Racket sport for ‘thinkers’ holds national event

Top-ranked paddle players from around the country will assemble in north suburban Golf this weekend as the Glen View Club hosts the 2011 Men’s and Women’s Open National Platform Tennis Championships ­today through Sunday.

Platform tennis, commonly known as paddle, is the only racket sport enjoyed outdoors in cold weather, with seasons running from October until mid-March. Strictly a doubles game, it is played on an elevated 30-foot-by-60-foot aluminum deck, enclosed by 12-foot-high chicken wire. This adds a dimension of strategy foreign to traditional tennis, as players are free to use their 18-inch rackets to play a sponge rubber ball off the wall.

Platform tennis originated in 1928, with Chicago enjoying its first organized play in 1972. The rapid development of many heated courts at local country clubs and park districts has elevated Chicago, which is hosting the tournament for the second time in six years, to one of the hotbeds for the sport’s growth.

“It’s taken off in Chicago more than anywhere else,” said Drew Eberly, half of the country’s fourth-ranked doubles team. “We have a perfect climate for paddle. It also has a lot to do with Chicago country-club pros. With the way the sport is emerging, a lot of tennis pros spend winters teaching paddle. Also, a lot of park district courts are now available for public play.”

Eberly and doubles partner Peter Berka will account for one of the 128 men’s and 98 women’s teams competing this weekend. Eberly, a Lake Forest resident, played a bit of paddle growing up, but made a full transition after completing a successful tennis career at Ohio State.

A transition such as Eberly’s is what fellow player and tournament chair John Noble points to when encouraging people to become involved.

“The misnomer that playing paddle confuses your tennis game is difficult,” Noble said. “It’s about putting a racket in your hands and learning the hand-eye coordination and balance it takes to play a racket sport.”

Noble does offer his best analogy to those familiar with tennis and not paddle.

“Tennis is to checkers as paddle is to chess,” Noble said.

While both sports are governed by the love-15-30-40 scoring systems, the leverage of a wall makes for more time between points in paddle, and essentially more time to plan your next move.

“In tennis, you have some strategy but it’s quick and you can overpower opponents,” Noble said. “You can’t really overpower someone on the paddle court. There’s more thinking involved and more time to think because the points last longer. ”

Chicago boasts 21 men’s and 13 women’s leagues, consisting of about 10 teams each. With about 12 players on each team, there are more than 4,000 people playing paddle in the area. Traditionally a country club sport, the park districts of Winnetka, Hinsdale, Glen Ellyn and Lake Bluff have adopted programs. Health clubs — including Five Seasons, Midtown and Lake Shore Athletic Club — also offer programs.