Foam Balls for Pickleball? Mountbatten Introduces New Way to Address Sport’s Growing Noise Concern in Singapore

The Mountbatten Town Council has introduced a measure in which only foam balls can be used in community courts from 7:00 to 10:00 a.m. and from 7:00 to 9:00 p.m. These foam-ball-only play times are the council’s response to growing tension caused by playing the world’s fastest-growing sport, while also catering to Singapore’s growing pickleball community.

According to Mountbatten SMC Member of Parliament Gho Sze Kee, the unprecedented move aligns with the council’s give-and-take principle. The designated play times, again, are to let pickleball enthusiasts continue using community courts while also respecting other residents.

For Gho specifically, the pickleball issue hits close to her heart, noting that it was one of the first problems she had to deal with.

“The pickleball issue landed like a hot potato onto my lap on my very first day,” Gho wrote on Facebook. “Some residents want it banned outright, some players refuse any sort of restrictions on their game. There is simply no pleasing everybody. The path of least resistance would have been to tally up the numbers on both sides and side with the larger group. But this is NOT the right thing to do.”

Indeed, the Mountbatten Town Council did not take the path of least resistance and pick one side only. Instead, it formulated a solution to cater to both sides. Even so, Gho maintained that they will be monitoring the situation closely, enforcing rules more strictly, and tweaking their measures if necessary.

Gho also called on players to be more considerate and warned that those who “repeatedly demonstrate inconsiderate behaviour” could face bans from booking facilities.

The pickleball noise issue has hit Singapore hard, given its population density and the proximity of community courts to residential areas. But measures to address this issue are being tried out. Early this year, in fact, some Mountbatten residents tried silent pickleball as a potential solution to the noise problem.