The sport of pickleball has started rising in popularity in Ballarat.
Sharing similarities with tennis, the sport features two or four players hitting a hollow plastic ball with paddles over a net, until one side fails to return the ball or breaks the rules.
Over the last year, the Ballarat Badminton Stadium has seen a rise from 15 to 50 people playing regular games, with every court booked out for the sport weekly.
Four people from the stadium will also be travelling to Warrnambool this weekend for an international pickleball tournament.
Pickleball Ballarat’s Hannah Handreck says even 94-year-old’s have got into the sport.
“Carmel and Alan have been there since I started there last May [and] they’re teaching all the young ones how to play,” she said.
“They turn up every week without fail and they’re just absolutely lovely people, they’re encouraging, and they love it.”
