Listening to some Celtic/Irish Folk while composing this edition.  I am actually ahead of my normal schedule in part due to an early start time playing with a group of friends this morning.  On Fridays I usually play with a specific group of friends and for most of the year our start time is 11:00 AM so 7:45 AM has me out of sync with my normal Friday routine.  The first half of my career was working rotating shifts every 5 weeks and then mandatory or optional overtime so I was used to doing things on the fly and embraced spontaneity.  Then I got an office job and then like Lone Waite (Outlaw Josey Wales reference) I got civilized.  So having my routine pushed out of its normal orbit is interesting.  It is either that or the allergy meds.  Either way, let's blast off for the Pickleverse.

1. Bernel Road Park:  While not a pickleball event, Patton Township will be holding an open house for the official opening of Phase 2 of the park.  There will be various demonstrations and of course some speeches.  The event will be Tuesday, May 21 from 4:00 to 5:30 PM.  If you have a chance, come out and see some of the new features that I believe are unique for central PA.  Here's a link:  https://twp.patton.pa.us/Calendar.aspx?EID=834

2. 2024 PickleBRAWL:  Good luck to Wendy G. and others from the local groups that are heading down I-99 for the tournament on Saturday.

3. Decertified!:  Last week I mentioned about the arms race in making paddles more and more aggressive.  Joola just had their 3rd Gen delisted from the USAP's approved paddle list.  Allegedly Joola is saying they sent in the wrong paddles for testing...

4. Governor's Park (Bellefonte):  This past Monday, the BAHS pickleball Community Ed group that I had been assisting with had a field trip to Governor's Park to play outdoors.  There are fresh looking lines for the pickleball court.  There are two major cracks which run across the width of the court, one one each side of the net.  Prior to this the group had not played outside so it was especially fun as they learned how to adapt to the wind.  Over all, a crappy court but playable.  Hitting the cracks with weed killer and then filling the cracks with sealer would help.  We played that if the ball took a whack-a-doodle bounce off of the crack, it was still in play, that's just life.  

5. Great Cycle Challenge:  I continue to be grateful for such wonderful and generous friends from the pickleball community.  Thanks to a number of donations that rolled in last week, I am now over halfway to my fundraising goal.  If you would like to find out more about the Great Cycle Challenge and/or make a donation follow this link:  https://greatcyclechallenge.com/Riders/RandyHoffman

6. Tip Of The Week:  Bungee cord.  This past week I watched a number of players that have mastered the concept of needing to work their way up to the NVZ to improve their chance of winning the point.  What I saw happening was that players that took a few steps back due to a lob or felt forced to slide back to handle a deep dink at their feet and would then camp out at that spot of retreat subsequently become a target for attack.  Picture in your mind a bungee cord around your waist and attached to the net.  If pushed back, adjust, hit your shot and then start working your way back to the NVZ.  One thing you can do to reduce the need to retreat is learn to take more dinks out of the air and volley them back.  There is a neat little drill I call Defend The Castle (or Tower) that I or some of the PB 201 folks can show you.
   
   

The weather looks more cooperative for outdoor play this week. For me I hope to grab some bike miles to continue to train for my rides in September so I may not be on the courts as often this week.  If I don't see you at the courts, perhaps I will see you on the trails someday soon.  Sign up links are located below for rainy days and those that like to play inside especially during allergy season.  Peace.

C3 Sports:  https://www.signupgenius.com/go/70A0B4BA5AA28AB9-49754891-c3pickleball

The Centre:  https://www.signupgenius.com/go/70A0B4BA5AA28AB9-49754902-nvsc

Randy Hoffman

Holbrook PIckleball Ambassador

https://holbrookpickleball.com/

Discount Code = RANDYHOFFMAN20