Yep, it’s true — players generally get better when they play with better players. If the better player is only marginally better, then the lesser players gradually get better as they adapt to faster ball speeds and more accurate placement. However, if the skill gap is too large between them,…
I probably saved a pickleballer’s life last week. His wife, like mine, insisted that he get a baseline work-up from his doctor before he competed in more pickleball tournaments, which require greater physical intensity than recreational play. Like me, he had no symptoms, but testing revealed…
It was just wonderful. This old pickleball warhorse found great pleasure watching the resumption of the Coastal Community Pickleball League (CCPL). Fairway Village played The Estuary, and 18 members of The Estuary’s team showed up at Fairway Village — 18! It was just a few years ago that I d…
In my last column, I told you I was going to write about smarter offensive ball placement. I promise I will, but first I want to mention the tournament in Ocean City, Md., and those players who have already figured out pickleball is about getting the ball back just one more time with control…
Ninety-four shots!
In my last column, I told you I was going to write about smarter offensive ball placement. I promise I will, but first I want to mention the tournament in Ocean City, Md., and those players who have already figured out pickleball is about getting the ball back just one more time with control…
Apparently, my effort is working, because last week players on the adjacent court yelled over to tell me that they had a seven-ball exchange in their game. Yesterday, a fairly good player told me at their community they had increased their average number of exchanges per point to between fou…
The last time we figuratively spoke, I suggested you simply improve the number of serves you successfully hit, and also try to increase your percentage of successful returns of serve. Some of the more improved players thought this was good advice for beginners, but didn’t think it applied to…
Golf, tennis, and pickleball are numbers games.
I want to respond to a reader’s question about follow-through. Their question was that, since the ball is on and off the paddle so quickly, can follow-through possibly make a difference?
Well, here we go again — starting another pickleball year. Many of our friends — some of the captains from our regional pickleball spots — have headed south to Florida and Arizona, where they report back on grand communities built around their pickleball programs.
Mike Smith, a pickleball Captain at Fairway Village, is a gracious fellow and plays at different coastal communities, and has helped many local pickleballers improve their games.
I was a guest recently at Seagrass Plantation, where they’ve done a spectacular job developing quality pickleball players. After a particularly outstanding game against two of their female players, Maryanne Siegert and Suzanne Chilton, I asked Maryanne what subject she thought might be helpf…
As the level of pickleball play advances, most players realize they should get to the no-volley zone (NVZ), where their odds improve dramatically.
Marion Lisehora, a local girl, has been mentioned many times in the Coastal Point because of her many medals in various senior sporting events, including pickleball. I nicknamed her “the Queen Mother of Pickleball” a few years ago. For you new to pickleball, Marion was the young girl who man…
This week I am writing about a seldom-mentioned topic: singles in pickleball. I watched the singles competition on a glorious autumn day at the racket sports complex at Ocean Pines, Md., which is near the Maryland and Delaware beaches along the Atlantic Ocean.
Sorry — I incorrectly cited the dates for the upcoming prize-money pickleball tournament at the Ocean Pines Pickleball Club. It will be held between Oct. 22 and 24, and 217 players are already registered. They do so many great things at Ocean Pines, like the $16,700 raised for cancer last we…
I’m writing this article on the morning of my 56th wedding anniversary. I am in a reflective mood and counting my blessings, and as I ponder, I can’t help but look at how pickleball influenced the last part of our married lives.
I get my ideas for this pickleball column from conversations intermingled among the laughter and chatter on the pickleball court.
Your pickleball rating — Is it a self-rating conclusion, the results of a contusion, simple confusion, or downright self-delusion?
I am now a proud member of the VFW Post 7234 in Ocean View, and my membership followed receiving my first services from the Veterans Administration (VA) just this year.
The Ocean View Crew court instructors and exhibitors did wonderful work a few weeks ago. Almost every one of them came to me privately afterwards, eyes brightly lit, to tell me how “this one lady, or that tall guy in… really improved in that very session.” My response was, “Now you know why …
I mentioned last week that Pickleball Nan telephoned me inside my head and was very excited about a final large chunk of money to not only install lights, but also possibly install nine-foot wind screens around the 10 dedicated Pickleball courts behind John M. Clayton Elementary School. I sa…
You have been writing and asking for a pickleball clinic since early spring. You asked — and it is just a week away! Thursday, July 22, beginning at 9 a.m.
This article came to mind when I recently spent a week teaching my granddaughter advanced shot-making now that she is playing high-school tennis. I was reminded that tennis is such a great game, as is pickleball. She, hopefully, will be able to play both for her entire lifetime. We watched W…
I received an excellent question from a reader. She heard that when playing doubles, both players in pickleball should always approach the net together, forming a traditional defensive line as they move forward. But others told her that both players didn’t have to approach together. I unders…
Some friends called me to discuss the Nadal/Djokovic tennis match at the French Open in Paris, which is a superbly well-organized event played on those grueling red European “clay” courts. I attended that event once as the guest of the René Lacoste, one of the famed “Four Musketeers” of Fren…
A player I have been helping the past few years has been leapfrogging forward in her pickleball skills. She mentioned she still had no confidence on the court, and I thought this week I would pass along a few tips — of course, taking my signature circuitous route. Here we go…
You probably know the very athletic Mike and Mary Anne Vogel. They were our cheerleaders when the Coastal Community Pickleball League (CCPL) raised money for the local emergency department.
The new drop-serve in pickleball seemingly has many in our region paying more attention to the rules, which is a good thing, because rules basically are intended to give everyone an even playing field.
The health aspects of pickleball never cease to amaze me. In a Public Broadcasting System (PBS) report on pickleball in Delaware, one player revealed that doctors had explained she should be dead but blood had rerouted in her heart because of her extensive pickleball exercise.
A hospital worker told me just yesterday that people retire here, and when and if they have an emergency, some have not yet met their neighbors, nor have friends or family to assist them. But if they played pickleball, they would have an army of concerned acquaintances to assist them. In fac…
The first thing I heard about the U.S. Pickleball Open this year was that the quality of play had skyrocketed over prior years. Nevertheless, some of our players were not to be intimidated.
Many folks in communities without their own pickleball courts have contacted me about places to play, so I thought I should point out some local public pickleball alternatives. I have listed the mileage from the front porch of Coastal Point newspaper in Ocean View, where I can frequently be …
This is the fifth year of pickleball at Seagrass since they over-painted four pickleball courts on one tennis court. Their community is closed to outside guests because of COVID, but they now enjoy pickleball seven days a week among their home owners.
First thing first this week: Your health.
I stopped to visit with Don Creel and his wife Doris at Bear Trap Dunes earlier this week because I wanted to learn what their community plans to do with their pickleball program this spring. More than 30 people played at Bear Trap all winter.
More than a dozen persons have asked me over the last few months about my thoughts on joint surgery. The questions ranged from “Should I get my knees replaced?” to would I still have my knees replaced again?
Over three previous pickleball articles in the Coastal Point, I wrote about doubles, which is what we almost all play. The first article was about defensive doubles when receiving, the second about offensive doubles when serving, and the third about stacking in pickleball doubles to maximize…
ennis players figured out a long time ago to more simply deal with stacking.
This week I am writing about offensive pickleball. In pickleball, you can only score when you are serving, so you need to make the best of it. This week, I will explain the responses the serving team should have made to the return-of-serve and defensive strategy explained in my last Coastal …
I know that I promised another article about pickleball doubles, so let’s just call this an intermission. Hang with me, because this will all tie together.
My next four articles are structured to help all my readers play better doubles in pickleball. I know, I know — you just want to have fun — but you can learn and have fun simultaneously, like walking and chewing gum.
Like previous years, I plan to cut back the number of articles I write in the first quarter of the year, until the tempo of pickleball picks up again. If you have an important announcement to make, please send me details so we can share it with our ever-growing pickleball community.
This is the week we all think about WEIGHT.
What is the one shot you most likely hit the most? (This doesn’t apply to those players tethered to the fence behind the baseline.) Answer: the volley.
Every year at this time I highlight someone who I feel has made a significant contribution to the pickleball community. But, this year, I am looking at our American youth in general.
Gifts are just around the corner for many so hopefully this article will help many of you select a paddle for yourself or a spouse. Maybe cut this article out of Coastal Point and highlight it, and then accidentally leave it on the kitchen table.
I’ve been thinking about Thanksgiving and the mandatory carving of turkey.
I have written about the third shot drop multiple times. It’s like our old tennis “chip-and-charge” tactic, where we painted the sideline or opponent’s shoelaces with a spinning ball as we charged the net and then set up for a volley.
Last week, I promised you the third shot. But this week I must salute my fellow veterans — particularly during these trying times.
