(dramatic music) - Zero-zero.

One-zero.

(Chance groans) Two-zero.

Three-zero.

Four-zero.

(Chance shouts) - Do you see that?

Those are the highlight reels we need.

(lighthearted music) (upbeat music) Turns out pickleball is not the new popular State Fair food.

It's actually the fastest-growing sport in the country, and today, I'm going to head-to-head with a national champion, Rachel Kroog.

Luckily, she's also a pickleball coach, so she can teach me the basics before she really takes me to school.

Hey, hey.

- Hey, hey, Chance.

- How are you?

- Good.

- Thanks for meeting me out here.

- We are gonna start off with a little stretching, a little run first, get the blood pumping.

- Well, let's get busy.

- All right, let's go.

- Oh, oh, getting low, get low.

- How about a little grapevine?

There you go, Twinkletoes.

(Chance laughs) All right, all right (claps).

Just like you do when you're yoga-instructing.

- You're speaking my language.

I know what you mean.

Pickleball has taken the world by storm and Minnesotans of all ages are no exception.

The sport is kind of like a cross between ping-pong and tennis.

A set of paddles and balls go for as little as 50 bucks.

New pickleball courts are popping up all over.

The USA pickleball app, Places2Play, is a great resource to find courts near you.

I recommend a good pair of tennis shoes and protective eyewear for safety.

- First thing is you shake hands with the paddle.

That's your forehand grip.

That's your backhand grip.

Just a plastic ball on a composite paddle.

- It's like a Wiffle ball, is what I, yeah, uh-huh.

- Yeah, exactly.

Just to kinda get the feel of the ball on the paddle and how little it takes, it's very responsive.

And then you can flip it over and do the backhand.

(Chance laughs) What?

What?

- What?

I thought this game was hard.

- Oh, man.

So for the serve, we gotta go diagonal.

Basically it's an underhand serve in between those cones.

(Chance chuckles) Give it a try.

- Love-love.

- Nice.

If you wanna get a little more power on it- - You know it.

- A little more explosion through your hips.

(Rachel chuckles) Now we're talking.

(Chance imitates gun firing) Whoo.

- Too much power.

- That was the best one yet.

- I could do this all day.

- This is a small court.

So it's one-fourth the size of a tennis court, so it's more like ping-pong, but you're on the table.

- I like that.

- That's it.

- [Chance] Pickleball was dreamed up in Washington State in the 1960s by a couple of dads trying to entertain their bored kids.

Now I can relate to that.

Faced with an old badminton court, ping-pong paddles, and a plastic ball, the groundwork for the new sport was laid.

- The whole goal of the game is to get up to this line, right here.

This seven feet from the net is called the non-volley zone.

They have a nickname for it, called the kitchen.

You can't stand in the kitchen and volley the ball, and a volley is a ball that doesn't bounce.

- Bounce, got it.

- Yeah, you getting it outta the air.

You can't reach in and- then follow through.

- Yeah, step in.

- Then that's a foot fault.

- Got it.

- So the whole object is to get up to the kitchen, because we want this shot.

- Boom.

- I mean even the sound of that.

- It's the money shot.

- Uh-huh.

It's called a punch volley.

So we're gonna toss the ball up to ourself and we're gonna punch it.

- Oh, yeah.

- Nice, nice.

We're gonna go to the next shot, which you're gonna love, 'cause it's called the smack down.

- The smack down.

- So your punch volley just went deep in the court, which is great, but sometimes- - You want it in the kitchen.

- Exactly.

- All right.

Put some spin on it.

Oh.

You can't defend against that.

- This is a shot called the dink.

I know, it's crazy.

- I like it.

- And it's a very soft shot, and you want the ball to bounce in the kitchen.

Now you think, well, yeah, dink.

- So a bad dink, you get the smack down.

- That's it.

- The lingo.

I got it.

- Push.

That's it.

Sweet.

And so I'm gonna go on the other side.

We're gonna dink back and forth and get a little rally going.

(upbeat music) That's perfect.

You just killed that ball with kindness.

You softened it.

- It's a good way to live life.

- Good.

See, I stepped into the kitchen.

That's okay.

- 'Cause it bounced.

- Yeah, that's right.

Uh-oh.

Oh, nice, nice reaction.

- Gotta channel my Forrest Gump here.

- There you go.

Oh, that, that's a great shot.

- If it bounces twice, you get a score, you get a score.

Can you score any time?

- No.

The serve has gotta bounce.

Then the service return has got to bounce.

Then, after that, it's free to hit as a volley.

- So you were a national champion.

- Yeah, I won my first national championship in singles.

And then I got women's doubles.

That's my favorite, 'cause there's a lotta strategy involved.

- You can tell this is a popular sport.

How did you get into it?

- I was headed down to Florida to go play tennis with my dad, but he said he can't play tennis anymore, so my heart sank, 'cause he's my athletic hero.

He said, "It's okay, I found a new sport," so I thank him, and I always carry my dad's paddle with me.

This is 20 years old or something, and I try to carry his torch.

- His paddle's got some miles on it.

Looks like technology's come a little ways.

- Right?

- That's amazing.

Raised a champion.

- Yeah, thank you.

Thank you.

(Chance laughs) - I'm lightly sweating, just volleying it back and forth.

It's physical, but it's not super high-impact.

What are the health, wellness benefits to this sport?

- There are people playing this sport that have never played a sport in their life.

It's easy to just pick it up.

It's hard to master.

I've been playing for 15 years.

I was part of the first original group that played on these courts.

There's still so much to learn, and that's exciting.

And the other thing, you have a whole new social group of friends.

It's a very friendly sport.

- It's a community.

This sport has become more and more popular.

The major league, what is that about?

- So it's added a whole new element to pickleball.

Got that whole camaraderie of, now, a team.

It's not just two people versus two people.

You're aware of the big sports personalities that are purchasing these teams.

- Yeah, I mean it's a movement.

It's pretty sweet.

I like it.

- Okay, Chance.

I think you're ready, all right?

So just a little review.

The serve has gotta go cross-court.

It can land on the centerline, the baseline, or the sidelines, but it's got to clear the non-volley zone line.

- [Chance] Got it.

Play to 11, win by two, and only score on your own serve.

- [Rachel] That's it.

- And what if you get hit with the ball?

- You mean if I tattoo you?

- Yeah, if I get tattooed?

- Yeah, uh-huh.

Then it'd be my point.

- Okay.

It's a little bit like dodgeball in that case.

- That's right.

- It's like- (imitates kung fu master) Remember, this is just for fun.

- That's right.

(Chance laughs) All right.

- Awesome.

(dramatic music) - Zero-zero.

(rock music) One-zero.

(rock music) Two-zero.

Three-zero.

Four-zero.

Five-zero.

Six-oh.

Seven-zero.

Eight-zero.

Nine-zero.

(Chance laughs incredulously) - Did you see that?

- A girl's gotta do what she's gotta do.

It might be time for your comeback, okay?

- It's now or never, baby.

- 10 to zero.

(Chance groans) (Chance laughs) (lively music) - Uh-oh.

- Hey, hey, hey, hey.

(Rachel cheers) I got one.

(lively music) - Oh, yeah.

- Yeah!

(lively music) - Oh, nice one.

Nice pickup.

Oh, man.

- Excellent game.

- How about you and I partner up and we take on a couple people here?

We'll do some doubles.

- I want you on my team.

- I love it.

- Hi, Chance, my name is Mohamed and this is Suree.

- Are you pro pickleballers or what?

- I'm not really pro, but I can play.

- Okay, okay.

I'm as ready as we're gonna be.

- Here we go.

- I learned so much today 'cause I literally was starting from no knowledge at all.

I really like the idea of it being a multi-generational sport, like played throughout your life.

It's a flow sport.

Overall, it's health and wellness.

You get up and move your body, you go out, you hang out with people, you grow your community.

(Chance cheers) - That was good.

Good shot.

- That's champion stuff, right there.

The rising popularity of the sport has made it very accessible and definitely for everybody, and I can't wait to get out here and do it again.

It's Chance, aka Big Pickle, signing off.

(Chance laughs)