What Is Kubb and Is It Really a Threat to Pickleball?

Move over tennis, pickleball has a new public enemy number one.

Kubb.

If you just said, "Huh?" Don't worry — you're not the only one. In fact, we had to research how to pronounce it correctly. Apparently, it's not cub or cube as it appears; it's koob.

To be fair, it's a Scandinavian lawn game, so a seemingly weird annunciation is probably to be expected.

What is this kubb, and how is it quickly becoming an enemy of pickleball? Let's find out together.

What is Kubb?

As mentioned, Kubb is a Scandinavian lawn game described as a "blend of bowling and horseshoes." It's also called "Viking chess." It involves standing in an open field and throwing pegs at wooden blocks called "kubbs."

According to LAist, it's taking over South Pasadena, Calif.

While the origin of Kubb is unknown, it's rumored to have started over 1,000 years ago by Vikings who played with the skulls and thigh bones of their victims.

Makes you wonder what Vikings would've used to make their pickleball paddles.

The setup

According to Kubb United, Kubb is played on a 5x8 meter (16 feet x 26 feet) playing field called the pitch. Two teams, with 1-6 players per team, attempt to be the first to knock down the other team's kubbs (each side has 10 kubbs lined up across the baseline) and the King (in the middle of the pitch).

How to play

Players from each team stand behind the baseline and throw batons at the other team's kubbs until they knock them all down. Then, there are some rules about keeping kubbs in bounds and then repositioning them across the pitch.

Honestly, it sounds like you'd be better off watching the video or playing it yourself to understand it.

Sounds fun, but it's no pickleball

Obviously, Kubb being a threat to pickleball is all in jest. Kubb sounds like a fun game to play at a brewery or outside on a nice day, but we won't be hanging up our pickleball court shoes for it any time soon.

So, let's scratch all that talk about it being public enemy No. 1. Tennis, you're still leading the way.