Several hundred SaddleBrooke residents are spurning the stereotypical retirement-age sports of golf and shuffleboard in favor of something that requires more athletic ability and direct competition.
The sport is pickleball, a hybrid of badminton and table tennis played with a hard paddle and a whiffle ball. The game employs modified, tennis-like rules and a court similar in size to that of badminton. Playing pickleball requires dexterity, focus and precision.
The sport's quick pace and ease of play have helped it catch on in retirement communities. Few are likely as pickleball crazy as SaddleBrooke.
The SaddleBrooke Pickleball Association, which started with a few devotees in 2007, has ballooned to more than 450 members.
"For a senior that gets hurt, this is their sport," said Larry Santora, 64, the group's president. "We have golfers who have screwed up their backs, tennis players with shoulder problems. People with new knees - knee replacements. We're replacement-part people."
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Santora is a former racquetball player who has undergone three knee surgeries and a shoulder operation.
"It got to the point where I'd play and be disabled for two or three days before playing again," he said. "I thought, 'I gotta find something new.' "
Nancy Shelton, 70, and her husband, 71-year-old Bob, are members of the association and regulars on the courts, playing three or four times a week.
"I like the sociability of it, and I like that everybody has lots of fun," she said. "It's not real serious. People pick it up fairly quickly and have a lot of fun - unlike tennis, which takes a little more time to pick up."
Shawne Cryderman, 59, plays at least once a day.
"It's a fabulous game," she said. "It's fun. I've met some really, really nice people. I enjoy the camaraderie."
Noise complaints
The sport isn't a ray of sunshine for everyone.
Noise from the courts, at 40001 S. Ridgeview Blvd., bothers some neighbors, including Jack Bowers, 69. Bowers says the incessant "ping" sound that comes from the courts makes it difficult to enjoy time at home during the day.
He said the noise starts at about 7 a.m. and lasts until sundown.
"It's a very intrusive, distracting noise," Bowers said.
To drown out the sound, he turns on Fox News Channel or listens to country music.
"When we bought our homes we didn't have to deal with the noise, and now we do," Bowers said.
Santora said Bowers is among just a few neighbors who complain about the noise, but the group is bending over backwards not to offend those who have complained.
Santora said club members have started using paddles that make less noise and are looking into putting up a $6,000 fence that would reduce the noise level. The club kicked in more than $150,000 to have the courts built.
The club's membership numbers and commitment to reducing the noise level makes the price tag realistic.
"Anything is doable," Santora said, adding that the club will only proceed with the plans if he can get Bowers and others irritated with the noise to agree that the solution will put the issue to rest.
"It's our moral obligation. We feel like they're our neighbors, and if we're abusing them we'll do whatever we have to do. As much as we can," Santora said. "If we can't stop the noise 100 percent, at least they'll know we're working on it and we're trying."
ONLINE
For more information on SaddleBrooke pickleball - the club is open only to SaddleBrooke residents - go to tinyurl.com/a9hvamq
Contact reporter Phil Villarreal at 573-4130 or pvillarreal@azstarnet.com
