Recently uncovered photos featuring pickleball from the 1970s have been making the rounds online in recent weeks, prompting interest through the quality of the photos themselves and speculation on their origins. Haus Pickleball tracked the photos down to their owner, Robert Phillips, who was kind enough to answer questions about the photos, himself, his family and of course, pickleball.
Phillips was born in Greenbrae, California and raised in San Anselmo. His family had a weekend property in Sonoma County, located just outside of the town of Glen Ellen. A third generation arborist, Phillips currently lives on the Glen Ellen property located on Sonoma Mountain and helps people with caring for their trees.
Do you currently play pickeball? Honestly, it has been a while since my last game of Pickleball. My current wife and I played when we first met and that may have been the last time I raised the net. She schooled me. Mainly because she was and still is a good tennis player. Occasionally I will watch it on tv but I’m not much into the ding game. I liked to rush the net but enjoyed the base line. My brother, who used to play the game when he would visit would keep me honest and found that the lob shot was his best friend, mainly cause he is seven inches shorter than me. I always found the cross shot to win the game was my best advantage.
What are your thoughts on pickleball’s recent growth in North America, with approx. 36 million people playing last year in the States? It blows my mind that it took so long for the game to gain such popularity in the main stream. I think it is great that the tennis courts are being pulled and the pickleball courts are taking over. It brings a nice warm feeling inside knowing we were ahead of the times.
Your photo collection from the 70s has been making the rounds lately. Can you provide the basic details of that group of photos? We started taking the photos in the seventies and just keep taking them. All photos are taken here at the ranch, where I currently live. Most of the folks in the pictures are of family and friends. We played pickleball all year around. The only thing that can spoil the game is the rain and wind and we had night lights so we played into the early morning hours often. You got to win by two…After we wore out the original paddles we started making our own out of plywood and sometime nice maple wood.
What spurned these photos to be taken? We as a family loved to take pictures so we were always taking action pictures of each other and of course all of the family and friends who would come up and join us here at the ranch.
What was the vibe behind playing pickleball in the 70s? Pickleball was often foreign to anybody who came up for the first time. Everybody played the game once they came to the ranch, whether or not they wanted to or not. Once they got hooked they would stand around the court and wait their turn.
Was pickleball a regular activity for yourself and your group of friends? It was a fixture for sure. People who came up for a visit knew to bring their sport court shoes, shorts and favorite beverage.
Can you elaborate on the Sonoma Mountain Pickleball Camp? My Mother and Father always loved to entertain here at the ranch and one year we invited several families to come join in the fun of playing pickleball. We used to have flag football games in the Mud bowl and softball games in the summer months. Then came along the sport court and the focus was on volleyball, badminton, basketball and of course pickleball. It was pickleball that took over as the game of interest.
Why release these photos now? I didn’t have anybody or anywhere to show them off until I met Jim Johnson. We met and the subject came up and the next thing I knew, I was rummaging through old photo albums looking for the photos to show him that we actually played the game almost forty plus years ago.
What do you hope people take away from this collection of photos? The game is not as new as some folks think. It had a start years and years ago. The styles of clothes and the length of the shorts have changed but the game remains somewhat the same. I would have to go through a rule revival to play these days. Not to mention an equipment overhaul and a clothing style upgrade.
Anything else you would like to add? My life changed the first time I played the game of pickleball. It evened the playing field for all genders and ages. We could just go out and start a game any old time of the day or night. We lived in the country where the sound of the game didn’t bother anybody except the crickets and frogs. We didn’t have time constraints, so often the game would go on and on until someone won by two. I also think I failed to mention that both my bother and I played with both hands. We didn’t have a backhand between us. Just switched hands with the paddle.
Special thanks to Robert Phillips and Jim Johnson for their time. View these photos and more on Haus Pickleball’s Instagram account, @HausPickleball.
