Pickleball for All

We’ve all had our pickleball firsts: The first time we ever heard the funny name of the game; the first time we heard laughter on the courts; the first time we held a paddle and hit a ball; the first time we stepped into the kitchen and whoops, hit a volley; the first time we were part of a thwack! thwack!! thwack!!! thwack!!! rally; the first time we surprised ourselves by hitting a winning backhand shot; the first game we lost; the first game we won.

Every time a new person joins us, they too will experience these firsts, but we need to keep in perspective what they haven’t done yet for the first time; they haven’t read all the official rules or learned our local customs; they haven’t attended a clinic or played in a mixer match or tournament; they haven’t joined USAPA; they haven’t gone to one of our monthly Servers’ Committee meetings; they haven’t helped our UVP group, whether ordering balls, maintaining equipment, painting court lines, contributing to the pickleball piggy bank, or just setting up and putting away the nets; they haven’t even felt the difference in the heft between a wooden and composite paddle, but here they are, excited and ready to play the game that we all love.

So, if you see a new face watching us, be friendly, say hello, and ask if they are interested in playing. Rather than inviting them to get into a game right away, which would probably just deter them from ever coming back, make sure that they pick up a "Welcome To Umpqua Valley Pickleball" handout and suggest that they go to the next weekly new player orientation and monthly Servers’ Committee meeting.

We also need to remember that not all players are created equally. Folks who come to the sport with a tennis or racketball background pick up the game faster than those whose only paddle sport has been ping pong, but whether we are novice, intermediate, or advanced players, we all are different ages, and have different athletic abilities and fitness levels.

So, when you have a beginner for your doubles partner, be patient. Besides getting better by playing the game, they depend on you to help them to improve and to learn the rules and court courtesies. You don’t have to coach them between every point, but an occasional clarified rule or suggested strategy would be helpful. Let the game itself be a teacher, allowing them to learn the hard way by making mistakes, just like you did (and still do).

And conversely, novices and intermediates need to respect the competitiveness of advanced players. Regardless of the skill level, we all want to get a good cardio workout and to become better players, which is why those of us who have been playing for a while, or who bring skills from other sports, prefer to play with other higher caliber players. In a game in which players with a wide range of skill levels play together, the competitive intensity tends to lower to the level of the less skilled player. Advanced players are forced to notch down their intensity, which makes for a less competitive, and for them, less satisfying game. So, rather than feeling snubbed and judging advanced players as elitists, recognize their skill and experience, and their motivations, which not insignificantly include wanting to be on the court together with friends with whom they have been playing for months and even years.

There’s a place for all in pickleball. Whether we’ve been playing here at the Douglas County Y since October 2010, or just since yesterday, we all need to recognize what others want to get from the sport.