Pickleball in Palm Beach Gardens

22 year old pickleball star Kyle Yates put on a clinic for pickleball enthusiasts at BallenIsles

Palm Beach Gardens (CBS12) — There are many who might associate the sport of pickleball together with shuffle board, or the name might make you very hungry. Pickleball, however, is a fast growing raquetsport across the world. There was further proof of that growing popularity at Ballenisles Country Club today.

"It's like a badmonton sized sport," explains Yates. "You have ping pong like paddles, and you can incorporate some tennis strokes. So I think it's the mesh of racket sports that makes it really cool."

The Florida native is the 2016 US Open Pickleball champion, and the # 1 ranked pickleball player in the World.

I started back when it was so small, and we had to chalk lines on a tennis court," recalls Yates. "So to see all the clubs, and people taking it more seriously, it's kind of a privilege for me to help grow the sport." 

The 22 year old Yates hopes pickleball will one day be an Olympic Sport ..and that he can participate either as a player or a coach.