The Paddleball Set That Got Everyone Off the Blanket

By the second Tuesday of July, our stretch of beach had a rhythm. Walt and I set up the wagon with the two umbrellas and the cooler, the grandkids dropped their towels and disappeared into their phones, and I sat on the blanket wondering why we had driven four hours to stare at the same screens we have at home. That was the morning I dug the Sport Design Pro Kadima Paddleball Beach Set out of the bottom of the beach bag.

I had bought it on a whim before we left Pennsylvania. Walt raised an eyebrow when I unpacked it. "Two paddles and a ball on a string?" He said it the way he says most things about my beach purchases. I had tried other beach games over the years. A ring toss set lost two rings to the surf on its first afternoon. A badminton set spent more time untangling than playing. I was not expecting much from this one either. I handed him a paddle and told him to hit the ball. He missed the first three swings. The fourth one connected, and the ball snapped back on its elastic cord, and he laughed. Not the polite laugh he gives at a bad pun. The real one.

We played for maybe twenty minutes before the first grandkid looked up. Our older grandson asked if he could try. I handed him my paddle. Walt showed him how to hold it, and within a few minutes he and Walt were trading hits. That is how it goes with this set. It does not need instructions. It does not need a net. It needs flat sand, a little patience, and someone willing to miss the ball a few times.

By the end of that week, the set had a routine. We would wait for low tide, walk down to the wide flat sand near the water, and set up about ten feet apart. The cord stretches just far enough for a comfortable rally. Walt and I learned to keep our swings low and easy, the way the game is meant to be played. The grandkids, of course, immediately tried to smash the ball as hard as they could. The cord snapped it back every time, which made them laugh even when they missed.

One morning, a woman two umbrellas down walked over and asked where we got the set. Her husband had played paddleball as a boy in Brooklyn. She told Walt he had good form. Walt has repeated that compliment at dinner three times since. That is what this game does. It is not loud. It does not draw a crowd. It just pulls people in, one rally at a time.

I should say that I did not buy this set for the grandkids. I bought it for Walt and me. We had spent too many beach days sitting under the umbrella, reading the same paragraphs over and over, pretending we were relaxing. This game gave us a reason to stand up, stretch our knees, and move. At our age, that is worth more than any gadget in the beach bag.

The fourth swing connected, and the ball snapped back on the cord, and Walt laughed the way he used to laugh at the shore twenty years ago.

The set has also held up better than I expected. We rinse the paddles with fresh water when we get back to the cottage and lean them against the porch railing to dry. The cords have not frayed. The grips are still snug. We have had it for two summers now, and it has spent more hours in the sun than most of our beach chairs.

There is a learning curve, and it is shorter than you think. The first few rallies end with the ball flying sideways or wrapping around a paddle. Then your wrist relaxes, and you realize the cord is doing half the work. By day three, Walt and I were keeping rallies going for a minute or more. The grandkids got competitive and started keeping score on a napkin.

By the middle of the month, a few neighbors started wandering over to watch. Two couples asked where to buy one. I told them the same thing I will tell you: get the Sport Design set, and do not expect to be good at it on the first day.

The only thing that beats this game is the wind. On a gusty afternoon the ball swings sideways and the rally dies. We have learned to pack it away on those days and bring out the bocce set instead. That is not a complaint. It is the difference between a toy that works and a piece of equipment that earns its spot in the wagon.

By the end of July, the paddleball set was the first thing in the wagon and the last thing packed up. Our younger grandkid, who usually prefers to stay on the blanket with a book, asked to play on our last morning. She missed the first six swings, then connected on the seventh, and the smile on her face was the whole summer in one second.

What I'd Tell You If We Were Sitting at My Kitchen Table

If you are thinking about a paddleball set for the beach, buy this one from Sport Design. But hear the rest of it. You will miss the ball at first. Everyone does. Give it twenty minutes before you judge it. Keep your paddle low, let the cord do the work, and do not play straight into the wind. When a grandkid asks to try, hand over the paddle. The game gets better when you are watching someone else learn it. And when you get back to the cottage, rinse the paddles and lean them against the railing. Do that, and this set will be in your beach bag for years.