Land of the Sky in Pickleball Magazine

Go big or go home...

I haven't posted much about the Land of the Sky recently. But that doesn't mean that we haven't been busy. We just bought an ad placement in Pickleball Magazine. The ad is shown below. Look for it in the May/June issue.

Recycle Sunday - Transitioning from Tennis to Pickleball

A blast from the past...

This week's Recycle Sunday article was originally published January 28, 2016.

***

As discussed in Pickleball vs Tennis - And the Winner is..., more and more tennis players are also playing pickleball.  Some do it just to see what pickleball is all about. Others make it a permanent transition as their aging bodies are better suited to the smaller court.  These players have an edge over non-tennis novices due to their court experience, but there are 5 big differences to which they must adjust.

1. The stroke

A tennis stroke is much longer than a pickleball stroke.  The pickleball court, at 1/3 the size of a tennis court, is a much quicker game that does not demand the power needed to hit a ball the longer distance.  The tennis stroke starts with a long backstroke and a long follow-through as shown below.

Pickleball Trending at Corporate Developments

The trend is our friend...

For decades, corporate real estate developments seemed to always have identified tennis an one of the offered amenities. I don't know if that has completely gone away, but there is plenty of evidence that another amenity has become a priority - pickleball. Inc. Magazine had an article in 2017 titled Taking Over Tennis: Pickleball Picking Up Heat as Latest Active Trend in which one developer discusses the trend. Excerpts are shown below:

Pickleball is trending nationwide as a sport played as an alternative or in addition to tennis. Invented in the 1960s in a Bainbridge Island, Washington backyard, pickleball is a blend of badminton, tennis and ping pong. A pickleball court is slightly smaller than one used for tennis and players use larger sized ping pong paddles to hit a ball similar to a whiffleball.

One reason for the quick growth of the sport is its adoption by major corporate entities and celebrities.

Learn to Overcome Adversity

Bad is stronger than good...

Wednesday's post - How Interference Affects Your Play - showed a conversation with Matthew Blom about how interference affects a player in attaining his full ability from moment to moment. I made a couple of references in that conversation for which I would like to add some context.



Allowing the pickleball world to enter my thoughts is generally the bigger factor. Studies have shown that errors are more impactful on peoples' memories than successes. Players have to overcome the bad thoughts that can arise from a prior point or game. They simply must let the past get behind them and move on in order to concentrate on the immediate future - the next task.

When to Use a Timeout (Part 2)

When you can't play the momentum, stop the play...

DJ Howard has written a couple of tips about the use of timeouts. I have chosen to skip his first tip and go straight to his second because it fits neatly with the "focus" post from yesterday...and tomorrow. I won't forget his first tip, though. We will come back to it soon.

DJ's weekly tip:

This is the second installment of when it's a good idea to use a timeout. Use a timeout when your opponent has gained momentum and/or confidence.

How Interference Affects Your Play

Bad is stronger than good...

Focus is not a new topic to this site. We have used articles from Sarah Ansboury (The Right Focus) and RV Picklers (Focus in the Immediacy), among others, to discuss the topic. This article will show a Pickleball Forum post started by pickleball's inner game expert - Matthew Blom - and the ensuing conversation he, I and others had on the topic. As you will see, it is the start of a good conversation. We will add to it over the next couple of days.

Matt posted an image of a text conversation about his thoughts on interference affect a player. The relevant part is:

Student: We are on the cusp between 3.5 and 4.0. Depending on the day. 

Matt: My hypothesis, which is what some of the inner game of Pickleball (and anything), is that we have an ability level - let's say yours is 4.0. Then you have greater or lesser amounts of "interference" that takes you down to a 3.5. Not depending on the whole "day" but on moment to moment, point to point thoughts and changes of states that affect your play.

He then asked for thoughts from the Forum. The conversation follows.

Paul Aaron: Agree. Performing at one's full potential requires 100% focus. Anything less than 100% will (obviously) negatively impact performance. Less obvious is that one's performance "ceiling" and performance "floor" are determined by ability, where ability is defined as athleticism + training + knowledge. Ability can change over time but not hour-by-hour. Therefore, hour-by-hour and minute-by minute changes in performance are dependent on focus.

Matthew Blom: I agree with what you are saying Paul. 

I wonder what your definition of focus is. 

I find that word can often be used towards tension, a efforting of sorts that to me is different than the state I believe we play our best in.

How do you think about it and/or experience it?

Offensive Volley Lob

Getting the fundamentals right...

A few weeks ago, the Jordan Briones Primetime series featured the offensive lob off the dink. This week, the series continues with his video Volley Lob Accuracy | Pickleball in which he uses the same same drill to practice the lob off a volley.

For the same reasons as the dink lob, the volley lob is an effective shot. It surprises the opponent and forces him to retreat away from the NVZ line. If anything, the shot is even more effective as the surprise factor is higher. First, the ball is hit before it bounces, giving the opponent less time to react. Second, it is a difficult shot that is not used as frequently as the dink lob.

Again, the set up of the court includes a mark-up 4' from the baseline.

Keys to NVZ Lobbing

Its OK to be offensive...

Many player think of the lob as a defensive shot. For them, it is used when in trouble or when needing time to regain position. While those are appropriate, the lob can also be used as an effective offensive weapon. We have discussed this shot in the past, most recently last week's post with Jordan Briones. Tomorrow's Briones' post will also be on the topic. Today's post is an excerpt from Sarah Ansboury's article 3 Keys to a Great Pickleball Lob.

Pickleball Lob Key #1:  Pick the Right time

When you are at the non-volley zone line, you want to look for times when hitting a lob will be most effective.  Typically, this is when your opponent is crouching down.  You are looking for your opponent to be hunched over, head down or their paddle below their waist.  All these are signals that this is a good time to lob.  Take the ball in front of you, keep your body steady and extend from your shoulder.

Recycle Sunday - Moving as a Team - Let's Stay Together

A blast from the past...

This week's Recycle Sunday article was originally published January 14, 2016.

***

Everyone has heard the saying "Two heads are better than one". In pickleball, two players are better than one...if they play as a team. Pickleball is a game of quick shots and strategy. A team must be properly positioned to to account for both factors in order to maximize the probability of winning a rally.

Before beginning the discussion of team positioning, let's review the court dimensions.

Pickleball Under the Lights

A work in progress...

Progress getting public outdoor courts has been slow in the Hendersonville, NC area. For the first time, we have permanent painted lines for 4 courts as mixed use with tennis. We also have 4 new "semi-permanent" heavy duty nets on wheels. This is a good start for us. One aspect that will be very useful is that we have lighted courts for evening play. Last night was our first play under the lights. It was a great time and we will only grow from here.  Pizza and pickleball night anyone?

The New Rating System

It was about one year ago when the USAPA announced it had selected a vendor to develop a new player rating system. The announcement stated:

The USAPA evaluation committee has completed the review and evaluation of the vendor proposals for a new match-based tournament ratings system. Athlete Ratings (AR) has tentatively been selected as the primary vendor. The final vendor selection will be contingent upon AR and USAPA agreeing to terms and signing a Services Agreement.

Players have waited...and waited...and waited for the final system to be announced. Finally, earlier this week, a message was sent to USAPA members.

Playing Net Cord Balls

Be ready for anything...

Daniel Joseph (DJ) Howard is an IPTPA instructor in Michigan. He is also a member of the Pickleball Forum where he offers a weekly tip. DJ has kindly agreed to allow me to include his Forum tips on this blog. This week's tip talks about being ready when a ball hits the top of the net.

Scenario: You see the ball coming toward your side of the net, but right at the level of the tape. How do you keep ready and not get caught off guard or be surprised by the "snap" against the tape? How do you make a play on the ball when it hits the tape?

First, make sure you are in an athletic stance, with your weight evenly distributed on the balls of your feet, your knees are flexed, your shoulders are not hunched over, and your chin is up. Your body will then be better prepared for any shot that comes your way.

Prince and Pickleball

Pickleball is winning over tennis...

The few days' posts have included some articles from Tennis Industry about tennis professionals' opportunities to grow their business through pickleball. Equipment brands have not ignored the obvious opportunities either. Last year, Head introduced their line of paddles through Sarah Ansboury. Now Prince has entered the fray through a partnership with Paddletek. Below is an news release from SGMedia announcing the partnership. 

Prince Announces Strategic Partnership with Paddletek

Grip Pressure

Getting the fundamentals right...

Today's post continues the Jordan Briones Primetime series with a short discussion of grip pressure while dinking. The video, Grip Pressure Explained with Dave Weinbach | Pickleball, features Dave Weinbach, one of the best pros in the world of pickleball.

Is Tennis Thawing To Pickleball? (Part 2)

Love will thaw a frozen heart...

As I discussed in Saturday's post, past articles have regularly discussed the antipathy shown by tennis toward pickleball. The tennis industry and players seemed to dismiss pickleball as a fringe sport that could be ignored. To a large extent, this was driven by the view that pickleball would be competitors. The 2 sports would compete for valuable public and private resources - land and investment dollars. They would compete for players - tennis coaches would lose students and clubs would lose members.  

But there has been a thawing of the relationship in recent years. The tennis business has stagnated at best and actually declined in many areas. Tennis facilities and managers are now viewing pickleball as a potential life-saver. The current issue of Tennis Industry Magazine has several articles on the topic. I summarized the first two articles on Saturday and will cover the rest today. A full reading is well worth your time.

Recycle Sunday - Pickleball vs Tennis - And the Winner is...

A blast from the past...

This week's Recycle Sunday article is timely in that it fits neatly between 2 articles about the tennis industry warming to pickleball. This article was originally published December 31, 2015.

***

Almost everywhere that pickleball players try to add lines to tennis courts, a battle ensues with the tennis community. But the evidence suggests that pickleball is winning the battle for popularity and thus winning the battle for courts. 

There are a variety of reasons pickleball is winning the popularity battle, but the single biggest factor is the aging of the baby boom generation. As this large demographic moves into retirement, they are looking to retain an active and social lifestyle. Pickleball is winning them over for 5 reasons:

1. Pickleball is less about athleticism and more about strategy and placement.
2. Pickleball is more social, with a smaller court enabling talk among players. Games are quicker allowing players to gather while waiting their turn.
3. The pickleball is slower but still fast enough to have fast volley action.
4. Pickleball rallies last longer due to the smaller court and slower ball.
5. You don’t have to go so far to chase a ball. 

Is Tennis Thawing To Pickleball?

Love will thaw a frozen heart...

Past articles have regularly discussed the antipathy shown by tennis toward pickleball. The tennis industry and players seemed to dismiss pickleball as a fringe sport that could be ignored. To a large extent, this was driven by the view that pickleball would be competitors. The 2 sports would compete for valuable public and private resources - land and investment dollars. They would compete for players - tennis coaches would lose students and clubs would lose members. 

But there has been a thawing of the relationship in recent years. The tennis business has stagnated at best and actually declined in many areas. Tennis facilities and managers are now viewing pickleball as a potential life-saver. The current issue of Tennis Industry Magazine has several articles on the topic. I will summarize these below but a full reading is well worth your time.

The magazine starts its coverage by featuring pickleball on its cover with the title The Potential of Pickleball. Its first content, though, starts with a show Editor's Note that really tells the story. It is called Sharing the Spotlight - Let’s get past the perceived divide between tennis and pickleball. A couple of highlights include:

For many in our industry, pickleball is providing opportunities that seem to have stalled out in tennis. Court builders are building and lining pickleball courts. Facilities are responding to members and the community by offering pickleball. Often, facility owners tell me it’s the addition of pickleball that is helping keep them in the black. Don’t be surprised if traditional tennis teaching groups start offering education for pickleball pros...

It's time to leave behind the divide - or rather, what people perceive as a divide—and focus on the commonalities between tennis and pickleball, and the ways they can complement one another. Keeping consumers active, pro shops busy and people in clubs and on the courts are goals we all share.

There is room in this world for both tennis and pickleball - and providers and consumers of both will benefit.

My Hope for Pickleball's Future

Your mind is your greatest power...

Wednesday's post featured a Pickleball Central blog article The Future of Power Pickleball: Will the Bangers Win?  The article was written by a top player, Glen Peterson, about what he has seen and his prediction for the evolution of the game. His conclusion:

So I predict that, at the highest level of play, doubles rallies will get shorter rather than longer in the coming years.

Much shorter. More like singles.

My prediction is different, but I fully admit that it has a lot of hope behind it.

The speed of the game will naturally increase as it evolves and with more (and better) participants and improvements in equipment. We already see this happening. The third-shot drop has been evolving into a third-shot drive that allows for an easier drop on the fifth shot. The serve has evolved into a weapon with added power and spin. And those are just 2 examples.

One Step at a Time

Change your strategy based on the situation...

We will again look to the far distant past for this week's tips from DJ Howard. 

There are six different levels of offense and defense on a sliding scale from most offensive to most defensive. I'll break them down:

High offense 

= "attacking/finishing". 

Goal - end the point. 

Example - overhead smash.

Medium Offense

= "building/hurting". 

Goal - create an opportunity to attack/finish.

Example - high volley to opponent's feet.

Is Pickleball's Evolving into a Power Game?

Your mind is your greatest power...

We all know Pickleball Central as a major seller of pickleball equipment. What many readers do not know is they have a blog too. One of their 2017 blog articles was written by a top player, Glen Peterson, about what he has seen and his prediction for the evolution of the game. The article is titled The Future of Power Pickleball: Will the Bangers Win? and an excerpt is shown below.

Check back Friday and I will give my thoughts (and hopes).

We veterans love the soft game with its long rallies. The USAPA does its part by making rule changes to preserve the soft game and protect the nature of pickleball to keep us happy. Instructors remind frustrated students who want to wail on wiffle balls that consistency and patience are rewarded.

Many young people along with tennis and racquetball players put down their paddles because they find the soft game so dreadful. So far, no player has been able to achieve a 5.0 rating without some level of mastery of the soft game.

Disguise Your Lob

Getting the fundamentals right...

This week's edition of the Jordan Briones Primetime series follows up on last Tuesday's video on the offensive lob. The offensive lob is particularly effective off of a dink rally and especially when the lob cannot be "read" by your opponents. This requires disguising the shot by making it look like another dink in the rally. Jordan's video Disguise Your Lob Like A Pro | Pickleball shows how use deception in this shot.

The drill is a simple one. Again, start by setting up the target zone for the lob by marking an area 4' from the baseline just as was done for last week's drill.

2018 Firecracker Explosion Summer Tournament

The home of NASCAR...

Registration in now open for the Firecracker Explosion Summer Tournament to be held on June 30 - July 1 in Concord, NC. The tournament will include Mixed Doubles, Women's Doubles, and Men's Doubles. Players can register online at PickleballTournaments.com. 

Recycle Sunday - Service Drills

A blast from the past...

I have started a series called Recycle Sunday in which I repeat some old articles. This article was originally published December 26, 2015.

Drills to work on serving are very straightforward and can be done with 2 people or even alone if sufficient balls are available. All a player must do is set up the target, go to the other side of the net, and hit balls toward the target. Then gather them up and do it all again, moving to the next drill once the first is mastered. The drills can can be fun with the addition of competition. Most drills should have 10-20 serves per turn to be worthwhile.

Drill 1 Serves - Players line up to practice 3-5 serves from the right side; then 3-5 from the left side with a couple of players, if available, catching the balls.

Drill 2 Deep Serves - Place a rope or sidewalk chalk line about 3 feet inside the opposite baseline. Players line up to serve from both the right and left sides and aim for the area between the rope/chalk and baseline. 

Competition: Players count the number of deep serves that land between the rope and baseline. The player with the most successful serves is the winner.

2018 Central Virginia Classic

Happiness is a place called Charlottesville, Virginia...

Registration is open for the Central Virginia Classic to be held on May 26-27 in Charlottesville, VA. The tournament will include Mixed Doubles, Women's Doubles, and Men's Doubles. Players can register online at PickleballTournaments.com.