Pickleball Noise 101
Key factors contributing to the overall annoyance caused by pickleball noise are summarized in "Pickleball Annoyance Factors". This concept was recently presented in a continuing education program for lawyers.
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“The number of noise events (NNE) matters more than any average measure of noise. Nine hundred impulsive noise events an hour, per court, each causing a physiological response, is the problem.”
Daniel Fink, MD, MBA, Board-certified internist, and medical management expert.
Is impulse noise different than regular noise?
The pickleball pop lasts less than 1/100th of a second. Because it happens so fast, it is often very difficult to measure accurately with regular sound equipment.
Highly impulsive sound is so troublesome that experts add a 12 dB penalty when being measured. This means that if the pop is measured at 60 dB, but it's highly impulsive noise, the penalty should be added and the reading should be reported as 72 dB ( ANSI S12.9 Part 4 and ISO 1996 Part 1).
Civilians have never been exposed to unwanted impulse noise, day after day, month after month, year after year. It is an entirely new type of noise in the soundscape.
"Research shows that the longer we are exposed to an unpleasant noise, the more it can bother us. This may be why many neighbors find it harder to tolerate pickleball noise as the months and years go by."
Kathleen Romito, MD, Family Physician
Why consider the "total exposure" with pickleball pops?
One court can produce up to 900 pops an hour. So if you live near 4 busy courts, that's 3600 pops/hour. Over one day, that can be 36,000 pops!
Think about taking one Tylenol for a headache—no problem. But taking 100 Tylenol tablets? That could be extremely harmful to your body.
It's the incessant exposure to the jarring pop, setting off the stress response each time, that leads to problems.
Is the noise really that different than tennis?
Yes, the noise is very different. The impact on the nearby community is profound, unmistakable and annoying.
Pickleball hits are much louder than tennis hits, measured in decibels (dB).
The pitch (or frequency) of a pickleball pop is very high, catching attention, a tiny alarm in the cognitive part of our brains "this is not supposed to be here."
Pickleball is faster paced than tennis, leading to more noise events in any given time period. Also, one or two tennis courts can be converted into four to eight pickleball courts, bringing more players and more pops into the same area.
Pickleball game are shorter than tennis, leading to crowds of players and spectators ready to rotate.
As pickleball expands in popularity, courts can be busy from 7 am until late at night. Unregulated courts have attracted music and boisterous shouting.