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Le Tableau du Dimanche Playing in clubs and tournaments: rules, licenses, rankings

Pickleball in France: what the participation numbers say

Published 29 October 2026 Revised 29 October 2026 4 minutes to read

La rédaction du Tableau du Dimanche.

A bar chart on a club wall, with players chatting in front of it.
Participation in numbers. The FFT counts about 30,000 players, 3,500 licenses and 850 clubs offering pickleball, with roughly half of license holders being women. The FFT has 7,000 clubs that could host the sport. The gap between players and license holders shows how much room there is for federation growth.

Here's the file logged under the title "Pickleball in France: what the participation numbers say," sorted and dated just for you. You'll learn how to read the figures on players, licenses and clubs.

In brief: a pickleball tournament can only be sanctioned by the FFT if it's run by an affiliated club, an authorized organization, a departmental committee or a regional league. Every sanctioning request for a pickleball tournament goes through the ADOC app, and the sanctioning fee is €32 for all tournaments. When the delegation was announced, the FFT counted about 30,000 pickleball players in France, including 3,500 license holders (almost half of them women), and 850 clubs involved.

What's been recorded

Noted in the sources: the Nîmes project calls for 5 indoor courts and 2 outdoor courts, with a 6.5 m ceiling height.

The figure on record is this one: the FFT pickleball ranking (levels 3.0, 4.0 and 5.0) is updated every quarter, in November, February, May and August.

Noted in the sources: for the 2026-2027 season, the FFT Club license costs €33 for an adult and €23 for a young player aged 7 to 18.

The figure on record is this one: the first official FFT pickleball ranking was published on November 5, 2024.

The definitions you need

The glossary opens here, in reading order.

Pickleball-only club

A pickleball-only club is an organization devoted entirely to this sport.

Here's an example: in Nîmes, a club devoted entirely to pickleball was announced as the first in the South.

For the full entry, see Club dédié au pickleball.

Two-bounce rule

The two-bounce rule requires the ball to bounce once on each side before volleys are allowed.

Example on file: the receiver lets the serve bounce, then the server lets the return bounce before volleying.

The complete definition is in the entry Règle du double rebond.

What's at stake

According to the text cited, the ministerial delegation gives the FFT official responsibility for organizing pickleball in France.

On the written rules, the source says: according to Padel Magazine, the delegation also lets the FFT train coaches and referees and represent pickleball internationally.

Provision noted in the texts: the Fédération française de tennis (FFT) received the delegation for pickleball from the Ministry of Sports, announced on January 2, 2026.

A closer look at the decision factors

The criteria below work as a grid for comparing and ranking your options.

  • The single license doesn't change the ranking — each sport keeps its own ranking calculation methods.
  • The FFT pickleball ranking counts tournaments whose end date falls within the last 12 months.
  • According to Padel Magazine, the ministry chose the FFT for its racket-sport expertise, its dense regional network and its proven ability to take on new sports like padel or beach tennis.
  • A player can appear in three separate rankings — singles, doubles by gender and mixed doubles.
  • Pickleball is one of the activities folded into the FFT, alongside padel, beach tennis and paratennis.

How many players are there?

A scenario on file: in Nîmes, a club devoted entirely to pickleball, announced for late March 2026, plans 5 covered courts and 2 outdoor ones.

Points to note

Keep these entries, logged for your personal archive.

  • The single license doesn't change the ranking.
  • A player can appear in three separate rankings.

Bottom line: the essentials

Here's a quick recap of the pieces you've just gone through: what's been recorded, the definitions you need, what's at stake and a closer look at the decision factors. Check the sources cited before making any decision, and note the date of your own visit.

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Our sources

The federal framework for pickleball in France has been changing since the 2026 delegation: check licenses, prices and rules on the FFT website before you sign up for anything.

How this article was checked

This article draws on 9 sources: 6 reference organizations and 3 press articles.

The facts were checked against their sources on October 15, 2026.

The method we followed: Sources et vérification.