Pickleball surged in popularity during the COVID-19 pandemic, and even some celebrities are getting in on the trend.
Country artist Maren Morris shared a picture of herself with a pickleball and pickleball paddle on Instagram recently, noting that her team had made custom paddles for their current tour.
“I am determined to make pickleball the official tour game,” she said in a separate video clip, according to the country radio station WKML.
Which celebrities play pickleball?
Other celebrities who’ve embraced the sport of pickleball, which is similar to tennis but played with smaller rackets on a smaller court, include “Friends” actor Matthew Perry, comedian Larry David and author Brené Brown, according to Parade.
Vanity Fair, meanwhile, has reported that even A-listers like Leonardo DiCaprio have found their way to pickleball courts.
“George Clooney says his wife, Amal, routinely torches him on their home court in L.A.,” that article noted.
Which athletes play pickleball?
Several legends in other sports have also given pickleball a try.
In 2021, the Seattle Seahawks shared photos and videos of then-quarterback Russell Wilson spending some time on the court.
And Serena Williams, who announced this month that she’ll soon retire from professional tennis, recently told Ellen DeGeneres that she loves the trendy sport.
“That could be a second career of mine,” Williams said.
Is pickleball played around the world?
Celebrity endorsements like these are making pickleball even more popular. It’s already being played in dozens of countries around the world.
“I’m very confident that (pickleball) will be in the Olympics one day,” pickleball star Tyler Loong, who discovered the sport as a student at BYU, told the Deseret News earlier this year. “It’s just a matter of time.”