Pickleball

About nine months ago my friend Hilary said “Let’s take Pickleball lessons through “UFM” and I said yes. We took 2, two hour lessons, a week apart and I was hooked. Hilary only played a few weeks more before leaving town then getting injured.

We started at Douglass center where the rumor is they are more patient with beginners. I then started going on my own to Anthony Community Center. There are a mix of skills there and everyone is welcoming. I am now in several group meeting apps. I enjoy driving to Wamego and play outdoors and do so one to two times per week. . For about 8 weeks, I played at Genesis. There were some beginners initially, but it started to be mostly higher level players. I felt I was a huge liability but I stuck with it. Some people didn’t really want to play with me but were gracious.

They say Pickleball is an old person’s sport because really it’s a sport about skill and expertise and not necessarily athleticism. Young people are playing more, and definitely quickness and agility are a factor.

I play two to three times a week for about an hour and a half each time. My skills were clearly behind almost all of the others when I started. I didn’t play tennis or racquetball only ping-pong, so I feel like I was at a disadvantage. I also had difficulty figuring out whether to wear contacts glasses, bifocals, trifocals, or sunglasses and that’s been challenging. But the longer I’ve played and the more pointers I’ve gotten, and the more experienced gain, I’m keeping up and improving.

Pickleball is a mind game. When I first started playing, there was so much to think about. Where to stand, what the score is, who serves next. I felt anxious and overwhelmed and bad for the other people trying to get a fun volley going. At some point, I decided to just have fun. This positively affected my playing.

I’ve also noticed that I have to focus on the ball and keep my mind focused on the ball at all times or I miss it. So once muscle memory started to kick in, and some of these things like keeping the paddle in ready position and scoring became second nature, then I could start focusing on hitting the ball where I where I want to hit the ball. Now my serves are landing almost every time and my returns are at about 90 to 95%. I can run up to the kitchen line and hit the ball about 80% of the time. Certainly there are some things I need to improve on. Like returning shots at the feet or the fast ones down the middle line. But these are hard for everyone. I would love to take some lessons and will take that opportunity the second I get it. I feel like people are less frustrated with playing with me now and I feel less anxious while playing.

I have gotten my feelings hurt a few times. There was a guy coming to teach lessons and the organizer said I wasn’t ready for intermediate lessons. That hurt. Then Once at Genesis, a guy started poaching every shot, meaning he came over, got in front of me and took the shots I was meant to get without giving me a chance. I said, “a I can get those,” and I think he felt bad. Another time I hit a really bad shot into the net. The very nice gentleman I was playing with sort of snapped at me. “you hit it down!” Then he felt bad and overly complimented me the next 5 shots and I felt patronized. When I’ve played with him previously, he has been very positive and encouraging.

Once in the group chat, a friend, or at least I felt we were making friends, asked who wanted to partner for a tournament. I private messaged her and she said yes. Two days later she messaged backing out saying an old friend was coming to town who wanted to play. She ended us playing with someone else.

I’m super excited for Scott to be able to join me again after he gets his cataract surgery and he can see the ball. I think this will increase my enjoyment tremendously. I feel bad when I leave him sitting at home if I drive over to Wamego in the evening or on the weekends. My favorite time to play is Friday mornings at the community center.

I’m so glad I found the sport and took it up to add to my kickboxing. It’s a great way to stay active and I’m also beginning to form a social community. Starting to remember names and faces and connect them.