Understanding pickleball noise at the source: The vibroacoustics of the pickleball paddle and ball

Abstract

Pickleball continues to be America's fastest-growing sport, growing by roughly 150% every year with 48.3 million US adults (19% of the adult population) having played at least one game in 2023. This immense popularity and growth is accompanied by a similar increase in the number and voracity of complaints from the residential communities surrounding pickleball courts. This paper aims to explain the source of the pickleball noise—a short duration impulse with a strong tonal component near 1250 Hz—due to the impact of the pickleball ball and paddle, with a specific focus on the vibrational modes of the paddle that contribute most strongly to the tonal nature of the sound. Experimental modal analysis was performed on several paddles (wood, aluminum, composite, and carbon fiber) as well as the first paddle to meet the new USA Pickleball Quiet Category requirements. Spectral analysis of the impact identifies the offending tonal component near 1250 Hz to be a strongly radiating “membrane-type” mode of the paddle surface. Paddles for which this mode shape has a significantly higher or lower in frequency and amplitude result in a much less annoying impact sound. The role of vibrational modes in the ball will also be considered.