By this time you’ve certainly heard about pickleball being the fastest-growing sport out there.
And the reputation of the sport still precedes it. Most people think the game is for older people, ones in retirement villages who eat dinner at 4:30 p.m. and are getting in a game before “Murder She Wrote” comes on.
That’s the way it used to be.
Out here on the PPA Tour, things are different. This is a young person’s game, where age isn’t just a number, it’s a real thing.
The best women’s player in the world, Anna Leigh Waters, is just 16. The best men’s player in the world, Ben Johns, is just 24, and the dinner-in-the-daylight group is becoming smaller and smaller.
“Being one of the older guys out there has given me an appreciation for what I have accomplished,” said Steve Deakin, who at 49, is the oldest male on the PPA Tour.. “It’s a continuous journey with many forks in the road, many setbacks, but still many rewarding moments.”
Like others, Deakin was an accomplished tennis player, and like others, he gravitated toward pickleball and has had plenty of success. But unlike most of the touring pros, Deakin is 40-plus. He has grown kids and, more significantly in the pickleball world, he has had to deal with not just age, but the injuries that…
