Ly Hoang Nam brings great joy to Vietnamese pickleball fans - Photo archive
Pickleball's strengths and weaknesses
Undeniably, pickleball is the sport in which Vietnamese athletes are most likely to reach the top of the world.
In the top 30 of the world according to the PPA Tour rankings, there are 3 Vietnamese tennis players: Phuc Huynh, Hoang Nam and Vinh Hien. This is something that Vietnamese fans will never have the chance to see in tennis - a similar sport, and perhaps table tennis and badminton in the future for many years to come.
If pickleball can enter the Olympics, Vietnamese people can absolutely dream of a day when Vietnamese athletes will win Olympic gold medals in professional sports.
But unfortunately, until now, pickleball has not been able to... enter the SEA Games. The Olympics may only remain a dream for pickleball.
A few weeks ago, the sport received a blow when the Olympic Council of Asia (OCA) recognized and included padel in the competition program of the Asiad (Asian Games).
Padel is also a racket sport that is a variation of tennis, and is considered pickleball's main competitor in the globalization journey.
In terms of players, padel may be inferior to pickleball, because this sport is more expensive, requires more complex playing fields - specifically 4 glass-sided courts (high-quality tempered glass).
But in terms of the top level, padel beats pickleball when it comes to attracting a large number of professional sports stars. For example, both Ronaldo and Messi consider padel their second training after football.
Top sports stars like Ronaldo choose to play padel instead of pickleball - Photo: INSTAGRAM
And padel's entry into the Asiad is a big step forward showing that they are very close to the Olympics, while pickleball is still struggling to find its way into the SEA Games, in the race in Asia.
Pickleball's strength is its weakness in the race with padel - its ease.
Many studies have shown that the average number of strokes in a professional padel game is 10-11, with an intensity of ~0.80 strokes/second. Meanwhile, the corresponding number for pickleball is only 5-6, with an intensity of 0.65 strokes/second.
To put it simply, padel requires more complex techniques, and also brings a different feeling compared to tennis - a sport that is already too popular with Westerners. Athletes - to choose a truly special sport, will choose padel instead of pickleball - a sport that is too similar to tennis, and is considered an "easier" version.
Pickleball's Trend Trap
The fact that pickleball lost to padel in the race to get into the Asian Games also points out a truth: in Asia, almost only Vietnam is "crazy" about this sport.
A survey by the PPA Tour published last month showed that Vietnam's player rate is the highest in Asia, and four times higher than China - a country that also developed pickleball.
On a global scale, pickleball is almost exclusively developed in the United States. This is evident by the fact that in the top 20 players of the PPA Tour, there are 15 Americans.
This raises a question: can a sport develop sustainably if the number of countries spreading the movement is too small?
Tim Murphy, a sports investment expert, calls pickleball a "fad," and investors in the sport should avoid getting "trapped in the trend."
Top pickleball players are not actually considered professional players - Photo archive
“The whole pickleball business model is just a fad. It's everywhere, and it seems like every business is jumping on it.
But people are forgetting one big fact - pickleball is a trend that is hot today, and will be gone tomorrow.
What makes you believe that your son tries this sport today, but in five years he will still be playing it? If it's tennis, I'm sure of it. But not pickleball.
This sport has not had athletes who have become influential figures in the world, and probably never will. Pickleball has existed in the US for decades, but has never been recognized for that," Mr. Murphy analyzed on Linkedin.
The fact that there are so few countries playing pickleball prevents the sport from entering the major sporting events. And through that, the journey of pickleball becoming a professional - mass sport is even more difficult.
If it continues to develop alone, will Vietnamese people get bored with pickleball? That is entirely possible, once similar "fun, easy" sports appear in the next few years.
Pickleball is far behind badminton and table tennis.
Pickleball is compared to tennis, but in reality at the professional level, the sport is far behind badminton and table tennis.
A simple factor to determine this is the prize money. Despite making history at the PPA Tour - Hangzhou Open, a major tournament in Asia, Ly Hoang Nam actually only received a prize money of 5,000 USD.
This is a much lower figure when compared to tournaments of the same level in badminton. For example, the Singapore Open, a Super 750 tournament (relatively large) in the badminton system, awards $75,000 to the champion.
The Hong Kong Open, a Super 500 (mid-level tournament) awards $37,500 to the champion, and the Macau Open, a Super 300 (small-level tournament) also awards $28,000 to the champion.
Source: https://tuoitre.vn/nguoi-viet-roi-se-chan-pickleball-2025120619530208.htm
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