BREAKING NEWS!!!

A few weeks back in a nearlier post we had made mention of the Pickleball Tournament in Nanaimo, BC July 27-29, 2012. Before when we mentioned it they were allowing all paddles including the Apike and Hush, which turned a lot of people off. After talking with the organizers this weekend, they are going to be following IFP rules only and not allowing non-conforming paddles! This is great news! Ron & Dee Pitcher (who oversee Pickleball Nanaimo) and their dedicated volunteers put on a great tournament, one of the best I have seen! Singles on Friday night, mens and ladies doubles on Saturday, followed by mixed doubles on Sunday. You want to be a part of this tournament. We'll see you there!

What do you look for in a pickleball paddle

We at Pickleball International love to put the right pickleball equipment in you hands to make your pickleball skills improve. We are looking at designing our very own paddle, and want to know what you look for in a paddle:

• Logo and/or colour?
• Material composition?
• Weight and/or paddle shape?
• Grip length, width?
• Technique and/or power? 
• Extra features?
• Durability?
• Edgeless or edge-guard?
• Cost?

We want to design a paddle that helps you. Whether at your weekly pickleball session at the rec center, or in that tournament setting. We want you to not only buy it with confidence, but know this will help your game. Send your comments to help us help you.

Pickleball needs women

I've noticed at many different rec centers and pickleball groups that there seems to be a growing number of young males that play, a plethora of retired men and women...but there seems to be little to no young women playing pickleball. I've had many opportunities to play against and with some talented women players that would beat or give a great game for anyone. Maybe if women were given an opportunity to play during the day when kids are in school, or when childcare is provided. This is one area of concern that the pickleball community needs to address.

Pickleball mini-tournament "Points of the compass"

Last evening at our advanced pickleball night we tried another new mini-tournament format sent by a friend from Arizona called, 'Points of the compass." It is a harder game to administrate, but it's great to have some variety with mini-tournament options. This format is a wonderful format to give players an opportunity to play lots of matches.  It also can accommodate different ability levels in one draw.  It works best for 8, 16, 32 or 64 players, so that there are no byes are in the draw.
At the end of each round, the winners continue in their tournament in the same direction, while the losers move to other points on the compass to form a new satellite tournament.

• At the end of round 1:
  • The winners go east
  • The losers go west
• At the end of round 2:
  • The east losers go north
  • The west losers go south
• At the end of round 3:
  • The east losers go northeast
  • The north losers go northwest
  • The west losers go southwest
  • The south losers go southeast
• At the end of round 4:
  • The losers are out of the tournament (unless it is announced in writing before the start of the first match of the tournament that there will be semifinal play-offs);
  • The winners play the finals on each draw sheet.

For a draw of 16, use only the top half of the draw at each compass point. Follow the same procedure as in a draw of 32 except that round 4 is the finals instead of the semifinals.

Pickleball Strategy: Practice with weaker players

In previous pickleball strategy blogs we've talked of the strategy of learning pickleball with all levels of players, be it that they are advanced or beginner. But how can you practice with significantly weaker players?

1. Hit only your weakest shot whenever possible.
2. Try to hot every shot at the center line.
3. Do not rush the net, volley only.
4. Experiment with your serves.
5. Play 2 against 1.

Pickleball International subscribers

We are constantly getting e-mails from people throughout North America and globally, who find great teaching and encouragement from Pickleball Internationals blog. The most amount of subscribers are from United States, 2nd is Canada, then many smaller pocket of subscribers in Japan, India, Germany, Pakistan, and many others that change from week to week. Pass along Pickleball international to your fellow picklers. If you are needing pickleball paddles, balls, grips, shirts etc, e-mail us at pickleballinternational@gmail.com and we would love to assist you in finding the right paddle that works for you. I would love to see Canada pass our picklers to the south with more subscribership...or maybe Japan & India will pass us all? Pickleball International!!!

Pickleball Growth

Here is a neat encouragement from Ed Burke, editor of Pickleball Canada newsletter.

"It has been brought to my attention that at some Pickleball courts, some aggressive/better players are avoiding play with beginners.  That is so unfair and un-sportsman like.  Or they will play with them but give them next to impossible return shots.  We all need to remember we were all beginners at one time and how do we expect our sport to grow if we treat newcomers this way.  We are still just a "fun game" and not a professional sport.  If there should be some written rules for the treatment of beginners it should start with TREAT THEM WITH RESPECT and HELP THEM GET BETTER.  DO NOT AVOID THEM but befriend them and give them pointers/support.

Growth is important.  The more we grow, the more venues will open up to us, the more organization will take notice of us.  We will attract other groups that will see the pleasure and just plain fun everyone is having and want to be a part of this amazing game.

Another point is players practicing together for tournament play.  This is very important at this time of year when many tournaments are coming up.  Where do partners learn to play together?  Simply where they normally play, where else?  Some facilities actually set aside a court or two for partners that want to practice together.  Some clubs actually rate their players and allow them to play together.  If you are not a tournament player, please respect the ones that are and give them a little slack on the courts.  It is tournaments that get us local and even national exposure so you should be proud to support your local team player who need to practice together.  We need to set up a system that works for each club that allows team players to play together.  Don't be the problem, be part of the solution, it is all in our best interest as a sport."

Pickleball Rules Refresher: Under the net

In our last post, we talked of the ball going around the post and landing in the court for a point. Today, we are going to look at the ruling of the ball going outside the space where the net ends, but inside the space where the post is located. If it goes in that space between the net wires found in most rec centres what is the IFP ruling? 12.J.2 states: "Hitting the ball between the top and bottom net wires is a fault."

Pickleball Rules Refresher: Around the post

The other week, I saw a pickleball game where the opponents battled furiously back and forth in a game of dinking, and spin shots that were all returned with ease. It was until one opponent fired a  spinning outward shot down the sideline, and the defensive pairing had to step outside to return the ball. As he did he returned it, but instead of going over the net, it went around the net post at a lower then net height, and proceeded into the opponents court. Play was stopped, and highly debated about rulings. So what does the IFP rules state?12.K Shots Around the Net Post. If a ball hit at an angle bounces in the court and travels beyond the sidelines, a player may return the ball around the outside of the net post. The ball does not need to travel back over the net. In addition, there is no restriction on the height of the return. For example, a player may return the ball around the net post below the height of the net. In the rec center where i witnessed this, the nets were not one continuous strand, but individual posts and nets. Would this same rule apply to an indoor location where the nets are all together? Only if you were playing on the outside courts where the post has unobstructed space.

Pickleball Strategy: Don't panic

The other evening at pickleball I did what I've never done before. I lost my cool after making so many dumb mistakes in 2 straight games, that I walked off the court after our losses, and chucked my paddle towards my bag (which made annoying slap, bang, boom, as it bounced across the floor.) I went out of the gym and reminded myself of the dumb mistakes, which wasn't a great idea! I went for a walk down the hallway, found a sink, and splashed multiple waves of water on my head. I couldn't believe that I had even done this. I've never lost my cool in pickleball.  None of us play professionally, whether or not we win is not going to have any bearing on our income, livelihood, success in life, or if our friends and family love us any more or less at the end of the day. It’s awesome that people love pickleball so much that they take it seriously and really try their best to reach their full potential, but at the end of the day it’s just a game, something that we should all be doing for enjoyment! It sucks being so hard on yourself, it’s really not fun at all. Be realistic about your performance that day and lighten up a little bit.
   “If you practice being negative, you’ll get good at being negative. If you practice getting angry, you’ll get good at being angry. If you practice being positive, you’ll get good at being positive. What do you want to be good at on the court?”. Many of us fall intro the trap of thinking that when we hit a crappy shot we have to be disgusted with ourselves. Well, it’s your choice. You can make the choice between focusing on the negative emotions and feelings, and projecting those on the court, or to let those feelings pass and move on to the next point you have to play with a level head.  Have a sense of humor about it. It’s not that I’m actually “ok” with screwing up, I’d obviously rather not, but heading out onto the court I know that errors will occur, and I want their occurrence to affect my game play as little as possible that day. Make a conscious effort to practice being positive on the court.
   Why will it improve your game? Because nobody plays well when they’re angry. Almost always getting angry and frustrating becomes a terrible cycle on the court. An error is made, your emotions go south, the next point is played with a poor attitude and another error is made furthering that crappy outlook on your game.
   Lastly, I’d like to reiterate something that I mentioned before: you’re going to make errors. It doesn’t matter how good you become, you will never leave a pickleball court without making unforced errors. I’m not pointing this out to be negative or a pessimist, but rather to make sure that you all have a healthy expectation on yourselves out on the court. So many players make those inevitable errors and immediately focus on how stupid they were to make a mistake, as if they’re above it and too good for such things. This kind of attitude will only set you up for frustration and a constant feeling of failure which is simply unrealistic. When errors happen immediately give yourself positive feedback, tell yourself specifically what you’re going to do better next time you get that same shot or are in that same situation on the court. It’s not the end of the world, errors are all just part of the game, nobody plays without them.
***My pickleball paddle was not harmed in any way, and is encouraged to do great things next pickleball session.***

Pickleball in South Surrey, BC

This past Friday I was invited to come out to a new pickleball group in South Surrey, BC. They meet religiously every Friday morning 9-11 am, and 7-9pm at Peace Portal Church. Most of the members are graduates of Luba Zhekovskaya's pickleball instruction at South Surrey rec. center. Ray, the organizer of the group said that the group is for those that are wanting to hone their beginning pickleball skills in a smaller environment. I stayed for both sessions, and got a chance to play some games, give instruction, and help with paddle selection. In the evening session,  Ray had the opportunity to introduce pickleball to a singles group of 15 people that were meeting at the church. It's great to see pickleball sites like these with great facilities, great teaching, and a welcome attitude.

Pickleball International Growth

Pickleball International has become THE source for North American pickleballers to get rules refreshers, paddle reviews, strategies, and upcoming local tournaments. But we want to grow this site so much more! For the month of April, tell 5 or 5 thousand pickleball friends about Pickleball International, and tell them to subscribe to the blog in the upper right corner. Every time a new post is made they will receive an e-mail, and they too can receive all that Pickleball International has to offer.

Pickleball in Downtown Vancouver

This past week I was invited to come out to a newer pickleball group in downtown Vancouver. The location was Creekside community center (formerly the Athletes Village of the 2010 Winter Olympics.)  The location had stunning views of False Creek, and the bustling city core. 2 pickleball groups: Sunset Community & Creekside Community combined for my visit, and there were 4 full courts with extra waiting to jump in the next game. Demo paddles were on hand to try before buying, and some pickleball strategies were shared. It's great to see a rec center charge a minimal fee to be a part of a drop-in pickleball program $2 each...very nice. Pickleball organizers Angela, Bob & Georgia said the program has grown in the past year and the rec center is very supportive of the pickleball program. i thing I would see a need for is shades on the windows, as the wall to wall windows lets in a lot of light! But the new friends at these pickleball locations, and the steady growth of these clubs will see past that.