(bright music) - Hey there, y'all.

Today I find myself in Florence, South Carolina.

And if you haven't heard of Florence, don't worry, we're gonna fix that today.

What used to be a small city that people simply passed on their way to the coast is now a growing contemporary city in the midst of a fantastic revitalization.

Florence is full of history, flavor, art, shopping, entertainment, I could go on and on.

But today's adventure is focused on all of the recreation opportunities that you'll find here.

For the first time, I'm gonna take a shot, quite literally, at playing one of the fastest growing sports in the nation.

Have you guessed it yet?

I'm gonna try pickle ball and I can't wait to go for it.

This is Will Altman, local pickle ball aficionado, right?

(both chuckle) - I don't know if I'd call myself that, but thanks.

- Yes, absolutely.

Well, thank you so much for having me today.

So you are from this area, the Florence area.

What do you think makes this part of South Carolina so special and why people would wanna come visit?

- [Will] Well, I'm from the area, so this place always feels like home for me and I think that because of the amazing people that are here, very quickly makes all people feel like home when they show up and meet people, 'cause it doesn't matter whether you're downtown, people are friendly, or you're out here playing pickle ball, people are nice and welcoming.

- [Devyn] Now, pickle ball, where does that name come from?

- [Will] Most people don't really know, but it supposedly comes from the guy that created the game.

He was playing with his kids when he made it and they had a dog named Pickle that decided to get involved.

And so, then it became Pickle's ball, so.

- The rest is history.

- That's right.

- [Devyn] We're gonna play some today.

I have a little bit of a tennis background, I love ping pong, do you think that's gonna help me?

- [Will] Absolutely.

I mean, if you know how to handle a paddle, then you'll be great.

- [Devyn] This is one of the fastest growing sports in the nation, why do you think people are so gravitated towards pickle ball?

- [Will] Well, it's a combination of things.

One, it's fun.

That's number one, number two is the fact that you get to meet so many people.

I mean, we were out here Friday morning and this place is full.

- Yes.

- [Will] And people play actually every day of the week, but it's easy to pick up, it's not something super difficult.

It's not like tennis where you've gotta be really technical and it's something you can do with your whole body.

- [Devyn] Awesome.

Well, I can't wait to get started.

Do you think you could show me around?

- Absolutely.

- All right, let's go for it.

- [Will] So here we are.

We're at the baseline.

And so, this is where the game starts.

You start on the right side, I go into the left side just like in tennis.

The big difference, though, is instead of hitting an overhand serve, you have to hit an underhand serve.

And it needs to be from, like, the waist-down.

So.

Perfect.

A learning lesson is that the ball has to land on that side of the court one time and then land on our side of the court one time.

And then once that happens, then everybody can hit it out of the air.

- Okay.

- So.

- Yeah.

So once on that side, once on this side, and then it's just all bets are off, you can just... - Yep.

Free for all after that.

- Love it.

- [Will] Another difference that I need to probably bring up, so we play with a paddle, not a racket.

This is what helps make this wiffle ball, kind of ball, pickle ball.

- Pickle ball.

- Yeah.

Actually go across.

'Cause this, it does not bounce the same way that a tennis ball does.

- Right.

A little bit slower of a game, would you say?

- No.

- No?

(Devyn laughs) - [Will] It's not because you're playing on a smaller court.

I mean, this is a badminton sized court, so everything happens quick, especially once you get up to the net.

- Cool, all right.

Do you wanna play?

- Let's play.

(bright music) - Yeah!

Whoo!

- Whoo!

Okay, sorry, okay.

Okay, tennis background or no, I totally get the pickle ball hype.

That was so much fun!

Pickle ball is fresh, it's energetic, a little bit quirky, a lot like Florence.

So come see for yourself.

Go grab some friends, take a road trip, come see all Florence has to offer.

Just go for it.