Singles Pickleball Burns Calories Sunday Night

Eight regular pickleball players showed up Sunday night, Henry, Herb, Ganbat, Annette, Catherine, Dave, Mike and me. Pat played a few times but he is already an excellent player because he was a tennis player with a powerful ground stroke. It was challenging to win a game against Pat, Henry, Herb and Ganbat since they are all advanced players.

Two new younger players had fun rallying with each other. New players enjoy being able to hit the ball first before they want to learn the game. We played with Grant and his son Sam (about 8 years old) who is also learning how to play.


Pat said he has lost 25 lbs which made him feel so good (he also runs fast) and he plans to lose another 25 lbs. Many players said pickleball has helped them lose weight with all the fun running around to hit the ball.

Annette found out what a huge cardio workout she had playing singles with Ganbat. It is not uncommon to see player heart rates rise into the 150 to 175 range. The burn rate for advanced pickleball players is in the range of 350-400 calories per hour. This is not as high as competitive squash (about 850 calories per hour) nor does it compare with singles tennis (550 per hour). However, singles pickleball does burn more calories per hour than volleyball (200), table tennis (270) or golf with a power cart (240).