61 replies to this topic

[Victoria Watcher]

I TRULY cannot understand how they can't make this a less noisy sport.

 

 

 

 

One man’s quest to make pickleball quiet

 

America’s fastest-growing sport has a noise problem. Can the solution be found in a makeshift lab outside Pittsburgh?

 

https://thehustle.co...ckleball-quiet/

Edited by Victoria Watcher, 14 January 2024 - 02:11 PM.

[aastra]

As an aside (first time for everything on VV), methinks the official hype re: pickleball is very peculiar. Why are local governments so in love with this game? What exactly is going on here?

 

But aastra! Pickleball is unique, because it's good exercise, and it's fun, and anyone can play, and all ages can play, and any level of competition can be supported, and it's social, and it improves hand-eye coordination, and...

 

Wait a sec... that describes dozens of other sports, games, and pastimes, too. Why is this one getting such inordinate attention from the authorities?

I'm actually wondering if the potentially controversial/annoying sounds this game makes is why it's getting so much official push. If governments everywhere make major investments in pickleball now, then a bit later on those investments could present all kinds of opportunities re: problem/reaction/solution (for those who are aware of that whole P-R-S dynamic and how it's mysteriously/coincidentally playing out all the time in different ways).

 

I'll neatly summarize what I'm getting at via the following image:

 

--

 

[aastra]

Gotta get those scientists involved. Nothing indicates the legitimacy of a manufactured controversy quite like the involvement of scientists.

[Victoria Watcher]

Well, there is no doubt the popularity increase is something not seen since the tennis craze of the 70's.

 

But I think that here we also have a big success for local recreation planners, so they want to react.

 

And then I think there is also some tennis purists that are dismayed to see their courts converted or adapted (can't you just paint some more lines?).

 

And finally as you say, the noise thing.

Edited by Victoria Watcher, 14 January 2024 - 02:48 PM.

[aastra]

 

Well, there is no doubt the popularity increase is something not seen since the tennis craze of the 70's.

 

I would say the promotion has seemed very exaggerated and inorganic, but we all see different things. I'm not saying people aren't playing pickleball. I've actually taken time myself to enjoy watching people play it. But I sure don't swallow that official stat re: 36 million Americans playing pickleball at least one time during a one-year span, or 14% of American adults playing pickleball at least one time during a one-year span. Heck, if they claimed 14% of American adults had gone out for a recreational walk of 10-minutes duration at least one time during that same one-year span we'd probably scoff in disbelief.

[Nparker]

Pickleball is basically tennis for losers - right?

[aastra]

I'm not questioning the game itself. It's a sporting pastime as legitimate as any other. I'm just saying the hype around it seems very questionable. Mainly because of how much attention it's getting in governance/politics.

[aastra]

I might add, the other pastime the authorities everywhere have promoted like crazy in recent years is... ping pong. Which, like Pickleball, also happens to produce a constant and potentially annoying kind of sharp noise.

[LJ]

Eugenie Bouchard, a top level Canadian tennis player, has joined the professional pickleball league.

 

There are a lot of empty floors of office buildings that could be refit as pickleball courts, play in all seasons, no noise to bother the neighbours.

[aastra]

Heck, there are a lot of empty properties that could be redeveloped as taxpayer-funded highrise pickleball facilities.

[aastra]

 

...there are a lot of empty properties that could be redeveloped as taxpayer-funded highrise pickleball facilities.

 

Ideally we would get them built before the next lockdown in response to plague terrorism world war alien invasion zombies godzilla mass riots caused by insanity-inducing pickleball noise. You know, because highrise pickleball facilities would work very well as improvised detention centres.

[Victoria Watcher]

North Saanich council rejects Cy Hampson pickleball court

Councillor proposes option of soft pickleballs to reduce noise

https://www.vicnews....l-court-7297615




Softer balls sounds fine. Regular inspections will of course be required.

Edited by Victoria Watcher, 17 January 2024 - 11:01 PM.

[aastra]

 

Softer balls sounds fine. Regular inspections will of course be required.

 

Regular inspections? As if. Methinks it would be much costlier and much more ridiculous to install expensive surveillance and sound monitoring equipment at every pickleball court.

[Victoria Watcher]

Why don’t we sink these pickleball courts underground and cap them with a tennis court?

I swear underground is the new solution to everything. Plus you always end up with free dirt.

With all the dirt they got for free in Montreal when they built the subway they made a new island with it. We could expand Clover Point.

Edited by Victoria Watcher, 18 January 2024 - 11:34 AM.

[aastra]

 

With all the dirt they got for free in Montreal when they built the subway they made a new island with it.

 

Speaking of education, those CBC heritage minutes might have been sufficient all by themselves. I always liked the Laura Secord one.

[aastra]

Whenever that Laura Secord heritage minute was aired I used to like to ask the women present: "How come none of you have ever done anything like that?"

[Victoria Watcher]

They should do a Heritage Moment on Don Cherry getting fired.

Edited by Victoria Watcher, 18 January 2024 - 11:36 AM.

[Victoria Watcher]

For a man who once thought pickleball was a “goofy game,” Howard Haugom might seem a surprising candidate to ­revolutionize the sport.

 

Haugom, who lives in Oak Bay, has designed a quiet pickleball paddle to address noise complaints about the sport. Launched in November, the OWL paddle is certified by USA Pickleball in the association’s quiet category and proven to reduce noise by 50 per cent.

 

While standard paddles deliver a sharp thwacking sound at 1,100 to 1,200 hertz and more than 85 decibels when striking a ball, the OWL is the first on the market that registers below 600 hertz and under 80 decibels, the American governing body for the sport said in its announcement endorsing the paddle late last year.

 

Haugom’s path to designing the paddle began with a dire warning from a doctor. Facing health issues, Haugom and his wife, Fiona, headed down to Mexico for treatment.

 

“He said, if your body senses that you’re being unproductive, it’s obliged to kill you,” Haugom recalled from his Oak Bay home.

 

Haugom, who owns QE Home, a chain of linen stores with about 70 locations across Canada, had been mostly retired since 2015.

 

 

 

https://www.timescol...-paddle-8138723

 

 

The quiet paddles hit the market in mid-November and are being sold online at owlpaddle.com and in select stores.

 

They’re also sold at the ­reception of Oak Bay Recreation Centre and Henderson Recreation Centre.

 

 

 

$189

 

https://shop.owlpadd...jg1NC4wLjAuMA..

 

 

He's got Drew Brees and John McEnroe endorsing it.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Mr. Haugom is co-owner of Quilts Etc., a national linen retail chain and a partner at Burkehill Capital Corp, a Vancouver based private equity firm. He has taught extensively at Simon Fraser University, worked for both the private (Canadian Pacific) and public sectors (BC Treasury Board) as an Economist, and has been a consultant to the gold resource sector. Mr. Haugom received Economic degrees (specializing in international trade/finance and Resource Economics from the University of Victoria – BA and MA, 1984) and a PhD ( 1991) from Simon Fraser University.

 

https://alxresources.com/our-team/

Edited by Victoria Watcher, 20 January 2024 - 07:05 AM.

[Victoria Watcher]

New indoor pickleball ‘hub’ to open in March

 

Westshore facility arrives as local councils try to serve both the sport's growing popularity and neighbours' concerns about space and noise

 

https://www.capitald...icoria-langford

 

 

Along with Buna, a lawyer and longtime pickleball proponent, the ownership pairing of racquet specialty store Courtside Sports and sport court construction company Victoria PlayCo seems a natural fit. Courtside Sports has been supplying equipment to racquet sports players in the community since 1990 and Victoria PlayCo has been around since ‘79, priding itself on being the only Island enterprise specializing in building tennis and pickleball courts—a natural fit to cover the building’s concrete floor with a synthetic playing surface.

 

The trio says it hopes to attract 200+ members and plans to keep room for non-members to play for a drop-in fee.

 

“There will be a variety of membership options in hopes to fit all needs,” Buna tells Capital Daily, adding she anticipates the facility to be open seven days a week with playing times between 6am and 10pm, depending on staffing and interest. 

 

______________________

 

Those numbers are reflected in the CRD as Greater Victoria’s pickleball sector continues to grow. The Victoria Regional Pickleball Association (VRPA) reports its membership tripled since the fall of 2021 with 820 players registered this past summer. As of Dec. 31, 650 had renewed Connie McCann, the VRPA president tells Capital Daily. 

 

“I'm expecting at least [a further] 120 will pay the dues in the next couple of months.”

 

One-third of those players are Victoria residents, one-third live in Saanich and the rest call Oak Bay, Esquimalt, and North Saanich home, she said.

 

A further breakdown reveals that 62% of current members are women and the average age is 61, McCann said. And they need courts to play.

Edited by Victoria Watcher, 23 January 2024 - 01:35 PM.

[Szeven]

The fixed costs on the location they rented must be 25k+ a month, plus the investment of building out the space.  Can they get say 300 members at $100/mo? 200 x $200? I wonder what the business model ends up being.

 

You also have to wonder who is playing there in the summer. 

Edited by Szeven, 23 January 2024 - 01:50 PM.