Dan Ockenden was a competitor at the Skechers English Open with one of the more unique professions, with playing pickleball one of the ways he stays in shape for his job.

The 38-year-old works on film sets for a living, specifically as a body double for when actors are seen riding on horses, with his schedule allowing him to take part in one of the fastest growing sports in the world.

Since being introduced to pickleball by his friends, Ockenden has started playing for St Andrews while he has recently set up his own club, Let’s Play Pickleball Scotland.

Through that he is about to start running tournaments, having built up a solid base of around 20 people playing every Sunday, with sessions often being sold out three weeks in advance.

Dundee’s Ockenden said: “Some of my friends in Glasgow have a court at their house and I went down and played a couple of times for fun.

“Then me and my other friends thought, because I was getting a little fat, we need to lose a bit of weight, so it literally started like that and that was about three years ago.

“We play at least about five times a week, although when I’m filming it’s really difficult to fit it in because they’re long days, so that week I’ll probably do a bit less [pickleball].

“But I don’t work every day, so I go to a few clubs and I also have a court at where I stay [when filming] and then I run a club, so I’ve got a few different things happening.

“There’s enough going on with us that I can play at nights.”

At the English Open, held at the Telford International Centre, Ockenden reached the quarter-finals of the men’s 3.5 35+ doubles alongside Steven Bews while he also competed in the singles and the 3.5 18+ mixed doubles.

The 2024 English Open was the largest pickleball event to take place outside of North America, with a record number of almost 2,000 players from 42 countries participating.

Over 30,000 people around the United Kingdom now play the sport and there are over 700 places in which to play, with pickleball displaying an exponential growth in recent years.

Ockenden said: “It’s my first English Open and it’s been brilliant.

“You couldn’t get a better set-up, could you, and the atmosphere is class.

“Obviously, I knew there would be a lot of people here, having seen the entries, but it’s surprising how many people want to stay all day.

“I was here for singles and there was quite a few people that had played their games, maybe not had the best of days but stayed and kept joining in, which made the atmosphere what it is.”

Pickleball England has announced a record number of players competing at this year’s English OPEN from the 8th-14th August at the Telford International Centre in the largest pickleball event taking place outside of the USA EVER – visit pickleballengland.org