in all kinds of weather.
I had my first taste of this game growing up in northern New Jersey (another paddle hot spot) back when we played with wooden paddles with holes drilled in them. At the time, I did not play enough to get hooked, but after I relocated to the Pittsburgh region and my children were in school, I joined a team at a local club and have been hooked for more than 14 years now.
This sport is the Prozac that helps us make it through winter with our sanity intact. We actually crave the bleak, cold days of Pittsburgh winters -- the colder and cloudier, the better.
If it is too warm (above freezing), the ball bounces too much. If it is too sunny, we are blinded while we attempt to serve or take a lob out of the air. We have super duper heaters under the courts to take care of the ice and snow that has a nasty habit of accumulating on the aluminum surface. However, when the snow piles up like last year, we have to actually shovel it off the courts! (OK, maybe we are a little crazy.)
First Published February 16, 2011 12:00 am
