Save the Date: Pickleball and Tennis Clinics Scheduled for November 19

Kaitlyn Christian, a former tennis champion and now a professional pickleball player who competes on the Major League Pickleball circuit, will host the Pickleball Clinic.

Named the fastest-growing sport in the U.S. by the Sports and Fitness Industry Association, pickleball is estimated to have more than five million players. Its popularity is attributed to its short learning curve, its appeal to a wide range of ages and fitness levels, its low startup costs, and its contagious fun. A children’s backyard game invented in 1965, the sport has grown by leaps and bounds and is very popular in Los Cabos, where it can be played outside year-round in Cabo’s ideal climate.  

A mash-up of tennis, ping-pong (table tennis) and badminton, pickleball has specific rules, paddles and court dimensions. The game is played with a flat paddle (as opposed to a stringed racquet, as in tennis). The hard perforated plastic ball used in pickleball creates drag and produces minimal bounce. It’s lighter and easier to hit than a tennis ball because it doesn’t fly as fast or bounce as high. As in tennis, pickleball can be played either individually against a single opponent (singes); or between two teams of two players each (doubles). Most players favor doubles, which is why pickleball is social and fun. It’s also good exercise. 

Also on November 19, tennis devotees can attend a Tennis Clinic hosted by Giuliana Olmos, a Mexican pro who advanced to the mixed double finals at Wimbledon earlier this year. (Olmos and her partner Santiago González were the first Mexican team to reach the final. Olmos herself was the first female Mexican finalist in the Open Era).

Tennis, of course, needs no introduction. It is played at singles or doubles. Each player uses a tennis racquet strung with cord to strike a hollow rubber ball covered with felt over a net and into the opponent's court.

An Olympic sport since 1988, historians believe a version of tennis dates to 12th-century northern France, where a ball was struck with the palm of the hand (jeu de paume, which translates as "game of the palm”). It was embraced by the aristocracy. Louis X of France, history’s first tennis player known by name, was an avid participant. 

Tennis was formalized and its rules standardized in Britain in the 1870s. It became popular among the social elite in the U.S. in the 1880s. Today, it’s a global sport enjoyed by amateurs and undergirded by the professional circuit. The enthusiastic crowds that attend the Los Cabos Open, an annual ATP 250 World Tour event held at the Cabo Sports Complex (CSC), is proof that the sport remains popular.  

Pickleball or tennis players—there are a few who enjoy both sports—can pick up a few valuable pointers at the clinics on November 19. One or both sessions can be reserved at the Quivira website. Details to follow.