Pickleball Wednesday 11-26-08

We don't usually play pickleball on Wednesdays but today looked like the best day of the week. It turned out to be a good day for pickleball. There were 9 pickleball players today but only 8 at a time. The players were Bob T., Barb, Steve, Ralph, Bing, Jan, Mike, Ken and I. Bing pulled a muscle in his calf just about right away but by that time Mike had arrived and took his place. Jan had her new paddle today and really played well with it. We also had a surprise visit from Barb. She was finally able to come and play with us today. It was so good to see her and have her back on the court. We had some really good games today and especially the ones between Steve and I and Mike and Ralph. It is an on going competition that started last Thursday. Steve and I have won 3 out of 4 games with Mike and Ralph now.
We missed the other players today but hope that they can come back next week.
Wishing everyone a Happy Thanksgiving and Hope to C U on D Courts......Lynn

Pickleball @ Cleveland Park Friday 9-5-08

We had another good day of pickleball. It did start getting windy towards the last of our session but not too bad. And there were no tennis leagues out there today. It was a peaceful day.
There were 10 of us for pickleball......Ron, Sharon, John, Barb, Steve, Ralph, Lynne S., Bob H., Ken and I. We also had 4 visitors to come and watch. Bill and Jim stopped by and sat for a while in the shade and spectated. Then Fran and Margaret and her little dog also came to watch our game. Cleveland Park is so nice as there is a lot of shade especially where we put our chairs and one of our courts stays in the shade.
Well 5 of us have decided to give it a go for the pickleball tournament the last of this month. Lynne S., John, Steve, Ken and I are game. We're hoping that Bob T. might want to go too when he gets back. It sounds like it will be fun and offer some experience with a tournament.
Remember to keep your eyeballs peeled for any potential pickleball players out there and invite them to come give it a try.
Hope to C U on D Courts......Lynn......I keep losing but I'm having fun!

Pickleball @ Cleveland Park Tuesday 9-2-08

Soon after Ken and I got to the courts this morning Barb came. We hadn't seen her in a couple of weeks and we were glad to have her back. It was a nice morning and we only had to do minimal chalking on the courts. There hasn't been much rain lately but it looks like things might change with the tropical storms and hurricanes that might come here. There were 10 of us for pickleball today.....Barb, Steve, Ralph, Ron, Sharon, Lynne S., Bob H., Anne, Ken and I.
We got some more information about the pickleball tournament. The tournament is on Sunday Sept. 28th from 1:00 pm till 6:00pm. We will be playing doubles only. We need to know ASAP the people who will be playing so we can tell the folks at Hendersonville. There is a $5.00 entrance fee to be paid on the day of the tournament. They will be having a potato bar buffet afterwards, and they are asking each person to bring some sort of salad or dessert that may go with a baked potato.
Ken and I rode by Timmons Park on the way home to check the progress there. Still looks like a lot of work to be done.
Ron and Sharon will be sending out the pickleball messages for the next 1 or 2 weeks.
Always keep a lookout for potential new pickleball players.
Hope to see everyone again later in the week for more pickleball.
Lynn

Pickleball @ Cleveland Park Tuesday 8-19-08

It was another good day at the pickleball courts today. Some of our group that was missing last week were back but some are still gone. We had 11 players today.....Barb, John, Steve, Ralph, Anne, Ron, Sharon, Lynne S., Bob H., and Ken and I. We needed one more to make it 12. Most of the time we had 2 doubles courts going and 1 court with canadian doubles. We were all very considerate of the lady tennis players and we all walked around to our courts and not through theirs. We don't want to create any enemies with the tennis players.
Sharon said that she called the parks department and asked them to paint lines on the courts for us. They said that they were aware of us playing and that they would consider painting the lines. So thank you Sharon for doing that!
When we got home we had the new order of balls waiting for us. We were pleasantly surprised to see that Doug sent us a "baker's dozen" of balls.....12 yellow and 1 orange. We've really started breaking some balls lately.
We got some good news from our new player Mike that he received his new paddle today but also some bad news that he won't be able to play for 2 weeks because of a skin cancer removed from his ankle.
We missed Bokson today. She had to return to work today.
We had some really good games today and a good time was had by all. Looks like we are going to have to play on Thursday because of tropical storm Fay.
C U on D courts......Lynn

Pickleball @ Cleveland Park Friday 8-15-08

It was nice to have 2 new players today..... Fernando and Mike. We met Fernando through our tennis group. And we know Mike from our hiking club. They both have tennis backgrounds so they picked up the game in about 5 minutes. They really proved to be some good competition and a good addition to the group.
We had 8 players today....Steve, Fernando, Bokson, Barb, Mike, Bob H. and Ken and I.
Today was Bokson's last day with us for awhile as she is going back to work next Tuesday. But Barb informed us that she is coming to play on Tuesday with us and we were really happy to hear that. Also Mike just emailed to say that he has ordered a new paddle. We are looking forward to Ron, Sharon, Lynne S. and Ralph returning next week.
C U on D Courts.....Lynn

Pickleball @ Cleveland Park Tuesday 8-12-08

It was a nice cool morning for pickleball. The wind was blowing and that felt good to us but didn't do our pickleball any good. There were 9 of us for pickleball today.....John, Bokson, Barb, Steve, Ralph, Anne, Bob H., Ken and I. We sure are missing all the vacationers.....Ron & Sharon, Bob T., Lynne S. and George. Plus Claude and Josee. All of our chalk was still there. We have not had any rain. We hope to play again on Friday.
Please remember that if anyone has a friend that you think would be interested in pickleball please invite them to come try it!
C U on D Courts.....Lynn

Pickleball @ Cleveland Park Friday 8-8-08

There was a smaller group for pickleball today. There were 9 players but only 8 at a time as George left at 10:30 and then Anne came to take his place after her aerobics class. The players were Barb, Bokson, Steve, Ralph, George, Bob H., Anne, Ken and I. It was a nice morning to play as it wasn't so hot and we had a nice breeze, of course the breeze didn't help the ball but it felt good. There were also 2 ladies tennis doubles groups there and they were eyeing our courts as they wanted our shadiest one but we were there first. We had to rechalk the courts as it must have rained just enough to wash the chalk away but fortunately we did not have to clean up any water. We had some good games today even though we were missing some of our players. Bob T. was babysitting and is getting ready for the big camping trip to Vancouver Island and Ron and Sharon left this morning for NY for vacation. Lynne S. has not made it back yet from her Oregon vacation. Hope she is ok and will be back on the courts with us soon.
Because of so many of our players going on vacations, if anyone has a friend that you think would be interested in pickleball please invite them to come try it!
Lynn

Pickleball @ Cleveland Park Tuesday 8-05-08

Pickleball was at Cleveland Park today. We had really good luck getting courts. Today was the first time that we have been able to play on 3 courts! There were 13 players in all ...... John, Bob T., Bokson, Barb, Ralph, Steve, Ron, Sharon, Anne, Bob H., San, Ken and I. Ron and Sharon tried out their new paddles and both of them seemed to be very happy with their choices.
San came for only one game. She was afraid that she would mess up her back again.
Bokson is really improving. She was out there getting into diving for those short low balls.
It was so nice at Cleveland Park today as we had extra shade and having the multiple courts to use. Everyone seemed to be happy being there.
Our bad news now is that Ron and Sharon are leaving on Friday for a week vacation and Bob T. is leaving also for a very long vacation. We will miss all of them.
But we are looking forward to our next pickleball session. C U on D Courts...Lynn

Pickleball @ Timmons Park Friday 8-1-08

This was our last time to play at Timmons Park for a while. There was just enough water on the courts to try out our new squeegee which worked great! Bob T. was very impressed with the squeegee. He brought his too and we cleaned up the courts quickly and started chalking. We had 13 players in all today......Bob T., George, Bokson, Barb, Ralph, Steve, Ron, Sharon, Lou P., Anne, Katelin, Ken and I. Lou P. came for her first time. She had seen the segment on pickleball on Good Morning America. We had some pretty good games today but there did seem to be a flying paddle at one point. We won't mention any names but it might be a good thing that a new paddle has been ordered. Looks like we'll be heading over to Cleveland Park next week as Timmons will be closed for road work. We hope to get Bob H. and Lynne S. back next week after their vacations.
Looking forward to our next pickleball session so......C U on D Courts....lynn

Pickleball Tuesday 7-29-08

We had a mess this morning after all the unpredicted rain last night. Bob T. brought his squeegee and we had a broom and the 3 of us started working on it before 8:30. After John arrived there were 4 of us working on it and we had it in pretty good shape when everyone else arrived. Barb and Bokson came next and brought their neighbor Cadum who hadn't played before. We ended up with 12 players.....Bob T., John, Barb, Bokson, Cadum, Steve, Ralph, Ron, Sharon, Anne, Lynn and I. Bokson played with her new paddle for the first time today. She seemed to really like it and we hope so as she told us to make the decision of which one to get for her. John seems to be enjoying his new paddle too. Ron and Sharon have ordered new paddles now and they might get to play with them on Friday. It looks like we'll play one more day at Timmons this week and then we'll move to Cleveland Park for a while. Hopefully it won't be crowded down there the next time we go as the kids tennis camps should be over. It will be nice to have more than 2 courts as our group seems to be growing.
C U on D courts........Mr. Pickle

Pickleball Friday 7-25-08

We were back at Timmons Park today and had 12 players show up.....Bob T., Steve, Bokson, Barb, George, Ron, Sharon, Peter, Bob H., Anne, Lynn and I. George is from our tennis group and it was his first time to come. Being a tennis player he was able to pick the game right up.
Peter returned today after a long absence because of his knee.
It was a nice day to play as it was cloudy and a little breeze. Some of us ended up playing 3 1/2 hours. We plan to play next week at Timmons Park but the following week we will probably have to go back to Cleveland Park. Hopefully the camps will be finished by then.
C U on D courts, Mr. Pickle

Pickleball Tuesday 7-22-08

Well it was kind of a fiasco at Cleveland Park today for pickleball. Ken and I got down there early to mark the courts. Bob T. came about 15 minutes later to help. We were all there and playing and then this group of kids from the YMCA came. The man in charge of them came over and said that they had 3 courts on Mon, Tues, Thur and Fri. So we got to keep one of our courts. Then a couple of ladies that had another court left and so we took that court too but didn't chalk it. We played the tennis single lines on that one instead. A couple of times we played 3 on each team on that court and that was fun and crazy. There were 6 of us on the same court. It was pretty wild. There were 10 of us for pickleball today......Bob T., Steve, John, Bokson, Barb, Ron, Sharon, Bob H., Ken and I.
We had ordered a paddle for Bokson last week and it came on Saturday. We discovered that the new Champion paddles are a lot heavier than they have been. At first Bokson wanted the paddle but then we all agreed that the paddle was too heavy for her as she is a small lady. She had complained about the paddle that Barb was letting her use saying it was too heavy and this one was just as heavy. So John decided that he would buy the paddle. John is a big guy and he can really handle that paddle. I called him the intimidater when he plays with it. He can really smash the ball with it. So now we've ordered Bokson a lighter paddle. So hopefully that will work out good for her.
After we got home today we called the city and found out that Timmons Park is still open until Aug. 4 so we will go back there for our next pickleball session. We may end up back at Cleveland Park for a couple of weeks in August as the YMCA tennis camp will be over on August 1st.
Lynn

Pickleball Thursday 7-17-08

Rain was forecasted for tomorrow so we chose to play pickleball today. There were 9 of us..... Bob T., Bokson, Barb, Ralph, Ron, Sharon, Anne, Ken and I. Bokson is really doing great! She and Barb practiced on their own down where they live at some tennis courts on Wednesday evening. We can really see a difference. Ken, Bob T. and I have also practiced with her on occasion trying to help. Today was her 4th time to play and she has ordered a paddle this past Tuesday. Hopefully she'll have it for next week.
Dolores and Chris came by to check out the game as they have been hearing alot about it. They wouldn't give it a try yet though, but Chris says he'll be back.
We hope Steve will be back with us next week. We're hoping to play at Cleveland Park next week too as Timmons is going to be closed. We also missed Bob H. today.
Lynn

Pickleball Tuesday 7-15-08

We had a great time playing pickleball today. There were 11 of us.....Bob T., Bokson, Barb, John, Ralph, Ron, Bob H., Anne, Sharon, Ken and I. Ralph came back today after having to take some time off for his foot. He left early though so that he wouldn't overdo it. Everyone took a turn at sitting out since we had more than 8 but it was a nice break. Bokson did a lot of practicing and she is getting better. Sharon and I had a gold star day as we won a game together against Ron and John. Plus we won a tennis scoring game when we played some short games towards the end. It was a really nice morning with some breeze but it didn't bother the balls too bad.
We plan to play at Timmons Park on Friday but next week we're going to try to play at Cleveland Park as Timmons will be closed for repairs to the park. We'll include directions to the park with our pickleball message for next week.
We missed Steve and Lynne S. today. Both are off on vacations.
Lynn

Pickleball Friday 7-11-08

We had major work to do on the courts this morning. We have had thunderstorms every evening creating large puddles of water on our tennis courts. So Bob T., Ken and I went to work trying to spread the water out so it would dry fast. Bob T. brought his squeegee and push broom and we had a small broom. After working on the puddles we had to chalk. Because of all of this we did not start playing till almost 9:00.
We had 10 for pickleball today.....Bob T., Lynne, Ron, Sharon, Bokson, Barb, Bob H., Anne, Ken and I. We found out today that the park will be closed from July 21 to Aug. 11 for road work so we have to find another place to play. Right now we are thinking about Cleveland Park as it is nice and shady in the morning. It will probably be about the same drive for everyone as it is to Timmons Park. Lynn

Pickleball Tuesday 7-8-08

We played pickleball this morning and had 12 !!! We set a new record !!! We also had some heavy rain over the weekend and it wiped out our chalk. Ken, Bob T. and I were chalking the court this morning and a young girl came on the court straight over to me. She said she wanted to help so I gave her a piece of chalk and she helped us mark the courts. We had seen her last week when she watched us through the fence. Her name is Katelin and she was one of the 12. Bob gave her his extra paddle and she played with us. Bokson and her neighbor also came for their first time. Her neighbor used to live on the north side of The Villages and used to play pickleball there. Her name is Barb. She hadn't played in about a year and a half but after she hit some balls she was pretty good.
The pickleball players today were Bob T., Katelin, Steve, Lynne S., Bokson, Barb, Ron, Sharon, Bob H., Anne and Ken and I. We didn't quit playing till 15 till 12:00.
And our brave mascot, Bridget slept through it all. We are thinking about renaming her Pickles.
Lynn