The Picklesphere is where all lovers of pickleball end up, eventually. There is no escape and no turning back. And really, why would you want to? 😉

The Picklesphere was founded by internet marketing professional and overly-elongated pickleball addict, Norm Hundtoft. Norm’s vision was to create a top-notch, collaborative website with products and content that pickleballers love and a customer service experience that can’t be beat.

Yes. We utilize secure sockets layer technology which encrypts data sent between you and Picklesphere.com. Additionally, we utilize a third-party payment processor (Paypal), so no credit card info is stored on our servers.

We absolutely have our customers’ backs. If there is a problem with a product, or an error on our part, we will make it right. See our Return Policy here.

Depending on your location and the items ordered, you can expect to receive your purchases anywhere between three to ten business days. For more information, please see our Shipping and Fulfillment page.

Pickleball was invented in 1965 on Bainbridge Island, Washington by Joel Pritchard, Barney McCallum and William Bell. With the goal of coming up with a fun summer activity for their families, they began with a game utilizing wooden paddles, whiffle balls and a badminton court and it eventually evolved into the amazing sport that it is today.

The popular story is that pickleball was named after the Pritchards’ family dog, Pickles. But the Pritchards themselves have said that the dog was named after the game, not the other way around, and that the sport was actually named after a “pickle boat.” Whatever the case, we’re glad that the name stuck!

When it comes to pickleball, once you’ve reached the point of addiction, there’s really not much you can do except play more pickleball and spend time in the Picklesphere.

Pickleball is a sport for ALL ages, but you see a lot of older folks playing it partly because it requires less running and athleticism than, say, tennis. It’s one of the few sports in which you might find a 60 year-old woman, for example, taking an athletic 30 year-old man to the wood shed! Despite the fact that there’s less running involved, it’s still a great way for seniors to get exercise. Most importantly, it’s a whole lot of fun!

The dimensions of a pickleball court are the same as a badminton court: 20 feet wide and 44 feet long. For perspective, it’s less than one-third the size of a tennis court in terms of total square feet.

A pickleball net is 34 inches high in the center and 36 inches high at the sidelines. Another good reason to hit down the middle! 🙂

You can stand in the NVZ as much as you like. You’re just not allowed to VOLLEY a ball directly out of the air while standing there–hence the name “no VOLLEY zone.” Hitting the ball while standing in the NVZ is perfectly acceptable as long as the ball BOUNCES FIRST.