Pickleball: Where to Play and How to Improve Your Game

Dill Dinkers is the first indoor facility in the area dedicated to the sport

Collin Johns, one of the top-ranked pickleball pros, stopped by Dill Dinkers on November 26 to answer questions and offer tips. He's center in the blue hat.

By Carl Wiser

Staff Writer

It started a few summers ago at Mills Pond in Canton. One of the four tennis courts was haphazardly painted with pickleball lines, the net pulled down against its will. One by one, each court was defiled, the satisfying whoomp of a tennis ball replaced with the hard plastic clank of a pickleball. The invasion had begun.

Back then, these pickleball nomads had to either convert a tennis court or set up a net, maybe find a YMCA or rec center with a makeshift court. West Hartford led the way in dedicated outdoor pickleball facilities, setting up six public courts at Wolcott Park, then another six at Buena Vista (pickleball courts take up about half the space of a tennis court).

There are still no outdoor courts specifically for pickleball in Farmington, Avon, Simsbury or Canton, but on Sept. 6, Dill Dinkers opened in Simsbury Commons where the HomeGoods store used to be, and it's now the pickleball hub of the Valley. They're open every day from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m., with peak times at night, when their seven indoor courts are usually full.

"We were the first facility to open in the Greater Hartford area that was a dedicated pickleball facility, meaning we have permanent courts, permanent lines, permanent nets," says Ben Kochanski, director of pickleball at Dill Dinkers. "Nothing else happens on our courts other than pickleball."

Ben Kochanski at Dill Dinkers on a Friday morning. The 24,000-square-foot facility has seven courts exclusively for pickleball.

Open Play

Most towns offer pickleball classes through their parks and rec programs, and Dill Dinkers has a "newbie" program for beginners. Once you learn the basics, you'll need to find opponents, which you can do at an "open play."

"It's relatively easy to get started in pickleball because part of the culture is that it's a social community-type sport, and one of the main staples of that is called 'open play,'" Kochanski explains. "It's like pick-up basketball - people just show up and they play. You don't need to be with other people, you don't need to know anyone, you just have to show up. All of the parks have open play, and most of them have some sort of schedule. In Wolcott, people are always there."

Not everyone has the chutzpah to show up at a park and call next. Many players have formed tribes through word-of-mouth and Facebook groups, and they'll use apps like TeamReach to organize games at places like Simsbury Farms, where there are pickleball lines on their four tennis courts. Dill Dinkers sets up games for their newbies as they advance, but you can also register for a session and they'll put you on a court with players at a similar skill level.

Recreational pickleball is mostly doubles; at Dill Dinkers, they'll assign six players to a court and rotate them in. It's very social.

"What helps pickleball be inclusive is, you're very close together," says Kochanski. "Tennis you spend most of the match on the opposite ends of a larger court. Here, if you know how to play winning pickleball, you spend the match mostly 14 feet across from your opponents. The games are very short - you play a whole game, it might only take 10 minutes and then you rotate, so you end up talking to different people. So there's a built-in social aspect to it."

Like the 19th hole in golf, players often hang out after their match is over. Dill Dinkers is BYOB, and many do.

Dill Dinkers in Simsbury is co-owned by Scott Johnson and supports Honor Connor, a suicide awareness organization dedicated to the memory of his son Connor, who died by suicide in 2016.

Pickleball Demographics

Pickleball has been the fastest growing sport in America for three years running. Once the domain of seniors, the average age is now 38, according to USA Pickleball, the sport's governing body.

"There's a huge influx of youth," Kochanski says. "There are high schools that have it as a varsity sport. There are colleges that have clubs that play against other colleges. A lot of young tennis players have converted to pickleball."

Those tennis converts are called "switchovers." Kochanski is one of them, as are most of the players on the pro pickleball tour (yes, there is professional pickleball). But now young people who have never played tennis are picking up a paddle instead of a racquet; the Dill Dinkers youth program starts at age seven. This results in a lot of intergenerational play.

"You'll see a 25-year-old and an 85-year-old on the same court," Kochanski says. "The games are so short, you don't need a lot of stamina, so many people can play it. You can play it when you're overweight, when you have limited mobility. You can play it when you're slow."

Injuries and How to Avoid Them

Injuries are common in pickleball. There are a lot of rolled ankles and plenty of knee injuries because of all the lateral movement and quick reactions. The ball doesn't bounce very high, so there's a lot of bending over, which can cause back problems. And it's easy to fall and hurt your wrist when backpedaling.

"We joke that pickleball is saving the orthopedics industry," Kochanski says. "The reason so many people get injured is because they don't properly prepare their bodies to play. People are not warming up. During a lesson I will make the students do a dynamic warm-up to get their muscles going, their body ready. However, a lot of people aren't doing that."

Please don't run backwards on the court. If you need to chase a ball over your head, turn and run sideways. That's true for tennis as well.

Pickleball Benefits

There are tremendous physical and emotional benefits to playing pickleball. Moving is good for you, and so is socializing.

"It's dependent upon the level of play, but you can absolutely improve your health," Kochanski says. "Even though it's not a big court and you're not doing as much long-term aerobic activity, you still burn a lot of calories. You're taking a lot of steps, you're moving, your heart is beating. I lost about 40 pounds within two months just from playing pickleball."

"Also, the peer group cannot be understated, the community aspect," he adds. "I'm relatively new to the area. When I came, I didn't know a single person here, but I knew pickleball and I found my way to an open play and got into the pickleball community. The social connection is one of the very big benefits of pickleball. You see it all the time, people who are maybe divorced, or maybe they lost a spouse or something like that, and they need connection. Pickleball connects people in a really great way and a fun way."

Dill Dinkers has about 250 members but you don't have to join to play, just sign up for a time at dilldinkers.com. Since they launched, these indoor pickleball facilities have opened in the area:

Up Club in Farmington 

Camp Pickleball in Plainville 

Blaze Pickle in Newington

The Pickleball Place in Vernon 

Ben's Three Tips To Improve Your Play

1. Set the Tone with Deep Serves and Returns

Focus on consistently placing deep serves and returns rather than trying to score outright with pace or spin. The goal isn't to win points immediately but to control the court. Success in pickleball is determined at the kitchen line, so use deep serves and returns to position yourself or your partner for the opportunity to attack effectively.

2. Prioritize Getting to the Kitchen Line

After returning a serve, move quickly and directly to the kitchen line to establish an advantageous position. When serving, work your way forward strategically by mixing drop shots and drives. The objective is to close the distance and gain control at the net, where most points are won.

3. Utilize Dink Shots to Gain the Advantage

Dinking is a powerful tool to neutralize your opponent's attack and create openings. Aim to move your opponent around the court, forcing them into off-balance or awkward shots. These missteps can result in a high ball that enters your attack zone. When that opportunity arises, seize it by executing a decisive attack to secure the point.