What is Typti? New racket sport could solve pickleball’s noise problem.
By Matt Schooley
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BOSTON (WBZ) — A new racket sport called Typti aims to tap into the popularity of pickleball while also solving some of the noise complaints surrounding the sport.
If you are familiar with pickleball, you know the high-pitched and repetitive sound that has become the center of neighborhood controversies around the country.
In Braintree, the city had so many complaints they had to put up a sound barrier around their local courts. Nantucket considered a ban on pickleball due to noise complaints.
Typti appears to solve that problem.
“It’s a big foam ball, a little bit bigger than a tennis ball, very quiet, which is kind of interesting. It doesn’t make any noise at all,” Stephen Mitchell, co-owner of the Boston Pickle Club told WBZ NewsRadio. “And it is a lot of fun. I can see why people would be getting into it.”
Mitchell said the game is so new, he’s only played it once. He described it as a cross between pickleball and tennis that is played on a pickleball court.
“I sort of fixed everything that was wrong with tennis and everything that was wrong with other racket sports and made what I think is the perfect racket sport,” Typti creator Steve Bellamy, founder of the Tennis Channel, told WBZ-TV. “There’s so much joy when you play Typti.”
The sport has some big-name investors that include former Saints quarterback Drew Bres and actor Chris Pine.
According to Bellamy, Tipti is easy on the body and great for beginners.
“The most important thing about Typti is the barrier of entry is so low. You can go out with no racket skills whatsoever and you are playing a racket sport,” Bellamy said.
The rules are a bit different than pickleball. You don’t need to worry about the kitchen like you do in pickleball. And if you hit it into the net, the ball is still live. But you have to use your hand, foot or really any body part.
“You can use any part of your body at any time to use a ball strike. The only thing you can’t do is hit the string bed twice,” Bellamy said.
Mitchell said because pickleball infrastructure is already in place, Typti opens up a new opportunity for business owners.
“It’s definitely going to be interesting to see what happens with it in this area. It is something for us, in terms of being a pickleball facility. It’s played on a pickleball court. So it’s another sport we can use at our facilities,” Mitchell said.
And it could offer some peace and quiet for those who live near the courts.
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