In areas across North America where pickleball is growing very quickly, the common denominator is the weather.
For example, in places like Florida, Arizona, and California, the consistent weather allows for pickleball enthusiasts to play all year round and provide these growing communities the ability to increase the participation rate much faster than in places that must accommodate multiple seasons.
So, people living in places such as New Jersey, Oregon, and basically all of Canada must work within the particulars of Mother Nature.
With that in mind, this blog post will delve into indoor vs outdoor pickleball...
Photo credit: Sara McInnes
Up in Ontario, people crave outdoor play so much that they'll shovel the snow off of the courts and play outside all year around. This has been the vibe, even well before the pandemic, although I will say that there were far more people playing in the snow in those first two winters of the pandemic than before - and thereon after.
Photo credit: Sara McInnes
So far this season we’ve had about four consecutive days of great weather. Finally, outdoor play was finally happening, lessons were flowing, games were happening and all was great.
But then about three or four days of questionable weather followed suit and everything abruptly halted; on one of those four sunny days the wind was 30km/hr with gusts of up to 48km/hr, that plastic ball has no chance against wind of that magnitude.
Like other places that deal with the winter season, when spring rolls around players are hit with outdoor fever and yet, once it does roll in, they begin to deal with other factors outside of our control. If not snow, it’s something else.
Playing outside is overall very enjoyable, most outdoor balls provide a way more competitive game than indoor balls and the majority of tournaments in the US are played outside as well, so having that practice is important for players who compete.
However, sometimes outdoor conditions are so extreme (hot or cold) and unplayable, whereas playing indoors, the environment is controlled and predictable and if you’re lucky enough to be on a hard court surface like at a tennis club, then you can use the favoured outdoor balls: Franklin X-40 or Durafast 40.
I strongly prefer an outdoor ball more than an indoor and I find it more valuable to practice in realistic tournament conditions as much as possible.
Photo credit: Sara McInnes
What I believe can be overlooked, is in hot states like Florida, indoor play actually occurs quite a bit. Canadian summers might be rainy, windy, and unpredictable but the summers in the south are so hot that for people who’d like to play midday, their safest option is to do so in an enclosed facility.
This year, one of the major PPA tournament stops is in Atlanta, GA. During their Pro Singles day, temperatures were recorded as 35+ degrees celsius and clearly, many players were suffering from the heat. I briefly mentioned in another article the conditions of this year’s US Open.
I witnessed multiple people leaving on stretchers from heat exhaustion. No one wishes that on anyone else and as much as it’s painful playing with gloves and five layers of clothing, being severely dehydrated and burnt to a bright lobster red is also really unappealing and unhealthy.
Playing inside is climate controlled which is nothing to be upset about. I distinctly remember one winter season driving over an hour (each way) to a rec center that was known to draw in a large number of players. That season I really clocked in the kilometers, but it’s not the distance I remember.
It was, unfortunately, the slippery floors, the yellow ball battling against dim lighting, and the attendance being way higher than the number of courts. One night it took longer than usual to commute to this place, so I ended up playing three games and driving almost three hours round trip. The math didn’t add up for me, so sadly, that was the last time I attended that drop-in.
From a manufacturer's perspective though, having multiple environments is a prospective aspect. I’ve talked to multiple companies about their decision to produce a ball that will stand up to the cooler temperatures, rather than crack.
So, now “cold weather balls” are a thing. I totally get it, because when a pickleball ball costs $5 but cracks after one or two games, it’s frustrating and a few years ago, people began the hunt for another option that cost them less yet also lasted longer.
Unfortunately, the Durafast 40 and Franklin are notorious to crack when the temperature dips lower than 15 degrees C, this is because they are a hard and smooth plastic.
The Penn 40, which has been designed to be a coaching ball (softer) will outlast the Dura and Franklin in the colder temperature. Gearbox, GAMMA, and Selkirk have also come out with an option that lasts longer in the cold.
It should be mentioned, that it’s not just the consistent weather that allows places like Sunrise, AZ to become a pickleball mecca, it’s much easier and most cost-effective for municipalities to build outdoor courts with some shaded areas rather than building an entire infrastructure that requires the use utilities like electricity and air conditioning.
In Red Deer, Alberta, there are twenty professional outdoor courts that cannot be used over the winter season. I know a number of people who belong to this club are working hard to solve this problem and I really think this group did it the right way. Get the courts built, create a club and then figure out a way to make the courts accessible all year long.
If a person wants to join a tennis club in Canada, the sport can be very expensive to participate in. Court fees are set high because of the operation costs. Tennis courts are large and require very high ceilings.
Pickleball in Canada is somewhat in the same boat, in the sense that operating expenses would be high, however, here in the Greater Toronto Area we don’t have these issues because there are no pickleball clubs to begin with and most tennis clubs are hesitant to incorporate pickleball into their programming.
City-operated community centers are already bursting at the seams with other sports like basketball and badminton.
The uplifting news is that the city cannot ignore the growing demand for pickleball, players have been doing a great job communicating to their city councilors to add lines to underutilized tennis courts and build dedicated pickleball courts. Although the area I live in is years behind, I really believe it’s just a matter of time and hard work.
I’ve spent more than five years driving around Ontario, playing at various outdoor courts. Couldn’t tell you how many rolls of tape I’ve purchased, how many lines I’ve measured out, and how much sunscreen and bug spray I’ve gone through, but personally, I’ll put up with all of this and the inconsistent weather for outdoor play any day of the week.
Photo credit: Sara McInnes
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