You might have heard it at indoor and outdoor sporting facilities around the Hunter - that pop-pop-pop sound is unmissable.
Perhaps, you've seen the signs around town declaring its arrival.
Either way, you are sure to have been left wondering, what is it?
Pickleball, for those not in the know, is a paddle sport described as a cross between tennis, table tennis and badminton.
It has taken the United States by storm and is now not only the fastest-growing sport in Australia but also the world.
A quick Google search tells us celebrities Ellen DeGeneres and Leonardo DiCaprio and five-time Olympian Michael Phelps are into it.
But you don't have to be a global superstar to get on board.
That's the appeal, Hunter Pickleball vice-president Dianne Patch said - anyone can play.
"We've got players from five years old to 85 years old," Ms Patch said.
"All can play competitive if they want. They can play social or just play for their own benefit. Join the pickleball family.
"We're looking at introducing multi-generational-type games where grandparents can play with their grandchildren."
In Australia, Newcastle was an earlier adopter of the sport.
Hunter Pickleball became a sub-committee of Hunter Badminton Association before branching out on their own in 2019.
Since then the not-for-profit sporting group has amassed 250 members and expanded to PCYCs in Nelson Bay, Cessnock, Morisset and Windale, Floraville tennis courts as well as The Forum at Callaghan.
Sessions are held around the region most days.
It has become so big that Hunter Pickleball has found a new home at Newcastle Basketball Stadium, where they have nine courts compared to four at most other venues.
"We've increased our numbers by sixty per cent in the last 12 months," Ms Patch said.
She puts that down to "the ease of learning the game, the low cost and benefit to your health".
The Rathmines 72-year-old turned to pickleball when tennis became too painful.
"Bad knees meant I couldn't play, wasn't happy," Ms Patch, who has had two knee replacements, said.
"Loved my friends, hated tennis day. Pickleball is more hits, more fun. Love it. I still play competition."
The move to Newcastle Basketball Stadium at Broadmeadow means more people can play simultaneously.
Ms Patch said Hunter Pickleball were working with Newcastle, Lake Macquarie and Maitland councils to source more facilities to accommodate the sport's continued growth.
City of Newcastle councillor Peta Winney-Baartz, who is also chair of council's sports infrastructure working party, was on hand to officially open the new Hunter Pickleball venue at Newcastle Basketball Stadium on Monday.
"What Hunter Pickleball suggested to me today is that they're hoping to be included in that new stadium," councillor Winney-Baartz said.
"[Newcastle Basketball general manager] Matt [Neason] needs to be given all the credit for initiating this because facilities like this kind of sit around during the day unless there's practice and pickleball is absolutely the fastest-growing sport in the country, let alone the city.
"We've opened some courts out at Wallsend and I know how popular it is. So this is giving them more facilities and I would certainly applaud them being included in use at Broadmeadow."
The global phenomenon has led to a wave of under-used tennis courts being converted for pickleball, which is played on a quarter of the space.
Discover Sports Group have converted two tennis courts at Broadmeadow into eight dedicated pickleball courts with two more to be added.
"People had played on the courts and we were really biding time to see if this thing was going to take off, and it certainly looks like it's not just a novelty now but it's moved into a genuine sports side of things," David Comyns, managing director of Discover Sports Group, said.
There have been "plenty" of enquiries since opening the new courts in December.
"To what growth rate we're expecting, I don't know but every single day we're getting new people in," Comyns said.
"As soon as they come up to the desk, the questions are, 'How do you play? What are the rules? Can I get equipment from you?', because it's not really out there.
"We have an app and a website that covers all of that before you get on court. We've made it specially dedicated to people who haven't played before that want to play and how to play and that process before you actually get to the facility."
