Sport of pickleball exploding in Oklahoma City

© Photo provided by Pickleheads.

Oklahoma is well known for its love of sports; however, you may not have known of the capital city’s fast-growing pickleball community. This relatively new sport has similarities to tennis, badminton and ping-pong, through its ability to be played indoors or outdoors on courts with a 36-inch-high net. Pickleball uses a perforated hollow ball, however, rather than a solid plastic ball like tennis and its tabletop counterpart.

While the sport rapidly grows across the nation, locals can look to Pickleheads.com to find seemingly everything they need to know about pickleball in Oklahoma City.

The website allows users to organize with others who share their interest in getting involved, stay up to date with courts throughout the metro and find facilities in other cities for a quick pickleball fix wherever they might travel. Pickleheads even offers an online learning portal with need-to-know information for beginners.

Oklahoma City is cited as the state’s most popular destination for the sport by Pickleheads, listing 19 courts within the metro. Several Chamber member locations, such as Chicken N Pickle, Santa Fe Family Life Center, The Greens, Rose Creek and Scissortail Park serve as the perfect place to play. 

“Pickleball is a social activity as much as it’s a sport,” Pickleheads Co-Founder Brandon Mackie said.

“It’s commonly played in an open-play format where 50 or more players show up and rotate games and partners.”

Mackie said opportunities to socialize and meet others often come up as different players join to play doubles. The Pickleheads co-founder said the sport has an estimated 36.5 million players across the nation, making it one of the most popular sports in the country.

“Pickleball is a sport for all ages. Anyone from age five to 95 can play and have fun,” Mackie said. “This makes pickleball the perfect activity for families, especially around the holidays.”

You can learn more about the sport of pickleball and how to get involved locally by visiting Pickleheads.com.