Pickle Ball Explodes In Expat Communities
Last updated January, 2024
One couldn’t find a sport better suited for expat life than pickle ball. Not that golf, motorcycle rides, Spanish lessons, mahjong, cooking classes, live music and dozens of other activities didn't already keep us busy down here at Camp Mexico. But truthfully, expat life lacked an imperative element of silliness until pickle ball came to town.
The wonderfully silly game is America’s fastest growing sport. A cross between tennis, badminton and ping pong, the charm of pickle ball is that everyone, beginner and expert alike, has the opportunity to get a few good shots in and look ridiculous, often over the course of a single game. It’s a game so concurrently humbling and easy to play that it’s most strictly enforced rule is that no one take it too seriously. The name says it all.
Solid players whiff. First-timers hit impossible shots. Rackets flail. Grinning eighty year-olds hit balls at the feet of 30 year-olds. The repartee never stops and the jokes write themselves. Games are over so fast (in about 15 minutes) that you won’t remember who you beat and who beat you by the time you leave the court (Not that we could anyway. We are quite old).
Rules seem designed to discourage heart attacks on the court (the core of its players are over 55 (but at least they include George Clooney). Court size is a third of that of a tennis court. You still get the point if your ball rolls over the net, as long as it goes over. Dinking is not only honorable, it’s encouraged. One can’t serve from above the waist. If you don’t call the score before serving you can be penalized, and let’s just say that determining that score can take a village.
Pickle ball is highly social. Some might argue it’s only social. Players lay down rackets at the court they want to play. In open play courts, no one is likely to have any idea of the ability of the owners of the other three rackets. Protocol discourages inquiry (I don’t know if this is how it’s played everywhere. It’s how it’s played at here at Camp Mexico).
Once on an open play public court, stronger players are socially obligated to team up with weaker players, so no matter your level, there’s always room for hope if you snag a good player. You play to 11 points, or might play to eight points or a set number of minutes if the courts are crowded. All kinds of games and drills exist for 2 or 3 people to play together.
In a serve or return serve, the ball has to bounce, which bleeds off its momentum. To a former tennis player, the ball might at times seem be coming so slowly that it looks like it’s hanging in mid-air, like a scene out of The Matrix. Other times, you’ll swear the ball turned invisible, reconstructing itself only as it flies at your head.
The infinite number of rules, light whiffle balls and restricted court size tend to level the play. Great players routinely hit balls into the adjacent court. A beginner player might hit a good shot down the middle once, twice, three times against a superior player. You see players who win moving all over the court and others who win by barely moving at all. Pickle ball is to tennis what snowboarding is to skiing, a sport that gives a new player immediate gratification, making it a sport that’s easy to love.
Courts are popping up in all the popular expat cities. On the Pacific side, Puerto Vallarta’s club on Facebook lists 1,200 members who play at a court at the marina. Playa del Carmen has an active group.
With the resumption of play in October 2022, Mazatlán’s club grew to over 300 members by January. The Iguana courts where members play are located about three blocks off the malecón between the El Cid Marina and the Golden Zone. More courts exist near the Aquarium (Sahap), and more advanced players play there. During high season (Nov-May) groups meet at the basketball court at Los Pinos, just north of El Centro, also on the malecón. All levels are welcome at Club Pickleball in Los Cerritos (north Mazatlán)
In the case of Mazatlan, the hours the Iguana courts were available were decreased by the city just when membership had mushroomed. More members meant a more disciplined approach to reserving a court as well. Today you need sign up according to your level through an app (Court Reserve) and have that 500 pesos to pay the club’s membership fee before you play a first game. (Clearly the club has become a victim of its own success).
On the other side of Mexico In the Yucatan Peninsula, there are clubs in Progresso and a new six-court pickle ball facility at the Sport Center on the north side of Merida for those not wanting to drive to Progresso. Puerto Aventuras in Quintana Roo (also in the Yucatan) has over 200 members. Oaxaca’s club lists 198 members and San Miguel de Allende’s Pickle Ball Forum boasts 60,000 members.
Mexican pickle ball clubs exist in cities where fewer expats live, such as Queretaro. As it takes about five minutes to explain to a Mexican what a pickle is, and another five to try to explain why a sport is named after one, it’s easy to understand why the game is called Cosmicball at Spanish-speaking clubs.
If you’re traveling through one of these communities in Mexico, finding a local court, most often through a Facebook search, is a great way to immediately connect with local expats. For resident expats trying to find one another, it’s the perfect opportunity to meet and socialize while getting some fresh air.
What better way to pick up information about retiring to a new city (or country) than hang out with residents at a pickle ball court? I met more expats in my first week playing pickle ball than I had in seven years of living in Mexico. I met a number of people who decide where to travel based on the availability of pickle ball groups.
According to sociologists, making friends depends on three factors; proximity, repeated interactions, and an environment that encourages us to let our guard down. All these can be accomplished on a pickle ball court.
The atmosphere’s friendly and welcoming, making it a boon to any extroverted traveler visiting Mexico and seeking a tribe.
Related Links
How to play pickle ball - YouTube
About the Author:
Kerry Baker is the author of a four books, including If I Only Had a Place, a guide to renting in Mexico, The Mexico Solution: Saving your money, sanity and quality of life by living in Mexico part-time, and The Lazy Expat: Healthy Recipes That Translate in Mexico, a cookbook for travelers, snowbirds and expats who want to maintain a healthy diet in Mexico.