QUITE THE RACKET: Step aside, tennis, there's a new sport catching on.

• Author: Walton, Carroll

Pickleball is like tennis without the pretense. Badminton, but people actually play it. Or pingpong with exercise.

The sport that's been described as a combination of the other three is catching on in a big hurry. More than 36.5 million Americans played pickleball from August 2021 to August 2022, according to a recent report by the Association of Pickleball Professionals.

To understand why, here is a closer look at the new craze that boasts being greater than the sum of those parts--even to many faithful tennis aficionados.

"I have a tennis court in my backyard. We use it to collect leaves," says Connie Barnes, who with her husband owns the Charlotte Squash Club. She had converted a tennis court to a pickleball court before a lease ran out. She and many others gravitated to pickleball during COVID, when she was looking for something easy to play and a social activity with some distance involved.

While squash is still her profession, pickleball is a passion. "I've played with badminton players, tennis players, squash players and pingpong players and it is incredible fun," Barnes says. "We can trash talk all day. We drink mimosas while we're down there. It's extremely relaxing and fun. We just love it."

Players are standing in line to play around Charlotte. That is the sport's greatest challenge: not enough courts to meet the demand. North Carolina has 418 pickleball courts at recreation centers, gyms and private clubs, according to Pickledheads.com, which tracks the industry and sets up leagues. That's the fourth-most of any state and includes more than 25 courts in Charlotte. But it's not enough right now.

In December, Allan and Kelly Haseley opened Pickleball Charlotte Ballantyne, the city's first indoor facility dedicated to pickleball. They have three Pickleball Charlotte locations, serving 3,000 local players. Ballantyne is on a court used exclusively for pickleball, while their south Charlotte and northside locations converted courts from other sports.

Haseley, who met his wife playing recreational volleyball at UNC Chapel Hill, used to mark volleyball courts in the Granite Street Sports Center in south Charlotte for pickleball during the school day, so retirees could play. Then players started asking about nights and weekends, and not just retirees. Courts rent for an average of $10 per person for two-hour sessions. Lessons are typically $30 to $60 an hour.

Pickleball Charlotte has six instructors, and a waiting list for people who...