Picklers Out on Sunday!

Rich and I just want to thank all of you who came out to play on Sunday. We were in Meadow Pointe today for a Holiday Dinner with the Bass's. Dinner with Don and Linda is always a good time, but we want you to know how much we enjoyed having you all come out and get in a few games on this chilly afternoon.

Here's few pictures of the group. (Donna is behind the camera!)

Ruthann - Doing great after knee surgery. She was so excited that she was able to play FOUR good games today. Rich and I hope to see you on the courts in Clermont or Peace River.

Mary and Renee - Mary - I think you actually made it through the day without landing on the groud. (I know you went down ducking from the ball one time - that doesn't count!) But those fingers sure do sting when it's cold and they get hit with the ball. Ouch!!!! And Renee - the very first MP resident that Rich and I taught the game to - I know that ball to the nose brought some tears to the eyes...........and Mark better have had dinner ready when you got home.

OK - now what's that saying "The family who Plays Pickleball together............. Bill and Judy have only been back in Florida for a couple of weeks, returning snow birds for NY State. Misty is Judy's daughter - and you would never know it's been nine or ten month's since she's been out playing!! That's her significant other - Al.

And here's Don - "It's up - so we get to server!@!" Don - another of the original MP Picklers - declared himself the winner of the Don Bass Invitational today. It's best not to argue about these things - so Don - Congratulations on getting everyone to shake their heads...........and agree with you!!!!

I don't know Bill - Did he get that ball back or not? The forms' not too bad for an old man who just finished dinner - and chocolate cake!!! And remember Don - Bill is there to back you up if you would just let some of those body shots go!!!

Mary and Renee - Playing against Judy and Misty. But it looks like Renee survived the ball in the nose - and Mary -if you play Bowling and Boxing Wii, like you do pickleball - I ain't playin! And where was Steve today?

Here's Mom (Judy, in the pink) and Daughter (Misty ) showing their pickleball skills agains Renee and Mary. Now Mom is really a good player!!! And Misty - there is no way it's been 10 months since you've been on the courts!!! No one can play that good with a wooden paddle!!!

Here's Rich with Al. There was a whole lot of laughter during this game. Al is officially dubbed the "Instant Replay Guy" Only at the Don Bass Invitational!!

Thanks Guys - You're the Best!!!!

HAPPY HOLIDAYS

TO ALL OUR MEADOW POINTE

PLAYERS

AND THEIR FAMILIES

Burn Calories with Singles Pickleball

Hi everyone

I found this very good article out on racquetnetwork.com and thought you might enjoy it.
I seldom see articles there about pickleball - but found this one to be very intereting. Click on the title below to read the entire article.


Singles Pickleball Burns Calories
Written by Brent Johner
on December 1, 2009 – 1:59 pm

When two athletic players face each other on a pickleball court, they both get a good cardio workout. Like squash, pickleball played at a high level requires a lot of lunging, a lot of volleying and a lot of fancy footwork. Therefore it is not uncommon to see player heart rates rise into the 150 to 175 range.

.............The quality of the workout depends a great deal on the ability of the players to keep the rallies going, of course. But two skilled players can easily sustain rallies of 15 to 20 strokes each or more.....

Meadow Pointe PB at the National Tournament

The USAPA National Pickleball Tournament was held the first week in November in Buckeye, AZ. There were about 700 participants in the tournament and from everything we've heard it was extremely successful. We spoke with a couple of people from Ft. Myers who played in the tournament, and had nothing but good to say about it.


One thing that was kind of exciting is that "Coach Mo" had a banner at the tournement advertising his website: www.pickleballcoach.com. On the banner were five of the clubs/blogs or sites, that promote his website. MEADOWPOINTE WAS ONE OF THE FEATURED CLUBS. HOW COOL....................MEADOWPOINTE PICKLEBALL ADVERTISED IN BUKEYE, AZ!

It's hard to see in the first picture. We are the second one from the left, and this is what it looked like.

BE PROUD MEADOW POINT PICKLERS!!!!

TIP OF THE MONTH FROM COACH MO

PLAY PICKLEBALL LIKE A SMART BOXER

A boxer always jabs with his left hand waiting patiently for an opening to connect with a K.O. swinging right hand.

A pickleball player should jab at his volleys [extension at the elbow joint] waiting patiently for the ball to be the proper height [12 inches or higher above the net] and proper speed [not to fast] before hitting a K.O. swinging
Volley shot.

If a boxer used his powerful right hand too often he would probably be knocked out cold.

The same thing applies to a pickleball player who does not work the point with his jab volley waiting for the proper time for a swinging volley.

COACH MO

Check out all of Coach Mo''s tips at http://www.pickleballcoach.com/

Wednesday Night at the Courts

We had a total of 13 players on the courts last night. The air was heavy, not a hint of a breeze, but everyone had a great time. Here's a few pictures of the group playing.

Don and John with Penny and Ken - Must be a questionable call?

Don and Marilyn - and that's Rich in the back trying to convince that tennis player to graduate to a bigger ball!

Penny and Chris

Good Game Everyone! Ken and Paula with Renee and John

Marilyn and Paula

Penny and Liz

John and Don

Steve and Rich

And everyone ready to hit the showers - calls it a night - John, Paula, Chris (almost hidden), Josh, Don and Steve

See you all on Friday!

A Great Article on Injury Prevention for our Picklers

Common sports injuries can be avoided with a little planning

By CAROLINE KLAPPER, DAILY SUN

Tuesday, October 27, 2009 12:13 AM EDT

THE VILLAGES — Retirement is the time when people finally have the chance to do the things they love, which for many, includes playing sports.

And while playing a sport can be a fun, healthy way for people to enjoy themselves, it also can lead to painful injuries if people forget to take things slowly and listen to their bodies.

Read the Entire Article.......Common Sports Injuries

Welcome Back Pat and Suzi - and where are Rich and Dee?

Well the summer is winding down and those northerners are starting to head back to the "sunny south" for the winter. If you've been watching the weather reports, it's none too early. In some places the temperatures have dropped significantly and the cold and snow has already started to show is ugly face. If you can't play indoors - you have to head for the south, where the pickleball courts welcome you year round!


Pat and Suzi are back from Washington - where they continued to practice up on the pickleball skills with their group in Bellingham. We're glad to have their smiling faces and competitive spirits back with our Meadow Pointe Picklers. WELCOME HOME Pat and Suzi.

The Pagliaro's, ( or Piscatelli's, or Pagianos?) - anyway - Rich and Dee made it back from Main before Pat and Suzi - but..................off they went again? Where did they go? Well we found them just south of here at the Peace River Campground in Wauchulla, where Rich and Donna are. Here they are on a chilly Monday morning playing their favorite game. As you can see the courts here don't begin to compare with our courts at home - but we still have a great time. They played for about three hours that morning and then made it back to the courts around four in the afternoon for a couple more hours of play. And here they are, enjoying Happy Hour at Rich and Donna's site with some of the other Pickleball players.

Now, we're waiting for Bill and Judy to return from Red Hook, New York. We hope to see them back with our group sometime in November..........Hurry Back Guys!!!!

Tampa Bay Senior Games

Here are a couple of pictures of Rich and his partners taken at the Tampa Bay Senior Games which were played just down the road in Sun City Center.

Rich and partner Mark Telfer - great play at the non-volley line.

Rich and Mark getting their Silver Medal (Actually they only give medals for 1st place) So they are getting their second place ribbons. Paula Jory, tournament director and Meadow Point resident in the middle.

Rich and Linda Kramer effective at the non-volley line.

Rich and Linda with their second place ribbons.

Meadow Pointe Picklers - Medal at National Games

Click on picture to enlarge - use back arrow to return to this page

Rich and Donna Donald participated in the National Pickleball Championship Games, sanctioned by NSGA. The Senior event was held in the Ft. Lauderdale area; pickleball was played at the CB Smith Park in Pembroke Pines. This was a four day event, starting with pool play on Thursday and Friday to determine seeding for the Championship matches on Saturday and Sunday.

Rich took the Gold Medal inthe men's doubles 55-59 age division partnering with Bob Huskey the USAPA Ambassador from Opelika, Alabama. He also took the Silver Medal in the 60-64 age division, partnering with Roxanne Ware from Texas.

Donna took the Bronze Medal in the ladies 55=59 age division partnering with Nancy Jordan from Arizona. She also took the Silver Medal in the mixed doubles 55-59 age division, partnering with David Jordan from Arizona.

For the complete story, pictures and all results click this link to the USAPA Atlantic South website.

National Senior Games Championship

Pictures from Pat and Suzi - They'll be back at MeadowPointe Soon!

Click on Picture to enlarge - use back arrow to return to this page

Here are pictures of our regular pickleball players here in Bellingham. The
first couple of shots shows us playing on our court in our complex (Sunrise)
and the last one is a steak dinner we had for the group at our place. We
leave Sun morning and home on Oct 15th.

The people are:
Suzi and I with our USAPA shirts
Anne Kauffman - the woman
Jack Kaufman - the shorter, balding guy; not related to Anne
Jim Trowbridge - the taller guy with glasses
Kerry Helm - the other tall guy without glasses.

Pat

Pickleball Tip of the Month from Coach Mo

"NEVER SACRIFICE PLACEMENT FOR POWER. A SLOW BALL AT YOUR OPPONENT’S FEET IS BETTER THAN A VERY FAST HIT TO THE WAIST.

NEVER SACRIFICE BEING IN THE READY POSITION FOR A BETTER POSITION ON THE COURT. ALWAYS STOP AND BE IN THE READY POSITION AT THE POINT OF CONTACT OF THE BALL TOUCHING YOUR OPPONENTS PADDLE.

THE TEAM WITH THE LEAST UNFORCED ERRORS USUALLY WINS, NOT THE TEAM WITH THE MOST WINNERS.

A GOOD VOLLIER WILL USUALLY BEAT A GOOD GROUND STROKER. THE GROUND STROKE IS JUST MEANS TO GET TO THE NVZ LINE AND WIN THE POINT.

YOUR BEST POSITION ON THE COURT SHOULD BE EITHER ONE FOOT BEHIND THE BASELINE OR ONE INCH BEHIND NVZ LINE. STAY OUT OF NO MAN’S LAND.

THE TEAM HITTING DOWN INTO THE COURT MOST OF THE TIME WILL WIN MORE POINTS THAN THE TEAM ALWAYS HITTING UP,SO KEEP YOUR HITS LOW TO THE FEET. IT WILL PROBABLY BE THE DIFFERENCE IN A CLOSE GAME.

NEVER EVER MISS YOUR SERVE OR RETURN OF SERVE.

MOST OF YOUR SHOTS SHOULD BE DOWN THE MIDDLE OF THE COURT, OVER THE LOW PART OF THE NET, GIVES YOU A LOT OF LEEWAY RIGHT AND LEFT, AND CAUSES CONFUSION BETWEEN YOUR OPPONENTS.

PATIENCE IS A VIRTUE WHEN DINKING. DO NOT TRY FOR A WINNER UNLESS BALL IS MORE THAN 12’’ ABOVE THE NET.

NEVER TRY AND HIT A WINNER OFF A VERY DIFFICULT SHOT. JUST PLAY DEFENSIVE AND TRY TO RETURN THE BALL LOW INTO THE COURT."

Read Coach Mo's Strategy Guide for more great pickelball tips. Click here for great pickleball information from Coach Mo - The Pickleball Coach.com

Meet MP Pickler Bob Koryus

Bob was born in Greenwich Village in NYC during WWII. His early yrs as a youth was spent playing stickball, stoopball, American and Chinese handball, baseball, boxball, horseshoes, botchiball, bottlecaps, some football and some basketball. His youth saw him as a Sea Cadet that elevated him to 1st Class Petty Officer. In JHS he completed in the citywide athletic competition at Randalls Island and won 4 bronze and 2 silver badges in the two yrs he competed... After JHS he went onto skin diving, archery and rifle shooting at Kings Pointe Merchant Marine Academy. After HS joined the US Army National Guard and spent his first 6 months on active duty and 7 1/2 yrs on active reserve. He was deployed during the Bay of Pigs conflict, the Brooklyn Riots and the US postal strike. Bob's full time employment career began in Aug 1962' with IBM and ended with his retirement in Jan 2009' from the IBM Corporation. While employed in his the 1st five yrs in IBM Bob attended nite classes at NYCCC, Queensboro CC and then Queens College. Bob and his wife Lorraine, son and daughter moved to Temple Terrace, Fla in the early 1970's. While a TT resident for 24 yrs Bob was on the TT Citizens Advisory Comm, the TT Optimist Club and Youth Director and was an avid racquetball player and always involved with youth sports with his children. Bob and Lorraine have been residents of MP1 since 1995. Bob and Lorraine have two wonderful grandchildren that reside in MPII and occasionally you'll see the (12) yr old playing Pickleball. Bob enjoys playing Pickleball "nice and easy" and enjoys the fellowship of the other regular players

New Atlantic Soouth Ambassador

Congratulations to Donna Donald for taking on the postion of Regional Ambassador for the Atlantic South Region. Donna replaces Dick, "Greenie", Greenfield in the position.


............................. Donna has worked diligently to produce an excellent monthly ambassadors' letter so that all areas in the Atlantic South have been both recognized and informed. She is individually responsible for the Atlantic South Blog and its content. She is a leader at her home club at Meadow Pointe.

Click here to read the complete article as written by Wayne Roswell on the Tanglewood Blog: Regional Ambassador

Hi Everyone,

Wish you all could have made it to the Labor Day Jamboree at Kings Point in Sun City Center. It was a great time. We all received our temporary tattos; either the pickleball bug, or the Pickleball Fever Paddle. There were some really good players that came from Ft. Lauderdale, Ft. Myers, Poincianne (near Orlando), as well as the neighboring Sun City Center Pickleball Club.

Wish you guys could have been there.

Thought we would share a few pictures from the day!

These were the medals that were awarded to the first three place finishers. She gave the pickle ball fever pins to the highest scorers.

This two guys in the front are Clyde and Don and play with the Sun City Pickleball Club. The rest of the people in the picture did not play, but came with signs and pom poms to cheer on Clyde and Don. They were funny!

Rich and I were late to register, so we kind of filled in where partners were needed. This is Rich with one of his partners, Tom, and that is Mary in the back, who is the lady that I played with for the day.

I usually catch Rich with his paddle at his side......or with his back to me. Thought this picture came out pretty good. Here he is playing with Dino.

The weather was wicked - but we kept drinking the fluids. I hope you all will consider joining in on this event next year. Yes - you are all very good players!!!!! And you would have had a great time.

One Night at the Courts -

Click picture to enlarge -

Use Back Arrow to return

These are just a few of our MP Players enjoying an evening of Pickleball....and stopping for Don's camera to say HI! We hope to introduce them up-close and personal, one by one, real soon. What a great looking group!!!

Meet MP Picklers, Ken and Penny Kauffman

............at the MP II Courts


Ken and Penny are two of our newest MP Picklers. Residents of Meadow Pointe II, they have one son, still single, who lives in Tampa.

Ken and Penny read our feature article in the St. Pete Times about our Annual Spring Pick-nic and Round Robin Tournament. (How could they resist not joining all those smiling happy faces??)

Pennyis a native Floridian, born in Tampa and then moved to Doylstown PA as a child, then on to Reedsville, PA where she met Ken. She retired from Time Warner/Comcast Cable as a Customer Service Representative - Reedsville PA after several years of working for J C Penny as the Sales Auditor - Lewistown PA. Ken retired first from CNH (Case New Holland) in Belleville PA as Production Manager in 2004 and then again in 2008 from LAMesa RV in Tampa as a driver delivering and buying motor homes all over the country. She and Ken also lived in Washington, DC, (during the tent city affair, for those of you who are old enough to remember what that was) where Ken completed his military service at Walter Reed Army Medical Center after a tour in Viet Nam and in Nebraska for three years after being transferred from Belleville, PA.

When not playing pickleball, some of their favorite past times include: Quilting, Reading, Home Improvement Projects and Traveling. Both of them are former tennis players, and it wasn't hard to tell. They both picked up the game very quickly, purchased their new paddles, and come back most every night for some competive games and good fun with their fellow MP Picklers.

We asked them what they liked about Pickleball : "It is easier on the body than Tennis and the people we have met are great."

Pickle Ball Successs >> A New PickleballBook -

We have decided to combine our two existing books, “Drilling for Success in Pickleball” and “Teaching for Success in Pickleball”. Our new book, “Pickleball - A Guide for Teachers”, will consist of 110 pages - 8 1/2 x 5 1/2 - and include........................Click the title above for more details on this great training tool

Learn more about the authors: Mary Littlewood and Sandra Stultz as well as more great training tools on their website Picklebll Success.

Meet MP Picklers, Judy Paul and Bill Wilcox

Judy Paul

Judy, along with Bill Wilcox, joined our group in January 2009. A native of Atlanta, Georgia and graduate of West Fulton High in Atlanta, she moved to Florida in 1964 and now spends part of the year in Spring Hill, Florida and the remainder of the year in Red Hook, New York. Judy has one daughter, Mistie (who also is a MP Pickler) and two grandchildren. Derek is 14 and Alyssa is 9. Oh my, how fast they grow up! Just the right age to be introduced to Pickleball!!

An Alumni of the Sun Coast Beauty College, she was formerly the owner of cosmetology salons and has now been retired for 10 years. Her favorite hobbies include gardening and horseback riding. Definitely not a novice at racquet or paddle sports, she enjoys playing tennis, racquetball and paddleball. When not on the courts she enjoyed waterskiing and softball. Judy and Bill have enjoyed a lot of racquet sports together and it was Bill who introduced Judy to the game of Pickleball. Like most of us, she gets a lot of exercise playing the game, and likes meeting new people. She also enjoys the competitive nature of the sport. She had the opportunity to play once at The Villages, Florida and about 10 times in New York. Maybe we’ll see her on the courts, showing that competitive nature, at the next Florida Senior Games………

Bill Wilcox

Bill grew up in Baldwin, LI, NY and moved to New Port Richey, Fl from Copiague, NY in 1970. In 1988 he built a house in Red Hook, NY where he now spends about 7 months of the year. The other 5 months are spent in Spring Hill, Florida. Bill is the father of 2, daughter Diana and Tina and the proud grandfather of 2, Dax who is 20 and Alyssa who is 17. (Now they are prime pickleball candidates Grandpa!) He was a body shop owner, and also worked as a carpet installer and a builder. He’s been retired from all of that for 28 years.

He loves playing sports, and has played softball, racquetball, tennis, squash, paddleball and handball…. and 55 years ago, stickball and stoopball....and now he plays pickleball. But this is what he has to say when asked about his hobbies!! “100+mph 18’ inboard flat bottom V-drive race boats, (I have two of them), 1955, 1956. 1957 Chevys (I have 4 of them, 2 convertibles and 2 Belair 2 door sedans)…”

He and Judy Paul have spent the last 10 years of their retirement together playing all kinds of racquet and paddle sports. He heard about pickleball when he read about it being played at The Villages. So, like Judy, he’s played there once and about 20 times in Red Hook, New York.

Why does he play pickleball? “IT’S FUN!! It's a very competitive game and I like going to different places meeting new people."

WE MISS YOU GUYS! Bill and Juday are up in Red Hook, New York right now for the summer. They travel periodically to the Albany/Scotia area for a little pickleball and they have shared a few pictures and a few of their adventures. Hurry back your two - we've got some new players for you to challenge!!!

Friday Pickleball and Pizza!

Can't believe I'm so far behind in updating this BLOG!!!! Need to go back to Friday..........where once again the rains held off and allowed us to play - Well almost!

First off, we need to officially welcome two more of our newest players.

This is Penny and Ken. They are MeadowPointe I residents who saw our article in the St. Pete Times, contacted the group and are now regular players. Both of them play a great game.........I think we have them hooked! Yes, that's an umbrella. About mid way through the night, we got a light rain. Didn't last long, and we were able to get back on the courts quickly.

Friday usually brings out a pretty good group of players. Tonight we had, Ken and Penny along with our previously introduced new players, John and Bonnie, Chris, Don, Steve, Mary, Renee, Ruthann, Marilyn and Donna. After some mixed doubles play, the guys and gals split up. We had a great group and a few close competitive games.

Ken looks pretty confident that Renee has this backhand shot covered. Bend the knees and follow-through!!!! Great

Don is ready, just in case Penny misses this groundstroke. No problem for Penny.

Here's John and Mary - What form Mary!!! It's always hard to get a picture of Mary - she covers that court sooooooooo fast!J

I think Chris and Bonnie are celebrating after one more winning shot!! Well, for Chris they come pretty natural!!

The four ladies take to the courts. That's Mary and Bonne (far side) returning the shot to Ruthann and Renee.

This is Don and Penny (left) with Ken and Renee, ater the game. Nice game!! Great playing tonight.

Let's go for PIZZA!!
And, continuing with Friday night tradition, here we are at our favourtite Pizza Parlor - Marcos! Rich and I are joined by Don and Linda. Linda does not play pickleball, but always joins the group for pizza!! Next is our new players Penny and Ken, followed by Renee and Mark . Mark had some recent knee surgery, so pickleball is on the back burner right now. And finally, way back by the wall is Mary and Steve.

Good Friends! Great Pizza.........and PICKLEBALL!!!