Play! Pickle Serangoon Pickleball Court: S$12 Lunch Games

Most outdoor courts in Singapore leave you choosing between the noon sun and an evening thunderstorm. Play! Pickle took over a hall on the fourth floor of a heartland mall so you don't have to. Its Serangoon venue is the operator's newest. It has four full-sized air-conditioned courts and one half-width singles court in a bright room with pro nets, pink lines and café-style tables along the side. Anyone can book a court online without a membership.

The address is Play! Pickle, 756 Upper Serangoon Rd, #04-27, Singapore 534626, inside Upper Serangoon Shopping Centre. The club's own directions put Serangoon MRT (NE12/CC13) about 0.75 to 0.8 km away. From Exit H you can walk roughly ten minutes along Upper Serangoon Road, or take bus 45, 80, 81, 82, 101, 107, 107M or 153 two stops to the stop called Aft Upper Serangoon Shopping Ctr (63019). Kovan MRT (NE13) is about 1 km the other way, a twelve to fourteen minute walk. Once you're in the mall, take the lift to level four and look for the glass frontage and the sound of plastic balls.

A standard doubles court costs S$38 an hour on weekdays from 7 AM to 6 PM. After 6 PM on weekdays, all day at weekends and on public holidays it costs S$48. The skinny singles court is the cheapest way to practise. It costs S$18 an hour on weekday daytimes and S$28 in the evening, at weekends and on public holidays. If four of you split a daytime doubles court, each player pays under S$10 for an hour of air-conditioned play. That works out cheaper than most people expect after seeing the evening rate. You can rent paddles at S$5 per paddle per hour and pay at the venue. Serangoon is also one of the two Play! Pickle sites that sell pickleballs, so you can buy a fresh tube if yours have gone soft.

Bookings go through a public CourtReserve page, and the club says no account setup or membership is required. You can book up to 15 days ahead. Weeknight slots after 6 PM are the ones that sell out once office crowds have planned their week, so book a fortnight out if you want a regular evening game. To cancel, you have to do it at least 24 hours before your slot. Eligible refunds come back as CourtReserve credit, not to your card. Outside coaches need the club's approval before they can run lessons on these courts.

If you don't have three friends free at the same time, the weekday lunch session is the easiest way in. On Mondays, Tuesdays and Thursdays from 12 PM to 2 PM, Play! Pickle runs Lunch + Pickleball for S$12 per person. You get open play with social mixing, and lunch is included. It works for people who live in the area or work from home nearby and can get away for two hours. On Friday evenings from 8 PM to 10:30 PM there's Match & Mingle, a singles event split into 20s–30s and 30s–40s groups. Rotations are arranged so that you play with lots of different partners, and beginners get light coaching. Afterwards everyone who took part gets an email with the full list of participants.

Beginners who want structure can sign up for the adult group course. It costs S$220 and covers four hours of coaching across two classes, with a maximum of six people per group. Classes start at 7 PM on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays, at 9 AM on Saturdays and Sundays, and at 2 PM on Saturdays. Children aged five to twelve have their own S$220 block of four one-hour classes, with up to six kids per coach. Sessions for ages five to eight run on Wednesday at 5 PM and Saturday at 11 AM. The nine to twelve group plays Wednesday at 6 PM and Saturday at 8 AM. Parents can watch from the lounge tables right next to the baseline.

Play! Pickle was founded by Darren, Celine and Adrian, and Darren also started the sister brands Play! Tennis and Play! Padel. The Serangoon hall is the newest addition: TheSmartLocal covered its opening in December 2025, describing the pastel pink walls, the pink court lines and the launch-season socials, including a Thursday lunch game that came with a shio pan for each player. Besides Serangoon, the club runs group classes in Chai Chee and Kallang and courts at St Patrick's School on East Coast Road, and the court page lists those other sites as sheltered or outdoor. Being the air-conditioned site, the hall is also used for corporate team days, which start from S$580 for up to 60 people with certified coaches and a private lounge. If you see a company group in matching shirts on a weekday afternoon, it's probably one of these events. They're another reason to book your own slot early.

The hall is open from 7 AM to midnight, and the schedule shapes the mood. Weekday daytime hire is cheapest and quietest before the lunch social arrives at noon. From 7 PM on Tuesdays to Thursdays, adult group courses take a share of the courts, so walk-up gaps are rare. Pack clean indoor court shoes so you are not tracking grit from the street onto the hall floor. The white tables are a pleasant place to wait out a game. Leave the courts promptly when your hour ends, because the next booking is usually waiting at the gate.

Once your hour is up, walk south along Upper Serangoon Road towards Serangoon MRT and NEX, the large mall above the interchange. It has food courts and plenty of air-conditioned space to cool down in. If you'd rather go somewhere green, Bidadari Park lies a short bus ride further down the road. It's a newer estate park with a lake, boardwalks and old trees from the former cemetery grounds, and it's at its best around sunset. Heading north instead, Kovan's hawker stalls near the MRT station are a cheap way to refuel after a late-morning session.

• Address: Play! Pickle, 756 Upper Serangoon Rd, #04-27, Singapore 534626 (Upper Serangoon Shopping Centre, level 4) - Hours: daily, 7 AM to 12 midnight - Courts: four air-conditioned standard courts and one singles court - Standard court: S$38 per hour on weekdays before 6 PM; S$48 per hour on weekday evenings, weekends and public holidays - Singles court: S$18 per hour on weekday daytimes; S$28 per hour at other times - Paddle rental: S$5 per paddle per hour, paid at the venue - Booking: CourtReserve, up to 15 days ahead; cancel at least 24 hours before your slot for credit - Contact: hello@playpickle.sg