*Pickleball paddle sounds* You hear that sound? Yooo, it’s come to Korea! We’ve got pickleball here and we’re talking about it. (Pause for 2 seconds) OK you can stop now! *Sound stops* For me it’s not that annoying but when everyone’s using cheap balls… yeah, yeah you get the point.
History of pickleball with humor
Pickleball is a game from Washington state in the USA, created in the 60s. The drugs were powerful back then *joke sting*. Pickleball has been played in Korea since 2016, predating the pickleball boom in the USA by a few years. I wouldn’t say it’s taken off all that much, but lately I’ve seen some more courts being built and indoor multipurpose stadiums being used. The general idea of pickleball, if you’ve been living under a rock, is that it’s a slightly more simple version of tennis and a larger version of ping pong. Played on a smaller court than tennis, there is also a kitchen area where players can’t volley from but CAN enter! Apparently there’s a lot of confusion about that, but it prevents easy smash points. Now I wish there was a similar no smashing rule in Mario Kart *joke sting*. In the west, especially the states, it’s become popular as a pastime since anyone can play and it doesn’t require as much sprinting as tennis. Some tennis courts got swapped out and some condo and HOA communities replaced their tennis courts for pickleball courts. But some folks used cheap balls and *pickleball sounds* and now it sounds like this all day and night. Ya!!! That’s enough! *Sound stops*
Lately, Koreans have taken an interest in it along with Padel, and the local media has started covering people and groups playing pickleball. Is it as big as tennis? Not yet, but it seems like tennis has lost a lot of luster lately. Golf and gateball are still more popular. Badminton remains very popular in the racquet sports category with table tennis right behind it. But it’s got a way to go before it gets out of the fad phase and sticks in the imagination. Right now, marathon running has the public’s main interest, especially for young adults, but the older adults seem to be interested in pickleball. Don’t be surprised if you see some grannies playing with grandkids in a barely used tennis court.
Transition music. Buying supplies, where you can play and setting up your own court.
I’ve got news for you; pickleball isn’t popular enough yet to find the stuff in the stores like Home plus. But it’s very easy to find on Coupang and Gmarket. I guess you can find paddles and balls on Carrot’s used market but don’t don’t buy the old sweaty headbands. *Joke sting* You can try searching for pickleball in Korean or English and you should find paddles and balls. Sometimes you can find multi-purpose nets too.
Finding courts might be tricky. There are private courts hidden around the country and you’ll need to check on Band or Kakaotalk to find them. I suggest checking out Spomotive in Banpo and Pickle Here in Jung gu Incheon. If you wanna make a weekend of it and got the chedda to spend, check out Oak Valley in the hills of Wonju but it’s closed until Feb 28th. There’s also the Banyan Tree Resort with a few pickleball courts. It’s a real nice resort that even hosts the Korean Open! I’ve seen some private pickleball clubs mentioned on the news here and there, including one in Busan Dongrae. They’re out there, you just need to search on Band or Kakaotalk. I haven’t seen too many in English, but hey it’s a game; you’re gonna have fun anyway! *breaking glass* Oooh we got breaking news! Breaking pickleball news, which is words I never thought I would ever say *joke sting*! According to the Chosun Ilbo Bizness paper, Seoul city government has been installing 14 Pickleball Courts on the Hangang River with a plan to open in March next year. Quote the site was originally used as a soccer field, but due to low utilization, the decision was made to convert it to a sport. This will be the first pickleball court built on the Hangang River and will be the largest of its kind in the country. An official from the Future Hangang Headquarters stated, "The basic facilities on the approximately 4,000㎡ (1,210 pyeong) site are in the final stages of construction” unquote. Quote The Seoul Metropolitan Government's push to promote pickleball is part of Mayor Oh Se-hoon's "Healthier Seoul 9988" policy. The city believes pickleball is a suitable lifestyle sport for people of all ages and genders to enjoy without any burden. Hosting a tournament next year is also under consideration, unquote. Also according to reports in the Industry news, JT Education Center, an after-school program operator, announced plans to introduce pickleball into after-school physical education classes in elementary schools starting in the 2026 school year. So your kids might also get a chance to play it before you do.
GOTW
Tonight at 7pm we’ve got basketball with Busan hosting Changwon LG in Sajik! Both teams have been playing well, and this is shaping up to be a key matchup to predict the playoffs. Also on Friday there’s volleyball in Daejeon with 삼성화재 hosting OK저축은행 at 7PM. Both teams are ass, but Samsung’s got home court and they want to break their 5 game losing streak.
On Saturday we’ve got more basketball with Samsung Blue Minx hosting Busan Ssum at 4pm in Yongin. Busan was supposed to be better this year and coming off a championship so they need a win to get back into action. Also at 4pm we’ve got women’s volleyball with GS Caltex hosting the Pink Spiders in Seoul. Both teams are hovering around 500 and could use a win to get their seasons really going.
On Sunday we’ve got more basketball in Changwon with LG hosting Anyang Red Boosters at 4PM. Anyang’s better than I expected this year at 3rd place, but LG remains the team to beat. Also at 4pm the KB Stars are hosting Hana bank in Cheongju. KB and Hana are neck and neck for 1st place, so expect a good game! Finally at 430PM KCC Egis is hosting Hyundai Mobis in Sajik. This will be a squash game for Busan so only watch if you wanna see the Heo brothers smush a team.
End of the year list:
No Worst Persons this week. Let’s focus on the top 10 sports stories we’ve covered this year!
10. The end of Changyeong WFC. The team is moving to Gangjin and we here at Hwa-ting sports are excited to get a team that’s within 2 hours of our houses! Maybe next year, draft picks will actually want to play for the team? We’ll see.
9. President Lee dodges a bullet; the Seongnam FC scandals. The case involves four main issues: preferential treatment in the Daejang-dong, Wirye and Baekhyeon-dong development projects, and illicit corporate donations to Seongnam FC. Because article 84 of the constitution says a president can’t be brought to trial while in office, the President’s day in court will have to come when he is out of office. His co-defendants, however, are not so lucky and their day in court is coming soon.
8. Return of Jeonbuk to the top of the table. Gus Poyet from Uruguay joined the team this year and coached them from near relegation all the way to their 11th title and Korea cup victory over Gwangju! And due to his assistant coach getting suspended for racism accusations, fair or not, he has left the team in the hands of Jeong Jeong-yong who was the Gimcheon Sangmu coach. How Jeonbuk handles the transition will determine their fate next season.
7. Retirement of Kim Yeon-kyung and TV show win. Volleyball star Kim Yeon-Kyungwon won her 4th and final championship with the Pink Spiders and retired, putting the league in a bit of turmoil akin to Michale Jordan’s retirement. She has branched out into coaching in the meantime, with a TV show called The Wonder Coach which is #1 in the nondrama ratings according to MBC. In the finale she coached her TV team to victory against her old team! Perhaps Pilsseung Wonderdogs will be the tip of the spear to push KOVO into creating a 2nd division? We’ll find out next season!
6. Will they or won’t they break up; the NC Dinos saga and stadium deaths. If you’ve been living under a rock, the Dinos have been arguing with Changwon about the stadium and the transportation situation. Then in March an aluminum window guard fell and crushed two fans waiting for food and the Dinos couldn’t play home games there for half the season. Recently, Ulsan started their own minor league team so they won’t be hosting teams any time soon and NC remains in Changwon for next year.
5. Son Heung Min leaving Tottenham and joining MLS. I didn’t follow the transfer of Son that much, but I noted that Tottenham is close to relegation and the EPL doesn’t have any star Korean players right now. It was named the number one sports story in Korea by the sports writers, but I feel like it’s not that important for the local sports scene.
4. Hanwha Eagles go to Korean Series and their new stadium/wheelchair controversy. This year Hanwha shook the baseball world by being competitive all season, especially in their new stadium with its odd dimensions. They went all the way to the Korea Series for the first time in 20 years but LG was too strong for them to overcome. They also got yelled at by the city for denying seats to wheelchaired customers and covering their parking area with a tarp then putting seats there for 40k a pop. Daejeon city pressed charges against the CEO and so we’ll hear more about it in court.
3. Gwangju and Ulsan’s performance in the international cups and the changes they forced onto the KFA and K-League. I’ve been following the KFA a lot this year, mainly because they are making a lot of changes. The K-League teams’ performance in the international competitions and their rules regarding foreigners has come to a head and changes are coming. A big change I talked about was the K League allowing unlimited foreign player signings and 5 foreign players on the pitch, in order to make the teams more competitive internationally. Now there are plans in place to move the start of the Korea Cup to the summer, then play for the cup championship in May the next year. It’s still a bit weird for the pro teams because their rosters will not be the same between August 2025 and May 2026. But it could be a sign that the league will join the J-league in switching season starts.
2. The FIFA punishment of Gwangju FC and Chungnam FC. Speaking of the KFA, we covered the K-League team debacles quite a bit, especially because of how easily they could have been solved. Now they can’t sign players in the first half of the next season and they’re on probation for the second half. FC Anyang was angry about the illegally signed players and quote kicked the poop unquote according to Namu Wiki. That’s not a korean saying I am familiar with *joke sting*. Chungnam FC was also discussed and made fun of on the show, especially due to their money problems. We’ll see soon enough if Chungnam province will cover the costs, especially since they got new things to consider, like merging with Daejeon.
And now the number 1 story, a story I didn’t discuss much this season. An Seong-hun’s 11 titles in Badminton ties a record for tournament wins in 1 year! She is the Serena Williams of Korean sports right now and it’s well deserved, especially after how she had to put the Badminton federation on blast last year. See, listeners?! Things get much better when you blast your organization to the foreign press! *Joke sting*
Ending
Thank you for tuning in today. We hope you learned something about Korean Sports because if you didn’t, you set the sleep timer too soon *joke sting*. Pass this pod on to anyone interested in Korean sports and especially rookies because trust me they need every ounce of help we can pour on them. If you don’t believe me, spend 5 minutes on Living in Korea subreddit *Joke sting*. If you wish to read along or contact the show, visit our website at hwatingsportspodcast dot com or our Facebook page and everything you need is right there. Give our podcast 5 stars if you have time. Music notes like the opening song thanks to DumiAFava. You can reach him on Instagram @daf_daffy247. Cover art thanks to our cycling expert James! A shoutout to our listeners in Kigali Rwanda! They have many football teams but the one with the coolest name is Gorilla FC! Yes it’s a real team name, Google Search AI got them confused with the Seattle Sounders team for some reason. Anyway, the next episode is in two weeks and we’re talking about the Korea vs Japan sports rivalry! Banzai and Manse!! Until next time, Korean Sports fans.
(AI voice) Guests of the Hwa-ting sports podcast get liposuction done at JKLMNO, the best known plastic surgery clinic on Wolmido island Incheon. Ate too much samgyepsal at the hoesik last week? The experts at JKLMNO will suck the Pees right out of you, no homo. Need to fit into that scuba suit but packed on too many pounds? They’ll get you down to size in no time! 10 percent discount if you sign away your rights to your fat in perpetuity! Also on Wolmido, no relation to this business, is Palm Tree Soap shop! With new exotic scents!
Notes:
Private clubs and courts around Seoul, including Spomotive in Banpo, Songdo Incheon. Banyan Tree Club has pickleball and hosts the Seoul Open. Wonju has a dedicated court. Not as common elsewhere.
Busan Dongrae has a pickleball club, but they seem to be using an indoor badminton court and free nets. There is a national organization now.
The Appeal of Pickleball-Chosun Ilbo.
Pickleball sound from freesound_community on Pixabay.com