Unconventional places to play pickleball at home
DALLAS, TX – With the major pickleball court shortage across the country, players are getting more innovative by making DIY courts in their homes.
Some ideas are pretty good. Others are a bit out of the ordinary.
Here are some of the places in peoples' homes that are being converted into spots to enjoy America's fastest-growing sport.
The Driveway
Converting your conveniently empty slab of concrete into a pickleball court is the most common form of pickleball at home. In this post, homeowners expertly taped off their driveway and played a doubles match as neighborhood cars drove by.
With some tape or sidewalk chalk and a portable net, the driveway is the easiest and cleanest way to set up a court at home.
The Garage
Like the driveway, this is a pretty convenient and low-commitment option. Back your car out of the garage and use the empty space to set up a net and dink around. Even in a one-car garage, you can easily set up a quick game of skinny singles to work on your dinking.
It’s especially great during those hot summer months because you’ve created a shaded court, too.
The Back Porch
In this reel, a pickleball player stuck to his training regime on a rainy day. Under the cover of his back porch, he tied pickleballs on strings and hung them from the ceiling to practice forehand and backhand dinking. It’s a pretty unique strategy I might have to implement in my apartment.
The Kitchen
"Stay out of the kitchen" is a phrase commonly associated with pickleball — but not in this case. Steve Whitacre shared this post where pickleball addicts got creative in their actual home kitchen. Using an L-shaped counter top and barstools as their net, these pickleballers used their kitchen to practice hand battles above the net.
The Living Room
Some people really commit to this and clear out their couches, chairs, and coffee tables to make room for a portable net. With plenty of new space and some indoor balls, playing pickleball in the middle of the living room isn’t too crazy of an idea.
This couple even used their baby gate as a net – which I find pretty ingenious. So much better than using bulky couch cushions as a net.
The Basement
When you’ve got some extra space, might as well use it. In this post, pickleball addicts “tore apart” their parent’s couch and created a makeshift pickleball net from the couch and the cushions. I think that’s brilliant strategy. And great use of space.
Now if you really want to go crazy and have some extra money to spend, people are actually building pickleball courts inside their homes or converting unused storage sheds into pickleball courts.
It's kind of a pickleball dream, isn’t it?
I guess I’ve underestimated just how difficult it is in some areas to snag a court.
Now if only I could turn my studio apartment into a court, too...
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