Where does the pickle come from? Legend goes that to entertain their families one summer day on Bainbridge Island, WA, dads Joel Pritchard, Bill Bell, and Barney McCallum improvised a fun game that threw together the equipment they had on hand: table tennis paddles, their old badminton court (but not enough racquets), and a perforated plastic ball. It was a happy mix of existing sports and spirited ingenuity. Joan Pritchard called the new game pickleball, referring to the sailing nickname "pickle boat" for the boat with a motley group of sailors rounded up as crew just before the start of a ra ..read more

Let me share my own story with you in the hope you do not repeat the same mistakes I made choosing a paddle when deciding to start playing pickleball. I fell in love with pickleball the very first time I was introduced to it at my daughter’s grade 7 “show the parents around” day. I knew instantly that I could enjoy this sport and work around my arthritic knee. I had been a skier, runner, tennis and volleyball player but had come to a bit of a standstill in sports due to arthritis. Pickleball lit me up and excited me to embark on learning this new game. I started playing at the local recreation ..read more

In my time coaching players in the 2.5, 3.0, and even 3.5 levels, I have noticed in many cases there is a distinct lack of communication between the two players on the same team. One client told me it is mainly because she is so focused on doing what she needs to do in each point so she isn't really thinking about the communication part. She also would never like to be seen as bossy. With this in mind, and also knowing it doesn't come naturally to some people, I wanted to give some suggestions as to what chatter usually happens at the higher levels of play. In my opinion, this communication th ..read more