Welcome to our Pickleball Group
Pickleball - Main Page
8 Great Courts
The Courts
Join Us for Open Play
Our Pickleball Players
Pickleball is a paddle sport that combines elements of tennis, badminton and ping pong, and is played on a badminton-sized court using a ball similar to a wiffle ball. Pickleball has swept the nation in recent years across all age categories. Seniors are no exception finding out that pickleball is great exercise and easy to learn. Smaller courts make it a social game and are less stressful on the body than tennis and other racket games.
Who is playing this sport? You guessed it: the group that seems to have become regular players are baby boomers. The seniors have been attracted to the sport because it is easy to play, very social and less stressful on the body. Some are even current and former tennis players who for physical reasons can no longer play that game. Many non-racket sport players have also joined the pickleballers.
Try it – you might like it.
Here at Hershey’s Mill the predominant focus is on having fun. We have 8 great outside courts and a very welcoming group of players.
- Residents can schedule a court and play private games with whomever they want at any competitive level in which they are comfortable.
- Most of our players use our daily OPEN “scheduled time” to come out: socialize and play recreational type games still managing to get games of relatively competitive skill levels. At times, some of our more experienced players will “pay it forward” for a game or two by playing out of thier skill level (always appreciated).
On the right shows where we had some ringers join us on the courts…
Left to Right!
Grandpa Jim DeFalco,
13 Yr Old Evan,
11 yr Old James
and a regular old guy Bill Davis 🙂
Click Button to see some Pro Videos including 17 Year old Sensation Anna Leigh Waters who turned Pro at 12 Years old..
Trying to improve your game (regardless of your current level)?
Getting Stretched Out for Spring Pickleball
Social Pickleball: A non-competitive round robin format. For players looking for a fun, comfortable and social type of play. Players are able to move around the court safely and play with others of the same level and competitive or non-competitive spirit.
We continue to receive many great comments regarding our welcoming and friendly atmosphere.
Open Play creates a social atmosphere. It is a more structured time organized by the Sports leader. We encourage Open Play without excluding others who just want to play private games. Open Play hours are adjusted by seasons so that we can take advantage of temperature norms. Please see poster image below!
Whenever there are changes in these restrictions, you will be informed via Email so please monitor your inbox on a regular basis.
At this time, “ Masks are discretionary”!
Questions, Concerns, Other?
Submit Form at bottom of this page
or Contact Dawn Kowalchuk pocketz5@aol.com
How to Schedule Court time
Click SKEDDA image below to open SKEDDA tab..
Anyone can view the SKEDDA schedule but you need prior authorization for creating reservations. This is a “1” time process. For more information, please press the “More SKEDDA” button to the right!
Learn all about SKEDDA..
SKEDDA pronounced /sked-dah/
is a web based software system used by Hershey’s Mill for scheduling court time. Being web based means that you can schedule future playing time from any browser on any device you have. Court time can be scheduled for the following Sports Groups:
- Billiards
- Bocce
- Horseshoes
- Pickleball
- Platform Tennis
- Shuffleboard
- Table Tennis
- Tennis
It is important to realize that any resident can use any of the Sports facilities whether or not they have registered for HMSG and/or one or more Sports groups.
In other words, simply stopping down and using a sports facility is fine if it has not already been scheduled by anyone.
To ensure that you don’t run into conflicts, it makes sense to simply schedule the resource that you would like to utilize ahead of time.
[In such a case, the group who made the reservation would have the right to the court]
We Use SKEDDA to maintain our reservations!
- You do need to do a “1” time request of SKEDDA Access if you plan on using it to schedule time for one of the Sports facilities.
- With or Without SKEDDA access, anyone may view the schedule by clicking on the link.
If you would like to stay informed of HMSG plans and events, make sure you join HMSG if you have not already done so. You will be added to that mailing list.
Likewise, if you want to know what’s going on in particular sport groups, let them know so they can add you to their unique mailing list.
USA Pickleball is the National Governing Body for the sport of pickleball in the U.S. and provides players with official rules, tournaments, rankings and promotional materials.
The association is a nonprofit 501(c)(3) corporation and governed by a board of directors and professional staff who provide the guidance and infrastructure for the continued growth and development of the sport.
While eventually you may want to purchase a paddle that suits you better, just get started with one of the paddles we have available in the small shed next to the courts. The Pickleball paddle is smaller than a tennis racquet but larger than a ping-pong paddle. Originally, paddles were made only from wood, however, today’s paddles have evolved dramatically and are primarily made of lightweight composite materials, including aluminum and graphite.
The ball is unique, with holes through it like a wiffle ball. Different ball models are intended for indoor and outdoor play. Balls come in several colors, including white, yellow and green, but must be a single color to meet International Federation of Pickleball (IFP) specifications.
The dimensions of a standard pickleball court are 20 feet wide and 44 feet long (6.10m x 13.41m). The dimensions are the same for both singles and doubles play.
While we here at Hershey’s Mill prefer residents to exhibit common sense and logic to determine what type of game they get themselves into instead of a strict rating system, click this link if your curious about where you would be ranked in the Pickleball rating system according to the governing body for Pickleball – USAPA.
Watch Pro Matches
Have a Request for the HMSC ?
Please download a HMSC Request form on the right.
Fill it out and submit it to Jack Bradley (or any other member of the HMSC).
You can download it in PDF form and simply use a pen/pencil to fill it out
Have Sport Leader sign
Scan and email completed form or simply drop paper copy in their mailbox
If you prefer and are comfortable with Microsofts Word program, download a blank form in .Docx format.
fill out on your computer replacing place-holder X’s with your text.
Have Sport Leader sign
Scan and email completed form or simply drop paper copy in their mailbox
PDF will be opened in a new Browser Window
Word Document will be found in your Browsers Download Folder
Pickleball Feedback form
If you have any questions, concerns or issues that you would like to bring to the attention of the Pickleball COS Team, please give us as much detail as possible…
If you would like to join the email distribution list, please fill in name, email and street address (used to validate HM residency).