How about those lights!  I was excited to finally see my first Aurora Borealis.  Take that trip to Iceland off the bucket list.  Fortunately my wife's IPhone had night mode because my "money saver" SE model did not.  Of course that wonderfully clear night made for some front on the grass in the shadow areas this morning reminding us that the season is intent on changing whether we are happy about it or not.  Part of that cycle is having to adjust outdoor play times due to chilly temps and earlier sunsets. I hope those that have property in Florida were spared any serious damage from Milton.  It's time to blast off and boldly go to the Pickleverse.

1. OK so our area missed out on a dedicated pickleball facility. If that totally bums you out, you can move to Scottsdale, AZ.  Currently under construction is a facility that will have 50 indoor courts. Load the wagon and hitch up the oxen, we're headed west!

2. Of course not everyone is happy about the pickleball explosion.  The US Tennis Association released a report indicating that pickleball has caused 10% of all tennis courts to be converted to pickleball courts.  It is said that tennis is experiencing its own growth spurt; they are concerned that it could be stymied by the lack of courts.  I'm not sure where this demand for courts is occurring but I know I'm not seeing it at Bernel.  Except for some drilling and some tennis dates, I see very little activity on the tennis courts.  Maybe this is a down south and over west thing.

3. Pickleball 101:  This past Tuesday there was a small Pickleball 101 session at The Centre.  There are 4 new acolytes to the game so if they show up for drop-in be sure to welcome them. I will probably schedule another PB 101 in early November.

4. Pickleball 201:  I am tied a lot this coming week but after that I can start doing PB 201 sessions.  The format that worked well last Winter and Spring was you assemble a group with you and 2 other players, we pick a date and time (The Centre during one of their private court sessions) and then we spend 2 hours working on specific drills and discussing strategy.  The only fee is the $8 facility fee for each player or the $40 court fee if using an evening or weekend session time.  Email me if you are interested.

5. New Paddle(s):  Holbrook is releasing a new line of paddles. The series name is Aero. Probably the biggest new features are the foam injection and corner weights to balance the paddle.  The Aero series has 6 paddles of which some are variations of another Aero Paddle.  For example a 14mm and a 16mm version of the same paddle.  Today I received the Aero S, which is their (new to them) "wide body" model.  Later this week I will have the Aero T which will be similar to my Power Pro-E (the longer paddle with the big sweet spot) but with this new foam insert technology.  You are more than welcome to try them out.  I believe the release date for the Aero line is October 22.

6. Ball Caddy At The Centre:  Below is a photo of the new ball caddy at The Centre.  I do product reviews for Amazon sellers and this one came up on my radar.  I am actually impressed with the quality. This has replaced the wire basket.

7. Bend and Stretch:  Cam Capurso, a trainer in the upstairs gym at The Centre, is starting a new program targeting pickleball players. The training targets are to improve mobility, strength, and balance. A flyer he provided is below. If you are interested in checking it out, his contact information is on the flier.

8. Tip Of The Week:  OK, this is a work in progress and more of a suggestion than a tried and true "tip".  We suck when it comes to warming up, most of us are eager to get into the game. Warm ups are lucky to be 5 or 6 dinks to the player across the net from you.  Currently in my brain (scary place sometimes) I have my idea of a good warm up for the terminally impatient.  It goes like this:  10 straight ahead dinks (good ones that land in the NVZ), 10 cross court dinks (same thing about the NVZ), 1 slinky drill (one person feeds ball to the other does a drop into the kitchen, if successful they take a step back and try to it again and on and on until they get to the baseline, reverse the process until both are back at the NVZ line and then they switch jobs), 5 straight drives, 5 cross court drives, and finally 2 serves. If you are unfamiliar with the slinky drill let me or any of the PB 201 grads know and we can quickly teach it to you.  This warm up should take less than 7 minutes and will have you better ready to play.  Of course this is just for getting you shots zeroed in, you should also do some light aerobic warm up and stretching but maybe that's a future TOTW.

OK the sign-ups for The Centre and C3 Sports are below.  The next Pickle Jar will not make it out until Saturday or Sunday. Friday will be a grad school open house at WVU with my daughter. 

C3 Sports:  https://www.signupgenius.com/go/70A0B4BA5AA28AB9-52285296-c3pickleball

The Centre:  https://www.signupgenius.com/go/70A0B4BA5AA28AB9-52285297-nvsc

Randy Hoffman

Holbrook PIckleball Ambassador

https://holbrookpickleball.com/

Discount Code = RANDYHOFFMAN20