David Wiseman | JNS
The 2020s offer an endless menu of micro-obsessions, sometimes making you feel that you are expected to pick one: Get on board or get left behind.
In recent months, I kept hearing about people playing pickleball, a sport invented in the United States, and I admit that I initially thought it was a gimmick best left alone. I mean, really — kosher pickleball? It sounds like something you’d find in the Kiddush Olympics, where they play the herring toss followed by the whisky shot.
With Israel marking 23 months of war, I started asking people who play the game for their take, and here’s what shocked me: unanimous agreement. Usually, Israelis can’t agree on anything. But pickleball? Apparently, it’s unimpeachable.
I set myself a two-part challenge. First, to work out what it is about this odd little game that’s got people hooked; and second, to see just how deep its roots have already sunk into the Holy Land.
The game’s origins in Israel aren’t definitive. Some say the first iteration was at Kibbutz Tzora when residents, most immigrants from English-speaking countries, converted their dining room into a pickleball court.
Today, there are around 3,000 players who play in 50 locations around the country — from Nahariya all the way down to Beersheva, each cherishing their paddles as if they were relics from the Israel Museum.
It is not just a pastime. It is a little republic of its own — a place where strangers become partners, where grandparents square off against grandchildren and where time stands still on a small concrete court.
Because of the grassroots feel, there’s a real sense of community, which is even more the case in Israel, where Jewish geography is the national sport and where all the country’s citizens, as well as foreigners, can meet.
What makes pickleball different is that it doesn’t pretend to be difficult or elitist. Tennis, badminton, squash and table tennis all require a basic level of aptitude. Not pickleball.
A Busy Time
People such as Lee Sieradzky, chairman of the Israel Pickleball Association (IPBA), talk about the sport as though it were a social revolution. Children, grandparents, religious, secular … everyone on one court. It’s like the United Colors of Benetton
of sports.
“Our goal is to acquire as many players around the country in as many demographics as possible,” he told JNS, his eyes glowing with a missionary zeal. “Unlike any other sport, ours is one where kids can play with their grandparents, it can be played indoors or outdoors, and most importantly, games don’t take a long time.”
That’s how they get you. A quick fix. A short game. A little hit before dinner in the dining room. Before you know it, you’re in deep, mainlining pickleball four times a week.
It is a busy time for pickleball in Israel. Not only are they preparing for the sport’s first appearance at next year’s Maccabiah Games, in which around eight delegations will make a pilgrimage to the holy land. The Israel Pickleball Association is also about to send off an Israeli team for its first-ever international tournament.
“We have been invited to the 2025 Pickleball World Cup in Fort Lauderdale, where we will be entering a couple of teams,” Sieradzky said. Israel plans to send 20 players and coaches for the competition in October.
Sieradzky is also working to organize a national league to add to the handful of major tournaments already held during the year.
His right-hand man is David Abel, Israel’s national pickleball coach. He describes the game with the zeal of someone explaining their favorite Game of Thrones character.
“I’ve seen skeptics go from rolling their eyes at the sport to refusing to leave the court,” Abel told JNS.
That’s when I started to wonder: Is this sport or is it a cult? If it’s the latter, it wouldn’t be Israel’s first rodeo. Abel explained its popularity in the most succinct way: “The barrier to entry is non-existent,” he said.
Adam Bachmann, Israel’s top-ranked singles pickleball player, comes from a squash background; he is currently the Israeli masters champion.
“I only heard about pickleball because the company I work for, Playsight, was selling systems to pickleball clubs, and we had no idea what they were,” he recounted. “I was sent to find out and wasn’t keen on doing so. I started playing and I was hooked. Now I’m playing three to four times a week. I’m excited to go to the World Championships, not just to play, but because the host club is also a client!”
Something was clear to me: If I was to understand pickleball fully, it was insufficient to ask players about their relation to the sport. I would have to take up a paddle and experience it for myself.
Pickleball in Jerusalem
So I ventured to Park Gonenim in Jerusalem. There I found what had been a cracked concrete basketball court until the nets, which were kept in a nearby resident’s yard, went up. And yes, the resident is a member of the pickleball tribe.
Suddenly, the place transformed into a pickleball temple. Players materialized out of nowhere, like they’d been hiding in nearby hedges, waiting to appear. Presiding over it all was Shoshana Drimer, 77, an immigrant from Baltimore and prophetess of the pickleball gospel.
“I found the game when someone posted in the Vatik Venturers group,” she said. “I’d heard about the sport but didn’t know anything about it. I started playing and never looked back.”
Asked what it is about the game that turns people into pickleball addicts, she replied: “I wish I could tell you! Every time you play, it’s a good time, and everyone is so supportive.”
Pickleball can be played in singles or in doubles, though doubles is preferred in casual settings to allow more people to play at once (and there’s less running). A foursome was playing on one court, and while we waited for more people to arrive, I practiced with other players on the second one.
They were right! It is fun hitting the ball back and forth, and playing on a smaller court than tennis makes it much easier to keep the rally going.
“David, you’re on,” someone shouted.
This was it. I was ready for a game. On this perfect Sunday morning, we started rallying for laughs and then, just like that, I wanted to crush my opponents as if it were the World Cup final.
Now I got it. It’s not like learning the guitar or mastering chess. Can you hit a ball over a net? Congratulations! You’re a pickleballer.
As advertised, it really was entertaining. Two hours later, I walked away grinning, with a few games won, a few lost and a whole new respect for this strange-named sport. I stumbled away with new friends, aching muscles and an acknowledgement: This thing is real.
Next up: Brenda Benaim, who represented Israel at three Maccabiah Games in netball and now has the pickleball bug. “My brother told me about pickleball. It took me a while to see what it was about, but once I finally tried it, I didn’t look back.”
What did she think was the secret to pickleball’s hold on people? “The great thing about it is that it’s as competitive as you want it to be,” she said. “When you find people who are on a similar level to you, it’s just so much fun. And in these times more than ever, we need an outlet—we deserve to have some fun.”
Sara Halevi, one of the organizers of pickleball in Jerusalem and a regular player, noted: “When my son went to fight in Gaza, I started playing pickleball every day. This game literally saved my sanity.”
Global Recognition
What’s stopping this game from becoming a juggernaut? Like many things, bureaucracy, according to some.
David Kaplan, the chairman of Ayelet: The Federation of Non-Olympic Competitive Sport in Israel, recently returned from a highly successful World Games, the global multisport competition for non-Olympic sports.
“For a sport to be a part of Ayelet, it has to be approved by the Ministry of Sport, and it needs to be in the World Games,” said Kaplan, who, it should be noted, is also a pickleball lover.
Globally, the sport’s governing bodies are finally uniting, which is the first step to clearing the path to Olympic recognition one day.
Did Kaplan have any insight as to why pickleball is so loved in Israel and around the world? “There’s a camaraderie to the sport that I’ve only witnessed elsewhere in rugby. It’s casual, it’s competitive, it’s fun,” he said.
Once the sport is recognized by the Israel Ministry of Sport, it can then be included by the Ministry of Education in the roster of sports taught in schools.
While soccer and basketball may be the big sports in Israel, the reality is that many children couldn’t care less about either. More kids can be involved at once in pickleball, and the game caters to players of all shapes, sizes and skill levels.
If Israel can be one of the first countries to introduce the sport to children in schools, it could dominate international pickleball competitions for years to come, just as South Korea dominates archery and China dominates table tennis.
“Our immediate goal is to raise a total of NIS 350,000 [nearly $105,000], which would enable the entire team to attend the Pickleball World Cup, covering the costs of flights, hotels, meals, training and equipment, as well as a large proportion of the IPBA’s urgent and ongoing needs,” national coach Abel wrote in a recent letter to the “pickleball family” in Israel, providing a link for donations. “I’m inviting you to be part of the dream by helping us grow the sport we love in the country we cherish.”
Lessons Learned
As my journey into the mystery of pickleball came to an end, what was my answer to why people love the sport so much? Maybe it’s because pickleball is the great equalizer. It is a sport with no locked doors. A place for everyone, whether you hunger for competition or simply a little joy on the local court.
It promises something most of us gave up on long ago: the possibility of being good at a game again. It’s a game that lets anyone dream. And in this day and age, that’s worth a lot.
But it’s more than that. Pickleball is new enough, democratic enough and weird enough that you can start today and imagine yourself on the Israeli national team tomorrow. It’s the rarest of things in adulthood: a second chance at athletic greatness.
Pickleball isn’t only about exercise. Or community. Or even fun. It’s about hope. And we could all do with a regular dose of hope. ■
