Bold Life

All publicity is good publicity...

Bold Life magazine's May issue had a wonderful article about this blog. I started the blog to grow the game by helping players learn along with me. But writing a blog alone does little good if there are not any readers. So when a magazine wants to expose the blog to a wider audience, it can only be viewed as an opportunity to meet the goal.

The "About" section of Bold Life magazine states:

Bold Life magazine covers the people, arts and culture of Hendersonville, NC and nearby communities within Henderson, Polk, Rutherford and Transylvania Counties. Readers find our print edition at over 400 locations each month. 

A copy of the article follows. I encourage readers to visit the link or grab a hardcopy of the magazine at its distribution locations.

BY STEVE WONG / PEOPLE / APRIL 30, 2017

Lob Letter

Pickleball is a little like tennis, a little like badminton — and a whole lot addictive. Photo by Tim Robison

If you want to know what pickleball is, you Google it. But if you want to live a pickleball life, you click on Paul Aaron’s blog of the same name. There, he channels every conceivable nuance of the sport, said to be the fastest growing in the country.

March 2017 Newsletter

It is amazing that news always fits on 3 pages...

The March Southern Mountain Newsletter is shown below. Click on each page to make them larger.

Pickleball Makes the News in Brevard

Good news and a good day...

The Transylvania Times recently featured pickleball play at the Transylvania County Recreation Center.

Pickleball Growing In Popularity Locally – Brevard NC

Ginger Newman goes for a backhand during pickleball play Tuesday at the county's Recreation Center. (Times photos by Michael Rogers)

Pickleball is one of the fastest growing sports nationwide and is alive and well in Transylvania County.

Once an oddity, it has exploded across the country in popularity. Courts and clubs are springing up from California to Florida, and there's an active national organization that hosts competitions and provides instruction and support.

Many communities are building courts and complexes to include specific venues for pickleball.

Welcome to RV Pickler Readers

Welcome to my court...

I got the RV Pickler newsletter this morning and saw that it included a link to my site. I had forewarning it would happen but I did not expect it to happen quite as quickly as it did. Therefore, this note of welcome is a little late for some who have already visited.

I would like to welcome new visitors and tell them a little about the site. It is 100% about pickleball with 3 main focal points:

1. Learning and improving your game. Posts will include original content with my learnings as well as incorporate articles and videos from experts. These posts are aggregated in a "book" of chapters dedicated to parts of the game. The chapters are shown along the left column of the site.
2. Central repository for expert advice. This repository is located at the top of the right-hand column and is labelled "Resources - Expert Videos and Articles". It includes links to Sarah Ansboury, Mark Renneson, Pickleball Channel, RV Picklers, and many other expert advice sites.
3. Local Western NC information about tournaments and other interests.

I hope newcomers find the site worthwhile and repeat their visit. I appreciate the confidence that the RV Picklers showed in linking to my site. They and their site provide great services to the sport of pickleball. I couldn't be more flattered than to have their endorsement

Pickleball Makes the News in Hendersonville

Making moves that make the news...

The Times-News recently featured pickleball play at the Henderson County Athletics and Activity Center.

Pickleball's popularity grows in Henderson County

More and more residents are coming out to the Henderson County Athletics & Activity Center to play pickleball, and participation in the Senior Games competition has also increased.

Pickleball combines elements of badminton, tennis and table tennis. Two, three or four players use solid paddles to hit a ball similar to a Wiffle ball over a net.

"Our department has offered pickleball since we opened the Athletic Center gym nearly four years ago. What started as a core group of about 20 people has grown to nearly 150 of our members that participate in pickleball regularly," said Lani Thompson, recreation program supervisor for Henderson County Parks and Recreation.

A Pickleball Life - the New Blog

I started this blog in November 2015 with the express purpose of helping to grow pickleball in the Hendersonville, NC area. I focused on local issues and skills/strategies to develop players' abilities. While none of that has changed, the blog appearance and name has. I briefly touched on the changes in a previous post, Change for the Better...I Hope. Now is the time for a more comprehensive review of the new blog.

Several weeks into the blog last winter, I realized its limitations and usefulness to a reader. I was writing articles that built a pickleball knowledge base that started from the basics and progressed to the advanced and from the first shot - the serve - to specialty shots. I was trying to do so with some semblance of order. As new materials became available about which to write, the order rapidly became disorder. I tried to adjust by providing "labels", e.g., serve, return of serve, drop shot, etc., which would allow a reader to pull out the relevant articles. But I was not satisfied with that solution either.

Ultimately, I came to the conclusion that a "book" was the best way to build a knowledge base. But a blog, with the first articles of basic building blocks buried pages deep, was a horrible way to create such a book. Thus, a new blog was developed. There were (and will continue to be) daily articles on new topics. But the book will group these into relevant chapters that are easily accessible to readers.

Change for the Better...I Hope

Regular readers may have noticed a new look to the site. I am currently reconstructing it piece by piece to make it more universal and enhance the reader's experience. I have widen the posting area to allow images to be larger...and who doesn't like photos! Unfortunately, this means going back through every post to adjust image size as well as clean up some other issues. As I write this post, I am about 50% finished with that work.

Concurrent with the post adjustments is the work to make a new reader's experience easier. Every post will have a header image indicating the subject matter relates to a specific topic. This is helpful because the site will include navigation icons along the right column associated with the normal play in a rally. For example a button will take you to Skills and Strategies and then allow you to drill down to a specific shot. As of this writing, very little of this functionality is operational...but some is and more will be added on a regular basis.

The bottom line is that change is painful but good. Please pardon the mess while work progresses. Thank you for your patience.

Oh, the site has a new name - A Pickleball Life. The address remains the same.

I hope you like it.

Memorial Day

Today is not a day for writing or reading about pickleball. Today is about remembering those who gave the ultimate sacrifice to create and sustain the freedom that allows us to play games. So, whether you are grilling hot dogs or playing pickleball today, take a moment to think about and thank our fallen heroes. 

Brevard Rec Center Schedule Update

Some future dates the gym will be closed from John Jessen:

5/24          GYM IS CLOSED TO PICKLEBALL........SCHOOL FUNCTION

5/27          GYM CLOSED TO PICKLEBALL FOR REFINISHING FLOOR.

5/30          GYM CLOSED...MEMORIAL DAY

5/31          REFINISHING IS TO BE DONE BY THE 30TH (MONDAY), BUT THEY WILL HAVE TO WAIT AND SEE IF FLOOR IS PLAYABLE FOR TUESDAY.  THERE IS NO WAY FOR ME TO KNOW BEFORE THE 31ST.  SO JUST COME OUT AT  REGULAR TIME OR CALL THE GYM 1ST.

PLEASE REMEMBER THERE WILL BE A NUMBER OF WEEKS THE GYM WILL BE CLOSED FOR CAMPS STARTING IN JUNE. I WILL REMIND EVERYONE OF THESE DATES AS THEY COME UP.

Hendersonville Gym Schedule Update

From Julie and Ken:

The Henderson County Athletic Center Gym is closed for Pickleball play the following days in May:

Friday, May 6 (Closed for Senior Games Pickleball Event. Good luck to all those who are playing!)

Wednesday through Saturday, May 11 through May 14 (Senior Games Event - Silver Arts and Open House)

Monday, May 30 (Closed for Memorial Day Holiday)

The HCPRD Open House is a Free Event, which you are welcome to attend. There will be games, prizes and performances. The Open House is Friday, May 13, from 5:30 - 7:30 PM.

For your information, as a nice alternative for the warmer months, there are four tennis courts at Jackson Park that have been marked with boundaries and are available for Pickleball play. There are no longer any nets, so you would need to bring your own PB net. There are outdoor pickleballs available for loan at the gym.

Brevard Rec Center Summer Camp Schedule

John Jessen recently sent an email about the summer schedule in Brevard as it is impacted by the camp activity in the gym. John's note is shown below.

Good day picklers,

I had a talk with Jared at the Rec Center today to discuss the camp schedule for this summer. We will be giving up some court time because of these camps. There may be times that we can play during these camps, but it be on a week to week notice.

Rec Centers Scheduling Note

Both the Henderson and Transylvania Counties gymnasiums will be closed tomorrow - Friday, March 25 - for the Good Friday holiday.

Get a group together and play outdoors!

HCAAC Schedule

The Hendersonville Rec Center is closed this Friday and Saturday, Feb 5-6 due to a father-daughter dance.

It is closed for pickleball all Saturdays in February as the basketball camp continues.

Brevard Rec Center is open Friday from 9-12 for all levels of play. 

Hendersonville Rec General Meeting - Jan 28

A meeting of pickleball players at the Henderson County Athletic and Activity Center was held during scheduled play hours on January 28. The primary intent of the meeting was to discuss alternatives to managing the growing number of players on the 3 fixed courts. Several alternatives were described by Ken Weitzen and Julie Fister prior to a vote of those present.

The ultimate choice, in a close vote, was for paddles to be aligned in two rows. One row would include the paddles of the winning team as they leave the court. The other row would include the paddles of the losing team from the same game. The first four paddles from the winners row would play together and the first 4 paddles from the losers row would play together. The process would continue throughout the scheduled play.

As a side note, I did not hear how the row is selected to fill the next available court. That is a clarification I need to determine.

Chili Cook-off and Fund Raiser

From Deb Richter of Connestee Falls:

Connestee Falls Mountain Picklers are hosting our first Chili Cook-off and playday on Saturday, Jan 16 from 1 pmtil the chili is gone. Please pass this information on to "your people". This event is also a fund raiser for our club so have them bring $5, a paddle, an appetite, and be prepared to taste several Chilies, corn bread, and we'll also have the makings for S'mores. BYOB We are asking that people RSVP so we have enough of everything. We are also asking people to carpool because we have another big event in Connestee Falls that day and parking will be tight. Attached is the flyer that has all the information on it. If people need directions, they can get that information on our website, www.carolinapickleball.com,

Hendersonville Holiday Schedule

The Hendersonville County Athletic/Activity Center has announced its holiday closings:

Wednesday, Dec 16 - Closed
Monday - Saturday, Dec 21-26 - Closed
Friday, Jan 1 - Closed

Brevard Holiday Schedule

The Transylvania Rec Center in Brevard has announced its holiday closings:

Friday, Dec 11 - Closed
Friday, Dec 18 - Closed
Thursday and Friday, Dec 24 and 25 - Closed
Friday, Jan 1 - Closed

Pickleball Meeting in Brevard - Update

Per a comment from Kathleen Watkins, the subject meeting scheduled for Thursday, Dec 3 has been postponed until 2016.

I will update the meeting particulars when made available.

Pickleball Meeting in Brevard

From Deb Richter:

Hello Transylvania county pickleball players and Friends of Transylvania County ie folks who play at the rec. center in Brevard:

I hope all of you had a nice Thanksgiving and have enjoyed these last couple of days on the courts, working off a few of those stuffing calories. Now it's time to get to some business. 

The county rec center has indicated that pickleball would be considered more seriously if we had a "program". A few ideas have surfaced, but it would be great to have a potluck social meeting where we can gather ideas from the players, explain the ideas that have been collected, maybe hear from rec leaders what they envision, and most importantly, demonstrate our numbers and our passion for the sport. 

So you and all your pickleball friends are invited to gather at the rec center on Thursday, December 3 at 530 pm for a potluck dinner/meeting. We'll see what kind of interest, and energy there is in the community to grow this wonderful sport. This should only take 90 minutes. Please join us, bring ideas, passion, a dish and your best "can do" attitude. 

Deb Richter, USAPA Ambassador, Connestee Falls 877-2543

It is important that pickleball enthusiasts from around the area support actions such as these. Many players from outside Transylvania County play in Brevard and a formal county program would be a wonderful continuation of the pickleball growth efforts for the entire area.

Transylvania Activity Center Closed

John Jessen, USAPA Ambasador for Transylvania County, has sent a note indicating that the TAC in Brevard will be closed Thanksgiving week for court resurfacing. 

Henderson County Athletic and Activity Center will be open for play. See their schedule at the following link:

Link to HCAAC website and calendar