So that was a bit of a shift for many players this past week with having to move inside to play and it looks like that trend will continue into most of next week. The good news is that there are 3 public options for indoor play:  Nittany Valley Sports Centre, C3 Sports, and the State College YMCA.  Not sure what the Penn State Tennis Center is doing currently.  Oh well, maybe someday a dedicated pickleball facility will find its way into our little corner of the world.  Let's blast off and see what is happening in the Pickleverse.  Listening to Sade currently so you will get the mellow Randy edition tonight.

1. Ouch! - So the other day I was playing and I was working the transition from the baseline towards the NVZ when I was zapped by friendly fire.  My partner has a mis-hit that smacks me in the left ear.  That sucker stung.  I walk a few circles muttering a few expletives under my breath and then continue the game and playing another 90 minutes.  I get home and shower and my wife looks at me and asked what happened to my ear (as did my daughter later at dinner) as the apparenlty drew blood which had scabbed over.  At dinner I have my daughter take a photo (see below) to show me and I was surprised the ear was still red with a couple of injury marks.  My hearing is fine and all that but as I looked at the photo I realized how close that ball had come to my eye.  So seizing the opportunity for a teaching moment, what sort of damage could have occurred if my eye had been the impact area.  I wear protective eyewear so I would have had some protection but with eye protection injuries like detached retinas and such are a risk.  So learn from my experience and consider adding protective eyewear to your equipment bag.  

2. New Holbrook Paddle(s) Coming - Holbrook is jumping on the bandwagon and releasing a line of edgeless paddles in 6 varieties.  I was offered a free one so I choose what they called the "Wide Body" since it seemed the most unique compared to my current set of demo paddles.  When I have it in I will let folks know if you are looking for something new.

3. Dink For Pink - Update on openings as follows:  Intermediate Men = 1, Advanced Women = 4, and Beginner (or as I like to call them Novice) Men AND Women = 11.  It seems that the lack of participants in the men's bracket has necessitated combining the men and women in a single bracket.  As I have said before this format is a great starter for those new to tournament, team, league, ladder play.  You will play with a number of randomly assigned partners so in a way, it is very much like drop-in play.  Here is the link for more information or if you want to register:  https://www.ymcaofcentrecounty.org/?s=pickleball

4. Happy Partners - Here is a link to an article in Psychology Today on how to be a good pickleball partner.  You could almost swap in "spouse" for pickleball partner for most of the points.  It isn't' very long and worth a read IMHO.  Link:  https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/in-the-trenches/202409/how-to-be-a-good-pickleball-partner?utm_source=thedink.beehiiv.com&utm_medium=newsletter&utm_campaign=fix-your-backhand-flick&_bhlid=0d267287f9179f0b0fe8589d6de352196b4dd35a

5. Rally Scoring - this morning, most of the morning we only had 7 players so rotation with 1 active court and 3 waiting is always cumbersome.  After a couple games we switched to rally scoring with games to 11, win by 1.  We also switched to a 3 out, 3 in rotation.  Using this format the games moved quickly, players had to work on some new strategies, and everyone got a fair amount of playing time.  If you are unfamiliar with rally scoring hit me up when you see me at the court.  It is easier to explain at a court than on a page.

6. TOTW - Watch your opponent's head, especially the eyes.  If you are looking to hide your backhand, shift for a possible poach, or shut down a down-the-line shot, don't move until you see your opponent drop their head (eyes) to watch the paddle impact the ball.  Moving before allows them to adjust their shot.  Like comedy, timing is everything.
   
   

OK, like Annie says, "The sun will come out....maybe on Thursday".  Have a great week and I hope to see you on the court soon.  Here are you sign-up links for The Centre and C3 Sports:

The Centre:  https://www.signupgenius.com/go/70A0B4BA5AA28AB9-51822223-nvsc

C3 Sports:  https://www.signupgenius.com/go/70A0B4BA5AA28AB9-51822208-c3pickleball
 

Randy Hoffman

Holbrook PIckleball Ambassador

https://holbrookpickleball.com/

Discount Code = RANDYHOFFMAN20