Pickleball Haarlem is looking for new members: “It doesn’t matter how old you are, even an 85-year-old can win”

Pickleball Haarlem could still use some new members for the new season. To recruit these new athletes, the association is organizing a number of test classes tonight and Friday afternoon on Friday, April 21, in the tennis hall of TV Kontakt, but according to treasurer Dick Chotanos, people can still register after that. “It happens sometimes that rarely anyone shows up during clinics, and we get two members a day during the season,” he says.

can access

Pickleball is an accessible sport that is played on a badminton or tennis court with a low net and large paddles. The goal is to hit the ball over the net and bounce it on the ground within the boundaries of the opponent’s court. The game continues until one team has 11 points and is at least 2 points more than the opponent. You only score a point if you serve and you are not allowed to stand in the “kitchen,” which is the area in front of the net. The serving team must serve the ball diagonally across the net and it must bounce before the opponent is allowed to return it. Then the ball must bounce again before you can restart the ball, after which the bounce no longer matters.

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Photo: Stefan Broesder

According to Bernadette Snyder Block, founder of Pickleball Netherlands, the sport is easy to learn. “You don’t need a lot of strength to play this game, like tennis,” she says. “Hole in the ball slows it down, so the trick is to play tactically and not just hit hard.”

“No matter how old you are, even an 85-year-old can beat a 15-year-old.”

Roger Cooper, pickleball player

According to pickleball player Roger Cooper, the sport is for everyone. “I’m missing my anterior cruciate ligament, but it doesn’t matter,” he says. “With a brace, the sport is painless.” He says this also applies to the elderly. “It doesn’t matter how old you are, even an 85-year-old can beat a 15-year-old,” he says. “There is, of course, a difference, because when you are at that age you cannot easily take out such a young boy. On the one hand, it does not matter, because there is a win.”

‘Pride’

Ineke Klapwijk is also present during last Monday’s clinic. I played pickleball for the first time. “I’ve been playing this for about fifteen minutes now, I think,” she told a reporter from Haarlem105. “At the moment I am playing with three very good mixed ball players and it makes me a bit insecure. On the other hand, I am starting to understand the game more and more and gain more and more points. It makes me very proud.”

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