Opinion: Love it or hate it, pickleball is good for our democracy

There seems to be no middle ground on pickleball. People either love it or they hate it. We’ll leave it to others to debate pickleball’s merits as a sport, but it is good for us as a society. That’s because you can’t play pickleball alone.

Over the years, social scientists have criticized and bemoaned younger generations’ substitution of technology and social media for in-person social interactions. However, the decline in social interaction is older than millennials and Generation Z. People have been talking about the lack of civic engagement in every sphere of life at least as far back as the 1990s, when political scientist Robert Putnam published his essay “Bowling Alone: America’s Declining Social Capital.”

“For a variety of reasons, life is easier in a community blessed with a substantial stock of social capital,” Putnam wrote in his essay.

In layman’s terms, social capital is the process of building the bonds of community and trust through social involvement. And we need more trust if our institutions are going to work.

Yet nowadays, fewer people know their neighbors. The pandemic made many of us feel lonelier than ever, with more Americans turning to social media to meet friends and find spouses.

While technology and the pandemic accelerated the decline in social capital, not all is lost. Gen Z and millennial Dallasites have shown that they do, in fact, want community and in-person interactions like older generations do. As our colleague Elizabeth Myong recently reported, many of them are making friends or maintaining friendships by playing pickleball.

The game is a mix of tennis, badminton and pingpong. Originally popular among senior residents, pickleball has become a fun outlet for all generations. In Dallas, many people find their friends just by waiting in line for a game.

Playing pickleball can help improve mental and physical health. Outdoor courts expose players to sunshine and Vitamin D. It’s also an activity that gives players a good sweat. And researchers have established that physical activity, especially outside, can reduce anxiety and depression.

Is pickleball a sport or a hobby? To that we say, who cares — so long as you are meeting new people and developing friendships.

In an age of increased loneliness and political polarization, activities like pickleball are essential to a functioning society and democracy. Political affiliation doesn’t matter during a pickleball match. Whether you consider it a hobby or a sport, playing helps people find shared ground and work together as a team. We need these virtues now more than ever.