Surviving Outdoor Summer Pickleball: Five Tips and One Solution

We are on our way to the hottest summer on record. 

The hottest day on the planet was recorded on July 21, and there’s a solid month or more of scorching temperatures still ahead of us. 

So, we here at Murmurs from the Losers’ Bracket feel compelled to answer the question: Is it too hot to play pickleball outside this summer?

Should we just call it quits for a couple of months? Should we just stay inside, and ride out this season in air conditioned spaces rather than chasing around a yellow ball in the oppressive heat until we’re a rally away from collapsing on the court?

Temporarily giving up the game is easier said than done. 

The primal need to keep playing pickleball as if it were a temperate fall day is strong – sometimes even strong enough to pretend we didn’t hear those warnings about triple-digit relative humidity, heat domes, and La Niña greenhouse gas effects.  

I confess. I’ve been one of those crazy players in South Florida who continue to play outside this summer. And I’ve learned a few things, things I will pass on to you. 

I can’t tell you how to win, but I can tell you how to survive.  

So, here are five helpful tips and one surefire solution from Murmurs from the Losers’ Bracket to help you survive playing pickleball during what may be the hottest summer ever. 

Tip No. 1: Play early or play late   

Get on the court at first light, or when the lights come on at night. Avoid everything in between. 

Yes, you might have to get up earlier than you’d like on a weekend, or lose some TV couch time at the end of the day. 

But do you want to play pickleball, or what? 

I’ve found that if I start playing at 7:30 a.m., I’ll still be knackered from the oppressive heat when I’m done at 9 a.m. But it won’t be half as bad as starting at 9 a.m. and playing until 10:30 a.m. – which might as well be noon.

Same thing goes for playing at night. Once the sun goes down, the humidity might still be high, but your heart rate won’t be as high and you’ll enjoy the games much more.

Tip No. 2: Maximize court geography

Play in the shade when you can. Even if it’s just partial shade. If you have a choice of courts, pick the one that affords you the best shade, And if one side is shadier than the other, work out a plan to switch sides so that everybody in your game has a chance to get out of the sun for a bit. 

Tip No. 3: Take longer breaks between games

When a game ends, find a shady spot, sit down and make sure you hydrate. Pickleball games are relatively short, but they can seem like an eternity if you don’t recover from a previous game and start bonking out on the next game with the score only at 4-3.

Taking the time to put an extra charge on your battery between games could be the difference in how you get through the next game. 

Tip No 4: Don’t be a hero

Heat-related illness is serious stuff. If you’re playing pickleball outside in 90-degree weather, you need to be keeping track of more than your score. 

Take inventory of your body’s reactions. Are they just the normal reactions to playing the game? Or are they different? 

Be alert for the early signs of heat illness. These could be your skin getting cold and clammy, nausea, headache, muscle cramps, and dizziness. 

Do you suddenly feel listless while your pulse gets fast and weak?

That’s the time to get off the court. 

Tip No. 5: Modify your play

Maybe you’re part of a foursome that has regular games. Consider adding a 5th player to your foursome, which would create structured breaks for everyone. 

The Surefire Solution: Play indoors

I know. I know. You don’t like playing indoors. Usually, when I tell another player that I played indoors, the response is “I don’t like playing inside.”

I prefer to play outside too. And yes, the multiple lines on the gymnasium floor, the cluttered backdrops and the glare from ceiling lights on the varnished wood floor does make it hard to see sometimes. 

I hear all your objections: The portable net isn’t as good, and the indoor ball bounces funny. And at times it can seem like you’re playing in a big echo chamber.

And yes, some private indoor facilities charge players $20 to $30 for a playing session, making it relatively expensive to play. 

But if there’s a place to play indoors nearby that’s not too expensive for you, and not too crowded (as they sometimes are during summer), it’s worth taking an occasional day off from playing outside to play indoors.

You’ll discover that you can play longer indoors, and when you’re done, you won’t feel as physically drained or sun bleached. 

MURMURS FROM THE LOSERS’ BRACKET

Read past editions of Murmurs from the Losers’ Bracket, including:

• Stuck in the OH, FUDGE Zone: Learning to Shake Off Pickleball Dysfunction
• Presidential Politics on the Pickleball Court a Foot-in-Mouth Fault
• Attention Pickleballers: Be On The Lookout For “Ball Blowers”
• Pre-school Pickleball? Finding a Place for Grandkids on the Court
• A Disgrunted Response to the Latest Pickleball Noise Complaint
• Pickleball Mania Hits Target Stores. What’s Next?
• Getting to the Bottom of the Pickleball Metamucil Ad
• The Etiquette Crisis with “Open Play”
• Pickleball Dreams: The Final Frontier of Pickleball Addiction
• Lob into the Sun? Maybe, Maybe Not
• Gathering Intel on your Pickleball Opponents
• Injured? No, I’m Not Injured
• Mastering the Diplomacy of Round-Robin Scheduling 
• Confessions of a Paddle Addict
• The Pilgrims and Pickleball – The Untold Story
• A Baby Boomer Lament
• The Golden Bachelor Courts Pickleball
• Is a Pickleball Escort a thing?!
• Losing with Style
• We Beat Go Fish!
• Taking the First Serve… or Not
• “Sorry” Seems to be the Easiest Word
• Top 10 Signs it’s too Hot to Play Pickleball Outside
• Coming In from the Heat
• The Ozempic Ad
• Ball On Court? Maybe Not
• The PPA, the APP and Monty Python
• Time to Get Help at Bangers Anonymous
• “It’s an Injury Sport”
• A Pickleball Translation Guide
• What’s Your Pickleball Nickname?
• Tennis the Menace
• Is There Such a Thing as “Pickleball Torture”?
• How to Be an Effective Pickleball Snob
• All You Need Is Glove
• The Lesson McDonald’s French Fries Have for Pickleball
• Tunes on the Court
• The Poetry of Empty Courts
• “Head Targeting” Rule Change Not a Brainy Idea
• Getting Beyond “Good Game”
• Why Are Pickleball Trophies Such a Big Deal?
• Stop Messing with the ATP
• When Discussions of Rules Turn Unruly
• A Former Pickleball Addict Speaks Out
• Separating the Drinkers from the Dinkers
• Turning Every Magazine into a Pickleball Magazine
• Zen and the Art of Pickleball Maintenance
• Spirited Pickleball Poetry
• Making Pickleball Less “Devastating” to Amateurs
• Finding Romance on the Pickleball Court: Top 10 Pickup Lines
• Sign of the Times: Pickleball License Plates
• Red Light, Green Light: Playing Traffic Cop on the Court
• The Pickler Limerick Challenge
• The Pickler Limerick Challenge Heats Up
• The Pickler Limerick Challenge Wraps Up
• Pickleball & the $100 Hamburger
• Before We Play, Partner, Please Sign This…
• Pickleball’s Most Powerful Spoken Word
• It’s Been a Hard Day’s Night for Pickleball Skeptics
• Be Kind to Your Local “Paddle Sheriff”
• Is There Such a Thing as Too Many Paddles?
• Silence Is… Not My Style
• “Going Ham” Over Pickleball’s Generational Divide
  

Frank Cerabino is a long-time columnist for the Palm Beach Post in Florida, a pickleball addict like the rest of us, and a newly published author. Check out Frank’s newly released book, I Dink, Therefore I Am: Coming to Grips with My Pickleball Addiction (available on Amazon and a great read (or gift!) for any pickleball player), for pickleball tips and laughs!