Pickleball for beginners in Niagara

• City of St. Catharines, indoor drop-in. Port Weller Community Centre (all ages), Harriet Tubman Public School (all ages, school year) and the Dunlop Drive Older Adult Centre (50+). Pay on arrival or use a Play Card; the St. Catharines library also lends a pickleball set. City of St. Catharines
• Haig Bowl Arena, St. Catharines. Indoor pickleball on Monday, Wednesday and Friday. Drop-in is $8 a player, tax included; the fall all-you-can-play pass is $189 plus tax. Haig Bowl pickleball
• Niagara Indoor Pickleball Association, Fenwick. Indoor courts in Pelham with beginner clinics, play times set aside for beginners and skills sessions. NIPA
• Grimsby Pickleball Association. Indoor play on Monday evenings from mid-October at West Niagara Secondary School in Lincoln. Membership includes drop-in play, clinics, drills and skills sessions: $170 for the year, plus $10 each to Pickleball Ontario and Pickleball Canada. Grimsby Pickleball Association
• Niagara-on-the-Lake Pickleball Club. Up to three free beginner sessions for newcomers, but membership is closed for now because of capacity, with a waitlist for next year. NOTL Pickleball
• Welland Pickleball Club. Outdoor at Empire Sportsplex from May to October, with court times for newer players and free try-it sessions for members. The season membership was $45, plus the Pickleball Ontario and Pickleball Canada fees. Welland Pickleball Club

Prices as of November 2026. Prices and times are as each club lists them on its own site; check with the club before you go.

• The court is 20 by 44 feet, the same for singles and doubles, with a net 34 inches high in the middle.
• Every rally starts with an underhand serve, below the waist, hit diagonally.
• The ball has to bounce once on each side before anyone can volley it (the two-bounce rule).
• The kitchen is the 7-foot zone on each side of the net where you can't volley. See the pickleball rules.
• Games usually go to 11, win by 2, and only the serving side scores.
• You need a solid paddle and a plastic ball with holes. Indoor balls usually have larger holes than outdoor ones.

Pickleball Canada rates players by skill.

At 2.0 you know the two-bounce rule, can keep score and get at least half your serves and returns in.

At 2.5 you know the basic rules, get about 60% of serves and returns in and are starting to rally longer and try short dinks at the net.

Most club beginner sessions are aimed at these levels.

About 1.8 million Canadians play pickleball, up 14% in a year, and about 702,000 of them are in Ontario, more than any other province (Pickleball Canada's latest national survey).

• Dedicated indoor pickleball courts for Hamilton, Grimsby and Niagara, with fixed nets and lines, all year.
• Open play on every club membership, and pick-up games grouped by level.
• Beginner clinics when you want them, priced separately. See pickleball at Volta.