PICKLEBALL REPORT - 1/28/2010

It took a while to get the players together for this group photo. Everyone was milling around, but we finally managed to get the photo with everyone of the P'ballers squeezed in and luckily no one was inclined to hold 'rabbit' ears up over anyone's head.

We had everything going for us today: Sunny, warm weather, almost no wind, empty courts. But, we had a big shortage of players. Certainly, this had a lot to do with the short notice, the earlier time-frame and the fact, that due to Friday's not-too-hot weather prediction - we decided to play two days in a row. But, as the saying goes: we made the best of a bad situation.
We three - for the record: Stevie Wonder, Cupcake and Spike, played Canadian doubles for 2 hours - taking turns 'in the hole'. It was a good workout and we enjoyed the beautiful day. But, missed many of our pals.

Above - Stevie Wonder working on a backhand.

Sharon with her Tie-Dyed shirt whacking a forehander. Where were you Catherine?

Spike. Where's the ball?

We are hoping for better weather conditions next week so we can get back on schedule. Watch for E-mail announcements.

Spike

P'Ball Report - January 27, 2010

We had a nice day for Pickleball and a good turnout of eleven players. The one and only problem we had was a big shortage of courts. It turns out that one court was occupied by tennis players - if you can believe that. As our group grew, we eyed the tennis players figuring that they wouldn'y stick around long. But, they kept at it for two hours. So, by mutual consensus, the Fab Foursome of Spidy, Stevie Wonder, Ralph and John (Spin Doctor) took off for McPherson Park where they played about five games, but not before they got some games in at Timmons.

The players: Steve (Stevie Wonder), Mike (Spidy), Dave, Catherine, Anne (Pit Bull), Bob H (Buckeye), Sharon (Cupcake), Ralph, John, (Spin Doctor), Rebecca (new today, but a quick study), and your's truly Ron (Spike).

We had many fine games at Timmons including a few big comeback wins. Sunny with some breeze. Dave had some masterful spin on his returns, that caused a few players to corkscrew around while flailing wildly at balls that ended up being where they weren't expected to be.

The photo above is of Anne (aka Pit Bull). The photo is not blurry because the photographer didn't steady the camera. Not on your life! Anne was so quick at this moment that even though the shutter speed was set to 1/2000th of a second, it was not quick enough to stop her incredible speed. So, fast even, that the court is blurry as well.

Above: Buckeye (best dressed player of the day) executes his signature backhand.

Below: Rebecca - new to P'ball, but not to racquett sports - starts to get the hang of it. She settled in after a few matches and made some nice shots. Welcome.

Three of the Fab Foursome returned from McPherson and reported on their adventures. Good thing they got some games in, because just before they returned, the two tennis players left and were almost immediately replaced by a tennis instructor and his student.

We will play again on Thursday, January 28th @ 10:00 AM. Timmons Park.

See you then.

Spike

Pickleball Report - 1/23/2010

Steve wasn't actually poaching was he?

Gary connecting; Muriel ready for a return shot.

The Deck Swabbers ready for inspection.

We had a fair turnout for a day that some softies might classify as raw and damp. Temperature was 41 degrees at our 10:00 AM start, but climbed steadily for the next two hours to a balmy 43 degrees. Overcast with a slight breeze.

The deck swabbing crew got to work right after the inspection shown above. The games commenced as soon as the courts were cleared.

Seven hardy players were in attandance: Muriel, Ralph, Gary, Steve, Sharon, John and this chronicler.

We played doubles on one court and Canadian doubles on the other. For the most part we kept moving so there was much slack time. Good thing, too. Moving around kept the chill off.

We will be playing next week. Probably on Tuesday - depending on the weather.

Spike

Pickleball Tuesday Afternoon 1-19-10

We had a beautiful day to play pickleball. 65 degrees, slight breeze and sunny. No wonder we had such a good turnout.
11 players in all including long lost Catherine, and a new player to us (but not to pickleball), Linda M. (hereafter: Linda). She plays indoors in western NC but it didn't take her long to get the hang of playing outdoors contending with the sun and the breeze. Welcome.
In attendance: Mike, Sharon, Ralph, Bob H., Jan, Linda, Catherine, Steve, Gary, John and me (Ron).
John started the day with a push broom cleaning up the few puddles from recent rains. He got a rousing applause for his efforts. Our Award Committee designated John as the Supreme Court Cleaner and All Around Handy Man. An award is being prepared. It will be awarded during a special ceremony on - you guessed it - Feb. 30, 2010. A photo is attached confirming his push-broom prowess. It clearly demonstrates his unusual technique.
We played for almost 3 hours and, as usual, had many fine games. Someone was bar-b-queing nearby and we were all having hunger tantrums by then. Otherwise we probably could have gotten a few more games in.
We'll be scheduling games for later this week depending on the weather.
Hope to see you there..... Spike

Pickleball Friday Afternoon 1-15-10 Timmons Park

12 pickleball players were in action today..... Ralph, Gary, Muriel, Sharon, Steve, Bob H., Jan, Mike, Lynne S., Joanie, John and me (Ron).

We had a beautiful day with temperatures in the low 60's, bright sun and just a breath of a breeze. But it was breath enough for one player to blame it on a missed return. No one fell for it though.

As always there were many spirited matches played during the 3 hours we were swatting the little yellow balls around. There were at least 2 shutouts. The best one came when Joanie started serving a match at "zero, zero, only" and kept at it until the match was over at "11, zero, only". She never gave up the serve much to the distress of her opponenets Sharon and Lynne S. For this amazing feat Joanie was designated player of the day and will receive a new Buick (from Tiger Wood's dwindling supply). This along with the free T-shirts, previously discussed in this column, will be delivered on February 30, 2010.

We'll be playing next week, probably on Tuesday, if the long range weather prediction holds. I'll work on it..... Spike

Pickleball Tuesday Afternoon 1-12-10

Jan attacking the photographer

Pickleball Report - January 12, 2010 - Timmons Park

9 Players: John, Jan, Lynne, Steve, Ralph, Fran, Sharon, Mike and this writer.

Some players were reluctant to come today after the Sunday announcement about the session. They feared that it would be too cold to play. They were assured that the temp would be at least 46 degrees. This writer brought an Official, US calibrated to Naval Observatory Standards, magnesium colored, lightweight, solar powered (with battery backup) thermometer. It was cleverly attached to the fence, in a protected position and as guaranteed - the temp hit 46 degrees (F) and stayed exactly the same for the entire match. Some players' automobile thermometers registered the temperature at 41 degrees. Just shows you how inaccurate they can be!

To confirm the court temperature readings - an authentic, un-retouched photo is attached for you viewing pleasure.

Once everyone was settled on the weather issues, we began to play p'ball and we carried on for 3 glorious hours. Many fine games ensued. Lynne was playing wearing jeans and with a bum foot to boot (pun intended). She played one of her best games. Ralph was fired up; his serve is back and he pulled off a couple of great hustle-plays. Sharon lashed a few kill shots much to the displeasure of her opponents. Jan tried to attack the photographer (see photo) while he foolishly crouched behind the net during a game to "get realistic action shots".

And, almost forgot. Four young disc golfers stopped by and asked, "what is the name of that sport?" Not 'game', but 'sport'. Glad they saw the event for the sport it is.

We plan on another Pickleball session on Friday January 15, 2010.

Spike (aka Ron):
Tall-story teller (well, not actually tall)/amateur weather forecaster and arranger/part time photographer/all around handy man

Pickleball Thursday Morning Indoors 1-7-10

Today was our first group indoor pickleball session. Everyone seemed to enjoy being out of the cold weather and playing indoors. We played at the Pavilion Recreation Complex. It was really different and fun. There were 13 pickleball players today..... Anne, Claude, Gary, Jan, Joanie, John, Ken, Lynne S., Ralph, Ron, Sharon, Steve and I. This is definitely a nice option to have when the weather is bad outside. Lynn

Pickleball Monday Morning 1-4-10 Indoors

Today 4 of us got together and did a test run of playing pickleball on the indoor badminton courts at the Pavilion Recreation Complex. The badminton court is the same size as the pickleball court. There are 3 courts but 2 would work great for play. Everything went smooth and it looks like a good option for our group during bad weather. The only drawback is that it does costs to play there. The cost is $3.50 per person for 2 to 3 hours of playing, depending on the number of players. It was a new and different experience and we all enjoyed playing there. The players today were Steve, Jan, Ken and I. Ron came and checked things out and took a few pictures for us. He did not play as he is recovering from a cold.

Pickleball Tuesday Afternoon 12-29-09

PICKLEBALL REPORT - TUESDAY,DECEMBER 29, 2009
TIMMONS PARK

We had a good crowd, a beautiful, sunny day with just enough wind to make things interesting (and also a convenient crutch for those of us who occasionally missed a ball by a foot or more).

Present: Ralph, Gary, Muriel, John, Mike, Jan, Sharon, Steve, Bob H and yon reporter. That should add up to approximately 10 players. We occupied both courts and rotated the two sitting players in, so there wasn't much time to rest.

The games were fast and furious, so fast in fact that Stevo (Stevie Wonder) took a rather nice swan dive while lunging for a ball delivered smartly by Spidy. Stevie missed the ball; the good guys got the point, but Mr Wonder garnered a 9.5 by the panel of Olympic judges that just happened to be in the area.

Muriel sported a new paddle, presented to her by Santa Clause himself. She made some blistering shots much to the chagrin of her opponents.

John delivered several nasty back-spin drop shots, while Bob H, Gary and Ralph executed some breathtaking rockets - more than once retrieved by the opposing players' mid-sections.

This was also a special day because Muriel brought along her Mom, Lou. Lou spent the entire 2-1/2 hours shagging balls and watching our matches - but, most of the time she motored around the court retrieving balls and keeping herself warm and getting some good exercise, too. We enjoyed her company.

Lynn & Ken should be back in town on Wednesday, 12/30. They will be scheduling our next match.

If we don't get together for some games on Thursday 12/31, then I guess we'll see you all in 2010.

Drive safely and enjoy the holidays and the New Year.

Ron (Spike)

Pickleball Tuesday Afternoon 12-22-09

PICKLEBALL REPORT. TUESDAY, 12/22/2009
TIMMONS PARK - GREENVILLE, SC

We had a beautiful day again today and a notable gang of players.

12 players in attendance: John, Johnny, Jan, Carol, Bob H, Mike (Spidy), Claude, Steve, Gary, Ralph, Sharon and writer of this missive. Lynne is still on the disabled list, but she stopped by to say hello and to present Spidy with a gift.

Carol played some spirited games after her short layoff. She didn't spare any of her opponents.

Sharon played about 4 games and showed her stuff, sore knees and all.

Otherwise, all enjoyed the day and played long and hard. There were a few matches that were highlighted with lots of noisy bantering about line calls, scoring issues and who was supposed to be serving. In one case, one of our more social players, gabbed with a non-player for so long that one of the players took a short siesta on the court while waiting for play to commence.

An amazing play took place and was duly recorded. Please see the attached sketch, by a roving reporter who happened by, and a photo documenting the event. One in a million!

Lynn & Ken will be heading back to Greenville soon. They will take over the PICKLEBALL notifications and write-ups. My guess is that we'll be playing again on Mon or Tue (28th or 29th).

Seasons Greetings to everyone. Drive carefully.

Ron (Spike)

Pickleball Monday Afternoon 12-21-09

Pickleball Report - Monday, December 21, 2009

We had a fine day for PICKLEBALL and a good turnout for such a busy time of the year.

Present: Jan, Ralph, Mike, Bob H, John, Gary and this teller of tall tales.

Jan's son Rich and his wife Denise came by for a visit. Rich had to leave in short order, but Denise decided to give P'ball a try. She ended up playing about 4 games and did well considering she hasn't played any racquet sports for some time. She got in the way of a few hard shots and probably has some marks to prove it. But, she left with a smile on her face and was on the winning side at least once.

Otherwise, we had many good games. We ended up using one court as players peeled off on their way to other holiday business.

Sharon wasn't present because she had shots in her knees about an hour before the 1 PM start. But, she sent along Christmas cookies, some decorated by yours truly. Pictures attached. Cookies were well received, and Sharon was thanked heartily.

Some of our players have gone missing - due to the holidays no doubt. Hoping some of the lost souls will show up for tomorrow's match at 1:00PM.

See you on the courts.

Spike

Our Pickleball Christmas Dinner Made The Atlantic South Region Website

Click on the link below to see the story in the Atlantic South Region Website.
http://south.usapa.org/2009/12/corbetts-take-upstate-annual-pickleball.html

Pickleball Thursday Afternoon 12-17-09

PICKLEBALL REPORT - THURSDAY, DECEMBER 17, 2009
Timmons Park, Greenville, SC

As expected we had a bang of a turnout today, probably due in part, to the advertised T-shirt giveaway extravaganza. The weather co-operated and as luck would have it, there was just enough parking spaces for our players plus two other folks who played some kind of knock-off net game with big racquets and fuzzy, yellow balls.

P'ballers present: Jan, Spidy, Sharon, Bob H, John, Johnny and Spike.

It was good to see Jan back in action today. She made her presence known by playing some fierce shots, much to the detriment of her opponents. Bob (Buckeye) was on his game as well and managed more than a few kill shots. Everyone played hard and well. Consequently, we had many good games and as always - a few blowouts.

Johnny advises that Carol is feeling better. Hope to see her on the court soon.

Almost Forgot: Is anyone interested in BUYING an imaginary Upstate Pickleball T-shirt? Size: XXXL. We expect a delivery (on February 30th or 31st, 2010) of 100 T-shirts (99% cotton, 1% Spandex, black, with a red pickleball paddle and a yellow ball that appears to the naked eye to be flying through the air at an outlandish speed). We expect to have 93 extras (well, 92 actually, because we are setting one aside for Lynne who would have been there, but wasn't, because someone ran over her foot). Speedy recovery.

We are planning to play again next week - probably Mon and perhaps Tuesday as well. Depends on the weather.
Hope to see you then.
Spike

Pickleball Christmas Dinner 12-15-09

Mike and Ralph, our social planners, came up with a good idea for the pickleball group to get together for a Christmas dinner. So 16 of us met at Coronas' restaurant tonight. Above you see Ken holding a pickle. The pickle is the 2009 Annual Upstate Pickleball Award which was presented by Mike to Ken and I. We have to hold on to the pickle for the next year and we will choose someone else in the group to award it to at our next annual pickleball Christmas dinner.

Thanks to Mike for the planning of this dinner tonight. We had great food, great company and lots of fun. Those that attended were Mike, Anne K., Ron, Sharon, Claude, Josee, Fran B., Page, Steve, Nicki, Lynne S., Johnny, Ralph, Anne, Ken & I. We look forward to doing this again next year.

See below for pictures of tonight's festivities.