By: Chloe Sun

Pickleball, the fastest growing sport in the world, is now receiving a growing number of complaints from neighbors saying that the noise is driving them mad.

As the number of pickleball players increases, more and more pickleball courts are being built next to houses and parks. Along with the steady rise in the number of pickleball players, the number of noise complaints from civilians is also increasing (Keh 2023).

The inconsistent pop-pop of pickleball’s hitting rackets is enough to drive anyone insane. As a result, people are suggesting that pickleball rackets be updated to stifle the popping sound made when the ball is hit. Other less complicated methods are to only build courts somewhere far away from houses, such as a city park. However, not all cities can do this, either because there is not much room for pickleball courts, or simply because the city doesn’t want to build a new court. (Keh 2023).

Hundreds of residents of various cities around the U.S. are now complaining that the pickleball noises are driving them mad (Gallagher 2023). “Pickleball has replaced leaf blowers as my number one noise nuisance,” says Sue-Ellen Welfonder, a romance novelist in Florida (Gallagher 2023).

As the problem gets bigger the need for a solution gets even more desperate. In fact, the problem has become so dire that it was brought up in a session at Noise-Con in 2023. Noise-Con is the annual conference of North American noise control professionals. “Pickleball is the topic of the year,” said Jeanette Hesedahl, vice chair of Noise-Con.

Whether it be making new pickleball rackets or moving courts, I think everyone agrees that a solution is needed.

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