Where public pickleball in Sonoma County started - and where your coach lives.
Windsor is where Michael lives, so it gets more of his week than its size would suggest. It is also, genuinely, where public pickleball in Sonoma County began.
The town striped its tennis courts for pickleball in 2011, before any other municipality in the county, and in October 2024 it opened the county's first purpose-built dedicated public courts. Those courts exist because a local charity spent four years raising the money and handed it to the town, which put it together with state and local funding. For a facility of that size it is an unusually community-built thing.
What Windsor does not have is coaching above the introductory level. The town runs its own beginner and advanced-beginner classes, and they are good value - but they stop there. There is nothing above advanced beginner, nothing year-round for juniors, and no private coaching. If you have finished the town's course and want to know what comes next, that gap is exactly where a private lesson earns its money.
One venue, and it is a good one. Court booking and any reservation fee are handled for you.
This catches people out constantly, because several listing sites say otherwise. The lit courts at Hiram Lewis Park are the tennis courts. The pickleball courts are unlit and the town's posted rules open with "Pickleball Court hours are 8:00 am to sunset". In December that means finishing before five. Plan winter play for the middle of the day.
They sit behind the Boys & Girls Club, south of the tennis courts, and they are not visible from the main car park. The town's own rules document gives the park address for emergencies and then adds "pickleball courts behind Boys & Girls Club", which tells you how often people circle looking for them.
Windsor has written court rules and the regulars keep to them: your paddle in the rack holds your place in the queue, it is four-on and four-off when people are waiting, winners stay a maximum of three games on the challenge court, and warm-ups are capped at five minutes when eight or more are waiting. Knowing that before your first visit is the difference between being welcomed and being the person who does not know how the queue works.
Windsor Parks & Recreation runs Beginning and Advanced Beginner pickleball on Thursdays through the autumn, in morning and early-evening blocks, at a price per four-week course that works out cheaper per hour than any private coaching - including this. If you are starting from nothing, take it. It is listed in the town's seasonal activity guide rather than on the main programmes page, which is why most people miss it.
Times and programmes above are run by other organisations and can change. Check the linked page before you travel.
Every format below runs at any of the venues above. No membership, no joining fee.
One hour, one player, everything aimed at your game.
$75The long session, for when one hour is never quite enough.
$110Bring your regular doubles partner and fix the team, not just the strokes.
$100Three to five players, one theme, ninety minutes.
$35 / playerNever played? Two hours and you will be playing real games.
$50 / playerSee what you actually do, not what you think you do.
$85Windsor is home, so there is no travel charge and short-notice times are easier here than anywhere else on this site. Parking at Hiram Lewis Park is free and there are restrooms and water on site.
Five dedicated courts. Published counts vary between two and six depending on which listing site you read - most of them are describing the striped tennis courts from before the 2024 rebuild, and the town does not state a number anywhere on its own site.
Only in summer. The pickleball courts have no lights and close at sunset, so from about October to March an after-work lesson in Windsor is not realistic. Rohnert Park has floodlit courts and is about twenty-five minutes away if evenings are the only time you have.
That is the most common reason people in Windsor get in touch. The town's programme stops at advanced beginner, so the next step is usually the third shot, dinking under pressure, and where to stand when the point goes long - the things that decide games between players who can already rally.
Not a formal one that we could find - searches for "Windsor pickleball club" mostly turn up Windsor in Ontario. Play at Hiram Lewis is first come, first served, and the county-wide clubs are the ones to look at if you want organised sessions and ladders.
Something not covered? The full FAQ goes further, or just send a message.
Michael teaches across 10 towns in the North Bay.
Pick a day and a time that suits you and Michael will confirm it, usually within a few hours. Nothing is charged when you book.
