Mike Buresh, Marithza Ross take a look at the Pickleball craze in the Jacksonville area

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Chief Meteorologist Mike Buresh says Pickleball is quite literally taking the area by storm!

So he and Action News Jax Marithza Ross took to the courts to see what all the buzz is about and to do a little beginner’s tutorial on how to play the game.

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You’ll hear ‘pickled,’ ‘the kitchen,’ ‘dink,’ and a scoring convention that can be a little confusing at first. Each game goes to 11 points, win by two. There is singles play, doubles, and mixed doubles.

But as intimidating as the game might look from afar, Pickleball is a very social sport that many view as “fun and exciting” and especially “addictive”.

Mike and Marithza found players of all ages and abilities on courts from Del Webb in Duval County to Nocatee in St. Johns County to a court built by a homeowner at the beach!

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Many folks have developed life-long friendships just by picking up the game and whole families are spending time together hitting around a ball that resembles a whiffle ball with a paddle that’s smaller than a tennis racket but bigger than a ping-pong paddle.

Pickleball has become so popular, there’s a need for more courts as sometimes there can be 20 or more players at a time waiting on a court to open. Some tennis courts have been taped or painted to be able to be used for Pickleball too.

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As of right now, Duval County has 63 Pickleball courts, St. Johns County has 20 courts with 16 more on the way by 2024, Clay County has six with 14 more courts on the way. In Georgia, Glynn County has 22 courts, Camden County has 8, while Ware has two courts. The “PicklePlay” App has more 1,300 public, semi-private and private courts listed in the local area.

So if and when you decide to hit the Pickleball court, Mike and Marithza will most definitely be up for a game!

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