Entertainment Swindon

Last weekend saw Swindon host its first ever Pickleball Festival with over 90 players from all over the country coming to support the event organised by Swindon Pickleball and Delta Tennis Centre.

Pickleball has only been going little over a year in Swindon, but already their regular club sessions at the Delta Tennis Centre draws in around 40 players every week.

The two day event saw experienced players mixing with novices as well as complete newbies, all having lots of fun. I went along to join in to get a grip of what Pickleball is all about ad if my years of tennis would be good enough to match up against some of the more experienced Pickleball players.

At first it was a little hard to let go of tennis muscle memory with the long swings and the difference in how a plastic air ball bounces up from the court to a tennis ball, and if that wasn’t enough to contend with, the getting used to a bat, what Pickleball player call a paddle being no more than a foot long threw a few spanners in the works when swinging at the ball only to miss due to being used to a long tennis racket.

After a few games, however, I did find that having years of tennis also an advantage moving around the court and the tactics of having played years of serve and volley game coming into the net to win points.

If you are a tennis player thats reached a point where the game is a bit much for you, due to health and age, then Pickleball is a great sport to pick up to enjoy all that we tennis players love about being on a court. That said this is no slow old mans sport, its for everyone, a very inclusive sport where a 7yr old can match up against a 70yr old and enjoy a good competitive game, it is very tactical due to both the rules and the general speed of the game, so although the game can get fast paced, regardless of your age or ability Pickleball is definitely a sport that is for all and a lot of fun!

The weekend treated all to a fun fast paced weekend on court with all echoing that they had lots of fun and that the organisers had put on a fantastic weekend. One regular Pickleball festival goer commented “I’ve never played so much Pickleball in one day, I loved it!”

Speaking to the event organisers on the Saturday, it was very obvious that they were delighted with the turnout and the enthusiasm even with the poor weather leaving a few no shows from some of Saturdays pre-registered attendees, one organiser said “It was a fantastic day for everyone involved, and Sunday was even better with double the number of players competing on nine Pickleball courts”

Building on this momentum, Swindon Pickleball who meet at the Delta Tennis Centre is excited to announce that they will be continuing their social Pickleball sessions for all levels on Mondays from 7-9 pm, with new sessions starting soon on Wednesdays from 7-9 pm as well, providing more opportunities for both beginners and experienced players to enjoy the game.

With the success of the festival, Swindon Pickleball looks forward to collaborating with Delta Tennis Centre on future events, further growing the sport and welcoming even more players into the community.

For more details on how you can get involved in Swindon Pickleball, check out their website: https://swindonpickleball.co.uk/