Retired India Tennis star Somdev Devvarman recently shared his thoughts on a new hybrid version of Tennis which is spreading like wildfire, Pickleball.
In an exclusive interview with Sports India Show, Somdev Devvarman opened up on Pickleball and whether it’s actually close to Tennis as a sport.
Somdev Devvarman Weighs in on Pickleball
When asked about the rising popularity of Pickleball and weather it is a threat to Tennis. He said, “it’s not close to tennis it’s fun though ah I will say that I mean it’s crazy isn’t it but five or six years ago Nobody knew what it is and now it’s booming in the States it’s booming in India. I went to a few pickleball events {in India}, Purav Raja who’s obviously everybody knows is you know heavily invested into pickleball in different ways as well it’s nice it’s nice to see a lot of people kind of play the sport.”
“It’s exciting it’s not as challenging as tennis let’s say and because of that it’s yeah different kind of challenges rather and it’s very popular easy easy to pick up easy to play inexpensive and listen there’s people in this, people in our country especially get together and wanna play any sport I’m all for it”
Is Pickleball Good for Athletes? Devvarman Answers
When asked about whether Pickleball fits into the conditioning resume of athletes who are not in racket sports, Somdev Devvarman had a straightforward answer.
“No not at all uh I don’t think so uh conditioning yeah no uh is it an activity for fun sure you know but I looked at strength and conditioning as a very different thing and no pickleball doesn’t burn enough calories or do enough kind of things that I don’t see it up for that I really don’t see it that way”
“I see it as a great form of exercise for the non-professional athlete you know what I’m saying yeah but not for a professional athlete, it’s a very different training regiment.”
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