Playing Pickleball in their Golden Years
Pickleball players may come to the court for the exercise, but most stay for the people.
The game has a way of turning strangers into partners and familiar faces into friends. Players talk between games, laugh over missed shots and celebrate the occasional great one. Before long, pickleball becomes more than something to do. It becomes a place to belong, filled with people who notice when you are there and miss you when you are not.
That combination of friendship and activity makes the sport especially appealing to people in their golden years. The smaller court offers an approachable way to keep moving without covering as much ground as tennis requires. Reaching for shots, following the ball, and moving around the court works coordination, agility, and hand-eye coordination, while the strategy keeps players focused and thinking ahead.
Best of all, it feels more like play than exercise.
At 90, Othelia Green from Biloxi shows just how long the fun and competition can continue. She plays pickleball three days a week, bowls twice a week, and starts every morning with exercise and time on the treadmill.
Green discovered the game more than 12 years ago through a friend who kept leaving their card games early to play. Eventually, curiosity got the better of her, and she decided to see what she was missing.
“I love bowling, I love pickleball, and I love playing cards,” says Green. “My doctor says it’s good to keep your mind busy!”
Green is not simply showing up for the social hour. Fellow pickleball player Frieda Charron considers her an exceptional player and said Green is the only person she knows to have recorded a “golden pickle”—an 11–0 victory completed before the opposing side gets an opportunity to serve. The phrase is informal pickleball slang, but pulling one off is a rare accomplishment.
That competitive spark is another part of the game’s appeal. Players can enjoy one another’s company, cheer each other on, and still want to win once the ball is in play.
“When you first walk on the court, you just want to have fun and play a good game,” Charron said. “But once you really learn the game, it’s only human nature to want to win.”
At 77, Charron understands what it means to rediscover that part of herself. After a lifetime of figure skating and distance running, she thought two knee replacements had ended her athletic career.
“I thought I was done,” she said.
But she was not; she now plays pickleball seven to nine times a week. The sport gave her another chance to move, compete and find her people.
Green, meanwhile, has no intention of letting a number decide what she can do.
“Every time some of my friends have a birthday, they sit down a little more and think they can’t do things because of their age,” she said. “I don’t think about my age; it’s just a number.”
