By: Alex Tang

Since the COVID-19, pickleball courts have sprung up across the country. Pickleball is growing in popularity, with Major League Picketball expected to come next year. However, not everyone is happy.

“There it is,” Mary McKee, 43, said, referencing the popping sound of rackets hitting balls. McKee, a conference planner, came to this neighborhood in Arlington, Virginia, expecting a peaceful and tranquil environment. It was like that, until the pickleball players arrived.

At the Walter Reed Community Center, less than 100 yards away from her yard, a group of pickleball players gathered on a repurposed tennis court. Throughout the day, more players arrived, until six games were happening at once. They produced a multi-hour collection of din and racket that has begun to define the daily lives of McKee and her neighbors.

All across the country, many people suffer the same thing.

The sound has caused many agitated people to call the police and sue local parks, private clubs, and HOAs that rushed to open courts during the sports recent boom.

“It’s like having a pistol range in your backyard,” said John Mancini, 82, whose Wellesley, Mass., home borders a cluster of public courts.

“It’s a torture technique,” said Clint Ellis, 37, who lives across the street from a private club in York, Maine.

“Living here is hell,” said Debbie Nagle, 67, whose gated community in Scottsdale, Ariz., installed courts a few years ago.

There are a lot of annoying sounds in the modern world-children yelling, dogs barking, lawn mowers, car traffic, you get the point. But why is pickleball noise especially aggravating?

According to Bob Unetich, a former engineer and avid pickleball player, pickleball noise is in the most sensitive range, similar to the beepers on a garbage truck. Pickleball whacks from 100 feet away could reach 70 dBA (a unit of measuring sound that depends on how the human ear responds), while normal background noise is usually a “somewhat annoying 55.”

Pickleball noise is high-pitched, and the whacks are often random, making it more irritating.

There are a few solutions to this problem. Sound barriers are the most obvious solution, but they are often not used properly and are expensive to install. The use of different balls and rackets that reduce noise has gained traction. For now, the only effective solution may be to move courts far away from human residence.

Sources:

Shattered Nerves, Sleepless Nights: Pickleball Noise Is Driving Everyone Nuts – The New York Times (nytimes.com)

Fixing pickleball’s noise problem : NPR