So those of us that participated in the drone video promotional video shoot at The Centre are sitting around waiting for Hollywood or Broadway to call.  The Centre was very appreciative of our efforts and there were very few interruptions in play so everyone got 2+ hours, food, drinks, and at the end - ice cream.  Wendy G. would be the winner of the "closest to the pin" moment when she almost took out the drone as it buzzed across her court.  When the video goes up on any platform I will link to it so you can see how good we looked.  Let's see what else is happening in the Pickleverse.  

1. C3 Sports:  For this week C3 will only have the 1:00 to 3:00 PM session available on Monday through Thursday.  Friday will be the normal schedule.  Additionally, after this week C3 will go into their summer shut down mode.

2. The Centre:  The staff have been able to manage summer camp and drop-in pickleball overlapping so they are continuing to run their standard drop-in and private reserved court sessions.  I have not checked to see if they have been offering any evening or weekend session.  To check that you can go to their reservation web page.  Pickleball page:  https://thecentrepa.com/pickleball/?fbclid=IwAR32gkAgt4SAIMk_4QIrCvWvDs9AHKA_EVv4lt5BTvZHOnOA6kzGPhRBQf4

3. The Heat:  It looks like some relief will be here in the coming week.  I went inside to play this past week so I wasn't at Bernel to play but I did stop by to do some visiting and paddle business.  On both occasions I encountered a player that was experiencing heat triggered issues.  Fortunately they were not too serious because the player recognized the situation and took mitigating action.  I am sure the heat will be back so on those days where it is HOT and you are determined to play outside here are some of my thoughts on protecting yourself.  Know your limits - if you feel dizzy, nauseated or just "off", sit down in the shade.  If you have any underlying conditions or take medications that could make you more prone to a heat related illness, share that with a friend at the court or wear some sort of ID tag.  Stay hydrated.  If you wait to drink only when thirsty, you are already behind the 8-ball.  One clothing item I like to wear in this weather is a neck gaiter that can also be worn as a headband or form of doo rag.  Wet that thing up with cold water and it can help cool you.  A neck cooling towel is also a good accessory to have between games.  It is the old adage, an ounce of prevention....

4. Walker Township Park:  I met with the Walker Township Parks and Recreation Committee earlier in the week.  After discussing some options they decided to order some court tape.  Once that arrives a team will blow the loose stones and such off the tennis court and we will put down a pickleball court on top of the tennis court.  With some luck, maybe the end of the week or early next week the court should  be ready for play.  The committee ordered 2 rolls (the tape is rated to last 4 to 6 weeks) for an evaluation period.  If the court is shown to be popular this may lead to painting lines.  I also looked at some other park sites for future courts.  I found the committee to be open to hearing my suggestions and provided suggestions from their end.  I feel good about pickleball's future in Walker Township.

5. Money For Your Opinion:  Mari Greetcher (Steve from The Centre, his wife) is involved in a PSU program to create an advisory board relative to arthritis and older adults.  There is a flyer at the bottom of the Jar.  To see if you qualify, apply via this site:  https://redcap.link/AdvisoryBoard  .  FYI this is a compensated event.  I applied.  Always happy to give my opinion, especially if you are paying me for it.  :)

6. Instructor Training:  A couple of our regular players (and very good candidates IMHO) have expressed interest in attending the train the teacher session in Altoona next month.  If you are interested I have the flyer below.

7. Tip Of The Week - Stay Alive:  At times you will find yourself in a desperate situation where your opponent is attacking you hard.  You have one job, stay alive (https://youtu.be/GpWWCTVbFfM?si=fhQtLz0UjIMKOVqd).  Your chance of striking back with an amazing winner is small.  You may not have a varied assortment of shots to respond with so just try to get the ball over the net and live to fight the next shot.  I have been observing more and more incidents of players recognizing they are going to have to deal with aggressive overheads so they slide back and get their paddles down to either take a low volley or a half volley.  They often have some good success with this and while they may eventually lose the point, they give themselves a fighting chance.  Then again, sometimes you end up winning:  https://www.instagram.com/reel/C8Ze9o2uRH8/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link.
   
   

You may not see me much on the courts for a couple weeks.  I guess the one side effect of my new knee is that I think I am younger than I am.  Early in the month I strained a muscle (current medical line of thinking) and it did not get better by playing lightly so the PA put me on a time out.  I start rehab on Wednesday.  What have I learned?  I need to incorporate stretching into my pre-competitive time.  So learn from my pain and work some of that into your routine.  Have a great week.

The Centre:  https://www.signupgenius.com/go/70A0B4BA5AA28AB9-50145477-nvsc

C3 Sports:  https://www.signupgenius.com/go/70A0B4BA5AA28AB9-50145473-c3pickleball

Randy Hoffman

Holbrook PIckleball Ambassador

https://holbrookpickleball.com/

Discount Code = RANDYHOFFMAN20