From my language lessons, I remember learning the Vietnamese expression mọc lên như nấm, literally ‘sprouting up like mushrooms’. At the time I had no idea I would end up needing it mainly to talk about pickleball.
The courts are everywhere now. Vacant lots have been paved and fenced, tennis clubs have subdivided their space, and purpose-built complexes have gone up on land that was doing nothing in particular a few months earlier. Drive around Ho Chi Minh City and you start noticing the compact rectangles, the bright surfaces and the pop-pop-pop of plastic balls.
The appeal is easy enough to see.
Easier Than Tennis
Pickleball is essentially tennis lite, and I mean that as a compliment. The court is smaller, the paddle is easier to handle, and the perforated plastic ball travels more slowly and stings less when it hits you. Beginners can get a rally going within minutes.
Tennis is a cruel teacher. Your first few sessions may involve hitting balls into the net, over the fence or into innocent bystanders on neighbouring courts. Pickleball gives you the satisfaction of actually playing the game much sooner.
That widens the range of ages and fitness levels it works for. You can play intensely, but you don’t have to. A reasonably fit beginner can step onto a court and have fun without spending months developing technique first.
The financial barrier is low too. Court rental typically runs from around 100,000 to 300,000 VND per hour, with the newer indoor venues charging more, and basic paddles and balls don’t require a serious investment. Split the court fee between four players and an evening’s entertainment costs very little.
For an urban population that has become health-conscious without becoming any less busy, an hour of it does the work of a gym session and a night out.
Already a Racket Country
None of that explains why Vietnam in particular took to the game so quickly.
Vietnamese cities have a strong culture of communal exercise. Parks fill with badminton players, runners, dancers and exercise groups early in the morning and again in the evening. Badminton in particular has already given millions of people a racket sport played socially rather than as a serious athletic pursuit, and pickleball slips neatly into that habit.
Then there is the phone. Pickleball is colourful, compact and easy to film. Unlike a sprawling tennis court, an entire point fits comfortably into a phone screen. Fashion, equipment and lifestyle have become part of the phenomenon accordingly. Going to pickleball is exercise for some players and an outing for most.
Community is probably the biggest reason the game has stuck. It mixes ages in a way few sports manage. Gen Z players, office workers, business owners and middle-aged recreational athletes end up on the same court. Doubles is especially social: four people share a small space, games are short, and players rotate naturally between matches. It is exercise without the solemnity of going to the gym.
Add Vietnam’s entrepreneurial instinct. Once people realised there was money in pickleball, the mushrooms got fertiliser.
The Business That Grew Around It
Tennis courts are being converted because a single tennis court holds two or three pickleball courts. Newer complexes go considerably further, adding cafés, restaurants, changing rooms, physiotherapy services and large parking areas.
Ho Chi Minh City is estimated to have more than a thousand court complexes, large and small. Four years ago, most people here had not heard of the game.
New jobs have appeared with them. ‘Social hosts’ organise sessions and match players by skill level. Coaches are in demand. Referee courses have attracted hundreds of applicants.
Vietnam Goes Pro
The international pickleball world has noticed.
In October 2025, the final day of a PPA Tour Asia event in Da Nang drew 7,906 spectators, a Guinness world record for attendance at a pickleball event and a substantial jump on the previous mark of 5,522, set in the United States. American professional Zane Navratil later described Da Nang as the most interesting place he has played, and pointed to the noise: Vietnamese spectators reacted to good shots as they happened, rather than waiting politely for the rally to end.
Vietnam is now positioning itself as an Asian pickleball hub. Top players including Ben Johns, Tyson McGuffin and Dekel Bar have competed here, and Da Nang hosts the Pickleball World Cup from 30 August to 6 September 2026, the first time the tournament has been held in Asia. Organisers expect several thousand athletes from more than eighty countries.
The Shakeout
The frenzy will not hold at this level. Sporting crazes have a habit of discovering gravity, and the number of new courts already points to a correction. Operators report thinner margins and heavier competition, which is one reason so many of them are adding coaching, tournaments, food and retail rather than relying on hourly court rental.
But people like playing it, which is more than most fads can claim. It is cheap, easy to learn and sociable, and it fits the way Vietnamese cities already exercise. Some of the courts will close. The game looks like it will stay.
