![\"men](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/0023ad4e-614.jpg\"\/)
\nExperts say pickleball sounds are louder and higher-pitched than tennis or badminton<\/p>\n
The piercing pop-pop of pickleball paddles starts before sunrise and ends after midnight at dozens of newly built courts across Hanoi, as residents relish one of Vietnam’s fastest-growing sports – or rage at the noise it makes.<\/p>\n
The initial craze saw more people in Vietnam pick up a paddle per capita than anywhere else in Asia, according to one survey.<\/p>\n
Now unwitting spectators are yelling fault, filing noise complaints and petitions to curb playing hours that have left authorities in a pickle.<\/p>\n
In the country’s densely packed cities, courts are wedged between tight alleyways and nestled beneath high-rises, disturbing thousands of people at once.<\/p>\n
“It drives me nuts,” said Hoa Nguyen, 44, who lives with her family behind a multicourt complex in Hanoi’s northeastern outskirts.<\/p>\n
“People are playing in the middle of the night and there’s nothing we can do about it,” she said, adding that she had filed a complaint with local authorities.<\/p>\n
“The noise makes it impossible for me to sleep. It just keeps going pop-pop-pop.”<\/p>\n
Most noise complaints on the capital’s iHanoi app stem from pickleball, according to state media, which has dubbed the sport an “acoustic hazard”.<\/p>\n
Associated noise-related issues range from unruly crowds to honking horns in overcrowded parking lots.<\/p>\n
Lam Thanh, who manages a dormitory for workers near one of Ho Chi Minh City’s estimated 1,000 courts, says the cacophony is proving to be costly.<\/p>\n
“Many tenants couldn’t stand the noise and have moved elsewhere,” she said.<\/p>\n
“There’s the popping sound of paddles, cheering, shouting and joking around – it’s all extremely exhausting for us.”<\/p>\n
‘Quite appealing’<\/p>\n
Vietnam’s pickleball boom began around two years ago, players and coaches say, well after its popularity surged in the United States and Canada.<\/p>\n
But the country is now the sport’s second-fastest-growing market in Asia after Malaysia, according to pickleball rating company DUPR.<\/p>\n
Regional professional circuit PPA Tour Asia says more than 16 million people in Vietnam have picked up a paddle, though that figure is extrapolated from a survey of around 1,000 respondents.<\/p>\n
Hanoi’s Long Bien district, its pickleball centre, has more than 100 courts, up from 54 in less than a year, according to state media.<\/p>\n
Pickleholic Club, Victory Pickleball and Pro Pickleball Vn are all within a five-minute walk, with dozens more a short drive away.<\/p>\n
\nExperts say pickleball sounds are louder and higher-pitched than tennis or badminton<\/p>\n
Coach Pham Duc Trung said the sport’s accessibility was key to its popularity.<\/p>\n
“The paddle is light and the ball is light… Children can play it, and so can adults,” he said.<\/p>\n
“The sound of the ball hitting the paddle is quite appealing,” he added.<\/p>\n
Not everyone agrees.<\/p>\n
‘Haunted’<\/p>\n
Around the world, the plinks and pops of pickleball have spawned outrage, provoking protests and even lawsuits.<\/p>\n
But Vietnam’s widespread embrace of the sport, and its cities’ rapid growth in recent decades as the economy boomed, help explain the intense frustration.<\/p>\n
Ho Chi Minh City already ranks among the loudest cities in Asia, according to the United Nations, with noise pollution levels high enough to damage hearing.<\/p>\n
And experts say pickleball sounds are louder and higher-pitched than tennis or badminton.<\/p>\n
A nationwide noise ordinance is supposed to limit the din, especially late at night, but residents say the courtside clatter often goes unmuted.<\/p>\n
Hanoi high school student Duong, 16, cannot focus on his homework.<\/p>\n
“The sound made by this ball is very unpleasant,” he said. “My mind feels blank because I cannot concentrate.”<\/p>\n
Pressure is building to smash the problem, with state media carrying health warnings from doctors.<\/p>\n
“The constant bouncing of the pickleball is not only annoying but also subtly triggers stress, disrupts sleep, and increases the risk of cardiovascular disease,” according to state-run VTC News website.<\/p>\n
Ball strikes register “like the ticking of a clock against the temples”, it said this month, adding many people are “haunted by the sound of popping”.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The piercing pop-pop of pickleball paddles starts before sunrise and ends after midnight at dozens of newly built…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":205351,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[22],"tags":[273,111,139,69,147],"class_list":{"0":"post-205350","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-environment","8":"tag-environment","9":"tag-new-zealand","10":"tag-newzealand","11":"tag-nz","12":"tag-science"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/205350","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=205350"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/205350\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/205351"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=205350"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=205350"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=205350"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}