The town will once again be ours .... at least for a week.  As a force multiplier, the weather is looking pretty doggone good!  I am guessing many of you are looking for playing outdoors for a change of pace.  Besides the very nice projected temps, the wind doesn't look too annoying.  Tuesday's afternoon wind speed projection is around 13 to 15 MPH which can cause some whacky flight patterns if you get your ball to high.  The rest of week looks much calmer.  Now that you have pickleballs flying in your head, let's blast off for the Pickleverse. 

1. Bernel Road Park - I played at Bernel this past Tuesday.  All 6 courts are available and seemed to hold up better than I hoped after the winter weather we had so far.  If Bernel is your destination there are a couple of things you should remember.  Bernel is a public park and open to all unless Centre Region Parks and Recreation issued permit to a group for a special event such as a tournament or CRPR group lessons.  Last year and as far as I know for this year the courts are open play.  No particular skill level has a hold on any special time slot or courts.  Where the concept of open courts truly comes into play is when all courts are filled and players are waiting to play.  Instructions on how to rotate and use the paddle saddle are posted on the fence by the door.  As you know the sport is growing quickly and the brings new players that are coming straight from Walmart to the courts with no concept of what traditional pickleball etiquette and most likely didn't stop to read the posted signs.  Please be patient with them and help them learn the communal nature of the game.

2. State College YMCA - Outside play has started at the Y.  I have not been there to see if they set up the wind screens or which nets they are using.  Like Bernel, the use a similar paddle saddle rotation when courts are full.  The Y does set aside 11:30 AM to 1:00 and 5:30 PM to 8:00PM to beginner level players.  Except for slots for clinics and special programs the rest of the hours are open play.  You can follow this link for more detail:  https://www.ymcaofcentrecounty.org/?s=pickleball

3. Other CRPR Courts - OK, so I was going to post a link to an interactive map to help you find which parks have pickleball lines overtop of the tennis court(s).  I was dismayed to discover how out of date the CRPR site is.  For example the description for Green Hollow Park stated how the tennis courts were soon to be converted to pickleball courts.  Ummm they are a few years behind since they had been converted and the converted back to tennis.  So I'll just say check around and you will find a few have pickleball/tennis court combos.  Be prepared though, a few of the ones I have checked out are in rough shape.

4. Ladies Day Pickleball Play Session - Janie K. has organized a special day for the queens of the courts.  If you are interested check out the PDF attached below.  There is a SignUpGenius if you want to jump in.  Just in case the link below.

5. Pickleball 101 - Last call for anyone that has anyone interested in attending on Tuesday the 11th from 1:00 PM to 3:00 PM. Link below.

6. Tournaments - see the documents below for information.

7. C3 Sports - C3 Sports will be offline on Friday the 14th.

8. Tip Of The Week - I probably give away too many secrets but it just means I have to work harder to keep getting better.  Ideally every shot you take should have some purpose.  What I have found is that if I try to hit a winner on every shot, I end up with just as many if not more errors and points or side outs for my opponent.  So whether to set myself up for a higher percentage winner or an easy put away for my partner I have certain formula shots that I like to work off of.  The following are my favorite shots for working a point.  Number one on my hit parade is to attack any player that is hanging out back at the baseline.  If I have a player pinned at the baseline I am going to do my best to keep them there.  A lot of times they will drive the ball back to me but while I am going after them I am working my way through the transition zone looking to earn what one instructor I had calls the "winning line".  Another favorite person to go after is the one that tries to hide their backhand.  The more I can push them to a corner or sideline the more I am opening nice zone to knock the ball to.  One final I will share is going after the person that is moving.  I really got sold when Tina R. and I played in a tournament and we played two teams that tried to use stacking against us.  We worked to hit as many shots at the player that was moving to get back into a balanced court position.  I love to return the semi-zippy serves that I can send at serving player or their partner as the try to charge the net.  Maybe I should put a notch in my paddle for every toe tag I score.
   
   

Enjoy the weather this week.  If you do want to play inside, the links are below.  Hope to see you on the courts soon.  Peace.

C3 Sport:  https://www.signupgenius.com/go/70A0B4BA5AA28AB9-55598304-c3pickleball

The Centre:  https://www.signupgenius.com/go/70A0B4BA5AA28AB9-55598306-nvsc

Pickleball 101:  https://www.signupgenius.com/go/70A0B4BA5AA28AB9-55158643-pickleball#/

Ladies Day:  https://m.signupgenius.com/#!/showSignUp/5080B4AABAE2E5-55162903-ladies

Randy Hoffman

Holbrook Pickleball Ambassador

https://holbrookpickleball.com/

Discount Code = RANDYHOFFMAN

From Janie K.: 

Hello! We have had an amazing response to our Justfor-Fun tournaments. Here is an opportunity for all the wonderful women who have expressed an interest to play together on Friday March 21 from 11-1 at The Centre This will be fun as a typical drop in, and with all 7 courts, there should be lots of time to play a lot of games with a lot of people. We will play using the "winners stay, unless they have played 2 consecutive games" system. Here is a link to sign up using a Sign Up Genius form.