Pickleball

Pétanque's Olympic Dream: The Long Road to Recognition

For forty years, the boules federations have knocked on the IOC's door — and watched breakdancing walk in instead. What the quest says about sport, legitimacy, and the French and American ways of wanting something.

Read →

Finding a Game

Pétanque is quietly thriving in American cities, and pickleball is exploding across France. Here's where the two games are meeting in the middle.

Read →

How Pickleball Works

A badminton court, a wiffle ball, and one sacred rule: thou shalt not volley in the kitchen.

Read →

Pickleball's Unlikely Rise

Three dads, one bored summer afternoon in 1965, and a dog named Pickles. The fastest-growing sport in America was an accident.

Read →

Pro Pickleball's Gold Rush

Two rival leagues, billionaire owners, and a TV deal. Pickleball went pro in about fifteen minutes.

Read →

Two Games, One Grammar

Pétanque and pickleball were born an ocean apart. Play both for a week and they start to rhyme.

Read →

The Dink and the Carreau

Two signature shots, two theories of winning: the soft American placement and the decisive French strike.

Read →