February 27, 2025
Mark and Michelle are nudists who happen to love pickleball. So when they play pickleball at a nude resort, of course they have no clothes on.
“You need sunblock everywhere,” Michelle says.
“I could say your shirt never sticks to your back,” Mark says.
Other than using extra sunblock and not wearing sweaty clothes, Mark says, “There’s no difference between nude and clothed pickleball. Once you are on the court, the game is the only thing on your mind.”
Mark and Michelle didn’t want their real names used for privacy purposes. They’re in their 60’s, live in Massachusetts and have been married for 20 years. He’s a realtor, she’s a language specialist.
“We started [being nudists] more than 10 years ago after visiting some topless beaches and finding it very liberating to have no clothes on,” Michelle says. “The ability to swim in the ocean nude is exhilarating.”
Mark says, “Being a nudist enables you to meet people who are comfortable in their own skin and are non-judgmental. It provides the freedom to be yourself. People in the textile world who never try nudism won’t get being a nudist, let alone naked pickleball.”
Nude pickleball has become more popular over the past five years, coinciding with pickleball’s explosion in popularity during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. An estimated 500,000 people play nude pickleball, according to Jeff Baldasarre, spokesperson for The American Association for Nude Recreation (yes, there really is such a group and it’s growing). You can play nude pickleball at many clothing optional resorts in the US, from Laguna Del Sol in Wilton, California, (it’s located on a street called “Rawhide Lane,”) to Cypress Cove in Kissimmee, Florida.
“It’s much more comfortable to play without soggy, clingy clothes in the Florida sun,” says Mike Sullivan. The 68-year-old retiree lives in the Cypress Cove Nudist Resort and is its pickleball organizer and tournament director. Sullivan says pickleball is the most popular sport there “and it’s not even close.” The pickleball club at Cypress Cove has 250 members. Sullivan says the resort’s three-day pickleball tournament starting March 14th will have 180 participants in 11 events. After they play they can have a drink in the resort’s outdoor lounge called, “Cheeks Bar and Grill.”
Some cruise ships have added nude pickleball to their itinerary. Matty Klein and his wife MeiShen are pickleball instructors and have given lessons to nude pickleball players on land and sea. Matty and MeiShen, who live in The Villages, Florida, are not nudists, they teach while fully clothed. They recently spent a week giving lessons to naked players on “The Big Nude Boat,” during an eastern Caribbean cruise.
Matty says the first time he and his wife gave a lesson to nude players eight years ago, “It was different. At first it was distracting, and then you get used to it,” Klein says. He is 66 and a former cop in Los Angeles, so he’s seen a lot in his life and nude pickleball players don’t faze him. “You find they are down to earth. You totally forget it and you’re just watching them play. They’re in their natural state playing the best sport so you become part of it. MeiShen and I are in our teaching modes. They occasionally make some nude jokes. For them, being nude is not a sexual thing at all. They feel they are in their natural state.”
The nudists Mark and Michelle simply see nude pickleball as combining two things they enjoy. “Just like with any special interests, stereotypes are a bias that society has,” Mark says. “Because I like to ride motorcycles and have three, it doesn't mean I drink lots of beer or have tattoos.”
Mark says he doesn’t discuss nude pickleball with people in the “textile” world, and anyway, “I don’t care what they think about my being a nudist or my wife and I playing pickleball naked.”
“Pickleball is a great game,” Michelle says. “and one that I want to be good at. It doesn’t matter if I have clothes on or not.”
Thoughts of the week, not all pickleball
· RIP Roberta Flack. The brilliant singer, songwriter and pianist, who died on Monday at 88, was one of the most popular musical artists of the 1970’s. Her hits included, “Killing Me Softly,” “The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face,” and “Feel Like Making Love.” Before she was a star, Ms. Flack was a music teacher and played in small nightclubs. Her voice was one of the most soulful of not just the 70’s, but of all time.
· RIP Clint Hill. The Secret Service Agent leaped onto President Kennedy’s limousine after it came under fire in Dallas on November 22, 1963. It is a signature image of the assassination. Hill died last Friday at 93. He was hailed for his bravery and may have saved Mrs. Kennedy’s life when she tried to get out of the limousine, but was long tormented by his inability to save the president’s life.
· Thirty years after OJ Simpson was acquitted in the murders of his ex-wife and her friend, the public is still fascinated by the case. A new documentary, American Manhunt: O.J. Simpson, has been among the most watched shows on Netflix. I have no interest in watching it. It will just remind me of how our legal system favors the rich, who can afford high-powered lawyers who often outwit government prosecutors.
· A story I wrote recently for Pickleball Magazine cited the five most common mistakes made by players rated 3.5 and below. Number one: failing to get up to an inch behind the non-volley zone line and play mostly from there. Some players actually think they’re better off staying back the entire time, despite getting dinked and dropped on repeatedly or having balls hit at their feet.
· The bumper sticker on the car in front of me yesterday that made me laugh out loud: “Old guy driving. Can’t hear your horn, can’t see your finger. Have a good day.”
· That bumper sticker could be on my car.
Remember, if you buy any Hudef paddle that costs $169.99, use my discount code MS30 to knock down the price by 30%, to $119.99. Any less expensive paddle, the code is MS15, giving you 15% off.
