October 10th, 2024
It’s hard not to know about the sport of pickleball these days. In the past it was always overlooked by tennis, paddle, racquetball and SQUASH! Due to the lower costs of designing the courts, cheaper equipment, and the ability to play during the pandemic (when playing squash wasn’t an option) it exploded. While pickleball may have benefitted from squash’s absence that doesn’t mean squash hasn’t benefitted from pickleball. There are enough key differences between the sports that they aren’t as big of rivals as most people assume. Pickleball shares similar rules as tennis, and tennis and squash have always coexisted.
For many reasons, pickleball has been an asset to the squash community by shining light on racquet sports outside of tennis- especially squash which like pickleball can be played indoors. Take for instance how many articles there are speaking about both pickleball and squash. In fact google pulls up over 12 million results for the search term squash/pickleball while a pickleball search pulls up 90 million Therefore 1 out of 10 of all pickleball related articles mentions squash.
Even in it’s peak squash never made it into the Olympics, until recently when it was announced it will make its Olympic debut in LA2028. Squash is set to have more eyes on it then ever before, and most likely pickleball played a part in that. The increase of pickleball courts has also brought a demand for more squash courts, and lots of apartments are adding them.
There’s a high level of interest pickleball players take to squash. Pickleball gets people in the door with simple rules, a quick learning curve, opportunities for free play, and low costs overall with paddle and ball prices starting at $10. None of which squash offers. So where does the conversion from pickleball to squash come into play!?
The majority of conversion comes in the terms of athleticism. When people get serious about the sport they need to play at clubs, so the price point is no longer different between sports. In fact competitive play is at an all time high and is how it met its quota to be in the Olympics. The better question might be how will pickleball not become the new racquetball? Considering racquetball also had its moment as the fastest growing sport before people came (back) to squash.
To compare, pickleball offers casual play, is accessible to older groups and is appealing due to its year round indoor and outdoor play. Squash manages to be a combination between the sports of both tennis and pickleball while also having a rule set of its own, and having full use of the court. The sport of squash is a mix between tactics, speed, precision and is the most calorie intense workout of any racquet sport. Squash even shares a similarity with basketball given players share the whole area of the court.
In conclusion pickleball is having a hot moment like racquetball had and it’s impossible for it to continue growing at such high rates. There’s a perfect place for it in racquet sports due to a level of ease and a simplistic build which makes it accessible to old folks homes and offices. It has people playing racquet sports who never would otherwise. Pickleball opens up the door and proves there is a racquet sport for everyone and all abilities, whether that be someone wanting to be on their feet or wanting to become a pro of a sport that takes years to master with sweat inducive workouts, and as a racquet sport for starting out it can’t be beat!
