Tennis is steeped in tradition and pickleball is trendy. There is tension between them, but lovers of both call for order on the courts<\/p>\n
Published May 14, 2026 \u00a0\u2022\u00a0 Last updated 10\u00a0minutes ago \u00a0\u2022\u00a0 18 minute read<\/p>\n
<\/a><\/p>\n You can save this article by registering for free here<\/a>. Or sign-in<\/a> if you have an account.<\/p>\n TORONTO \u2014 Susie Sheffman is caught in a love triangle. Her two lovers? Tennis and pickleball.<\/p>\n \u201cPeople feel really hellbent on wanting me to choose, and I don\u2019t understand,\u201d said the 66-year-old from Toronto. \u201cI really am torn between two loves, and I don\u2019t know why I have to choose. Why can\u2019t I date both?\u201d<\/p>\n Article content<\/p>\n Article content<\/p>\n Sheffman\u2019s history with tennis began 30 years ago. As a kid, she had no hand-eye coordination and avoided sports. Later in life, her ex-husband and friends helped her learn the fundamentals. She\u2019s played regularly ever since.<\/p>\n Advertisement 2<\/p>\n This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below.<\/p>\n THIS CONTENT IS RESERVED FOR SUBSCRIBERS<\/p>\n Enjoy the latest local, national and international news.<\/p>\n Exclusive articles by Conrad Black, Barbara Kay and others. Plus, special edition NP Platformed and First Reading newsletters and virtual events.Unlimited online access to National Post.National Post ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition to view on any device, share and comment on.Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword.Support local journalism.<\/p>\n SUBSCRIBE FOR MORE ARTICLES<\/p>\n Enjoy the latest local, national and international news.<\/p>\n Exclusive articles by Conrad Black, Barbara Kay and others. Plus, special edition NP Platformed and First Reading newsletters and virtual events.Unlimited online access to National Post.National Post ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition to view on any device, share and comment on.Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword.Support local journalism.<\/p>\n REGISTER \/ SIGN IN TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES<\/p>\n Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience.<\/p>\n Access articles from across Canada with one account.Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments.Enjoy additional articles per month.Get email updates from your favourite authors.<\/p>\n THIS ARTICLE IS FREE TO READ REGISTER TO UNLOCK.<\/p>\n Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience.<\/p>\n Access articles from across Canada with one accountShare your thoughts and join the conversation in the commentsEnjoy additional articles per monthGet email updates from your favourite authorsSign In or Create an Account<\/p>\n or<\/p>\n Article content<\/p>\n Pickleball \u2014 described as a cross between tennis, table tennis and badminton \u2014 came into her life four years ago. She was instantly hooked.<\/p>\n Long Story<\/p>\n Thanks for signing up!<\/p>\n Article content<\/p>\n During the summer, Sheffman splits her time evenly between tennis and pickleball \u2014 \u202flest she favour one. She hits their respective courts multiple times each and every week. This year, because of tears in her shoulders, she said she will try to avoid playing both sports on the same day.<\/p>\n When Sheffman described why she loves tennis, she mentioned its quiet elegance, its timeless, refined beauty and the sport\u2019s deep sense of tradition.<\/p>\n \u201cIt takes years to perfect. It\u2019s more sophisticated. It\u2019s less scrappy. You have to be much more thoughtful,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n Pickleball, however, is aggressive, fast and very, very loud, she said.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s extremely social, it\u2019s high energy, it\u2019s highly competitive, and it\u2019s just plain fun,\u201d Sheffman said.<\/p>\n \u201cAll of those qualities are qualities I would want to have,\u201d she continued. \u201cYes, I want to be more elegant, quiet and refined, but I also want to be scrappy and high energy and have a lot of fun. I\u2019m definitely on the team of doing both \u2014\u202for not having to compare them.\u201d<\/p>\n Indeed, tennis and pickleball are often compared and contrasted. It makes sense why. On the surface, they\u2019re similar. They both involve hitting a ball back and forth on a court divided by a net \u2014 although tennis players use rackets to strike a tennis ball, while pickleballers use paddles to hit a perforated ball. They\u2019re both contested in singles or doubles and rely on shots like groundstrokes \u2014 balls hit after a bounce \u2014 or volleys, which connect with the ball in the air.<\/p>\n Article content<\/p>\n But both sports are distinct \u2014 and can appeal to players, like Sheffman, for different reasons.<\/p>\n Broadly speaking, racket sports are thriving at the moment, with participation in tennis, pickleball and padel \u2014\u202fa cross between tennis and squash that\u2019s popular in Europe \u2014 all showing signs of momentum, according to a report released last fall by CAA Portas, a global management consultancy firm.<\/p>\n As another outdoor season arrives in Canada, tennis and pickleball players will once again flock to courts, eager to soak in as much playing time under the extra hours of sunlight. While tennis is steeped in tradition, pickleball is trendy. There is a history of tension between these two sibling sports, but as they continue to coexist, will one reign supreme?<\/p>\n Or can both live in harmony, so that everyone wins?<\/p>\n History of the sports<\/p>\n There are theories that the origins of tennis-like games trace back to ancient Egypt and Greece, according to the Lawn Tennis Association, the governing body of tennis in Britain, but the version we\u2019re familiar with started in France in the 12th century, when monks used their hands to bat a ball against monastery walls or over a strung rope. Thankfully, rackets were introduced in the 16th century.<\/p>\n Article content<\/p>\n The sport was primarily played indoors until the 18th century, when lawn tennis \u2014\u202fplayed outdoors on grass courts \u2014 was created in Britain. Quickly, it supplanted croquet as the preferred summer sport, according to the International Tennis Federation (ITF).<\/p>\n Today, tennis is a global activity with 106 million players in 2024, according to data from the ITF\u2019s Global Tennis Report.<\/a> That\u2019s up from 84.4 million in 2019, a 25.6 per cent increase. The ITF set a goal in 2019 to increase its player base by 30 million by 2030, and is on pace to achieve it.<\/p>\n Tennis\u2019s growth, the ITF said, can be attributed to several factors, including its worldwide reach, the popularity of the biggest stars on the professional men\u2019s (ATP) and women\u2019s (WTA) tours, its appeal to a wide range of ages and its proven lifelong health benefits.<\/p>\n Article content<\/p>\n In Canada, tennis is in a healthy place, too. Recent data from Tennis Canada<\/a> and YouGov Canada said more than six million Canadians played tennis in 2025 \u2014 an increase of more than one million since the previous participation study was conducted in 2023.<\/p>\n By comparison, pickleball is a much younger sport, with a North American origin.<\/p>\n You can take a ferry from Seattle to reach Bainbridge Island, Wash., which is where pickleball was born in 1965. According to USA Pickleball, the sport\u2019s governing body in the United States, Joel Pritchard, a politician, and Bill Bell, a businessman, improvised a new game with equipment they had lying around. They used table tennis paddles to volley a perforated plastic ball over a badminton net. Later, after discovering the ball\u2019s high bounce on the asphalt surface, they lowered the net.<\/p>\n Article content<\/p>\n The two men, along with another friend, Barney McCallum, are credited as the creators. The unique name, however, was the brainchild of Pritchard\u2019s wife, Joan, who was inspired by the rowing term pickle boat, which refers to a hurriedly assembled crew of leftover rowers.<\/p>\n In the years since its advent, the hurriedly assembled racket sport remained a niche interest, mostly at retirement communities. In the last decade, though, pickleball has skyrocketed in popularity across multiple age groups in North America, with recreational, competitive and pro leagues popping up across the continent.<\/p>\n In the U.S., there were roughly 4.2 million pickleball players in 2020, according to the Sports and Fitness Industry Association\u2019s annual Topline Participation Report<\/a> (SFIA). In 2025, that number was 24.3 million.<\/p>\n In Canada, the participation stats aren\u2019t as jaw-dropping, but pickleball is still considered a fast-growing sport. Pickleball Canada reported<\/a> in February 2025 that an estimated 1.54 million people were playing, a 57 per cent increase since 2022.<\/p>\n While the national governing bodies for both tennis and pickleball report positive participation numbers, the demographics between the sports differ, according to the Sports360 Study<\/a> conducted by the Canadian market research firm The Strategic Counsel.<\/p>\n Article content<\/p>\n Based on 3,240 online interviews with Canadians aged 18 and up last spring, active tennis players skew more male, with 61 per cent identifying as male compared to 39 per cent female. Pickleball, however, is quite balanced, with a 50-50 breakdown.<\/p>\n When I was starting pickleball, I literally just went to the park, and I didn\u2019t know anybody. Five minutes later, I had new best friends for life<\/p>\n Susie Sheffman<\/p>\n Tennis is also significantly more concentrated in large Canadian cities \u2014\u202fwith 60 per cent of active adult participants based in the greater Toronto, Vancouver, Montreal and Ottawa areas. Pickleball was more evenly distributed, with strong participation outside urban centres.<\/p>\n Another notable, though hardly surprising, piece of data: The median age of active pickleball players is 52, whereas the median age of active tennis players is 42.<\/p>\n Kaan Yigit, the study director, said the findings suggest pickleball is more than tennis players simply aging into a different game. Rather, it\u2019s emerged as a distinct participation sport with its own demographic and geographic profile.<\/p>\n What\u2019s behind pickleball\u2019s popularity?<\/p>\n What\u2019s driving people to play pickleball? The list is varied, from its relative affordability \u2014 basic equipment can be bought on Amazon for less than $50 \u2014 to its accessibility at parks and community centres across the country.<\/p>\n Article content<\/p>\n One oft-cited reason, however, is the barrier to entry is lower than that of its tennis counterpart.<\/p>\n Natalie Araya, an experienced tennis and pickleball coach based in Toronto, explained that tennis is considered a hard sport to learn and to master. Ask any tennis player, and they\u2019ll tell you it can take hours of lessons to nail down the basics and years to hone proper techniques. As for pickleball, the court is smaller, it\u2019s less physically demanding, and it\u2019s easier to pick up a paddle and start to rally. (Though, like tennis, it can take years to perfect your skills.)<\/p>\n \u201cAfter an hour and a half, you can get players who just started the game to get an understanding of the sport and be able to play on their own. I couldn\u2019t say the same for tennis,\u201d Araya said.<\/p>\n Araya took up tennis at 10, and was playing competitively two years later. The sport opened opportunities, including a scholarship to play at a U.S. college. She later turned to coaching while also balancing her career as a registered massage therapist. In the past five years, she\u2019s been more involved in developing pickleball.<\/p>\n She\u2019s watched as participation surged, and while competitive leagues exist, pickleball excels as a community-oriented and socially driven sport, she said.<\/p>\n Article content<\/p>\n Just ask Sheffman, who likened the experience of playing pickleball to \u201ca mood enhancer.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWhen I was starting pickleball, I literally just went to the park, and I didn\u2019t know anybody. Five minutes later, I had new best friends for life,\u201d said Sheffman.<\/p>\n That warm embrace is what drew Mary Stein into the fold. The 57-year-old from Toronto had dabbled in tennis, but she found the game difficult on her body. She\u2019d been curious about pickleball for a decade and finally took it up three years ago. As a beginner, she found it inclusive.<\/p>\n \u201cWith rare exceptions, people are very kind, they\u2019re encouraging, they want you to learn,\u201d said Stein, who primarily plays outdoors in Calgary while visiting family in the summer. \u201cIf you are really not that great at the beginning, you don\u2019t feel like you\u2019re not welcome or you\u2019re being judged. And that\u2019s really nice.\u201d<\/p>\n Article content<\/p>\n Like tennis, pickleball is contested in singles or doubles,\u202fbut at the recreational level, it\u2019s primarily played in doubles. It\u2019s more economical to have more people playing at once, but with four players to a court, rather than two, it naturally leads to more cross-court conversation. The smaller dimensions \u2014 about a third of the size of a tennis court \u2014 place players in closer proximity, which lends itself to friendly chit-chat.<\/p>\n Article content<\/p>\n Social enjoyment is what attracted 27-year-old David Summers to pickleball. A physiotherapist in St. John\u2019s, Nfld., Summers plays pickleball regularly and views it as a mental reprieve from his tennis.<\/p>\n \u201cAnyone who plays competitive tennis knows there\u2019s a very big mental side of the game \u2014 that it\u2019s easy to get down on yourself or start to lose the enjoyment, sometimes, in certain matches,\u201d he said. \u201cI just didn\u2019t find that in pickleball. I found it was really social. We only really play doubles. It was just really easy to stay happy and enjoy playing it.\u201d<\/p>\n The techniques<\/p>\n Summers started playing the game several years ago. A few members of his Memorial University tennis team came across two older gentlemen playing at their local tennis club. With their tennis season halted due to COVID restrictions and craving competition, Summers and a teammate borrowed paddles from the facility and challenged the men to a match.<\/p>\n Summers, then in his early 20s, had been swinging a tennis racket since he was five. He was confident his racket skills would propel him to a resounding victory over these two unsuspecting men, whom he estimated to be in their 70s.<\/p>\n Instead, Summers and his partner lost \u2014\u202f badly.<\/p>\n Article content<\/p>\n \u201cIt was like the most humbling experience ever,\u201d Summers said. \u201cIt wasn\u2019t even close. It was like a completely different sport. And it was embarrassing, because it was like, how do these two relatively athletic young guys lose to these guys?\u201d<\/p>\n When experienced tennis players try pickleball, they\u2019re equipped with the co-ordination and receptive skills to track and hit a moving ball. They\u2019re comfortable pivoting around a court, and they have sound techniques to hit a\u202fforehand, backhand or attack the ball in the air for a volley winner.<\/p>\n So, how could two young tennis players lose to men 50 years older? It comes down to strategy.<\/p>\n \u201cFor tennis, a lot of times, it\u2019s really just outlasting the player or trying to find ways to attack and come up to the net. There\u2019s a physicality towards that in terms of a particular power and strength of your shots,\u201d Araya, the coach, explained.<\/p>\n Article content<\/p>\n But experienced pickleballers say the sport is not miniature tennis, and selling out for power isn\u2019t a viable strategy. Just ask Gloria Gardner, 67, who has been playing pickleball in her Bracebridge, Ont., community in Muskoka, north of Toronto, since 2014, and is one of the organizers of the large and growing Muskoka Lakes Pickleball club. She has witnessed plenty of tennis players migrate to the smaller court with predictable results.<\/p>\n Article content<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s kind of amusing to me for a tennis player to come on to the pickleball court for the first time, because that is exactly what they want to do, stand at the baseline and pound the ball back and forth,\u201d she said. \u201cAnd it takes a lot to convince them to move up.\u201d<\/p>\n Indeed, pickleball encourages play close to the net with players standing at the edge of the area known as the non-volley zone \u2014 or more commonly called the kitchen. Here, quick reactions are required. Soft shots, called dinks, are used to control play before attacking an opponent\u2019s mistake.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s good to have that power (in pickleball), but control in the game is very important, too,\u201d Araya said. \u201cIt\u2019s kind of like that in-between that you need to have. Obviously, it\u2019s good to have that power, but (you need) control and finesse as well.\u201d<\/p>\n Racket wars<\/p>\n For Brian Laski, 47, the idea of pickleball was intriguing.<\/p>\n Laski has played tennis his entire life. He loved the game and, as a young adult, he was a professional umpire for the ATP tour, and worked at prestigious tournaments such as the U.S. Open, Wimbledon, even the 2004 Olympic Summer Games in Athens.<\/p>\n Now, as an orthodontist, he draws on skills learned through his experiences in tennis at his practice.<\/p>\n Article content<\/p>\n \u201cMy staff will always say, \u2018Wow, that patient seemed very upset, and they were yelling, and you were so calm,\u2019\u201d Laski said. \u201cAnd I said, \u2018Well, it\u2019s nothing compared to a player yelling at you on a tennis court when there\u2019s a million dollars on the line.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n About two years ago, Laski turned to pickleball because he wanted a new challenge. He said he enjoys learning a new sport and plays regularly at a fitness club. Sometimes at home, he sets up a portable net in his driveway \u2014 roughly the same dimensions as a pickleball court \u2014 and plays with his three daughters.<\/p>\n \u201cThey complain, \u2018Oh, we don\u2019t want to play pickleball,\u2019\u201d he said. \u201cBut we get out there, and it quickly becomes fierce competition.\u201d<\/p>\n While his daughters eventually relent, the same cannot be said for some of his tennis buddies.<\/p>\n \u201c(They) refuse to pick up a pickleball paddle,\u201d said Laski, who recently competed as an amateur in the US Open Pickleball Championships in Naples, FL. \u201cThey\u2019ll look at me and shake their head in dismay.\u201d<\/p>\n Like McEnroe vs. Borg before it, the tennis vs. pickleball rivalry is real.<\/p>\n Tennis purists may have myriad reasons why they refuse to pick up a paddle. Some may claim that playing pickleball will hamper their game on the tennis court, although the pickleball players interviewed reported the contrary: pickleball made their tennis game better \u2014 especially at the net.<\/p>\n Article content<\/p>\n \u201cPeople vastly underestimate what their brains are capable of,\u201d said Gardner, who plays both sports, \u201cbecause I go back and forth between the two of them all the time.\u201d<\/p>\n Other tennis players may simply not respect the relative ease of pickleball, preferring to stick with the more physically rigorous and challenging sport. Some people want to devote their recreational time to only one sport and prefer tennis, and others might simply find the high-pitched sound of pickleball annoying. The sport\u2019s soundtrack \u2014\u202fa distinct thwack as the hard carbon fibre paddle collides with the hollow perforated ball \u2014\u202fhas been the subject of noise complaints in communities across the country.<\/p>\n Friction has also arisen when it comes to sharing court space.<\/p>\n As pickleball has grown, so too has the demand for places to play. In urban centres, trendy pickleball facilities are popping up regularly. Meanwhile, abandoned department stores, empty arenas, and underused gymnasiums have been given new life as pickleball courts. A historic church in Chambly, Quebec, was recently converted into a pickleball court, aptly named Amen Pickleball.<\/a><\/p>\n But, in some instances, pickleball courts have come at a cost for tennis.<\/p>\n Article content<\/p>\n In 2023, a group of tennis players on Mayne Island, B.C., made headlines<\/a> when their petition to prevent pickleball players from using their courts was dismissed by the province\u2019s Supreme Court. As part of the ruling, it was stated that the decision to allow pickleballers time on the courts \u201cdoes not warrant judicial intervention.\u201d<\/p>\n Still, Canadian cities have needed to respond to the demand by creating space to play. Last year, the City of Toronto embarked on a project designed to improve public courts. After community consultation, some public tennis courts were refurbished while others were removed and replaced by pickleball courts.<\/p>\n Anyone who plays competitive tennis knows there\u2019s a very big mental side of the game… I just didn’t find that in pickleball. It’s very social<\/p>\n David Summers<\/p>\n In the small Muskoka community of Milford Bay, Gardner said two outdoor tennis courts were barely used, but \u201cthe resistance that suddenly popped up when we asked for pickleball to share the space was really quite incredible.\u201d Ultimately, a compromise was reached to include painted lines for both tennis and pickleball on one of the courts.<\/p>\n Some clubs, such as the Green Belt Tennis Club in St. John\u2019s, where Summers plays, have also accommodated pickleball. The facility added six pickleball courts by painting lines on top of two tennis courts. They can still be used for both, but pickleball occupies the space most of the time. The move helps drive revenue for the club, Summers said, while also drawing in participants, who could \u201cdecide to try tennis down the road.\u201d<\/p>\n Article content<\/p>\n However, the growing pains that existed between the two sports appear to be easing every year. Notably, former tennis stars, such as Andre Agassi<\/a>, an eight-time Grand Slam champion, and Canadian Eugenie Bouchard<\/a>, a 2014 Wimbledon finalist, have played pickleball professionally and helped the sport gain more acceptance.<\/p>\n Much like Laski, Summers, has also received razzing over his participation in pickleball \u2014 but the chirps have been less frequent of late, as more tennis players join in.<\/p>\n \u201cAs you age, typically, it\u2019s harder to play tennis; it\u2019s a bigger court to cover, especially in singles,\u201d Summers said. \u201cIt\u2019s a really nice transition, even if they are very much a tennis purist. And a lot of it, I think, is just a fun alternative sometimes, to take your mind off (tennis).\u201d<\/p>\n Health benefits and risks<\/p>\n The United States Tennis Association has touted tennis as the world\u2019s healthiest sport.<\/p>\n![\"David](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/ball-1.jpg\")
David Summers plays pickleball at the Green Belt Tennis Club in St. John\u2019s, N.L. Photo by Paul Daly\/PostmediaArticle content<\/p>\n![\"National](\"https:\/\/dcs-static.gprod.postmedia.digital\/21.2.1\/websites\/images\/identity\/logo-identity-np-new.svg\"){kind=logo}
<\/p>\n![\"Long](\"https:\/\/dcs-static.gprod.postmedia.digital\/21.2.1\/websites\/images\/newsletters\/icon-longStory.svg\"\/){kind=icon}
<\/p>\n![\"Susie](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/ball-4.jpg\")
\u201cThey\u2019re very different, and they\u2019re both incredibly enjoyable to me. And I don\u2019t see why I have to choose,\u201d says Susie Sheffman, who plays tennis and pickleball. Photo by Peter J. Thompson\/National Post<\/p>\n![\"Tennis](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/ball-7.jpg\")
Tennis rackets indicate people waiting to play at public tennis courts in Toronto. Photo by Ernest Doroszuk\/Postmedia\/File<\/p>\n![\"Four](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/ball-2.jpg\")
Bill Birnbaum serves alongside teammate Janet Weinberg, right, to opponents Susie Sheffman and Caren Birnbaum at The Jar Pickleball Club in Toronto. Photo by Peter J. Thompson\/National Post<\/p>\n![\"David](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/ball-8.jpg\")
David Summers, who has been playing tennis since he was five years old, says his first pickleball game in his early 20s was \u201cthe most humbling experience ever.\u201d Photo by Paul Daly\/Postmedia<\/p>\n![\"Three](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/ball-3.jpg\")
Brian Laski was a professional tennis umpire on the ATP tour. He picked up pickleball a few years ago and recently competed in the US Open Pickleball Championships. Here, he plays pickleball with his wife Amy and daughter Norah at their Toronto home. Photo by Peter J. Thompson\/National Post<\/p>\n
![\"Andre](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Agassi-Bouchard.jpg\")
Andre Agassi and Eugenie Bouchard made their name in tennis, but are now advocates for pickleball. Photo by Stan Behal\/Postmedia files; Minas Panagiotakis\/Getty Images files<\/p>\n![\"Caren](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/ball-6.jpg\")
Caren Birnbaum in action at The Jar Pickleball Club in Toronto. Photo by Peter J. Thompson\/National Post<\/p>\n