Young people in Ho Chi Minh City spend tens of millions of dong to buy rackets and play pickleball all week.
Báo Dân trí•25/08/2024
(Dan Tri) - Recently, pickleball has become a popular sport. In Ho Chi Minh City, pickleball courts are expanding, attracting a large number of players.
At 7pm, the pickleball court at Saigon Riverside Park (Thu Duc City, Ho Chi Minh City) becomes bustling with hundreds of players of all ages. During the day, the court is usually sparsely populated due to the heat, but at night, the cluster of 11 courts here is always full of customers. Pickleball has recently become a craze in Vietnam, especially in Ho Chi Minh City. After 4 p.m., most of the courts in the cluster are full. Players are mostly between the ages of 20 and 40, often renting courts through an app or by phone, each session lasting about 2 hours. Ms. Huyen Linh (born in 1990, District 2) has been playing this sport for 2 months, playing 3 sessions/week. At first, she just wanted to experience a new sport, but after trying it, she really likes pickleball because it makes her feel refreshed and improves her health. Ms. Linh shared: "After 2 months, my endurance improved, my reflexes were faster. I used to do gym and yoga, but now I reduce the time I spend practicing other sports because pickleball is more fun. The court rental price is about 200,000 VND/hour, a group of 8-10 people only need to rent for about 2 hours, which is reasonable."
According to Linh, pickleball clothing can be adapted from other sports, with comfortable clothing being a priority because players sweat a lot. "Players need to pay attention to the style of their clothing to avoid revealing themselves during strenuous activities," Linh said. Ms. Thao Vy (born in 1992, Phu Nhuan) continued playing pickleball after trying it with friends and found that it helped overcome her irregular breathing. "Normally, I practice yoga and pilates, and I don't think it's suitable for high-impact sports. But pickleball helps improve health and interact with people," Ms. Vy said.
Working in the fashion industry, Ms. Vy is very careful about preparing her clothes when going to the practice field. "My yoga and pilates clothes are tighter on my body, so I have to equip myself with new clothes to play pickleball. There are many types of clothes and different prices, some cost a few hundred thousand dong and some cost millions of dong," Ms. Vy said. Ms. Vy added: "Fashion depends on personal preferences, but when going to public places and pickleball courts, choosing the right outfit is necessary because this is a place for all genders and ages." Currently, Ms. Thao Vy regularly plays pickleball with friends and learns techniques from a coach. She has invested in a pickleball racket worth 6 million VND. Mr. Duy (born in 1990, District 2) also invested 11 million VND to buy a pickleball racket. Mr. Duy said that the cost of playing pickleball is not high for beginners because practice courts often lend rackets and balls. However, those who want to play long term will be equipped with better, more expensive rackets. Every week, Duy and his friends play pickleball at different practice courts, sometimes all week. Duy temporarily stopped playing tennis and switched to pickleball because this sport satisfies his need for physical exercise and can easily invite anyone to join. Regarding pickleball being considered a "pretentious" sport, "little practice but a lot of virtual life", Duy said that this is normal and has never met players who dress indecently.
Ms. Bao Ngoc (born in 2000, District 1) said she was not afraid to start playing pickleball because playing sports and experiencing new things is not wrong. Ms. Minh Tam (born in 1991, District 4) admitted that pickleball brings many benefits. Every week, she plays pickleball for 3 hours with friends and practices 1:1 with a coach for 2 hours, after 3 months she lost 3kg. Coach Pham Hoang Thai (born in 1993) said that pickleball is easier to start than tennis or golf. Pickleball is becoming more popular because it does not require a large investment in equipment and the whole family, including the elderly and children, can go out to the field to play and have fun.
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