2016 Greater Greenville Senior Sports Classic Pickleball Tournament - Results

The advanced portion of the Greater Greenville Senior Sports Classic Pickleball Tournament was played Thursday with several local players participating.

The results are shown below.

Pickleball Scoring Made Easy

An early post - Doubles Scoring and Player Positioning - tried to explain the complicated way that scores are kept in doubles. A longish video called Pickleball Scoring Made Easy supplements the written word of that article.

Etiquette - When the Rally Ends

Frustration. That word says it all, doesn't it. Frustration over missing a shot you've made a thousand times in the past. Frustration over just failing to get to a ball before its second bounce. Frustration over getting your partner killed by popping up a simple dink. It happens...to all of us. Where we differ is our reaction to the frustration. What sometimes gets lost in the immediacy after the play is that people will remember you less for the bad play than for the bad behavior resulting from the bad play.

The right way to handle frustration is to stop. Stop playing. Stop running. Stop swinging. Stop complaining. No one cares. Stop doing what your frustration tells you to do. Instead, catch the ball or go pick it up. Hand it or tap it to the next server. Compliment your opponent for a good shot. Then move on.

Greater Greenville Senior Sports Classic Pickleball Tournament

The 4th annual Greater Greenville Senior Sports Classic Pickleball Tournament will be held April 14-15 at Gower Park in Greenvile, SC. 

Several local players are scheduled to play.

Sandro Francioni and Paul Aaron are in the Mens Doubles (Advanced)

Rich Ferragina and Michael Wiltsek are in the Mens Doubles (Advanced)

Rich Ferragina and Lin Kolb are in the Mixed Doubles (Advanced)

If all goes well, results will be posted later this week.

Good luck to all!

Low Country Pickleball Classic

The 3rd annual Low Country Pickleball Classic will be held April 15-17 at Sun City Hilton Head in Bluffton, SC. 

Several local players are scheduled to play.

Karen Wolfe and Sherry Jackson (Bluffton) are in the 3.5 Womens Doubles (65+)

Melinda Splain and Suz Flynt are in the 4.0/4.5 Womens Doubles (All Ages)

Paul Aaron and Trudy Chaille (Hilton Head) are in the 3.5 Mixed Doubles (60+)

Karen Wolfe and Eliot Butter are in the 3.5 Mixed Doubles (65+)

Melinda Splain and Dennis Luedke are in the 4.0 Mixed Doubles (35+, 50+)

Suz Flynt and Bob Yankes (Bluffton) are in the 4.0 Mixed Doubles (65+)

Paul Aaron and Rich Ferragina are in the 3.5 Mens Doubles (60+)

Rick Ezrol and Dennis Luedke are in the 4.0 Mens Doubles (All Ages)

Results will be posted next week.

Good luck to all!

2016 USAPA Atlantic South Regional Tournament - Results (Updated)

The USAPA Atlantic South Regional Tournament was played in Mobile, AL this weekend.

Several local players participated with the following results:

Deb Richter and JoAnnah Michael in the 4.0 Womens Doubles (50+)
- Lost to Vicki Enos and Pat Hartje 11-1,10-12,11-7
- Defeated Jean Vasicek and Julie Jean-Scott 15-10
- Lost to Trish Snyder and Laura Patterson 15-13

USAPA Atlantic South Regional Tournament

Tournament season in the southeast has been ongoing for a couple of months. Most of the action has been centered in Florida but is starting to move northward. Of more relevance, some local players are participating in the USAPA Atlantic South Regional Tournament in Mobile, AL this weekend.

Deb Richter and JoAnnah Michael are entered in the 4.0 Womens Doubles (50+)

Chris Allen and Rodney Allman (Gastonia) are entered in the 4.0 Mens Doubles (19+, 35+)

JoAnnah Michael and Les Massengale are entered in the 4.0 Mixed Doubles (50+)

Chris Allen and Trish Snyder are entered in the 4.0 Mixed Doubles (50+)

Deb Richter and Rick Colling are entered in the 4.0 Mixed Doubles (60+)

I will post the results later this weekend.

Good luck to all!

Free Pickleball Magazine

I received this email on Thursday:

Hello Pickleball Friends,

In a continued effort to build our subscription base at Pickleball Magazine, I would like to send a FREE link to view our second issue of the magazine to as many "picklers" as possible. 

If you have any friends that you would like me to periodically send the magazine link to, please send me their email addresses and I will add them to my list. Send 1 or send 1,000 – I'm trying to build a database!

Thanks.

Wayne

Wayne Dollard / Publisher

Palmetto Doubles Invitational Pickleball Tournament

The fourth annual Palmetto Doubles Pickleball Tournament will be played Aug 13-Aug 15 in Aiken, SC. Several local players played this tournament last year and were sufficiently impressed to sign up again this year. It is an indoor tournament so there is no threat of rain-out or excessive heat. Some of the highlights from their website are shown below.

From the website:

Pickleball Summit

A great opportunity for serious players to work with top players and coaches for an entire weekend is available this July in Charlotte. Players Matthew Blom, Sarah Ansboury and Matt Staub, along with a famed coach Prem Carnot, will hold a training and play event July 15-17. You might recognize some of these names as I have used their videos and articles in many of my posts. Below is a description of the event. Click on the Pickleball Summit icon below to go to the site.

Answers to Rules Quiz - More Serve

1. Margy recently added pickleball to her recreational activities in addition to tennis, which she has played for 20 years. In her pickleball games, she occasionally slips into tennis mode and once even tried to serve overhead! A routine she learned in tennis to help calm her nerves is to bounce the ball before her serve. At a crucial point in a recent pickleball game, she bounced the ball and served to Jimmy. Rather than hitting the serve back, Jimmy caught the ball and claimed that Margy faulted by bouncing the ball. Margy said that the bounce was before the point was initiated and Jimmy faulted by not returning the serve. Who is right?

Answer: Margy is right and wins the point. Jimmy confused Margy's legal bouncing with the rule against hitting the serve off a bounce.

Rules Quiz - More Serve

1. Margy recently added pickleball to her recreational activities in addition to tennis, which she has played for 20 years. In her pickleball games, she occasionally slips into tennis mode and once even tried to serve overhead! A routine she learned in tennis to help calm her nerves is to bounce the ball before her serve. At a crucial point in a recent pickleball game, she bounced the ball and served to Jimmy. Rather than hitting the serve back, Jimmy caught the ball and claimed that Margy faulted by bouncing the ball. Margy said that the bounce was before the point was initiated and Jimmy faulted by not returning the serve. Who is right?

Offbeat Sunday: 'Pickleball'? Why didn't they just call it 'flossmonkey'?

From the Ogden Standard-Examiner:

Enthusiasts flock to the pickleball courts at Mount Ogden Park, while the tennis courts sit empty, in this Aug 14, 2014, photo.

OGDEN — Just when things were finally beginning to look up for our beloved Junction City.

By now, you’ve undoubtedly heard the news that the prestigious 2015 Pickleball Tournament of Champions is leaving Ogden. We pause momentarily for the gasps and cries of disbelief to subside …

John Gullo, a local philanthropist and pickleball enthusiast, has been instrumental in bringing the sport to Ogden. Two years ago he ponied up $48,000 in prize money to bring the world’s best pickleball players to Ogden for a tournament. Now in its third year, the event was scheduled for Sept. 9-12 in Ogden, but only recently — and abruptly — was moved to Brigham City after Gullo had a falling out with Ogden city officials.

Apparently, one town’s loss is another’s gain.

Pickleball is a court sport that has been described as a cross between tennis, badminton and ping pong. Players use small paddles to hit a wiffle ball back and forth over a three-foot-high net in what Gullo calls “the most social game ever invented.” But only because drinking isn’t really a game.

Now, lest you think I’m about to disparage the sport, let me say that while I’ve not had the pleasure of actually trying the game, I have watched it. And it certainly does look like a jolly good time. 

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.

Basic Rules and Gameplay - a New Video

I have been posting about a series of new videos from Pure Pickleball that cover topics previously discussed but are worthy of updating the topic.

Today's topic is basic rules and gameplay as covered in my prior posts Doubles Scoring and Player Positioning and Rallies and Faults. The name of the video is How To Play Pickleball: Part 3 of 3 - Rules and Gameplay.