We’re back in the PARC gym!
It’s been two weeks since our first day hosting a Plymouth pickleball event at the PARC gym, and we’re back! PARC is a good space for us to grow our community of players, and this night was special because we had four new players that needed to learn how to play.
First up was Ben, a soon-to-be college undergraduate at the University of Michigan. He showed up early with me to help set up the courts which meant he got hands-on teaching before everyone else arrived. Ben has an athletic background playing football, soccer, running track, and more, so he learned the game quickly.
We played two singles matches before everyone else arrived and being much more in shape than I am, he was able to compete. In the end, my limited experience won the day but if Ben had a few more matches under his belt, his speed and athleticism would more than likely result in some wins.
How many people showed up to play?
We had six players arrive in total, and two kids (my kiddos). The kids did their normal thing and played with some toys around the gym. They also enjoyed watching, gathering balls, and Gracie, my oldest, tried coaching with her dad by teaching others the rules. She’s going to be a great coach one day!
Four of the players have never played the sport before. Only me and my wife Katie were the players with prior playing experience, which made tonight a lot of fun. We had two courts in rotation for the night, one with a doubles match, and one court dedicated to playing singles. Players who needed help learning the game spent some time with me on the singles court while Katie taught the doubles players how to play with her.
How long did we play?
We played longer than last time, just over an hour and a half. We started playing around 6:20pm, and we ended shortly after 8pm. We all played well past our physical energy for the day, so we got plenty of play in. Plus, the gym was hot. I wore his Garmin watch and tracked my calories. The watch said I burned over one thousand calories in that time, which is a lot.
What was the story of the day?
Tim, a friend of our, showed up to learn how to play. He started on the doubles court with Katie and a few others, and he played a few games. Now, Tim is both very healthy, in shape, fast, and he likes to play competitive sports. He comes across as quiet but he’s looking to win.
When prompted with an opportunity to join the singles court, Tim volunteered without hesitation. He galloped over to the singles court to join me to which I asked how the night was going so far. Tim said that he was having fun and he didn’t have any questions, and he was ready to play.
What happend? Who won?
I led off serving and he opened with a casual hit to Tim’s box where Tim returned the serve to the opposite court, a perfect liner to the back corner with speed. This caught me off guard because the ball flew past him. I haven’t experienced a new player like this before, even Ben from earlier. Tim then took the serve and sent it to me and returned it in a controlled way, and then Tim proceeded to smash the ball in my face.
At this point, I knew I had to turn off my coach’s hat and put on my competition hat, or else Tim was going to whip my butt. The first game required me to hustle from side to side and sweat a bucket full, but he escaped with a win, eleven to seven. Game two was a different story when Tim blew me out, eleven to three.
It came down to the third and final game, a rubber match that best two of three. We changed the scoring rules for the final game to practice using official scoring which requires control of the serve to earn a point. I haven’t encountered a player ready to move on from rally scoring yet, but Tim was ready. Now, we went back and forth for the final game, but luck was in my favor, this time. I took the third game eleven to five, but I know Tim will be a dangerous player.
Come to find out, Tim shared that he has played tennis for years. This explains why Tim could find those back corners with ease and pace, he’s an ace!
We had fun, then we got ice cream!
A new tradition of ours is taking the kids for ice cream after we play. We pack the nets up, put the balls away, and then we walk to Dairy King which is down the street one block. The kids enjoy the walk, and so do we!
Another great night of pickleball in the books!
Thanks for reading!
As always, thank you for reading and for your support. Our next goal is to find regular times for us to gather and play with the local community.
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Thanks for reading!