A client recently made fun of me for not playing pickleball. I suppose I have missed the memo. Suddenly, every empty space, from parking lots to old tennis courts is being converted into pickleball arenas. Hey boys and girls, it is the hottest trend in town.
Everyone wants to be seen playing the game these days because it is fashionable, after all. Like many “can’t-miss” trends, I suspect the hype may not last forever. Markets have cycles and apparently, so do sports.
I teased him that most of his energy probably goes into chasing and picking up bouncing balls on the court which, to be fair, seems to be a big part of the game, if you know what I mean.
Personally, I will stick to badminton. Faster, sharper, and a bit less conversational. To me, pickleball feels more like a social gathering disguised as a sport. Nothing wrong with that, of course. Just not quite my game.
It did get me thinking about investing. We have all seen this movie before. Something becomes fashionable, everyone starts talking about it, and suddenly nobody wants to be the person who is not involved. The problem is that popularity and investment value are not always the same thing.
This is also why I have always preferred to look beyond the noise and the latest fashionable idea. There are plenty of interesting opportunities around but not everything that is popular deserves a place in a portfolio.
Perhaps that is one of the reasons some people come to me. Not necessarily because I know how to play every new game in town but because I am quite comfortable asking whether the game is actually worth playing.
Now, if anyone needs me, I will be on the badminton court. Probably chasing fewer balls.