Pickleball

Pickleball dates to the summer of 1965, when Joel Pritchard and his neighbor Bill Bell, back from golfing at Pritchard's summer home on Bainbridge Island, Washington, found their families bored with nothing to do. They set up a badminton net but couldn't find a shuttlecock, so they improvised with a perforated plastic ball and paddles instead, lowering the net to compensate. A third neighbor helped formalize the rules the following weekend, and Pritchard's wife Joan -- inspired by the "pickle boat," a rowing term for a crew of leftover oarsmen -- gave the new game its name.

What began as a backyard improvisation using a wiffle ball has since become one of the fastest-growing participation sports in the United States, now governed nationally by USA Pickleball.

Outdoor pickleballs have 40 smaller holes, while indoor balls have just 26 larger holes -- a difference driven almost entirely by wind and surface. Outdoor courts expose the ball to breezes that can meaningfully alter the flight of a lob or drop shot, so the smaller, more numerous holes reduce the surface area wind can act on and keep the ball flying true. Indoor balls, played on smooth gym floors without wind interference, use fewer and larger holes with a softer plastic tuned for a more controlled bounce on hardwood.

The two ball types aren't interchangeable in practice: an indoor ball played outside gets pushed around by wind and skids unpredictably on asphalt, while an outdoor ball indoors can bounce erratically high off a hard gym floor.