I tried pickleball to see why VCs love it and realized it's great for networking — here's why

• Pickleball is a fast-growing sport beloved in Silicon Valley and by celebrities.
• Reporter Kari McMahon went to a session to see why tech investors love it.

For the last three summers, pickleball has captured the hearts of everyday Americans, top-level executives, and celebrities to become one of the fastest-growing sports in the US.

This cross between tennis, badminton, and table tennis first caught my attention when venture capitalists started to become "picklers," players who are intensely passionate about the sport. As a reporter who covers that industry, I wanted to try my hand at the Valley's latest craze.

For £55, or about $70, I booked into a pickleball masterclass, a 90-minute lesson followed by afternoon tea, at Cromlix, a luxury hotel in the secluded Scottish countryside owned by tennis star Andy Murray and his wife Kim.

The lesson was led by Pickleball Scotland and took place on a Wimbledon-themed tennis court that sits within the grounds of Cromlix, a refurbished Victorian mansion that also has its own chapel and lochan.

While my lesson took place in luxurious surroundings, the beauty of pickleball is it can be played anywhere. Players only need paddles, an airflow ball, and a net. The sport is usually played on badminton or tennis courts but it's just as easy to set up makeshift courts.

"Quite often, if you join a club, they will have paddles, the club has bought the net, the balls are there," said Nanette Mutrie, who led the lesson and is the education and training lead at Pickleball Scotland. The game is cost effective both for facilities and players, she added.

Pickleball, invented in 1965, is designed to have low barriers to entry. The rules were crafted so "the whole family could play together," according to USA Pickleball.

From staying out of the kitchen, the court's non-volley zone, to the rallying shouts of "BALL!" — for when a ball strays off the court — are just some of pickleball's wackier rules. Serves are made across the court, as with most racket sports, but can only be made from below the waist level and only the serving team can win points. A two-bounce rule is also enforced when serving.

The receiving team must let the ball bounce once on their side of the court before returning a serve and the serving team must also let it bounce before returning. The rule is used to extend rallies and eliminate serve and volley advantages, which makes the game gentler than tennis and easier for novices to quickly pick up.

Celebrities such as the Kardashians, Serena Williams, and Leonardo DiCaprio have all been known to pick up the paddle. My lesson featured its own celebrity — superstar tennis coach Judy Murray taught the class alongside Pickleball Scotland.

Murray previously told STV she loved the sport "as an older tennis player" because it was on a smaller court and "less frenetic." "All the skills are easily adapted so it doesn't need endless coaching," she said.

The masterclass, which had 16 spots, featured mixed-ability players. As complete novices, my family and I were moved to the training court to learn the basics. 60 minutes in and we had already learned forehand, backhand and volleys.

After taking tennis lessons for two years and never progressing beyond the beginner stages, it was refreshing that pickleball was so easy to pick up. In the final 30 minutes, we moved to the Wimbledon-themed court to finish with a game complete with rallies.

Even on the larger court, I still had balls being called "out" as I struggled to control my natural reflex to hit them with the same intensity of a tennis swing. In pickleball, short swings are more common. Dinking, the art of hitting the ball softly, is often used to control the pace of the game and gain advantages over opponents.

Even though I got a good workout, I didn't find myself dripping in sweat, which I found to be a big plus. As an avid CrossFitter, I've become accustomed to a puddle of sweat forming around me after workouts in the summer months. While it's great for my fitness, it isn't so great for socializing.

I could see the appeal of pickleball for Silicon Valley's elite. It's a great way to be active and network without feeling too vulnerable. Not being sweaty removes any fear about how you look that I often experience playing sport in front of my colleagues. It also makes it easier to carry a conversation while playing. I've found that in other sports players are pitted against each other more aggressively from the outset, which can create an uncomfortable dynamic with colleagues, especially if they are very competitive. The family-friendly nature of pickleball removed this tension for me. While I could never see myself mixing work with yoga or intense fitness classes at Barry's Bootcamp, some easy-going pickleball felt like a better way to network while exercising.

But that lower intensity means it wouldn't replace my five times a week high-intensity fitness classes. Instead I would incorporate sessions into my existing regime to test different areas of my fitness. The sport's low barriers to entry makes this easy to do without breaking the bank.

As we made our way from the court to the drawing room for afternoon tea, I realized another benefit of the sport is that it's easy to transition from playing to networking. I initially felt self-conscious attending afternoon tea at a luxury hotel in my gym gear but the minimal sweat and welcoming environment made the transition smooth.

Pickleball Scotland's Mutrie said she believed the sport was more social than others because it's played recreationally. Many clubs host pickleball festivals where people play as many games as possible rather than keeping track of who is the winner and loser, she added.

I think this makes it ideal for finding community or building relationships with existing contacts. It's one of the core reasons I am keen to incorporate it into my current exercise regime. Recreation over competition makes pickleball much less daunting when playing with colleagues or new contacts.