Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It’s not a sport

It is a sport. Why would you say that?

Op

Rec have clinics and indoor have open play
Talk to people and see where they play near you.

Pickleball is as much a sport as golf is a sport. Or darts.

ClownsRUs

playtimescheduler.com

Anonymous wrote:You'd be better served by a private pickleball club, like Dill Dinkers in Bethesda, or Kraken in NE DC. You can reserve courts there, but pretty much all of those places have minimum hours, usually ~2, that you have to play.

Now that the weather is getting nice, more and more people are playing at public courts, and it's not uncommon to wait 40 minutes-1 hour between games.

You can’t control the kind of people who are going to be loitering, be it waiting to play or just “hanging out.”

Being that public courts tend to be in neighborhoods near houses and condos, the county will also pressure you to use sound deadening paddles. But everyone knows those things make like you’re tying one hand behind your back.

You don’t have to worry about any of this nonsense at a private club. The club can’t quite control the people who can join the way they used to for our grandfathers at the country club, so they have to charge higher membership fees than would otherwise be the case. But if you have the cash then a private club can give a lot of the exercise and networking benefits that country clubs have traditionally offered.

Anonymous wrote:It’s not a sport

It is a sport. Why would you say that?

Op

Rec have clinics and indoor have open play
Talk to people and see where they play near you.

The new silver spring rec center will have classes and open hours

Join the Dc Pickleball club. They help coordinate the open play times around the city.

Maybe try the head tennis person for DPR. I've gotten more answers through them than going directly through each rec center

You'd be better served by a private pickleball club, like Dill Dinkers in Bethesda, or Kraken in NE DC. You can reserve courts there, but pretty much all of those places have minimum hours, usually ~2, that you have to play.

Now that the weather is getting nice, more and more people are playing at public courts, and it's not uncommon to wait 40 minutes-1 hour between games.

Anonymous wrote:It’s not a sport

+1

It’s not a sport

I am new to the sport but want to have more chances to play - first with my spouse, then, hopefully later with other people/groups. There are many websites devoted to local pickleball but none of them really explain how to find out when a court is available (eg the DC rec centers, school courts, carter baron etc). I've called a few rec centers but haven't received a real answer about how to reserve a court or what to expect when I get there. I am happy to carve out time in the workweek to go play, I just don't want to trek across town to a court and find that I am not allowed to play. Any advice is appreciated!