May 6, 2025 • 39 mins
In this special episode of the Pickleball and Partnership Podcast, host Charlotte Jukes shares her emotional and mental journey leading up to an upcoming community Pickleball Tournament. Charlotte reflects on past victories, confronts feelings of inadequacy and anxiety, and discusses her preparations through meditation and positive thinking. Joined by her partners Christine and Neil, she emphasises the importance of communication, strategy, and mindset in both sports and relationships. The episode culminates with a live update from the tournament, where Charlotte and Christine celebrate their unexpected win, highlighting themes of perseverance, teamwork, and community.
00:00 Introduction to Pickleball and Partnership
00:44 Preparing for the Tournament
02:39 Dealing with Nerves and Self-Doubt
06:58 Mindfulness and Meditation Techniques
25:56 Tournament Day: Ladies' Games
27:09 Winning Strategies and Reflections
36:09 The Joy of Pickleball Community
38:15 Conclusion and Next Steps
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Music: Purple Planet Music
Thanks to Purple Planet Music for Pickleball & Partnership Intro and Outro music Purple Planet Music is a collection of music written and performed by Chris Martyn and Geoff Harvey.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Charlotte Jukes (00:10):
This the pickleball and partnership
podcast, the place to talk.
Talk about building betterconnections with your partner.
Learning how to communicate witheach other and how to inject
fun.
Into your relationship allthrough the game of pickleball.
If that sounds like your cup oftea.
Pull up a chair grab your paddleand join me.
(00:32):
Your host, Charlotte Jukes.
For pickleball and partnership.
Welcome to a very specialepisode of Pickleball and
Partnership podcast.
This episode, we are actuallypreparing for an upcoming
(00:53):
pickleball tournament andpartway through this episode, we
actually go live to thetournament day.
So I have a tournament coming upthis weekend.
It's a community tournament.
I've played in this tournamentbefore.
I've played with my ladiespartner, Christine, and I've
also played with Neil.
Charlotte J (01:14):
And this morning one of those Facebook memories
came up on my feed and it was aphoto and a post of Neil and
myself.
Winning in this tournament twoyears ago, and I felt so sad.
Oh my gosh.
I looked at the post, I lookedat the photo of us standing
(01:38):
there side by side and with ourmedals and big smiles on our
faces and.
I felt really sad because Neilis not able to play in this
tournament this weekend.
He has an injury.
To his shoulder and it's beenbugging him for a while and
(02:02):
that's another story, but he'snot able to play and I know he's
really frustrated and a littledown about that because
pickleball is everything we'vebeen doing together for the last
couple of years.
So yes, when I saw this post, Ifelt like I shouldn't have
(02:27):
signed up for this tournament.
But anyway, I have signed up.
Saturday is the Ladies Games,and on Sunday it's the mixed
competition.
When you think, oh, this wouldbe a great idea, whatever that
is.
I mean, I'm talking about apickleball tournament, but it
(02:49):
could be anything.
It could be saying yes to aspeaking engagement.
It could be saying yes topresenting something new at
work.
It could be yes to hosting adinner party for 20 guests, or
10 guests or two guests.
(03:10):
It could be saying yes to.
Making a dozen cupcakes for yourchild's school sports day but
you know that feeling when yousay yes.
Oh my gosh, that would be soexciting.
Of course I can do that.
I'll take that on.
Give me more.
(03:31):
Give me more.
I'm invincible.
I'm super woman.
I'm a super mom.
I'm a super wife.
I can do that.
And then.
When it actually comes to it, orit comes time to prepare and
really start thinking about it,this voice comes into my head
(03:52):
that says, why the heck did yousay yes to this?
And that was the moment I hadsix days ago, when Christine and
I were practicing, we actuallygot to play outside, which was
amazing.
The weather is, so sporadic atthe moment.
(04:14):
One day it's nice.
The next day it's bitterly coldagain.
But last Friday we had theopportunity to play outside and
practice I hadn't played withChristine in a long time, all
winter because we've beenplaying in different places.
And so we were standing togetheron the court outside.
(04:37):
And I said, what was it aboutthis that I thought was a good
idea?
I mean, there's some jest inwhat I say because we've played
in tournaments before and we'vedone very well, and she and I do
play well together.
But the nerve started to set inthe realization of.
(05:00):
What we had signed up forstarted to hit us, and it
becomes this unraveling of thiscrazy in depth story that goes
something like this.
Why have I signed up for this?
I'm feeling really nervous.
I'm not going to play very well.
(05:21):
Lots of people are going to bewatching.
I'm going to feel the pressure.
I'm going to put myself on thespot and feel overwhelmed by
this.
And I feel as though I can't letmy partner down and I'm going to
mess up make mistakes and I'mnot going to play as well as I
should, I'm going to make a foolof myself and other people will
(05:45):
judge me.
And now I've been playing forover two years and I should be
better than I am.
I'm going to miss shots that Ishouldn't miss.
I am going to feel inadequate.
I'm going to feel like all eyesare on me.
Oh my gosh.
And it goes on and on and on andon.
(06:09):
So I don't know whether any ofyou have ever felt like that,
maybe for a game of pickleballor a pickleball tournament or
some other kind of tournament orcompetition, or even just some
event that seemed like a goodidea at the time and when it
(06:30):
actually came to it.
The panic set in.
And so I'm really sitting heretoday.
It's two days before thetournament, and I am thinking
about how I have been preparingthis week and how I'm preparing
today and how I'm going toprepare tomorrow and the morning
(06:53):
of both days over the weekend.
For me, it looks like a lot ofmeditation.
And connecting to that part ofme that feels so resourceful, I
know it's there because I canconnect to it if I drop out of
(07:16):
my head.
Don't let the story take overand all those.
Questions of doubt that comeinto my mind, I can drop out of
my head and into this place inmy body that I will describe as
my heart center.
(07:38):
That I can really connect with,and I know this, this is the
real me.
This is the me without anybeliefs attached to it, without
any other voices attached to itlike my dad's voice or my math
teacher voice.
(07:59):
Or the girls at school thatbullied me without their voices.
And so this part of me feelsempowered.
This part of me is real and trueand authentic and amazing
feminine energy and amazing.
(08:21):
Masculine energy too that getsthings done.
So when I connect to this partof me, and for any of you that
haven't done this, you'reprobably thinking, what the heck
is she talking about?
But sometimes it's just a caseof realizing that these feelings
(08:45):
are bubbling up.
Dropping out of your head,taking a moment, closing your
eyes.
This is what I do.
Close my eyes, come out of mymind, which is driving me crazy.
Drop into my body.
Feel the sensations in my body.
Welcome all of those sensations.
(09:08):
They're all there for a reason.
They're all part of me, and theyare all welcome and really
connect to that.
That empowering, resourcefulpart of me that believes in me
and has confidence and canreally do anything.
(09:29):
The sky is the limit.
So I've been doing a lot ofdropping into my body.
Feeling the feelings, sittingwith the sensations, and really
just leaning into that and notmaking any judgements and
(09:51):
realizing that those feelingsand those thoughts are there,
but they're not me.
I'm separated in a way fromthose thoughts and feelings.
There is a divide between myselfand my power and the beliefs
(10:13):
that I take on and the thoughtsthat go through my head.
I hope that's helpful in someway for anyone coming up to
something big or even somethingsmall, anything that's giving
you some kind of anxiety and isdistracting you from really
enjoying it.
(10:34):
Because I mean that part of.
Me that said yes to this and wasexcited.
That's the real part of me.
That's the part of me that'slike, yes, I want to play
pickleball, I want to connectwith people, I want to be
outside this weekend.
I want to spend time with thosewho I love and I have fun with.
(11:00):
And it's going to be amazing andI know it is.
As long as I don't let thosevoices take over and persuade me
otherwise, that's what'smotivating me coming up to this
weekend, the sense ofcompetition, the sense of fun,
(11:20):
the sense of proving to myselfthat I can do this, win or lose.
I'm showing up, I'm testingmyself.
I'm stepping up to the edge ofwhere I feel comfortable
because.
Games are comfortable, routinethings that we do in life are
comfortable, but there's nogrowth there.
(11:42):
Growth happens when we step tothe edge of that and take that
little step over and dosomething that feels a little
bit more uncomfortable, whatwould make this tournament feel
like a win?
No matter the scoreboard.
So that's what would make thistournament feel like a win.
(12:04):
No matter what the score is, nomatter how many games we win or
lose, I will feel like I won ifI show up number one.
No, hang on.
Let's backpedal a bit.
If I don't get caught up in thestory prior to the weekend, if I
(12:25):
continue to connect with thatpower within me, connect to my
resourcefulness and don't letthose limiting beliefs take
over.
That will feel like a win.
And then showing up on the day.
Excited, happy, connecting withpeople.
(12:46):
Smiling through it.
Congratulating myself.
Congratulating my partner,congratulating my opponents.
Win or lose.
Being happy, having fun,connecting with people, having
those authentic face-to-faceconversations that will make
(13:09):
this tournament feel like a win.
Absolutely.
And you know what, Neil is areally good example of this.
He has an injury and he's not.
Able to play pickleball for afew months now, and it's getting
him down.
He's, obviously missing it,frustrated.
He wants to be active.
(13:30):
He's happy when he's moving andgrooving and, having fun with
people.
But you know what he's done.
He has taken this as anopportunity to come and support
me, which he always does.
Oh my gosh.
I love him for that.
He is my number one fan.
He is my biggest supporter.
(13:52):
He's amazing.
But he's also taken thisopportunity to do.
This tournament a little bitdifferent, and he's actually
going to be the photographer forthis tournament, so he has found
a different purpose.
He's not going there saying,Ugh, all doom and gloom.
(14:14):
I can't play.
I'm a victim.
This.
Isn't working for me.
He's coming to support me.
Of course he would, whether he'swinning or losing, but he's
found a different purpose andhe's still going to be out there
smiling and happy and connectingwith people and taking photos of
those crazy shots.
(14:36):
We make mid game.
He's taking photos of.
People standing around,congratulating each other of
people, having conversations ofpeople being hot and sweaty and
exhausted, but pushing through.
He's going to take photos ofpeople with their medals.
He's going to take photos ofpeople who participated and feel
(15:00):
like winners medal or not.
And so I really admire him for,finding this opportunity.
Changing his perspective onsomething that could have sent
him into a downward spiral andhe's not allowing it to do that.
(15:20):
He's being positive.
He's found a different purpose,and I know he's going to be
amazing and awesome.
Them and take some great photosand maybe some not so great
photos.
'cause sometimes he puts histhumb over the camera lens, but
that's okay.
He's going to have fun and Ireally commend him for that.
(15:44):
So I'm playing with Christine onSaturday.
Christine and I, haven't playedall winter together actually.
We haven't really talkedstrategy.
I think we know each other wellenough at this point to support
each other.
She's amazing in herencouragement.
If I miss a shot, she's veryencouraging.
(16:08):
I hope she would say the sameabout me.
We never get frustrated witheach other.
And if we do, we don't show it.
We are always congratulatingeach other on whether it was a
good try, good attempt, goodstrategy, shame it didn't work,
but whether it did or it didn't.
(16:29):
We are always complimenting eachother and finding the positive
and neither of us really get toupset if we don't win a game.
And so I think we are winging ita bit.
The practice that we had lastweek really helped me see some
(16:50):
mistakes that I was making thatI haven't made.
In a long time.
So I'm wondering if it's justadjusting to playing outside
instead of indoors.
So that was helpful for me andsomething that I'm going to be
mindful of going into the gameswith her on Saturday is not
(17:11):
making those mistakes.
And one of them I'll share withyou, which is so bizarre that
this happened.
But when I serve or when mypartner serves, I always stay
back.
I stay at the baseline until ouropponents have taken their
second shot, and Christinepointed it out to me that I was
(17:34):
actually creeping forward afterthe serve had happened.
So that's something that I'mgoing to be going into the games
on Saturday and Sunday with.
With some awareness of that tomake sure that I don't creep
forward.
Because if the return of serveis deep, I'm then falling over
(17:55):
the ball and not in a positionto take that third shot.
So that's what I'm going intothe tournament with.
That's what came up from ourpractice last week.
Other than that, no, we haven'ttalked strategy.
I don't think the tournament isserious enough for us to really
(18:16):
sit down and figure somethingout.
So we're just going into it withfun and some nervous excitement.
Then Sunday I'm playing with Al.
So normally I would play withNeil on the Sunday for the mixed
doubles.
But neil's really great friendand doubles men's partner, Al
(18:40):
has agreed to step in as mypartner Al and I have played
before.
And I love Al.
He's an amazing player.
He's a squash player.
Firstly before pickleball, buthe is an amazing player and I
tell you why.
I love Al.
He is a great player, so yes, itwas an easy choice for me to go,
oh, if Neil can't play,absolutely, I would love to play
(19:02):
with Al.
And he said yes.
When I asked him, actually Ididn't ask him, I have to share
this with you.
I said to Neil, would you mindif I ask Al to be my doubles
partner?
And he said, yeah, no, that'sfine.
He was okay with that.
And I said, would you mindasking Al, because I feel like
(19:23):
it would be more respectful.
To you if it was coming fromyou.
I just wanted to share thatbecause I think respect is so
important in our marriage and inour relationship, and I do
respect Neil 100%, and I know herespects me as well.
And so it felt very importantfor me to say to Neil, I'm sorry
(19:46):
you can't play.
I know that's.
Sad and upsetting for you.
Do you mind if I play withsomeone else?
I know that landed really wellfor Neil.
He did comment on that, and so Idid just want to share that with
you.
And that's not me giving up mypower that's me being respectful
(20:10):
of the partnership that Neil andI have and in my heart that felt
like the right thing to do.
I'm happy that Neil receivedthat in the way it was given
and, connected with that, Aldoes not get upset about things.
He is always happy and havingfun, and you can see that he's
(20:31):
smiling.
He speaks very softly.
He always forgets the score,which I think is hilarious and
when I can remember the score, Ilove that I can remind him of
the score when he's serving.
And he's just an all roundlovely man.
(20:51):
And so I'm really lookingforward to playing with Al
because I don't want to let himdown, but I know if we don't.
Win.
If we don't come away with amedal, we are still going to
have fun and we are still goingto be laughing and enjoying
ourselves, so that was an easychoice for me to want to play
(21:15):
with Al.
So we'll see how that goes onSunday.
I think the biggest unknown orthe biggest, Fear I have at the
moment is that the weatherdoesn't look that great.
Saturday, the weather looksreally favourable for us.
I don't think it's going to betoo windy.
It's supposed to be 25 degreesCelsius and sunny, which is
(21:38):
amazing.
I've played in 30 Celsius andabove, and that was a bit too
much.
But, 25 as a maximum.
Sunny, not too much wind, sovery favourable conditions.
But Sunday, the weather doesn'tlook that great.
(21:58):
That's the biggest unknown.
Going into Sunday, we could havea really good day on Saturday
and play could be great lastyear when we played the same
tournament, it was actually onSunday when Neil and I played
mixed doubles.
It was incredibly windy.
(22:18):
It was crazy.
It was out of the realm of beingable to play pickleball outside.
But you know what Neil and I didreally well because one, we do
communicate very well on thecourt.
Secondly, before every singlepoint, neil would let me know
which direction the wind wascoming from, the strength of the
(22:41):
wind, so that I knew exactlywhat to watch for if we were
serving or if we were receiving.
I knew which direction the windwas going to take the ball.
I knew how strong the gusts weregoing to be in that moment, and
we did really well.
We beat people that we hadstruggled to beat.
(23:01):
Previously because we read theweather, we read the
environment, and we communicatedthat to each other.
So my biggest trepidation goinginto Sunday is if the weather is
not that great, will Al andmyself be able to communicate
(23:23):
and be on the same page withwhat's going on with the weather
conditions, I think we're goingto come up against the kind of
teams that we usually play with,and some are definitely better
than.
Myself, some are at that higherskill level, are able to really
(23:45):
think two or three points ahead,whereas I don't know that I can
necessarily do that so much.
I'm more in the moment of thepoint that I'm playing right
now.
So I do think it's going to bechallenging.
I do think I'm going to have mywork cut out for me.
But I think because they'reteams that.
(24:07):
I know, there's going to be someelement of familiarity there and
there's going to be some elementof, oh, okay, I know this
particular person likes to.
Do a third shot drop or, I knowthis particular person is not
that keen when you lob to them,so maybe I'll try and bring some
(24:27):
more LOBs into the game.
So I think it's going to be veryinteresting.
There are always in these kindof tournaments teams who show up
that we haven't met before.
We've never seen them play.
We don't know what they're likeon the court.
We don't know if they'refriendly or whether they're very
(24:49):
stone faced or whether they getupset if they're losing we've
come up against teams andindividual players like that
before and it can put you offyour mental game so for the next
two days, eating healthy,drinking lots of water.
(25:09):
I'm stretching a lot.
I'm stretching when I get up inthe morning.
I'm stretching throughout theday.
I am stretching before I getinto bed at night.
A lot of meditation typepractices, breathing, dropping
out of my head into my body,feeling the sensations,
(25:33):
welcoming them all, andanticipating and praying for
good weather on Saturday, andwe'll see how that goes.
and I'll jump back in here againon Saturday and give you a quick
update of how things are going.
So until then.
(25:57):
Oh my gosh, what a day.
Oh, Christine and I are heretogether.
We have just finished playing.
It was an incredible day.
One, the weather was amazing.
It was so hot.
It was just like the middle ofsummer.
It was incredible.
It was so much fun.
(26:17):
We connected with so many ofour.
Friends, new pickleball playersthat we haven't met before.
Ladies who just wanted to comeout today and play pickleball
and connect with each other andhave fun.
It was amazing and.
Shall I tell them?
Okay.
Yes.
(26:38):
Christine and I won the goldmedal in our category.
Woo-hoo.
We are so excited.
We are still buzzing, and wejust wanted to jump on here and
just have a quick chat.
congratulations.
First of all.
Oh my gosh.
Best partner ever.
Just thinking back over the daywe ended up playing eight
(27:01):
matches against differentopponents.
What stood out to you most abouthow we played together today?
What do you think?
Christine (27:10):
Wel Chai, they say that.
The third time was our turn.
This is the third time weentered this tournament.
The first two years didn't govery well.
I think that we didn't even makeit to the playoffs for the first
two years.
I.
But this one was different.
We actually just decided to playit safe.
We were gonna play towards themiddle.
We weren't gonna paint theoutside lines.
(27:32):
If there was kill shots, yes wewould take them.
But other than that, we justplayed a very.
Soft and very, consistent game.
And we were very consistent inwhere we were hitting and who we
were hitting to.
That was the other thing too,that we had, decided in the
beginning, which was a weakerplayer.
We were gonna isolate the weakerplayer.
we both said we felt bad.
I mean, you know, really whodoesn't, but, it happens to all
(27:54):
of us.
So we isolate the weaker player.
but what really stood out wasjust the fact that we had really
good communication.
In the beginning.
We were just quiet because Ithink the nerves were got to us,
but as we were playing, and weactually never lost one game
until the very end, for the,gold silver medal, it was the
one game that we lost and weplayed horrible against them.
And I, I don't know what we weredoing had thought that we might
(28:17):
have had it, in the bag, prettyquick just because we had played
this team before and, had beatthem quite badly.
but they turned around and, theybeat us very badly.
So the very, very last match, wejust decided we were gonna play
it safe.
We, you know, we just kept atthem.
I remember once Chai, you wereactually hitting to, this one
lady and you would not let up,you hit it to her about four or
(28:39):
five times, until she finallymade a mistake.
And that's actually the tenacitythat you need in pickleball.
You need to just.
Relax.
Just have it in your mind thatyou are going to hit as many
balls as possible and you'regonna let them make the mistake.
So if you have that in your mindwhen you're playing pickleball,
(29:00):
and not to hurry the point notto speed it up when not
necessary, when just wait forthat perfect shot to do
anything.
And sometimes you don't evenhave to do anything at all.
The other people will just makethe mistake.
On our very, very last point ofthe silver and gold medal.
It was an outshot from the otherteam.
They just hit the ball wide.
And that's a horrible way to, toend a game.
(29:21):
It's, uh, it's such a mistakethat you can actually fix quite
easily.
But I really had to laugh at youChai because you were so
enthralled in the game.
And like you could see that youwere just really looking for
some spots where you couldactually get some good hits and
you were really concentrating.
As soon as that ball went outand I turned to you you had a
shock look on your face.
And I think I, I said to you, Isaid we won gold.
(29:43):
And even then you weren't reallysure, so you were just.
Totally in your head which wasgreat.
It's fine to be like that.
I'm I'm glad that you werereally concentrating on what you
were doing and yeah.
Bravo we just played very, verywell together.
That's all.
Charlotte J (29:57):
I know that was crazy.
I think, of course I knew thescore.
I knew it was 14.
14.
I knew we had to win by onepoint we were serving, so I knew
if we won the next shot, we wonthe match.
But I think.
You are right.
I was just so focused on thegame.
I couldn't quite believe my eyeswhen they hit the ball out.
(30:21):
It was a horrible way to endwhat was an amazing game with
our opponents.
But I think I was just in suchdisbelief and you turned to me
and I was almost just, I wasquestioning myself.
Did we win?
Did we really win?
And you said yes, we won thegold.
And I was just so amazed andyeah, I had to wake myself up
(30:42):
out of my focus and think, yes,I can relax now.
We did win.
That was it.
So yes, that was funny.
I do remember that moment too.
Was there a turning point in anyof our games where you felt that
our teamwork just reallyclicked, or maybe it didn't
click?
Christine (31:00):
As far as us clicking, we've always kind of
clicked.
I don't know.
We've always had a really goodenergy.
I think we play a lot the same.
I know chai, you have actually,a very soft game in certain
respects, but you can hammer itwhen you want to.
But for me, I had to reallylearn how to play the soft game
over the past few years.
I really just wanted to hammerevery ball.
(31:21):
That's, I'm an ex badmintonplayer, so that's what we do.
I just think that we played sowell together because of, me
having the power and you havingthe soft shots.
So, I don't know if there wasany turning points.
We definitely played it veryclose on, on a lot of games
where there was a pointdifferential of maybe two.
At the very, very last goldsilver match, we had a point
(31:42):
differential.
Won.
So, it could have been anyone'sgame at that point, but yeah, I
don't, I really can't say thatwe had a turning point.
I think that we just dug in andwe did whatever we had to do.
I think you wanted the gold justas much as I wanted the gold.
So I think that, it really comesdown to what mindset you're in.
(32:03):
I think what made us the winningteam today was mindset.
We were just determined.
I think everyone, well, maybenot everyone, but I think that
you and I actually play a lotbetter under stress.
I, I think that we have toremain focused.
There wasn't you know, a lot ofunnecessary chitter chatter on
our end either.
I played with other people whosaid, oh, you should have done
this.
You should have done that.
Well, you know, unless of courseyou can fix it immediately, then
(32:27):
you know it's not worth.
Saying to the person in the heatof a game because then of course
they're really in their head andthey're trying to, they're
trying to change what they'redoing, which can really mess you
up.
We did actually use a lot ofstrategies.
Especially, when we switchedunfortunately, or fortunately
when we switched sides we wereeither, in this.
Weird momentum of them gettingmore points.
(32:49):
And that kind of helped us whenwe switched over.
It changed that momentum.
You know, we just decided tomaybe hit to the other, the, not
the weaker person so much, butthe other person for a couple
points, just to mix it up alittle bit.
Some of our serves were reallyhard.
Some of them were soft.
The one thing that we did do atthe very end, like when we were
really close to either winningor losing, we would make sure to
(33:11):
tell each other.
Make sure your serve is in, thatis not the time to start a fancy
serve and trying to get, a winon the point, on just on the
serve.
It comes back to that wholemindset of just being prepared
to get comfortable with maybemaking 50 shots until you have a
shot that you can win the point,but.
(33:34):
That is a mindset that you haveto work at.
It's almost like a yoga thingwhere you have to train your
mind, you know, to say that,Hey, I am not going to rush
this.
I am prepared to, do any shots.
I'm comfortable with myself toknow that my shots are good and
well placed and we're just.
Gonna wait this out.
So I think that that's reallywhat we did.
(33:56):
We just waited things out.
We were calm, we kept on tellingeach other, we were, just to
relax and be calm.
Yeah, I really think that thatwas our strategy.
Not so much the, technical part,but, tournaments are,
psychological.
So I think that we really,really worked on the
psychological thing togethervery well today,
Charlotte J (34:14):
Yes, I agree.
I think we were just both veryencouraging of each other.
We were very calm.
Yeah.
I 100% agree with what you said.
What does this win mean to youpersonally?
Christine (34:28):
That's actually a really good question and you do
have to decide whether you doneed external validation to
convince yourself or to prove toyourself that you are.
A good player or maybe you havea goal.
Maybe, like I, I'd won a fewmedals in the 3.0, so my next
goal was to win medals in the3.5 level, and then my next goal
(34:52):
will be to win medals in the4.0.
For me, I can't really gauge onhow I'm playing just by playing
other people.
I need that extra tournament towin.
So what it means.
To me, it means to me that I'mreally getting focused on what
I'm doing.
I can actually handle stress ina tournament.
(35:12):
I I no longer get reallynervous.
I just treat it like anothergame.
I learn to relax.
What the win means to me is Ijust, I really wanted to win
gold with you we have playedtogether for about three years
or so.
And like I said, this was ourthird time trying to win a medal
at this tournament.
And chai is just so great toplay with, I think that we
(35:34):
compliment each other, you know,with our styles.
So what the win means to me, itmeans winning with a very, very
good friend of mine who I loveand respect very, very deeply.
And it just means that I'mgetting just.
Closer to my goal.
I mean, I'll be 59 years oldthis year.
You know, how much longevity doI have?
(35:54):
We don't really know as we age.
So I plan on going as far as Ipossibly can until old father
time tells me that it's notpossible anymore, and that's
when I'll rest.
Pickleball is such a wonderfulgame.
I was a hard, diehard badmintonplayer for 45 years.
(36:17):
And then when my mom got sickwith Alzheimer's and I moved her
to my city, she had mentionedsomething about playing
pickleball her Alzheimer's, whata was at a very early stage.
So there was.
Still, she was still able tolearn a new skill.
She was actually, I think shewas 80, ooh, maybe 85 when she
stopped playing, but she playedfor about three years.
(36:38):
But I actually just went withher because I thought, well,
I'll get, I.
You know, I'll help her, makesome friends and, learn the
sport.
And then I started to reallylike it.
It is a sport that anyone canplay.
Any sort of skill level.
You can play anywhere.
There are so many places that,have places to play.
Even when you're traveling, youin Mexico, you can, go and play.
(36:58):
It is such a good sport.
I can't say enough aboutpickleball and I am so glad that
I'm part of the pickleballcommunity.
I have many friends.
Many comrades.
Yeah, I just I can't say enoughabout, about pickleball.
Charlotte J (37:11):
Yes, I agree with you.
And it's crazy, isn't it?
Because I think if you haven'tplayed pickleball, and I know I
keep seeing odd clips here andthere, and.
of people saying, stop talkingabout pickleball.
Why is everyone going so crazyabout pickleball?
But honestly, if you haven'tplayed, you really haven't
(37:33):
experienced that sense ofcommunity.
And I'm sure it's there in othersports.
I'm not saying it's not.
I'm just saying, and I thinkwhat you just said as well,
Christine, is that.
There is a real sense ofcommunity and connection with
other women, other couples,other men.
(37:55):
It's on a different level than Ihave ever experienced either.
And it sounds like that'sexactly what you are saying too.
And I love our pickleballcommunity.
I love everyone that we playedtoday and we just had so much
fun.
Thank you so much, Christine.
And congratulations.
Speaker (38:15):
Thanks so much for listening today.
I hope you enjoyed thatconversation as much as I did.
Anything mentioned, includinglinks, notes, and a full episode
list, will be over on ourwebsite at
pickleballandpartnership.
buzzsprout.
com.
Com.
If you got something outta thisepisode, be sure to follow or
(38:36):
subscribe to Pickleball andPartnership on Apple Podcasts,
Spotify, or wherever you listenso that you are notified of new
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And if you're finding value inthis podcast, a free way to
support us is to leave a five.
It truly means the world to us.
(38:59):
This will help more peopleaccess these real conversations.
And if you haven't connectedwith myself or Neil personally,
we would love to meet you andsay hi over on our Facebook
page.
Thanks again for listening.
Please tune in next week foranother exciting episode of
Pickleball and partnership.
(39:20):
Remember, we're all learning,growing, and showing up in our
own ways.
And that's what matters most.
This the pickleball and partnership
podcast, the place to talk.
Talk about building betterconnections with your partner.
Learning how to communicate witheach other and how to inject
fun.
Into your relationship allthrough the game of pickleball.
If that sounds like your cup oftea.
Pull up a chair grab your paddleand join me.
(00:32):
Your host, Charlotte Jukes.
For pickleball and partnership.
Welcome to a very specialepisode of Pickleball and
Partnership podcast.
This episode, we are actuallypreparing for an upcoming
(00:53):
pickleball tournament andpartway through this episode, we
actually go live to thetournament day.
So I have a tournament coming upthis weekend.
It's a community tournament.
I've played in this tournamentbefore.
I've played with my ladiespartner, Christine, and I've
also played with Neil.
Charlotte J (01:14):
And this morning one of those Facebook memories
came up on my feed and it was aphoto and a post of Neil and
myself.
Winning in this tournament twoyears ago, and I felt so sad.
Oh my gosh.
I looked at the post, I lookedat the photo of us standing
(01:38):
there side by side and with ourmedals and big smiles on our
faces and.
I felt really sad because Neilis not able to play in this
tournament this weekend.
He has an injury.
To his shoulder and it's beenbugging him for a while and
(02:02):
that's another story, but he'snot able to play and I know he's
really frustrated and a littledown about that because
pickleball is everything we'vebeen doing together for the last
couple of years.
So yes, when I saw this post, Ifelt like I shouldn't have
(02:27):
signed up for this tournament.
But anyway, I have signed up.
Saturday is the Ladies Games,and on Sunday it's the mixed
competition.
When you think, oh, this wouldbe a great idea, whatever that
is.
I mean, I'm talking about apickleball tournament, but it
(02:49):
could be anything.
It could be saying yes to aspeaking engagement.
It could be saying yes topresenting something new at
work.
It could be yes to hosting adinner party for 20 guests, or
10 guests or two guests.
(03:10):
It could be saying yes to.
Making a dozen cupcakes for yourchild's school sports day but
you know that feeling when yousay yes.
Oh my gosh, that would be soexciting.
Of course I can do that.
I'll take that on.
Give me more.
(03:31):
Give me more.
I'm invincible.
I'm super woman.
I'm a super mom.
I'm a super wife.
I can do that.
And then.
When it actually comes to it, orit comes time to prepare and
really start thinking about it,this voice comes into my head
(03:52):
that says, why the heck did yousay yes to this?
And that was the moment I hadsix days ago, when Christine and
I were practicing, we actuallygot to play outside, which was
amazing.
The weather is, so sporadic atthe moment.
(04:14):
One day it's nice.
The next day it's bitterly coldagain.
But last Friday we had theopportunity to play outside and
practice I hadn't played withChristine in a long time, all
winter because we've beenplaying in different places.
And so we were standing togetheron the court outside.
(04:37):
And I said, what was it aboutthis that I thought was a good
idea?
I mean, there's some jest inwhat I say because we've played
in tournaments before and we'vedone very well, and she and I do
play well together.
But the nerve started to set inthe realization of.
(05:00):
What we had signed up forstarted to hit us, and it
becomes this unraveling of thiscrazy in depth story that goes
something like this.
Why have I signed up for this?
I'm feeling really nervous.
I'm not going to play very well.
(05:21):
Lots of people are going to bewatching.
I'm going to feel the pressure.
I'm going to put myself on thespot and feel overwhelmed by
this.
And I feel as though I can't letmy partner down and I'm going to
mess up make mistakes and I'mnot going to play as well as I
should, I'm going to make a foolof myself and other people will
(05:45):
judge me.
And now I've been playing forover two years and I should be
better than I am.
I'm going to miss shots that Ishouldn't miss.
I am going to feel inadequate.
I'm going to feel like all eyesare on me.
Oh my gosh.
And it goes on and on and on andon.
(06:09):
So I don't know whether any ofyou have ever felt like that,
maybe for a game of pickleballor a pickleball tournament or
some other kind of tournament orcompetition, or even just some
event that seemed like a goodidea at the time and when it
(06:30):
actually came to it.
The panic set in.
And so I'm really sitting heretoday.
It's two days before thetournament, and I am thinking
about how I have been preparingthis week and how I'm preparing
today and how I'm going toprepare tomorrow and the morning
(06:53):
of both days over the weekend.
For me, it looks like a lot ofmeditation.
And connecting to that part ofme that feels so resourceful, I
know it's there because I canconnect to it if I drop out of
(07:16):
my head.
Don't let the story take overand all those.
Questions of doubt that comeinto my mind, I can drop out of
my head and into this place inmy body that I will describe as
my heart center.
(07:38):
That I can really connect with,and I know this, this is the
real me.
This is the me without anybeliefs attached to it, without
any other voices attached to itlike my dad's voice or my math
teacher voice.
(07:59):
Or the girls at school thatbullied me without their voices.
And so this part of me feelsempowered.
This part of me is real and trueand authentic and amazing
feminine energy and amazing.
(08:21):
Masculine energy too that getsthings done.
So when I connect to this partof me, and for any of you that
haven't done this, you'reprobably thinking, what the heck
is she talking about?
But sometimes it's just a caseof realizing that these feelings
(08:45):
are bubbling up.
Dropping out of your head,taking a moment, closing your
eyes.
This is what I do.
Close my eyes, come out of mymind, which is driving me crazy.
Drop into my body.
Feel the sensations in my body.
Welcome all of those sensations.
(09:08):
They're all there for a reason.
They're all part of me, and theyare all welcome and really
connect to that.
That empowering, resourcefulpart of me that believes in me
and has confidence and canreally do anything.
(09:29):
The sky is the limit.
So I've been doing a lot ofdropping into my body.
Feeling the feelings, sittingwith the sensations, and really
just leaning into that and notmaking any judgements and
(09:51):
realizing that those feelingsand those thoughts are there,
but they're not me.
I'm separated in a way fromthose thoughts and feelings.
There is a divide between myselfand my power and the beliefs
(10:13):
that I take on and the thoughtsthat go through my head.
I hope that's helpful in someway for anyone coming up to
something big or even somethingsmall, anything that's giving
you some kind of anxiety and isdistracting you from really
enjoying it.
(10:34):
Because I mean that part of.
Me that said yes to this and wasexcited.
That's the real part of me.
That's the part of me that'slike, yes, I want to play
pickleball, I want to connectwith people, I want to be
outside this weekend.
I want to spend time with thosewho I love and I have fun with.
(11:00):
And it's going to be amazing andI know it is.
As long as I don't let thosevoices take over and persuade me
otherwise, that's what'smotivating me coming up to this
weekend, the sense ofcompetition, the sense of fun,
(11:20):
the sense of proving to myselfthat I can do this, win or lose.
I'm showing up, I'm testingmyself.
I'm stepping up to the edge ofwhere I feel comfortable
because.
Games are comfortable, routinethings that we do in life are
comfortable, but there's nogrowth there.
(11:42):
Growth happens when we step tothe edge of that and take that
little step over and dosomething that feels a little
bit more uncomfortable, whatwould make this tournament feel
like a win?
No matter the scoreboard.
So that's what would make thistournament feel like a win.
(12:04):
No matter what the score is, nomatter how many games we win or
lose, I will feel like I won ifI show up number one.
No, hang on.
Let's backpedal a bit.
If I don't get caught up in thestory prior to the weekend, if I
(12:25):
continue to connect with thatpower within me, connect to my
resourcefulness and don't letthose limiting beliefs take
over.
That will feel like a win.
And then showing up on the day.
Excited, happy, connecting withpeople.
(12:46):
Smiling through it.
Congratulating myself.
Congratulating my partner,congratulating my opponents.
Win or lose.
Being happy, having fun,connecting with people, having
those authentic face-to-faceconversations that will make
(13:09):
this tournament feel like a win.
Absolutely.
And you know what, Neil is areally good example of this.
He has an injury and he's not.
Able to play pickleball for afew months now, and it's getting
him down.
He's, obviously missing it,frustrated.
He wants to be active.
(13:30):
He's happy when he's moving andgrooving and, having fun with
people.
But you know what he's done.
He has taken this as anopportunity to come and support
me, which he always does.
Oh my gosh.
I love him for that.
He is my number one fan.
He is my biggest supporter.
(13:52):
He's amazing.
But he's also taken thisopportunity to do.
This tournament a little bitdifferent, and he's actually
going to be the photographer forthis tournament, so he has found
a different purpose.
He's not going there saying,Ugh, all doom and gloom.
(14:14):
I can't play.
I'm a victim.
This.
Isn't working for me.
He's coming to support me.
Of course he would, whether he'swinning or losing, but he's
found a different purpose andhe's still going to be out there
smiling and happy and connectingwith people and taking photos of
those crazy shots.
(14:36):
We make mid game.
He's taking photos of.
People standing around,congratulating each other of
people, having conversations ofpeople being hot and sweaty and
exhausted, but pushing through.
He's going to take photos ofpeople with their medals.
He's going to take photos ofpeople who participated and feel
(15:00):
like winners medal or not.
And so I really admire him for,finding this opportunity.
Changing his perspective onsomething that could have sent
him into a downward spiral andhe's not allowing it to do that.
(15:20):
He's being positive.
He's found a different purpose,and I know he's going to be
amazing and awesome.
Them and take some great photosand maybe some not so great
photos.
'cause sometimes he puts histhumb over the camera lens, but
that's okay.
He's going to have fun and Ireally commend him for that.
(15:44):
So I'm playing with Christine onSaturday.
Christine and I, haven't playedall winter together actually.
We haven't really talkedstrategy.
I think we know each other wellenough at this point to support
each other.
She's amazing in herencouragement.
If I miss a shot, she's veryencouraging.
(16:08):
I hope she would say the sameabout me.
We never get frustrated witheach other.
And if we do, we don't show it.
We are always congratulatingeach other on whether it was a
good try, good attempt, goodstrategy, shame it didn't work,
but whether it did or it didn't.
(16:29):
We are always complimenting eachother and finding the positive
and neither of us really get toupset if we don't win a game.
And so I think we are winging ita bit.
The practice that we had lastweek really helped me see some
(16:50):
mistakes that I was making thatI haven't made.
In a long time.
So I'm wondering if it's justadjusting to playing outside
instead of indoors.
So that was helpful for me andsomething that I'm going to be
mindful of going into the gameswith her on Saturday is not
(17:11):
making those mistakes.
And one of them I'll share withyou, which is so bizarre that
this happened.
But when I serve or when mypartner serves, I always stay
back.
I stay at the baseline until ouropponents have taken their
second shot, and Christinepointed it out to me that I was
(17:34):
actually creeping forward afterthe serve had happened.
So that's something that I'mgoing to be going into the games
on Saturday and Sunday with.
With some awareness of that tomake sure that I don't creep
forward.
Because if the return of serveis deep, I'm then falling over
(17:55):
the ball and not in a positionto take that third shot.
So that's what I'm going intothe tournament with.
That's what came up from ourpractice last week.
Other than that, no, we haven'ttalked strategy.
I don't think the tournament isserious enough for us to really
(18:16):
sit down and figure somethingout.
So we're just going into it withfun and some nervous excitement.
Then Sunday I'm playing with Al.
So normally I would play withNeil on the Sunday for the mixed
doubles.
But neil's really great friendand doubles men's partner, Al
(18:40):
has agreed to step in as mypartner Al and I have played
before.
And I love Al.
He's an amazing player.
He's a squash player.
Firstly before pickleball, buthe is an amazing player and I
tell you why.
I love Al.
He is a great player, so yes, itwas an easy choice for me to go,
oh, if Neil can't play,absolutely, I would love to play
(19:02):
with Al.
And he said yes.
When I asked him, actually Ididn't ask him, I have to share
this with you.
I said to Neil, would you mindif I ask Al to be my doubles
partner?
And he said, yeah, no, that'sfine.
He was okay with that.
And I said, would you mindasking Al, because I feel like
(19:23):
it would be more respectful.
To you if it was coming fromyou.
I just wanted to share thatbecause I think respect is so
important in our marriage and inour relationship, and I do
respect Neil 100%, and I know herespects me as well.
And so it felt very importantfor me to say to Neil, I'm sorry
(19:46):
you can't play.
I know that's.
Sad and upsetting for you.
Do you mind if I play withsomeone else?
I know that landed really wellfor Neil.
He did comment on that, and so Idid just want to share that with
you.
And that's not me giving up mypower that's me being respectful
(20:10):
of the partnership that Neil andI have and in my heart that felt
like the right thing to do.
I'm happy that Neil receivedthat in the way it was given
and, connected with that, Aldoes not get upset about things.
He is always happy and havingfun, and you can see that he's
(20:31):
smiling.
He speaks very softly.
He always forgets the score,which I think is hilarious and
when I can remember the score, Ilove that I can remind him of
the score when he's serving.
And he's just an all roundlovely man.
(20:51):
And so I'm really lookingforward to playing with Al
because I don't want to let himdown, but I know if we don't.
Win.
If we don't come away with amedal, we are still going to
have fun and we are still goingto be laughing and enjoying
ourselves, so that was an easychoice for me to want to play
(21:15):
with Al.
So we'll see how that goes onSunday.
I think the biggest unknown orthe biggest, Fear I have at the
moment is that the weatherdoesn't look that great.
Saturday, the weather looksreally favourable for us.
I don't think it's going to betoo windy.
It's supposed to be 25 degreesCelsius and sunny, which is
(21:38):
amazing.
I've played in 30 Celsius andabove, and that was a bit too
much.
But, 25 as a maximum.
Sunny, not too much wind, sovery favourable conditions.
But Sunday, the weather doesn'tlook that great.
(21:58):
That's the biggest unknown.
Going into Sunday, we could havea really good day on Saturday
and play could be great lastyear when we played the same
tournament, it was actually onSunday when Neil and I played
mixed doubles.
It was incredibly windy.
(22:18):
It was crazy.
It was out of the realm of beingable to play pickleball outside.
But you know what Neil and I didreally well because one, we do
communicate very well on thecourt.
Secondly, before every singlepoint, neil would let me know
which direction the wind wascoming from, the strength of the
(22:41):
wind, so that I knew exactlywhat to watch for if we were
serving or if we were receiving.
I knew which direction the windwas going to take the ball.
I knew how strong the gusts weregoing to be in that moment, and
we did really well.
We beat people that we hadstruggled to beat.
(23:01):
Previously because we read theweather, we read the
environment, and we communicatedthat to each other.
So my biggest trepidation goinginto Sunday is if the weather is
not that great, will Al andmyself be able to communicate
(23:23):
and be on the same page withwhat's going on with the weather
conditions, I think we're goingto come up against the kind of
teams that we usually play with,and some are definitely better
than.
Myself, some are at that higherskill level, are able to really
(23:45):
think two or three points ahead,whereas I don't know that I can
necessarily do that so much.
I'm more in the moment of thepoint that I'm playing right
now.
So I do think it's going to bechallenging.
I do think I'm going to have mywork cut out for me.
But I think because they'reteams that.
(24:07):
I know, there's going to be someelement of familiarity there and
there's going to be some elementof, oh, okay, I know this
particular person likes to.
Do a third shot drop or, I knowthis particular person is not
that keen when you lob to them,so maybe I'll try and bring some
(24:27):
more LOBs into the game.
So I think it's going to be veryinteresting.
There are always in these kindof tournaments teams who show up
that we haven't met before.
We've never seen them play.
We don't know what they're likeon the court.
We don't know if they'refriendly or whether they're very
(24:49):
stone faced or whether they getupset if they're losing we've
come up against teams andindividual players like that
before and it can put you offyour mental game so for the next
two days, eating healthy,drinking lots of water.
(25:09):
I'm stretching a lot.
I'm stretching when I get up inthe morning.
I'm stretching throughout theday.
I am stretching before I getinto bed at night.
A lot of meditation typepractices, breathing, dropping
out of my head into my body,feeling the sensations,
(25:33):
welcoming them all, andanticipating and praying for
good weather on Saturday, andwe'll see how that goes.
and I'll jump back in here againon Saturday and give you a quick
update of how things are going.
So until then.
(25:57):
Oh my gosh, what a day.
Oh, Christine and I are heretogether.
We have just finished playing.
It was an incredible day.
One, the weather was amazing.
It was so hot.
It was just like the middle ofsummer.
It was incredible.
It was so much fun.
(26:17):
We connected with so many ofour.
Friends, new pickleball playersthat we haven't met before.
Ladies who just wanted to comeout today and play pickleball
and connect with each other andhave fun.
It was amazing and.
Shall I tell them?
Okay.
Yes.
(26:38):
Christine and I won the goldmedal in our category.
Woo-hoo.
We are so excited.
We are still buzzing, and wejust wanted to jump on here and
just have a quick chat.
congratulations.
First of all.
Oh my gosh.
Best partner ever.
Just thinking back over the daywe ended up playing eight
(27:01):
matches against differentopponents.
What stood out to you most abouthow we played together today?
What do you think?
Christine (27:10):
Wel Chai, they say that.
The third time was our turn.
This is the third time weentered this tournament.
The first two years didn't govery well.
I think that we didn't even makeit to the playoffs for the first
two years.
I.
But this one was different.
We actually just decided to playit safe.
We were gonna play towards themiddle.
We weren't gonna paint theoutside lines.
(27:32):
If there was kill shots, yes wewould take them.
But other than that, we justplayed a very.
Soft and very, consistent game.
And we were very consistent inwhere we were hitting and who we
were hitting to.
That was the other thing too,that we had, decided in the
beginning, which was a weakerplayer.
We were gonna isolate the weakerplayer.
we both said we felt bad.
I mean, you know, really whodoesn't, but, it happens to all
(27:54):
of us.
So we isolate the weaker player.
but what really stood out wasjust the fact that we had really
good communication.
In the beginning.
We were just quiet because Ithink the nerves were got to us,
but as we were playing, and weactually never lost one game
until the very end, for the,gold silver medal, it was the
one game that we lost and weplayed horrible against them.
And I, I don't know what we weredoing had thought that we might
(28:17):
have had it, in the bag, prettyquick just because we had played
this team before and, had beatthem quite badly.
but they turned around and, theybeat us very badly.
So the very, very last match, wejust decided we were gonna play
it safe.
We, you know, we just kept atthem.
I remember once Chai, you wereactually hitting to, this one
lady and you would not let up,you hit it to her about four or
(28:39):
five times, until she finallymade a mistake.
And that's actually the tenacitythat you need in pickleball.
You need to just.
Relax.
Just have it in your mind thatyou are going to hit as many
balls as possible and you'regonna let them make the mistake.
So if you have that in your mindwhen you're playing pickleball,
(29:00):
and not to hurry the point notto speed it up when not
necessary, when just wait forthat perfect shot to do
anything.
And sometimes you don't evenhave to do anything at all.
The other people will just makethe mistake.
On our very, very last point ofthe silver and gold medal.
It was an outshot from the otherteam.
They just hit the ball wide.
And that's a horrible way to, toend a game.
(29:21):
It's, uh, it's such a mistakethat you can actually fix quite
easily.
But I really had to laugh at youChai because you were so
enthralled in the game.
And like you could see that youwere just really looking for
some spots where you couldactually get some good hits and
you were really concentrating.
As soon as that ball went outand I turned to you you had a
shock look on your face.
And I think I, I said to you, Isaid we won gold.
(29:43):
And even then you weren't reallysure, so you were just.
Totally in your head which wasgreat.
It's fine to be like that.
I'm I'm glad that you werereally concentrating on what you
were doing and yeah.
Bravo we just played very, verywell together.
That's all.
Charlotte J (29:57):
I know that was crazy.
I think, of course I knew thescore.
I knew it was 14.
14.
I knew we had to win by onepoint we were serving, so I knew
if we won the next shot, we wonthe match.
But I think.
You are right.
I was just so focused on thegame.
I couldn't quite believe my eyeswhen they hit the ball out.
(30:21):
It was a horrible way to endwhat was an amazing game with
our opponents.
But I think I was just in suchdisbelief and you turned to me
and I was almost just, I wasquestioning myself.
Did we win?
Did we really win?
And you said yes, we won thegold.
And I was just so amazed andyeah, I had to wake myself up
(30:42):
out of my focus and think, yes,I can relax now.
We did win.
That was it.
So yes, that was funny.
I do remember that moment too.
Was there a turning point in anyof our games where you felt that
our teamwork just reallyclicked, or maybe it didn't
click?
Christine (31:00):
As far as us clicking, we've always kind of
clicked.
I don't know.
We've always had a really goodenergy.
I think we play a lot the same.
I know chai, you have actually,a very soft game in certain
respects, but you can hammer itwhen you want to.
But for me, I had to reallylearn how to play the soft game
over the past few years.
I really just wanted to hammerevery ball.
(31:21):
That's, I'm an ex badmintonplayer, so that's what we do.
I just think that we played sowell together because of, me
having the power and you havingthe soft shots.
So, I don't know if there wasany turning points.
We definitely played it veryclose on, on a lot of games
where there was a pointdifferential of maybe two.
At the very, very last goldsilver match, we had a point
(31:42):
differential.
Won.
So, it could have been anyone'sgame at that point, but yeah, I
don't, I really can't say thatwe had a turning point.
I think that we just dug in andwe did whatever we had to do.
I think you wanted the gold justas much as I wanted the gold.
So I think that, it really comesdown to what mindset you're in.
(32:03):
I think what made us the winningteam today was mindset.
We were just determined.
I think everyone, well, maybenot everyone, but I think that
you and I actually play a lotbetter under stress.
I, I think that we have toremain focused.
There wasn't you know, a lot ofunnecessary chitter chatter on
our end either.
I played with other people whosaid, oh, you should have done
this.
You should have done that.
Well, you know, unless of courseyou can fix it immediately, then
(32:27):
you know it's not worth.
Saying to the person in the heatof a game because then of course
they're really in their head andthey're trying to, they're
trying to change what they'redoing, which can really mess you
up.
We did actually use a lot ofstrategies.
Especially, when we switchedunfortunately, or fortunately
when we switched sides we wereeither, in this.
Weird momentum of them gettingmore points.
(32:49):
And that kind of helped us whenwe switched over.
It changed that momentum.
You know, we just decided tomaybe hit to the other, the, not
the weaker person so much, butthe other person for a couple
points, just to mix it up alittle bit.
Some of our serves were reallyhard.
Some of them were soft.
The one thing that we did do atthe very end, like when we were
really close to either winningor losing, we would make sure to
(33:11):
tell each other.
Make sure your serve is in, thatis not the time to start a fancy
serve and trying to get, a winon the point, on just on the
serve.
It comes back to that wholemindset of just being prepared
to get comfortable with maybemaking 50 shots until you have a
shot that you can win the point,but.
(33:34):
That is a mindset that you haveto work at.
It's almost like a yoga thingwhere you have to train your
mind, you know, to say that,Hey, I am not going to rush
this.
I am prepared to, do any shots.
I'm comfortable with myself toknow that my shots are good and
well placed and we're just.
Gonna wait this out.
So I think that that's reallywhat we did.
(33:56):
We just waited things out.
We were calm, we kept on tellingeach other, we were, just to
relax and be calm.
Yeah, I really think that thatwas our strategy.
Not so much the, technical part,but, tournaments are,
psychological.
So I think that we really,really worked on the
psychological thing togethervery well today,
Charlotte J (34:14):
Yes, I agree.
I think we were just both veryencouraging of each other.
We were very calm.
Yeah.
I 100% agree with what you said.
What does this win mean to youpersonally?
Christine (34:28):
That's actually a really good question and you do
have to decide whether you doneed external validation to
convince yourself or to prove toyourself that you are.
A good player or maybe you havea goal.
Maybe, like I, I'd won a fewmedals in the 3.0, so my next
goal was to win medals in the3.5 level, and then my next goal
(34:52):
will be to win medals in the4.0.
For me, I can't really gauge onhow I'm playing just by playing
other people.
I need that extra tournament towin.
So what it means.
To me, it means to me that I'mreally getting focused on what
I'm doing.
I can actually handle stress ina tournament.
(35:12):
I I no longer get reallynervous.
I just treat it like anothergame.
I learn to relax.
What the win means to me is Ijust, I really wanted to win
gold with you we have playedtogether for about three years
or so.
And like I said, this was ourthird time trying to win a medal
at this tournament.
And chai is just so great toplay with, I think that we
(35:34):
compliment each other, you know,with our styles.
So what the win means to me, itmeans winning with a very, very
good friend of mine who I loveand respect very, very deeply.
And it just means that I'mgetting just.
Closer to my goal.
I mean, I'll be 59 years oldthis year.
You know, how much longevity doI have?
(35:54):
We don't really know as we age.
So I plan on going as far as Ipossibly can until old father
time tells me that it's notpossible anymore, and that's
when I'll rest.
Pickleball is such a wonderfulgame.
I was a hard, diehard badmintonplayer for 45 years.
(36:17):
And then when my mom got sickwith Alzheimer's and I moved her
to my city, she had mentionedsomething about playing
pickleball her Alzheimer's, whata was at a very early stage.
So there was.
Still, she was still able tolearn a new skill.
She was actually, I think shewas 80, ooh, maybe 85 when she
stopped playing, but she playedfor about three years.
(36:38):
But I actually just went withher because I thought, well,
I'll get, I.
You know, I'll help her, makesome friends and, learn the
sport.
And then I started to reallylike it.
It is a sport that anyone canplay.
Any sort of skill level.
You can play anywhere.
There are so many places that,have places to play.
Even when you're traveling, youin Mexico, you can, go and play.
(36:58):
It is such a good sport.
I can't say enough aboutpickleball and I am so glad that
I'm part of the pickleballcommunity.
I have many friends.
Many comrades.
Yeah, I just I can't say enoughabout, about pickleball.
Charlotte J (37:11):
Yes, I agree with you.
And it's crazy, isn't it?
Because I think if you haven'tplayed pickleball, and I know I
keep seeing odd clips here andthere, and.
of people saying, stop talkingabout pickleball.
Why is everyone going so crazyabout pickleball?
But honestly, if you haven'tplayed, you really haven't
(37:33):
experienced that sense ofcommunity.
And I'm sure it's there in othersports.
I'm not saying it's not.
I'm just saying, and I thinkwhat you just said as well,
Christine, is that.
There is a real sense ofcommunity and connection with
other women, other couples,other men.
(37:55):
It's on a different level than Ihave ever experienced either.
And it sounds like that'sexactly what you are saying too.
And I love our pickleballcommunity.
I love everyone that we playedtoday and we just had so much
fun.
Thank you so much, Christine.
And congratulations.
Speaker (38:15):
Thanks so much for listening today.
I hope you enjoyed thatconversation as much as I did.
Anything mentioned, includinglinks, notes, and a full episode
list, will be over on ourwebsite at
pickleballandpartnership.
buzzsprout.
com.
Com.
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(38:36):
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Please tune in next week foranother exciting episode of
Pickleball and partnership.
(39:20):
Remember, we're all learning,growing, and showing up in our
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And that's what matters most.
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