This list assumes outdoor doubles pickleball, but many of these findings apply to indoor and singles play as well.

It’s a full-body exercise, involving upper body stretching, a bit of running, and quick-twitch movements. The best part is you may not realize you’re exercising.

Unlike many other sports or forms of exercise, the likelihood of injury is less.

Most pickleballers don’t take themselves too seriously. You’ll have many opportunities for amusement and laughter.

You can take pride in being in the vanguard of a relatively new sport.

Much like speed-dating, you may find yourself in the company of someone new, with whom you must cooperate right away.

You have a new skill that you can proudly introduce to family, friends and co-workers.

Once you get to the level where you participate in kitchen rallies, it teaches patience.

This shows people of a great age that one is never too old to learn something now.

You get enough sunshine to manufacture some vitamin D.

For players of advanced years, you get to enjoy the company of others in your age range.

Pickleball develops fast reaction times. In doubles, you also expand your peripheral vision ability in keeping track of the position of your partner. The speed of pickleball kitchen rallies and the necessity of solid focus makes safer motorists of us all.

This sport imparts a ‘can-do’ attitude that overflows into other activities. For instance if you have to learn another language, or want to master a particularly difficult piece of music, you may subconsciously say, “Hey, if I can learn pickleball, this is going to be easy.”

Don’t underestimate the time between games on busy courts. Instead of being upset because you don’t get as much playing time, know that real magic can happen in between-game communication.

Pickleball teaches humility as one slowly learns how the three-part scoring works, and to stay out of the kitchen when hitting balls that haven’t bounced.

For instance, it is a great place for networking. Let’s say you are a gigging musician. Pretty soon, a large new group of people will meet you, like you, and hire you for their events.

For those who might otherwise be lonely, pickleball is the perfect solution. After playing with the same people for a while, deep friendships develop naturally.

What better way to meet people of the opposite sex if that is your desire?

Pickleball develops social skills. You might think that the older players would have learned everything they need to know by now. Being an older player myself, I can guarantee there’s still more to be learned.

You develop the skill of playing with people who you might normally not get a long. For instance Republicans and Democrats can enjoy the game together.

Pickleball is a great sport for children. The lightweight ball is harmless, the court is small, the kids learn cooperation and coping skills.

Unlike some sports, it doesn’t matter if the player is tall, short, light or heavy. All body types can be equally competitive.

And, it’s so much fun!

Please leave a comment below if you can think of other reasons to like pickleball.