On a pickleball court in Calabasas, players don't play pickleball.
They use what appear to be modified tennis rackets, and play with a brightly colored foam ball that’s a little bigger than a baseball.
It’s a new sport created by a Ventura County man called TYPTI, pronounced like "TIP-tee."
"We're using pickleball courts, which are now TYPTI courts, which used to be badminton courts," said Steve Bellamy. He said he’s thought about the TYPTI concept for decades, and spent the last three years perfecting it.
"Pickleball stole the court from badminton, and TYPTI stole it from pickleball. The racquet is very different than a tennis racquet. It's a 22" mono shaft frame, so it is kind of a mixture of the tennis racquet and the badminton racquet. It uses a 3 1/2 inch channeled ball. We tried everything, and we ended up with these channeled balls. The reason they're channeled is because, if I'm going to serve it at you, I can aim the channels at you, and I can create more spin, and hit a harder ball. If I want to slow it down, I can turn it sideways, and now I have drag from those channels."
He thinks it will take off as a sport because of the ease of playing it.
"It is definitely easier to play than tennis. The barrier to entry is way lower, as is pickleball," said Bellamy. "One of the reasons pickleball has done so well is that the barrier to entry is so low. TYPTI is also super low."
"TYPTI is basically the next sport. It's one of the most fun games to play," said Kyle Verdi, a senior at Westlake High School in Westlake Village. He's a big fan.
"If you like pickleball, if you like tennis, if you like racquet sports, you've gotta try TYPTI."
He added that it's like having the best of tennis, pickleball, and badminton in one place.
"It's very interesting," said Logan Smith, another TYPTI player. "I come from a tennis background, and I'm trying to get used to the foam ball. It's so different from how you play tennis, with the spins and slices. But, it's still fun."
TYPTI has unusual rules. One of them allows you to use not only your racquet, but your body to keep the ball in play when you are at the net.
"You can hit with the body, instead of the racquet," said TYPTI creator Steve Bellamy. "The net is neutral, so if the ball hits the net, and it bounces back, you can't hit it again with your string, but you can use anything else — your hand, your foot, your handle. You just can't use the string pad. It keeps the point alive, and it makes for the fun points."
Bellamy said he wants the sport to be accessible to the public, but he also sees potential for professional leagues. He’s considered to be a visionary in the sports world, as the founder of the Tennis Channel and the Surf Channel.
"TYPTI is the single most telegenic sport in racquets," said Bellamy. "I ran The Tennis Channel. It's just sort of eye candy for a television viewer."
He said that because of the boom in pickleball court construction around the country, TYPTI has an easy pathway for growth, because it uses the same courts. Bellamy noted that because of the foam ball, it’s also quieter to play than pickleball, which means fewer conflicts over noise with pickleball court neighbors.
What about the name of the sport? Bellamy admits that TYPTI is s like the name Kodak, where he once worked. It isn't an acronym. It’s just a name they came up with.
