Stay in your lane in Pickleball...

 My second week of Pickleball -- the learning experience

Like other sports, it takes time to become a level 2.5, 3.0 or a 3.5 player in Pickleball. It may take a few years to advance from the beginner's stage...the novice stage, if you will, to the top of the mountain -- a 5.0, for goodness sakes, where you pretty much have mastered all the skill levels and facets of the game.

It's true what they say. "You can start playing the game after a quick 10 minutes of on-the-court activity." Becoming a 2.5 level player -- knowing the basics, how to keep score, working on dink shots, the lob and simply learning how to keep the ball in play...please save those hard returns for another day...well that's all part of the journey...the journey toward 3.5  and above.

In a lot of ways I'm floating up court without a paddle. So much to learn about the rules: stay out of the kitchen, let the ball bounce on the initial volley...stay back...move forward. Am I server 1 or 2?

And that's just Week 1!

As for the art of the dink? That'll put me in the kitchen. A place I'm not supposed to be.

My main problem is my age, although no one seems to care how old you are as long as you have a paddle, a Franklin ball and the heart to enter the court of play. Does a normal person start playing Pickleball at 77 years of age, especially a die-hard baseball player like me who still enjoys the wide open spaces of a baseball field?

Well. We will see.

How far will I take this new sport?

I have learned enough in a couple of weeks at Tucson Udall Park to get the adrenaline pumping and I have put away a few shots -- shots that have actually put a smile on my face. Progress! One court... one match at a time.

To be honest, I'll probably run out of years before I master a game that is now played in 37 countries. Finding an available Pickleball court may soon become harder than finding a gallon of gas in town for under $5.00.

It is such a popular sport. Especially locally at Udall Park, where 12 beautiful courts are now available for play. The courts, constructed in March/2021, are now over a year old...and the courts are always full (well, maybe not at High Noon, during the summer...let's be realistic) with players waiting in line to play a 15-minute match.

My advice after just two weeks of on-the-court activity: Stay in your lane!

And I do not mean on the court...but off.

At the outdoor courts at Udall, it's best to get there early, just as the sun begins to climb up over the Rincon Mountains. Soon you will hear the sound of a perforated plastic ball colliding with a paddle made out of wood, graphite or a composite.

Players ranging in age from the 20-somethings up to senior, men and women, who may or may not want to reveal their age. One very athletic lady, a 3.0 or above, I assume said: "We don't talk age around here." So we paddled up and we took down our opponents, 13-11. It was my first win of the week.

But as I said, staying in your lane means: try to hook up with people near or around your level of play...and move on up in class, gradually. You will make friends quickly and you'll find you have one thing in common with them: to up your game and become the best Pickleball player you can be.

I met a beautiful lady on Day 1. Carol, is her name, and she happens to be on the board of Tucson Area Pickleball (TAP). Carol wondered if I had inserted my paddle into one of the empty slots, signaling my attempt to join in the fun and play a 15-minute match.

I said, "I have," with a smile.

She smiled, too, and said. "Well, you're on the board, then."

I have nowhere to go, but up.