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STAY​
A guide to how to get healthy and stay healthy in Columbia
HEALTHY!
Pickleball: the fastest growing sport in America
As people grow old, a sound body will become more important than anything else. There are many ways to keep fit after 50 in Columbia. A group of senior players, including Jan Thompson, practice pickleball to stay healthy every day. They also play in the Missouri State Senior Games.
The reason why they play pickleball is because it is a sport for seniors. Unlike tennis, it involves less running. A family invented this game 30 years ago and named it after their dog, Pickle, who liked to chase the ball. The court for pickleball is smaller than the one for tennis. "Kitchen," the nickname players give to the central area of the court, is like a giant Ping-pong table. Players have to switch from badminton to Ping-Pong according to their position, witch Thompson said is a "fantastic" experience.
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