Pickleball Paradise: 16 top places to play in Asheville

Pickleball is a craze that’s sweeping the nation. Here’s where you can join in on the latest athletic trend in Asheville.

Unless you’ve been living under a rock — and that’s not out of the realm of possibilities if you call Asheville home — you’ve heard about the latest craze sweeping the nation: pickleball. But if you haven’t yet played the sport yourself, you may be wondering what is about this seemingly new intramural activity with the oddly culinary name. 

A quirky cross between tennis, Ping-Pong, and badminton, pickleball is played with a paddle and a perforated plastic ball. Though the game has seen its popularity skyrocket in recent years — the Sports & Fitness Industry Association named pickleball the fastest-growing sport in America for the second consecutive year in its 2022 Topline Participation Report — its journey to this point has actually taken decades. 

Created by congressman Joel Pritchard and his businessman friend Bill Bell at Pritchard’s home on Bainbridge Island, Washington, out of boredom, the game started with the two men hitting a perforated plastic ball with Ping-Pong paddles across a badminton-height net on an old badminton court. Over the weekend, they lowered the net to 36 inches. 

According to USA Pickleball’s history of the sport, the two men created rules, relying heavily on badminton. “They kept in mind the original purpose, which was to provide a game that the whole family could play together.” 

In spring 1976, the first known pickleball tournament in the world was held at South Center Athletic Club in Tukwila, Washington. Many of the participants were college tennis players who knew very little about pickleball. 

In 1982, pickleball pioneer Sid Williams began playing and organizing tournaments around Washington. In 1984, the United States Amateur Pickleball Association (USAPA) was organized to perpetuate the growth and advancement of pickleball on a national level, with the first rule book being published in March of that year.

By 1990, pickleball was being played in all 50 states. A new corporation for the sport was established as the USA Pickleball Association in 2005, which 10 years later surpassed 10,000 members for the first time. From there, it has grown exponentially, as the USAPA in 2023 reported more than 70,000 members. 

Rules of pickleball

If you scroll below, you’ll find over a dozen locations spread throughout Asheville where you can play pickleball, but if you haven’t played before, let’s get you familiar with the rules. 

A standard pickleball court is around the same size as a doubles badminton court, thanks to Joel Pritchard and Bill Bell’s boring day on an actual badminton court, measuring 44 feet long and 20 feet wide. 

The net height of a pickleball court is 36 inches high on the sidelines and 34 inches high in the middle. The court is striped with right and left service courts and a 7-foot non-volley zone in front of the net that is often referred to as the kitchen.

Pickleball is played either as doubles or singles, with doubles being the most common. The same size playing area and rules are used for both singles and doubles. 

When the ball is served, the receiving team must let it bounce before returning, and then the serving team must let it bounce before returning; this is called the two-bounce rule. After the ball has bounced once in each team’s court, both teams may either volley the ball (hit the ball before it bounces) or play it off a bounce (ground stroke).

When the serving team’s score is even, the player who was the first server in the game for that team will be on the right/even court when serving or receiving; when odd that player will be on the left/odd court when serving or receiving. 

A ball contacting any part of any line, except the non-volley zone line on a serve, is considered “in.” A serve contacting the non-volley zone line is short and a fault. Points are scored only by the serving team, with games normally played to 11 points — win by two. 

Where to play pickleball in Asheville, North Carolina

There is no shortage of places around Asheville to go dinking — yes, this is the verb used to describe hitting a pickleball — and many of the locations around the city are free. We’ve compiled a list of spots you can check out, including when you can do so. 

Photo courtesy of Shutterstock.

Outdoor Pickelball Courts

Note: The City of Asheville Parks and Recreation recently released a court schedule for pickleball and tennis players to share the space. Below, we’ve listed the hours specifically reserved for pickleball, but if the courts are not being used, anyone can play. 

The outdoor courts listed below are free unless otherwise noted. Prices vary for the indoor courts based on membership status and other factors.  

Kenilworth Park

79 Wyoming Road

Mon., Wed., Fri.: 7 a.m.-2 p.m.

Tues.,Thurs., Sat., Sun.: 2-10 p.m.

Malvern Hills Park

75 Rumbough Place

Mon.,Wed., Fri., Sat.: 7 a.m.-2 p.m.

Tues., Thurs., Sun.: 2-10 p.m.

Montford Park

345 Montford Ave.

Mon., Wed., Fri., Sat.: 2-9 p.m.

Tues., Thurs., Sun.: 8 a.m.-2 p.m.

Murphy-Oakley Park

715 Fairview Road

Mon., Wed., Fri., Sat.: 7 a.m.-2 p.m.

Tues., Thurs., Sun.: 2-10 p.m.

Weaver Park

200 Murdock Ave.

Mon., Wed., Fri., Sat.: 7 a.m.-2 p.m.

Tues., Thurs., Sun.: 2-10 p.m.

Asheville Sports Club

137 Coxe Ave.

Daily: 8 a.m.-11 p.m. Must be 21 and up after 7 p.m. 

$10 an hour. Reservation needed. 

Creekside Sports Club

195 Dogwood Lane, Black Mountain

Daily: 8 a.m.-10 p.m.

$60 to reserve an open court. Reservations needed. 

Black Mountain Pickleball: Cragmont Assembly

1233 North Fork Road, Black Mountain

Mon., Wed., Fri.: 9 a.m.-noon

$2 to play

Black Mountain Pickleball: Lower Tennis Courts

105 Swannanoa Ave., Black Mountain

Tues.,Thurs.,Sat.: 9 a.m.-noon

$2 to play

Indoor Pickleball Courts

Linwood Crump Shiloh Community Center and Recreation Complex

121 Shiloh Road

Stephens-Lee Community Center and Recreation Complex

30 George Washington Carver Ave.

Asheville YMCA Downtown

30 Woodfin St.

Membership required

Asheville Racquet Club

200 Racquet Club Road

Reuter YMCA

3 Town Square Blvd.

Membership required

Hendersonville Racquet Club

88 Oak Creek Lane, Hendersonville

This article first appeared on Good Info News Wire and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.