Before he ever picked up a pickleball paddle, 2020 Dalton High School graduate Ben Bramblett wasn’t so sure about the sport.
Bramblett, a tennis standout during his time at Dalton High, was coaching tennis for the recreation department in Dalton when he was approached about another sport in which you swing a racket-shaped object at a ball.
“My boss wanted me to try to coach pickleball. The technique is relatively similar to tennis, so it’s not that hard to coach beginner players,” Bramblett said. “I was hesitant at first. It just sounded like a really weird sport, and I thought it was for old people. I played with my uncle, and he beat me, and I was really frustrated to be losing to someone in their 60s.”
From feeling that frustration early, Bramblett rose quickly.
Bramblett is now a professional pickleball player. He tours the country playing events in the PPA, the Professional Pickleball Associaton.
Bramblett competes in singles, men’s doubles and mixed doubles events. Qualifiers are usually held as part of the events, and the top competitors move on to the main pool.
“It’s so much different from the beginner level to the pro level,” Bramblett said. “I think that’s one of the most deceptive things about pickleball is that it looks so easy on camera.”
Bramblett said that the ball can look like it’s moving slowly in televised matches, but it feels much faster when you’re out there trying to corral a hit.
Bramblett originally got connected with pro pickleball through freelancing in photography and videography. He currently helps other pros maintain their social media platforms.
Bramblett’s quick rise — from amateur to pro in just a few years — is mirrored in the rapid growth of the sport as a whole.
Pickleball grew in 2023 to 13.6 million players in the United States, according to the Sports and Fitness Industry Association. In a report, the SFIA also announced that pickleball continues to be the fastest-growing sport in America, having grown 51.8% from 2022 to 2023, and 223.5% in four years since 2020.
In Dalton, the tennis courts at Brookwood Park were converted for pickleball in 2020, and there are also pickleball courts at the Mack Gaston Community Center and Lakeshore Park. The Dalton City Council recently approved plans for a 15-court pickleball complex to be built at James Brown Park.
Himself a skeptic-turned-pickleball fanatic, Bramblett encouraged people of all ages to try pickleball.
“You’re going to make friends super quickly,” he said. “For the most part, you can show up at any local court, and someone will be willing to help show you how to play.”
Bramblett said he intends to keep playing pro pickleball as long as he can.
“I want to see how well I can do,” he said. “I’m in it until I can’t do it anymore.”