Pc Perk

A little about Pickleball

Pickleball- Is it for you? Is it the thing missing from your life?

Lets see–

So, Pickleball, what is it?

Why does everyone play?

Is it fun?

Is it hard?

How are the people?

These are the questions most people have when they hear about Pickleball. 

Let me answer them with my opinion and a little history..

Pickleball was created circa 1965 in Washington. The name is said to come from items left over from other sports.  Wiffle ball, paddle ball paddles and a badminton court.  Hence the name “Pickle” relating to the Pickle Boat, which was used in crew, a crew that was made up of leftover oarsmen. 

The game is compared to Ping Pong, Tennis, Badminton and a tennis net and honestly it reflects all three games. 

Pickleball has rules that differ from the other games it is derived from.  

This image of the court will help when learning the rules-

• You get one serve per player. Serve must be hit to the diagonal square, past the kitchen within the lines. If the serve is faulted, that’s it, the serve moves either to your teammate (if playing doubles) or the other team.
• There is a kitchen area, an area that is 7 ft from the net marked by lines.  The Kitchen is like a barrier; you can only step in the kitchen without it being a fault if the ball lands in the kitchen.  Then you must step back out of the kitchen before the ball is returned, and you hit it again.
• You can only score on your team’s serve
• After you serve- their return must bounce once before you can hit.  After that play is regular

Those are a snapshot of the rules.  There are a few more but you learn them as you play.

Why does everyone play?

1. It’s easy to learn, you can be told the rules as you play and within an hour, if that long, you can be in a somewhat competitive game.
2. It’s fun!
3. Everyone who plays is good at least one Micro skill of the game, and you can use that to your advantage.

EG:   You learn quickly what you are good at.  Spinning the ball, serving, dropshots, dinking—(which is just standing at the kitchen and tapping it over the line, forcing your opponent to do the same) many others…..

The one thing I have learned about Pickleball.

• Previous experience with any racquet sports helps your game. 
• Ping-Pong-  I have played with people who have played Ping-Pong, and they have a way they hit the ball, their spins on the court transfer from Ping-Pong to Pickleball, they are tough!
• Tennis- The form tennis players have, and the way they strike the ball, they can transition easily, their manipulation of the court gives them a great advantage
• Badminton- These are the toughest players to me- Badminton players have a way they flick their wrist when hitting the ball that they return your hits with fire, and a spin that will confuse you.  I have noticed with Badminton players, when you slow it down, hit it short, they have issues with returning.  But when they are on, they return fire balls at you…Scary!
• People Like me– most people have dabbled in each of the sports above but never mastered any.  I am just a hard worker who tries. I tend to just hit the ball as hard as I can. Just a little, i mean little skill with placement.   A Banger is what they call us on the pickleball court.  I get caught a lot.  I am a 50/50 type.  I will do good shots 50% of the time. I have no discipline, I have my moments and get lucky, and then sometimes I use finesse.  Most of the time I am the one who loses the point because I attacked the ball wrong….But the game is a blast, and you need all these different types to keep the game interesting.

Is it fun?

 Always!  You will get upset at yourself, but it’s Pickleball, you get over it.  This game is interesting because you must always be on your game. One mental lapse and the ball goes out, you hit the net, or you lob it up and get slammed on.  That makes it more interesting for you and your opponents.  Not once have I had a miserable time playing.  I have been upset at myself once or twice, but I’m not getting paid for Pickleball, so how much does it really bother me.

  I have always related Pickleball to boxing…(I relate everything in life to boxing) not that it’s dangerous or you get in fights but the way the action moves and the way you set up your opponent for the big hit.  You will be hitting the ball at a slow pace, your opponent will speed it up and you will be striking the balls faster quicker, and then the pace slows for a bit, you’re back to “dinking”, then you change it up, you try a different approach.  The game is strategic– although a bystander wouldn’t notice it.  It is a mind game, a game where you try to be better than you were the last time, a lot like yoga.

Is it Hard?

–The hardest part about pickleball is remembering how to keep score, and to remember to let the ball bounce once on the return serve.  (Return serve is when the ball is hit back to you after the serve). You have to let it bounce before hitting it. I still struggle with this; I still run up too fast after the return to this day.  I just did it this past Friday.

How are the people?

 You come across a lot of different types of people playing pickleball.

The best thing about pickleball is that you will be playing with people from every walk of life and age.

I have been in tournaments against people who are going through Chemo, people who learned pickleball in prison, father and sons playing together, people who are 78 years old, 16 years old, and everything in between.

Don’t let age fool you.

 I was in a tournament once with a woman who was 76, and her spin on the ball was the craziest thing I have ever seen in my life.  She would just laugh, and of course I would smile but when the ball would hit the ground, and it would -straight up- just stop, it hurt my soul.  Her serve was so good.

 I ended up winning, but it was a long game.

There is a lesson with this.  You must keep that killer attitude with everyone.  The older folks are going to come after you and have no qualms about beating you.  You have to have the same mentality.

Age in pickleball is nothing but a number. 

100 %. 

You will get smoked by somebody 20 years older than you, and my advice is learning how to lose gracious, and then learn how to not feel bad for people and try your hardest every match.  If you care about winning!

So, there are elitists in pickleball, you will run into people who talk about all their victories, all their paddles and how much they spend, the expensive places they play, you will even have people who lie about their level in tournaments, so they win.  Pay attention to them if you want, but there is that factor, there are elitists in every type of hobby or sport.  I just walk away, that is how I deal with that.  Then again, I am not a conversation type person, I have more hobbies than I have friends.

Paddles—How much do I spend?  What do I buy?

 Here is where it gets tricky.  So, there are a lot of schools of thought on this.

I have somebody I play with.  He bought a Paddle when we first started playing together, nothing special, probably a $30-40 paddle.  He used that paddle until it broke, then bought the same one again and again.  He is good, and it is what he likes. 

Me, I have let’s say currently 5 paddles.   The prices for each paddle range from $70-220.  I use probably two of them.  I have tried different paddles to find my gem.  I will show you my main paddle.

  It is a Pro Kennex.  I love this paddle for two reasons.  One- it is a little bit thinner and two, it helps with tennis elbow. 

You know that little pain you get in the middle of the soft part of your elbow.

 I would get this pain in my elbow when playing tennis and also when I started playing pickleball.  I moved to this paddle, and the pain disappeared.  That is no word of a lie..(See that Texas comes out sometimes)   

I will till the day I die, promote this paddle.  I love it and it improved my game. The paddle is light weight and enables you to move the paddle around for quick responses.

Most of the folks I play with have 2-3 paddles they play with, and their cost is about the same as what I quoted for myself above.

Starting out – my opinion, go cheaper, see if you like playing, then make your decisions.  Some paddles, although they look cool and may have all this advanced technology, you may buy, and you don’t like it.  It will happen.  So, on this point start small, start cheap, but just like a baseball player, you will find your bat as you get confidence and experience with the sport.  You can find a paddle at a sporting goods store or a big box store or just order one online.

Overall-

Like I stated before, all this is my opinion based on my experiences.  Your experience may differ, so take this for what it is worth….

I have had a blast playing pickleball.  That is the word that describes it all for me. 

The main thing, once you find a good group to play with, laugh with and learn the game with, it becomes almost like a joking/playing session.  You make fun of each other, you help each other, and you play hard with each other.  Some will leave for other groups, some folks will be “some- timers” and others will be there for the long term.  My group now is a mix of guys and gals from 16- 20 years old, then a group of 30–47-year-olds, to 67-75- year- olds.   It’s a wide range of people from different backgrounds, Dr.’s, professionals, warehouse workers, stay at home parents, retirees’ and everything in between.  We also have people who play just for the comradery, the super competitive, to the hard worker, to the gets “distracted by a plane in the sky” person.

Like I said above, I have never had a bad time playing pickleball, take it easy, learn, your type of game will come, your own style.  Just like with anything in life, if somebody is pushy on the court, let them know, they need to relax, it’s just pickleball, because once you start stressing about the game, it’s not a game anymore…..

Talk to y’all later,

—Paddy Cole