That time of year has arrived when half of Centre County wonders about the sanity of the other half as they are called back to the mother ship called the Grange Fair.  Growing up in western PA I was very familiar with several county and regional fairs. I have many fond memories from days spent wandering around the grounds.  Coming from a small town a county fair was a kaleidoscope of opportunities for new experiences.  I remember the summer between my junior and senior year of high school attending the Dayton Fair.  Now this was back in a time when fairs were a bit more bawdy.  While meandering about I came upon an uncle (Mom's brother) and we just happened to come across each other in front of the hoochie coochie tent.  Bless his heart, he treated me to admission to the early evening show.  I was excited but frightened.  How should I act?  I decided to play it cool, react as if this was nice but no big deal.  The show was probably about 20 minutes and after exiting I bid my uncle good night and said I would probably see him on Sunday at my grandmothers where we often gathered for a family meal.  As soon as he was out of sight I rocketed around the grounds looking for friends with whom I could share my experience with.  Soon I had a small cadre of eager listeners and eventually someone suggested we all attend the next show.  Emboldened by the group dynamic we walked up to the ticket seller and put our money down.  We were all 16 years of age or older except for one members younger brother who I believe was 14.  I figured the success or failure of this mission would ride or die with his appearance at the ticket booth.  The front edge of the booth was elevated and our junior member had to reach up to hand off his admission fee.  I think the rest of us were actually a little amazed he got in.  With hearts racing and feet walking on air we entered the tent and realized we were some of the first patrons for this show.  During the show I attended with my uncle we were in a back row, FYI the shows were by default SRO, there were no chairs. For this show we all shot to the front of the stage.  While I remember these details I recall very little about any conversations we had or many details about the shows.  Well, except for the second show when one of the dancers took some sunglasses that were perched on the top of my head and  . . . well to keep this issue PG I'll stop there.  If you go to the Grange Fair you may see me there a day or two.  I will share my best Grange Fair story for next week.  Best wishes the to Fair, the campers, and everyone else attending.  Let's get the ferris wheel spinning and take off for the Pickleverse.

1. Dink For Pink (State College YMCA) - Added to the Tournaments page is an information flier about the Y's Dink For Pink round robin pickleball event.  You don't need a partner.  Partners and pairings will be assigned.  Registration for YMCA members opens on August 18 (non-members August 25).  This is a charity event.  There are a limited number of entries so don't hesitate.

2. C3 Sports - Due to the Dino show there will be no pickleball at C3 this week.

3. Dink For Pink (Johnstown) - On the Tournaments page is a flier for the Johnstown version of Dink For Pink.  A unique feature of this tournament is that prizes for the top 3 teams in each bracket are cash money!  This is the first I have heard of cash prizes for the lower brackets.  At times tournaments will offer cash prizes to the higher bracket(s) to draw the sandbaggers out of the lower brackets.  Dirk and Lisa runs good events so this might be a good one to try if you want to experience a travel tournament.  I may have to give this one some thought and maybe, just maybe I can play with kids my own age.

4. Holbrook Aero Kevlar and Metallic Paddles - The price for the Kevlar and Metallic paddles have been reduced to $199.99 ($170.00 with my discount code RANDYHOFFMAN).  I have demos of both of these popular paddles.  In addition I added a couple of 14mm paddles to my demo bag to give the models a bit more pop.  I am really liking the Aero T in the 14mm.  If you are interested in test driving any paddles let me know.

5. Rules - A few times recently I have heard people quote "new" rules on service lets and other aspects of the game.  What is happening is they are watching matches from one of the professional leagues that have adopted their own rules and some of those vary from the USAP Rulebook.  If in doubt, here is a link for the 2025 rulebook: USAP Rulebook.

6. Tip Of The Week - One of the basic strategy philosophies is to be the first players to the NVZ.  Often the first team to do that has the upper hand and greater chance of winning the point.  The receiving team has the best chance of accomplishing that since the serving team must wait for the second bounce.  What I have found is that when I hit a hard flat drive as my return, it quite often comes back quicker and often at my feet forcing me into a half volley that could be a fatal mistake if I elevate it too much.  Since I'm not the fastest person in central PA if I hit a drive return I will follow it for about 2 or 3 steps and split step into a ready position and defend where I am and then work to the NVZ on the next shot.  If I arc the return I find that quite often I can make it to the NVZ or within a step or two.  Now if you are serving and run into a team that is good at setting it up so they have both players at the NVZ you need to figure out what your 3rd shot will be.  If you are like me, you are trying to develop that nice 3rd shot drop but still hit the tape or set the opponent up for an easy put away.  Keep working on it, it will pay dividends eventually.  Another option is a lob but except for a few expert "lob"sters most of us send a pop-up to the other side and then have to fight off smashes.  A third option is to drive the ball and try to put it in the area of opponent's paddle hand hip.  I like to mix up my returns, trying to keep the opponent from getting into a groove.

Have a great week and here is your link for indoor play.  Remember, no slots at C3 this week.

The Centre:  https://www.signupgenius.com/go/70A0B4BA5AA28AB9-57985431-nvsc

Randy Hoffman

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