by Sports editorial team
The sport that was dear to “Chandler” from Friends, the actor Matthew Perry who died at 54, is growing rapidly all over the world
When Matthew Perry, an American actor famous for the series Friends, was found dead, he had just finished playing pickleball, one of the new sports – in reality it has existed since 1965 but is now finding international popularity – which are becoming trendy in world.
What is it about exactly? As mentioned, it is a kind of small-sized tennis, given that it is played on a court that has the same dimensions as that of badminton, which therefore measures 13.4 meters long by 5.18 meters wide. In this area you can play singles (one against one) or in pairs (two against two). The main difference compared to padel is that there are no glass walls.
The net dividing the two halves of the pitch must be at least 86.36 cm high at the center and 91.44 cm at the ends. Each half of the court contains two equal parts, called the service area, and an area of 2.13 meters close to the net, called the “kitchen”, within which volleying is prohibited.
Rackets with a solid plate are used (like in ping pong so to speak) while the balls are very light, weighing half as much as tennis ones. In short, a sport that requires less physical effort than tennis and less technical ability than table tennis, ideal for everyone. The scoring is the same as tennis.
Even some great former tennis champions have decided to highlight the discipline, some of them even investing in it. The latest Maria Sharapova and John McEnroe, who also challenged Andre Agassi and Steffi Graf. In particular, Agassi has been playing for many years and has invested a lot of money in building rental courts and promoting events. In Italy, Adriano Panatta (who boasts four dedicated fields in his club) and Paolo Bertolucci competed as a couple, challenging the pink duo Flavia Pennetta-Francesca Schiavone.
In Italy it has been officially played since 2017, with the first courts built in Abruzzo, while the foundation of the Aip (Italian pickleball association) dates back to 2018.
October 29, 2023 (modified October 29, 2023 | 3:54 pm)
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2023-10-29 16:32:19
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