Speaker
Description
In 2023, the convenor of ISO/TC43/SC1/WG45 on the assessment of environmental noise (ISO 1996) was approached initially regarding whether pickleball noise had come to the attention of this group. This developed into a request for information on how pickleball and the related padel sport are dealt with around the world, and the need for international guidance on how to assess it. Both pickleball and padel are growing in popularity. There are claims that there is a strong difference in the intrusiveness of pickleball and padel in comparison with other sports, due to their acoustic signatures. It has become clear that there is a need to develop assessment methodology for these emerging sports with their unique and unfamiliar acoustic signatures. Existing standardized assessment methodology and dose-response studies are both limited, creating noise assessment challenges. There is an immediate need for the sharing of information and experience from around the world to help experts better develop assessment methodology.ISO/TC43/SC1/WG45 has initiated work to gather information and have agreed to publish findings at an international conference as soon as possible in order to uncover existing and in-development methodology, and to encourage funded international research in this area. This paper describes the background as well as the status of our work to collect existing practice on the assessment of non-professional padel and pickleball sport in outdoor courts. In addition, it describes the plans that the group is forming to initiate work to identify dose-response relationships and appropriate metrics, including the use of Rating Level as defined in ISO 1996.