Crushing It! with Al Arco

Ever wondered how an ex-Division II college baseball player would take to pickleball like a duck to water? Meet Al Arco, whose story of athletic legacy and newfound pickleball obsession unfolds in our latest episode. We delve into his move to Robson Ranch, the rapid growth of his pickleball prowess, and how his family's sporting history—from his mother's near inclusion in the 1963 Pan American swim team to his children's athletic feats—has seeped into his own passion for the sport.

This week's conversation also spotlights a pickleball tale of personal growth, competition, and relationship strengthening. Imagine stepping onto the court and not just improving your volley, but your communication with your partner too. That's exactly what happened with our guests, and they're sharing the highs and lows, from grasping the complexities of self-rating to forging deep connections within the pickleball community and beyond. Plus, we'll unearth strategies that have transformed our guest from a relative novice to local influencer in this close-knit pickleball world.

Finally, fasten your seatbelts as we zoom into the competitive landscape, where youth and strategy collide to reshape pickleball's future. We're dissecting the art of the third shot drop, getting personal with our favorite strategic moves, and even discussing the potential of becoming certified instructors to give back to the sport we love. From the local courts to the MLP Dallas Pickleball Club's season prospects, we've covered the gamut, giving you a front-row seat to the ever-evolving game of pickleball and the endearing community it cultivates. Join us for an episode that's as much about the thrill of the match as it is about the bonds formed beyond the baseline.

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Special thanks to Crown Pickleball for their support and sponsorship! Don't waste money on balls that break, Crown pickleballs rarely crack, are more visible and have a higher spin rate than the competitors.
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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Like to your point, the game's evolved and they
bring a different level ofathleticism.
See, I totally disagree.

Speaker 2 (00:05):
Karen, Totally disagree.

Speaker 1 (00:06):
You disagree, disagree.

Speaker 2 (00:07):
Why Compete?
Well, okay, let's look at thosematches.

Speaker 1 (00:10):
They're destroying us .
Okay, what is it?

Speaker 2 (00:12):
What are they doing?
So I think we look at whatthey're doing.

Speaker 1 (00:15):
I don't know.
I have to play them Saturday.
I'll tell you.

Speaker 3 (00:20):
Hello all you picklers.
Back for more Season 1, episode11, blazing Paddles.
Last week we had a story ofovercoming some huge problems in
life with our friend SuttonHoward.
This week we go back local toone of Southlake's favorites, al
Arco.
And Al's somebody that a lot ofpeople in the Southlake
Pickleball Club are familiarwith, but he's got quite a story

(00:41):
.
His pickleball influence goesmuch bigger than just this
little community.
One of the nicest guys you'llmeet, al Arco.
Let's get a chance to know hima little bit better here on
Season 1, episode 11.
Saddle up, you'll be glad youdid so.
The idea was to just spitball alittle bit about pickleball and

(01:03):
talked about your, your leaguesthat you're playing in and some
of the kind of cool things thatare happening with MLP PPA.
You, how long have you beeninvolved in pickleball Like
really involved, not not justplaying.

Speaker 2 (01:17):
So truly involved, john it um we moved to ropes and
ranch, my wife and I in 2019.
And so um we moved to RobesonRanch, my wife and I in 2019.

Speaker 1 (01:26):
Wait, you're not old enough to live in a retirement
community.
I am now.

Speaker 2 (01:29):
I turned 55 last week , by the way, so I'm legal.

Speaker 3 (01:32):
It's active.
Don't.

Speaker 1 (01:34):
Did you sign up with AARP?

Speaker 2 (01:35):
Yeah, but I want my Denny's discount.

Speaker 3 (01:37):
I can tell you that, don't worry, they'll send you
stuff.
They don't wait for you.

Speaker 2 (01:48):
It's already coming, by the way.
Yeah.
So, um, one night early, um, Iwent to golf and the sprinklers
were just demolishing the uhputting grain and the driving
range, and driving home in thegolf cart I hear this clink,
clink, clink and it caught myattention.
So I drove over to thepickleball courts, started
watching.
Our kids had given us thosewooden monarch paddles.
You know they used to sell atacademy.
So, like the next day, I tellmy wife let's go, you know, bang

(02:10):
the ball around.
So we're on the baselinehitting back and forth and, um,
a neighbor kind of walking bysaw me and he's like, yeah,
that's not pickleball.
And gave us a couple of tipsand really for a while there I
think I was playing every singlenight after work, um, from,
about, you know, late September,october, probably through 2022.

(02:34):
So you were totally hooked rightaway.
Well y'all know it's anaddiction, right?
Uh, and I, I just uh, I'dmissed that void right from
being an athlete prior in life.
And uh, yeah, I just, I justtook to it, I was all in.

Speaker 1 (02:49):
Well, so okay, let's go back prior life.
What do you mean?
An athlete?
What kind of an athlete wereyou?

Speaker 2 (02:55):
Well, not great.
I mean, you had Alex on what acouple months ago and he was a
phenomenal baseball player atwhat Indiana.
But I played Division IIcollege baseball, sonoma State
University small school,northern California.
So, karen, actually the localfolks around here Larry Allen,
who is a Dallas Cowboy, a Ringof Honor and Hall of Famer,

(03:16):
played at Sonoma State, so he'sour claim to fame.

Speaker 3 (03:20):
I'm not quite in the level of Larry Allen.

Speaker 2 (03:22):
Arco Right there's a little gap, John.

Speaker 1 (03:28):
What position I played division.
What's that?
What position I was a middleinfielder.

Speaker 2 (03:35):
But here's what's funny.
So I played ball, but as a kidthere wasn't a sport I didn't
pick up and I just gravitated to.
I liked it.
Things kind of came easyathletically for me, not
bragging, but I was a joker ofall trades.
I wasn't great at any one thing, but what's funny in our family
, I wouldn't even sit on thepodium.
My, uh, my youngest son.
He gave up basketball I senioryear of high school but he could

(03:57):
dunk.
I could never.
I could barely touch the netfor crying out.
Uh, my older son played collegeball.
He played Division III baseballup at University of the Ozarks
in Arkansas and he's got morehome runs collegiately than I
ever did.
So you know he's got scoreboardon me there.
But really our ace is my mom,my mom, both my parents came

(04:18):
here from Cuba as teenagers.

Speaker 1 (04:21):
Okay.

Speaker 2 (04:22):
And this would be a whole different podcast, by the
way.
But anyhow, my dad was a jackof all trades athletically, but
my mom was on pace to be on the1963 Pan American swim team for
Cuba.

Speaker 1 (04:33):
Shut up.
I swear that's awesome.

Speaker 2 (04:36):
She was a really good and she was a tomboy.
She played squash and this andthat.
But she came here at 16 withher nine-year-old sister and you
know, 62, 63 years later she'sstill here.
But anyhow, ping pong.
She was a stud in ping pong,she played squash and whatnot,
so I didn't beat her till I waslike in my 20s she was 50

(04:59):
something when I finally beather in ping pong.

Speaker 1 (05:00):
Oh wow, so you played ping pong.
That translates exactly over topickleball.

Speaker 2 (05:05):
It does care, like the, you know, especially
dinking and around the net, um,I mean, and not high, high level
.
You know there's, there's,there's folks that are way
better than me, but I was prettygood, you know, um, and so it
was quite an achievement in thefamily to be mom, finally Right
and and and so really translatethat to pickleball, you're,
you're right, like some of theskills around the net, it's just

(05:26):
something I'm comfortable doing, you know, whether it's flicks,
rolls, dinks, yeah, that'sawesome.

Speaker 1 (05:35):
So your parents did they meet here after they came
over from Cuba?

Speaker 2 (05:39):
So interestingly, my dad's grandmother lived across
the street from my mom's family.
They were from different townsso he would go visit and they
would just play sports together.
My mom and my dad they werejust friends in Cuba.
Once they were both here theyboth came separately through
Catholic Charities.
They hooked up via the oldsnail mail sending letters to

(06:02):
each other.
My dad ended up at universityof St Thomas in Houston, my mom
was in Southern California.
She finally got reunited withher older sister and husband and
and so they started pen pallingand then my dad literally asked
her to marry her, drove toCalifornia, married her and
drove her back to Houston andlittle Al came around 10 months

(06:22):
later.

Speaker 1 (06:23):
Oh, that's awesome.
I love it.
That's so cute, though I meanwe'll never have stories like
that anymore.

Speaker 2 (06:30):
Well, I kind of screwed things up because I'm an
only kid, so it must not havegone too well.

Speaker 3 (06:38):
Okay, so now that we're in a different day and age
, have you been back to Cuba?

Speaker 2 (06:43):
No, and actually our State Department, even though
things, I think relations haveopened up a little bit, our
state department still theyrecommend expatriates, like my
parents and their directdescendants, me, not go back.
My kids and even my wife wouldhave the ability to.
I know people have gone tovisit, but because it's not

(07:03):
recommended, then yeah, it'sjust not going to happen.

Speaker 3 (07:06):
I'm going to say a show of hands.
If we said hey, would anybodyguess Al Arco is Cuban-American?
There'd be no hands up.
That's a great story.
I mean your dad, through thepostal service, found a bride.
That's awesome.
I mean they knew each other,they were friends.

Speaker 1 (07:24):
They knew each other, they played sports.

Speaker 3 (07:26):
I mean because, they were riding back and forth.
I didn't know.
I didn't mean it was amail-order bride.

Speaker 2 (07:31):
It was like MySpace or Facebook before Facebook.

Speaker 3 (07:36):
All right, let's take a break for a minute so I can
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(07:57):
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Am I right, or am I right?
Let's get back to Al ArcoDinkDotPro.
Now back to your story, becauseyou and your wife picked up.

(08:19):
Now is your wife still playing?
She is.

Speaker 2 (08:21):
So what's neat is she was never an athlete, so she's
quite kind of the opposite.
Um, and so, moving there, westarted playing.
So she, yeah, she, she, I meanshe takes lessons, you know,
several times a week and she'sdone league, she's done like
that at league, um, and whileshe, um, you know she gets

(08:41):
nervous when she competes andwhatnot.
Uh, we still have a lot of fun.
We play in different socialgroups together.
At Ropeson there's an upcomingMLP team competition and you
guys are familiar with that withSouthlake Battle Club.
So we're going to be on thesame team together and playing
mixed doubles together, andthat'll be fun.

Speaker 1 (08:58):
Aw, what do you mean?
She's taking lessons fromsomebody other than you.
Yeah, wow.

Speaker 2 (09:02):
That's probably good for our marriage.
Karen, that's smart honey.

Speaker 1 (09:06):
Okay, one thing that's funny.
So I love it that you guys aredoing that together, because
you're a really high-levelplayer, and so it must be how
you feel playing with me, john.

Speaker 3 (09:18):
You're not much of an athlete.
No, I'm really a good player.

Speaker 1 (09:21):
Oh yeah, hey Karen.

Speaker 2 (09:24):
Yeah, Sorry, you could do that Taylor Swift thing
.
You know where you have likeone off.

Speaker 1 (09:27):
Oh yeah, maybe that Does that look like Taylor Swift
.
Yeah, all right, you have totalk into the microphone, so
we're not going to have a reallygood video on this, but hey, as
long as it sounds good, we'regood.

Speaker 3 (09:45):
I've got a face for radio, so that's good, all right
.
So when did you get to where?
I mean?
You must have advanced prettyquickly.
What would you guess?
What's your duper rating now?
What do you say?

Speaker 2 (09:54):
You know duper ratings.
I have feelings on that, but Ithink I'm 4.3, 4.4.
I think I've dipped.
It's interesting because earlyon I didn't know I self-rated at
like 4-0.
But I've never played atournament lower than 4-0.
Most of my tournaments I'vegone in at 4-5.

Speaker 3 (10:14):
Well, you're one of the few because we play We've
played the tournaments at 3-5and at 3-0.
And we have played againstpeople in those brackets who
were probably 4-5, 5-0, becausethey're sandbagging.
There's a lot of sandbagging inthe tournament.
Still, that's the only thing Imean.
I know Duper is not the perfectsolution.
There's a lot of reasons why,but there's nothing else that I

(10:37):
know of Correct, correct.

Speaker 2 (10:40):
So I think the ratings kind of makes it tough.
I mean I can hit a court andknow it gets to me someone's you
know, probably at skill leveljust hitting a couple balls back
and forth, right Paddle controlprobably dictates just about
everything, and so you knowthere's players a lot better

(11:00):
than me I've been fortunateenough to play with.
But I'd give myself today aself-rating in probably the 4.5
range, maybe a little bit higher, and that's about it, yeah.

Speaker 3 (11:14):
Now, is that what the Westside Drillers?
Is that about the 4.5, 5.0?
What is that?

Speaker 2 (11:22):
So last year we formed a league in the area in
Dallas Metroplex Dallas SeniorPro Pickleball League.
So not all players are pros.
I'm not a pro.
We do have pros that bothtravel or get paid
professionally to play in theleague, and there's a couple
ladies as well and many thatplay events at the either Open
now the Champions Masters levels, which is what APP calls the

(11:44):
senior levels, or in theNational Pickleball League,
which had their draft last night.
And so, interestingly, in thatleague last year I started as a
4.5.
The website will track yourrating as you play your matches
and I ended up at a 4.9 ratingin the league, playing against

(12:05):
really solid competition.
The mean, I would say, isaround 4.8, 4.9 for the league.
It ranges from 4.5 all the wayto 5.8.
Dave Weinbeck played.
He's a professional player andhe played in our league guest
played when he was here in townwith us.
But yeah, we get all kinds.
So we have two players actuallyactually from our new Austin

(12:26):
team.
We expanded this year, we'vegone from four to five teams and
two of our players from theAustin team were drafted in the
NPL last night.

Speaker 3 (12:33):
Yeah, that's a hotbed , huh.
I bet they have a lot of talentdown there.

Speaker 1 (12:38):
Okay, so hang on a second.
You were driving your golf cart, you hear this ping pong thing.
You start playing pickleballevery night of the week.
But you are like the highly,highly connected dude in
pickleball Like I thought wewere lucky to go to.
Like that, get invited to thatDallas.
But there's Al Arco.

Speaker 2 (12:58):
Oh.

Speaker 1 (12:58):
Al Arco has a picture at the PPA draft.
Oh, were you at the draft lastnight.

Speaker 2 (13:05):
The MLP draft.
I was fortunate enough to be inthe draft room with the Dallas
Pickleball Club team.

Speaker 1 (13:10):
See, and you brought Dave Weinbach to our paddle club
.

Speaker 2 (13:14):
I'm not name dropping here, Karen.

Speaker 1 (13:16):
Yes, no, I'm name dropping all day long.
I just want to know how you didit.
I mean, you're the most likableperson, but I mean, seriously,
how did you get connected withall these, uh, these you know
people that are the pros and and, yeah, how'd you, how'd this
happen now?

Speaker 2 (13:32):
how about this podcast, right here, meeting you
two?
I mean pickleball, what's?
I think what's so neat is, uh,well, for me, like later in life
, right to um, to play a sportand compete, and then it's a
community to me, really pickball as a community.
And so, um, I don't know how,but but just um, from playing
day to day meeting you know acouple of new people, um being

(13:53):
open to traveling.
Now some folks only play attheir park at their time and
that's great, um, it's, itwasn't even tournaments, it was
just, you know, hey, uh, one guywas over here and hey, come
down to Arlington and play.
So I'd go down to Arlington andplay on a weekend.
Or hey, come over to Salina andthis guy wants to play over
here.
I've been looking, karen andJohn, I've played with a

(14:15):
13-year-old from the Prosperarea he's an up-and-comer All
the way to 75, 78-year-olds thatlive in my community.
So I think just playing one byone with folks has helped a lot.
I think it's a very opencommunity, so people are

(14:37):
welcoming.
I think, yeah, if you're nice,you're not a total a-hole If I
can say that on the podcast, ana-hole on the court.
You get invited to newopportunities and that's helped
me a little bit.

Speaker 1 (14:44):
How did you get to meet Dave Weinbach and let's
talk, let's tell people who heis, because I mean, he's not,
he's a pro, but he's on thesenior tour, right, I think?

Speaker 3 (14:57):
he's in the Hall of Fame, isn't he?

Speaker 2 (14:59):
Not yet.
I think he was nominated.
He didn't quite make it, john,but so you know, you go to these
pro events and it's not justwatching this.
Championship courts are alwaysfun, right, they're great.
But you know some of the backcourts.
Not only are there players onthe courts but there's folks
watching, including other pros.
Well, I bumped into him at theTexas Open a couple years ago

(15:21):
and started just chit-chattingwith him, you know, and not you
know fangooing gawing on him,just just talking.
You know pickleball or whatever.
And I said hey man, I've neverseen you at ropes and ranch.
And he said you know, I wasthere maybe a long time ago and
he wasn't quite sure.
And I said well, next time intown, come on out.
And it started with an invite.
So we started communicating andnot only did he come out and do

(15:45):
a couple clinics, we did anexhibition with a couple of
residents and I was able to dosome other clinics with him in
the Metroplex.
I mean, even last night he gotdrafted in the NPL and I sent
him a note and within minutes,give me a, let's go.
He's on the new Austin team, theIgnite, and he's a great guy.

(16:07):
He's all in on pickleball rightand so a very big ambassador to
the sport.
I think that's something we canall be right is promoted within
our communities, our littlecircles that we run in, and it
grows the sport and it's fun.

Speaker 1 (16:24):
You certainly are right on that, about, about,
community and and now that wehave, like, our local courts
open, I mean I'll go out thereand play an open play.
And I know 95 of the people.
I I may not know their name,they know my, you know, we
recognize each other and that'swhat's so cool, is that, um?
And we talk about that all thetime on this podcast, about how
it's community and how manyfriends we would.
We would all the time on thispodcast about how it's community

(16:45):
and how how many friends wewould we would not have had
without this sport.
But it was interesting.
This morning I was talking to um, one of the other, or one of my
, the girls on my league, andshe was like, oh my gosh, my,
our last is going to college.
And um, and I I said, and shegoes, I don't know what we're
gonna do.
And I said, hey, you guys have,I don't know what we're going
to do.
And I said, hey, you guys havepickleball man, that's what

(17:07):
you're going to do.
And she goes, she goes.
I don't know what I would dowithout pickleball, if he was
gone, if he left, and they werelike and they didn't have
pickleball, she goes.
I'd just be sitting home eatingin my, eating myself to death.

Speaker 2 (17:18):
It's so true thoughids and gaps and it's
super fun.
It can be a lot of differentthings to different people, the
sport, but it's definitely funand I always urge folks when
they get on the course, enjoy it.
None of us are going pro, Noneof us.

(17:40):
By the way, huge shout-out toSamantha Parker.

Speaker 3 (17:44):
Oh yeah.

Speaker 2 (17:45):
Who this weekend had a great run.
I wish they'd played thatsingles final on Thursday.
She was playing so well insingles.
She lost in the finalsyesterday to Lea Jansen, but
local awesome player and she hada great run earlier this year,
I think, in Minneapolis andsuper excited for where she's
going in the sport.
But again, meeting you guysthrough Southlake Paddle Club

(18:05):
right Two years ago I got aninvite from John Connor to come
play on a Saturday and met Timright and Joe Gleglio and you,
karen, and like it's just whatSouthlake has done in this
community the club, thePickleball Club, the Paddle Club
, with the sport and growing thecommunity.
It's all the different eventsyou know.

(18:27):
In preparing for thisdiscussion today I wrote you
know I'm like what are myhighlights in pickleball?
And really two of them camelate last year and one was
Oktoberfest down in the Squareof Southlake and that event was
a lot.
There was a lot of moving parts, super fun At the end of the
day, what a great event for somany people in the community and
it was enlightening to some.

(18:48):
But you guys put that alltogether and organized it and
made that happen and so that wasdefinitely one of my two
highlights ever in Pickleball.

Speaker 1 (18:56):
Aw, I love that.
What was?

Speaker 2 (18:58):
the second.
I've got to know you reallywant to know so Nationals.
Last year was here atBrookhaven in Dallas and we lost
our opening match.
So most people wouldn't saythat's a highlight.
But what was neat is my partnerTodd Jones.
He's also you talk about a guyconnected in pickleball.

Speaker 1 (19:23):
We had on our fence eight to ten different pros
watching and cheering us on.

Speaker 2 (19:25):
No way.
We had both Riley and LindsayNewman.
We had Ben Paquette, brandonFrench Hayden, patrick Quinn,
wyatt Stone, luke Watson, I meanwhy?

Speaker 1 (19:32):
why do you think?
Why do you think they were?

Speaker 2 (19:34):
well, well, through him, you like, knowing that he
was playing and they came tosupport him.
They were, they weren't on thecourt set that time in that day
um, it was Sunday actually so uhyeah, they all just were there
and came to just root us both onand it was God.
We lost in the third game.
I still remember it.
We split the first two, we wereleading in the third on the

(19:55):
switch, and then it just wentdownhill from there.

Speaker 3 (19:59):
Oh no, Was that it One and done it was a loss but
it was a highlight.

Speaker 2 (20:02):
But it was still fun, you know, to have those folks.
You know people were lookinglike.
Who are these old guys out hereon the court with all these
pros watching?

Speaker 3 (20:09):
That's fantastic though.
I mean that event and I knowthere was God, they had the
weather and it was just talkabout a lot of moving parts and
we know we were volunteers outthere through our friend,
francine Jewett.

Speaker 1 (20:23):
Yes, you know, francine, yes, I do.

Speaker 3 (20:26):
Of course you know Francine, he knows everybody.
The Oktoberfest you mentionedthat as well.
That was obviously a highlightfor us and we had I think we had
what four guys that you hadkind of helped us wrangle.

Speaker 1 (20:40):
No, no, no, he played against Ice Shaker.

Speaker 3 (20:45):
Oh, that's right, you played against the Gronk.

Speaker 1 (20:47):
Chris Gronkowski.
You play it, chris Gronkowski,and his brother played you.
And was it Craig?

Speaker 2 (20:53):
Yeah, Craig DiCrescenzo from Ropes and Rants
.
He's one of our instructors andone of my buddies and we
tournament together.
But I did set up that DallasSenior Pro All-Star match too.
We had four guys from differentsquads come in and play in a
little exhibition match as well,and they had a blast.
Jeff Arnett, who's in theSouthlake Paddle Club, was there

(21:14):
I think he was one of theplayers, and a few others.

Speaker 1 (21:23):
Oh, the crowd was eating it up, but I mean, it's
your game with the gronkowski.
That was the first night, sothat was friday night of
oktoberfest, and what a way tokick it off right, and I mean
just under the lights, and Iknow it wasn't perfect, and
we're doing it again this year.
So I want you to be involved,obviously, and hopefully you're
here through the weekend.
We could do a a couple morethings.
I don't know.
We're, uh, they, they'rechanging things up a little bit.
We've got to, we've got to getsome bigger sponsors this year,

(21:47):
so we're still hoping we canpull that off, uh, to do
Oktoberfest.
But of course, if it all comestogether and all the ducks align
, we'll we will um love for youto be involved again.
I don't know who do we matchyou up against this year, now
that you're so maybe we couldpull some strings here Al, get
some talent.

Speaker 2 (22:07):
We'll see what we can do, Karen, but yes, I would
love to be there and do whateveryou need.

Speaker 1 (22:12):
Well, all right, and so, Lynn, you're now on.
You went from the WestsideDrillers.
Now you're on what.
The You're now on you went fromthe Westside Drillers.

Speaker 2 (22:17):
Now you're on what?
The Dallas Crush.
So three of the teams returnedbasically intact.
One of the teams we kind of dida spreading out of the players
onto different rosters and indoing so we created a fourth
team, the Dallas Crush.
So the Westside Drillers isreally a Fort Worth kind of

(22:38):
Denton-based team.
There's a team up in Salina,mckinney Prosper, the NTX Aces.
There's a team in the FriscoPlano area.
They kind of reside out ofStonebriar Country Club, frisco
Fury.
They won it last year and soDallas Brookhaven-ish kind of

(22:59):
team will be the Dallas Crush.
And we've got on our team, likewe nabbed, dave Fleming who's
the PPA commentator right andhe's a great senior pro.

Speaker 1 (23:08):
Oh, so he's really actually a good pickleball
player.

Speaker 2 (23:10):
He's a really good pickleball player.

Speaker 1 (23:12):
Really good.

Speaker 2 (23:14):
He doesn't know what he's talking about.
He actually plays it too andhe's really good.
But we actually scrimmagedWestside Drillers a couple weeks
ago the new Crush team just toget our matchups and whatnot,
and we fared pretty well in that.

Speaker 1 (23:29):
Well, who won?
What do you mean?
Fared well, who won?

Speaker 2 (23:33):
Well, I'd say, we didn't keep score, we kept score
.
I think we won all, but maybethree of them.
We just played games, notmatches.

Speaker 3 (23:40):
Eric, because last match we had out there in our
league at Robeson Ranch, we sawCraig and we talked to him a
little bit and he mentioned that, yeah, you guys were getting
together and you'd still compete, but he's still on Westside
Drillers, right.

Speaker 2 (23:54):
Correct, correct.
So now we're opponents insteadof teammates, right Correct?

Speaker 3 (23:57):
Correct.
So now we're opponents insteadof teammates.
Nice guy, really nice guy.
Now do you still live inRobeson Ranch?
Oh?

Speaker 2 (24:01):
I do Absolutely.
Yes, sir.

Speaker 3 (24:02):
Because I got to tell you, you know first impressions
and all that I thought justbecause of the way it all came
about.
I thought your job was you werethe pickleball pro at Robeson
Ranch.
I thought that's who you were.

Speaker 1 (24:13):
I said that for a long time.
I was, like you know, Al Arco.
He's the pro out at RobesonRanch.
Oh gosh.

Speaker 2 (24:21):
No, just a dude, just a dude, just an ambassador.
And then so the league willactually kick off next week with
the new they're called HillCountry Bandits.
They're out of Harker Heights,austin area.
They're going to play theWestside Drillers in our league
kickoff this year on the 27th ofApril.
So they're going to travel down.

Speaker 3 (24:42):
So they drafted right out of that that area.
Then for the cause, there's alot of pros moved to that area,
I know.

Speaker 2 (24:50):
Right.
So again, because our league isreally a 50 plus, we allow one
under 50 on the rosters.
You know we say like a 45 to 50.
You know we're trying to getthe new blood in, but no, Craig
Bobo is going to be the captainof that squad down there.
Okay, and he just got draftedto the Houston Hammers of the
NPL last night.

Speaker 1 (25:10):
Ooh.

Speaker 2 (25:11):
So wow.

Speaker 1 (25:13):
The competition is heating up.
It sounds like.

Speaker 2 (25:16):
There's folks that can play.
I mean yeah.

Speaker 1 (25:21):
Tell us, I know it, you're holding back.

Speaker 2 (25:25):
No, it's just exciting, you know.
So, boy, yeah, there's a lot ofexcitement.
Here's what I would say ispickleball has grown right.
I mean, it's changed.
I've played four and a halfyears.
I don't know when did you guyspick up the sport?

Speaker 1 (25:39):
March 2020.

Speaker 2 (25:42):
Pandemic picklers Okay so you guys were COVID
pickballers right.
And then since COVID reallyramped up, the game's evolving
and changing and what's reallyneat is the kids are starting to
play, oh yes.
And so with that you're goingto get influx of athleticism,

(26:03):
which I think is really key tothe sport.
People.
You know, I think you just haveto be a tennis player, and
that's not true, you know.
Well, I mean, my experience wasbaseball.
But basketball players, the waythey defend and the way they
position their body, theirposture, matters for pickleball.
I mean, whether you playedbadminton or table tennis or
other kind of paddle type sports, you know, I think having just
general agility I mean if you'rea fly fisher person, you know

(26:25):
fly fisherman, you're flingingyour wrist.
Well, you know, for flicks andthat matter, All that stuff kind
of plays into pickleball.
So I think you're going to get,with the technology advancing
and the skill sets and theathleticism, Even the game we
see today is going to be muchdifferent in a couple of years.
I don't know if we're going tosee it.
I mean Annalise Young, luckilyshe's not even 18 yet.

(26:46):
I don't think.
So she may be around for a fewmore years and grabbing podiums,
but I mean we see now onweekends you know Ben is not
always in the gold medalposition, and that's I mean
opening round matches that usedto be just kisses and
walkthroughs.
They're tough.
They're tough games, you know,and so it's fun.
So, at the senior level, whatare we getting?

(27:08):
We're getting folks that haveplayed this game not just a
couple of years at an advancedage, Like they've played now for
, you know, five, 10 years, andthey're going to bring some new
skills and shots.
It's gonna help us over 50s, um, and challenge us.

Speaker 1 (27:22):
You know it's gonna be, it's gonna be fun yeah, um,
so in our league this ishappening in our, in our mixed
league.
We were on the uh inaugural isthat what you call it?
League for the uh, and so ourteam has been together and we're
a mixed bag.
Um, we dominated the first twoseasons, one first and then, you

(27:43):
know, then other teams startedgetting in there, like rogues
and ranch and uh, but but thisseason a, a team of youngsters
got in and they are destroying.
Last week's they won all 36points, gave up zero against our
team.
A couple weeks ago we got seven, which I think is like one of

(28:07):
the highest scored against them.
So, to your point, it's almostlike now we're looking at going
okay, do we need to split thisup a little bit?
Because that, if that you know,you can't have a bunch of 56
year olds running around theretrying to, you know, compete
against 20 something year olds.
It's just like, to your point,the game's evolved and they
bring a different level ofathleticism I totally disagree,

(28:28):
karen, totally disagree youdisagree disagree, why compete?
well, okay, let's look, they'redestroying us.
Okay, what is it?

Speaker 2 (28:35):
what are they doing?
So I I think we look at whatthey're doing.

Speaker 1 (28:38):
I don't know.
I have to play them Saturday.
I'll tell you I'm scared andyou know I'm athletic and you
know I can run all over theplace, Absolutely.
But I don't know what I'mwalking into.

Speaker 2 (28:49):
I mean, are they driving the ball?

Speaker 1 (28:52):
I have no idea.
Beat us last time, so I'll seeon Saturday I'll let you know.
Hey, yeah, if you have time togive me a quick lesson, I'm
ready.

Speaker 2 (29:02):
Well, here's the deal is our good friend, jeff
Barnett, who's part of SouthlakeBattle Club and he's been
instructing for some time.
He told me early on you know,precision, not just placement,
but precision, overpower rightand hit as hard as you can, but
make it bounce as close to them,make it bounce before they make
contact, because what we do is,you know, a lot of us play

(29:23):
doubles.
I know you guys may playsingles in league, I don't know
but in doubles you have twopartners.
You've got the one on the courtwith you and you've got the net
, and very few of us takeadvantage of that.
We just want to hit the ballover the net.
Well, that exposes our feet andour opponents can take that up
ball and put it down on our feetand put us in a bad position.
So, no matter how they'rehitting the ball to you, if you

(29:44):
can hit it back as hard as youcan where it bounces in front of
them, they're going to have tolift and then you're in a better
position to combat whatevershot they hit.
Or, and then, of course, letout balls go if they're out.
So the game is getting fasterand the balls are getting hit
harder.
I mean that's an easy blockreset or counterpunch right Down

(30:07):
at their feet.
That will put you more in anadvantage position versus a
defensive position.

Speaker 1 (30:15):
And I think that, john, we've done a good job
working on that.
We're we're moving away fromthis whole banging thing.
You know everything hard.
It's like being more thoughtful, taking the energy out of the
wall, dropping more.
That's helped us tremendouslyand you can see that progression
once we made that mindsetswitch.

(30:37):
But I won't be playing withJohn on Saturday.
I'll be playing with somebody Ihaven't played with in a year
and a half.

Speaker 2 (30:42):
Who's that?

Speaker 1 (30:43):
Jerry Benavides Okay, and so, yeah, it'll be
interesting.
You know, that's the thing Imean.
It is rec play and you aretrying to get everyone an
opportunity to play.
So you know, sometimes theteams will do that.
We play together in our TCDteam on Friday nights together,

(31:03):
so we're not split up on that.

Speaker 2 (31:06):
You know I'll say this too, karen.
As you just mentioned, rec playis.
I mean.
To me this is the competition.
So you know there's a certainplay style competition, but
those that are listening thatplay a lot of rec games To be a
better pickleball player.
It's not about the wins, it'sif you're on a court.
Don't isolate the betterplayers, give them more balls,

(31:27):
right, and even if you lose thepoint, you're going to see some
things that you wouldn't seeotherwise, that maybe will help
you advance your game.
I think it's frustrating to seein rec play where you know it
is really just for exercise andlearning and fun there's
opportunities that are missedbecause folks just want to win
the game and the points and theymiss seeing shots that they

(31:48):
probably wouldn't see otherwise.

Speaker 3 (31:49):
Yeah, when you're in rec play, especially like open
play, something like that, andyou decide to target somebody
because I mean that really is,it's not helping your game at
all and it's kind of annoyingbecause the person who might be
the stronger player they're outthere to have fun too and it's
not a whole lot of fun to haveall the balls fired at your

(32:09):
partner.
I know Karen.
Her game this year has come along way just because she plays
so much with me and with guysand all that.
Just the speed it helped herassimilate so that she's playing
in a women's league and it wasa different, you know, kind of a
different speed at that.
It helped her quite a bit onthat.

(32:30):
So, yeah, you do you kind ofsteel, sharpen steel, they say.
So you got to, you got to testyourself against those people.
When did you?
Are you, do you do?
Are you like a certifiedteaching professional now in
pickleball?

Speaker 2 (32:44):
as well.
So I'm not yet.
I've delayed that until Iretire, which is still a few
years off.

Speaker 3 (32:49):
Yeah.

Speaker 2 (32:50):
And we're not going to get into economic discussions
, but hopefully it's soonerrather than later.
You know I'll help out.
You know I'll share info, butI'm not a certified instructor.
I've taken plenty of clinicsmyself and I just work on the
game.
Early on I watched a lot offilm.
You know, when I was in thattotal addiction mode where every
day I was playing, you know I'dwatch Jordan Briones, which he

(33:16):
was great early on.
Right now I mean honestly, forthose that are looking for just
good insight and tips, zaneAbertel's podcast and then also
not podcast but hisinstructional videos and John
Sincola.
They have really great tips andcontent to help advancing
players, whether it's 3 out of 3, 5, 3, 5, or 3, 5.

Speaker 3 (33:35):
Is that JW?
You're talking about theJohnson?
I'm sorry, who that JW Is ityou're?

Speaker 2 (33:38):
talking about the Johnson.

Speaker 3 (33:39):
I'm sorry, who'd you say no Johnson Cola, oh Johnson
Cola.
I know who that is yeah.

Speaker 2 (33:42):
He has great stuff.

Speaker 3 (33:43):
And Zane what Zane.

Speaker 2 (33:44):
Navratil, navratil.

Speaker 3 (34:04):
They're both in Austin right now way deeper in
the pro probably knowledge ofthe pro game than us.
We didn't really even get intoit until, um, probably, we had
the mlp event with the club andwe found out that format's
really cool.
And, uh, then we were luckyenough to somehow get on the.
Well, I know how he did it'sthe, our connection with the
pickle roll folks that got us aninvite to the dallas pickleball
club, that uh rally where youknow.
You were there and we met acouple pros Callie and Elise and

(34:26):
Jay Duvalier, ignatovich, man,you finally know all their names
.
It's crazy, look at you, karen.
I mean that was really coolseeing that.
I'm glad to see that club isstill there.
I know the MLP, all the dramathat went on between the MLP and
PPA.
I'm glad they're still securingboth formats, because I was all

(34:50):
PPA, because I couldn't figureout this team aspect until I
played in it, and the mostnerve-wracking event I've done
was being in a team event, anMLP event, when we did that with
the, with the paddle club, andthat was so much fun.
I mean, people get so fired upfor that.
So maybe not every week, butthat was a lot of fun.

Speaker 2 (35:10):
So the local team that you mentioned, the Dallas,
the DPC Dallas Pickleball Club,we need to surround ourselves
and just really support them.
The draft was great.
So this year, and really thisteam a couple of the players
will be on the squad for threeyears the way they've set up the
new contracts and whatnot.

(35:31):
But the team right now as itstands has both JW Johnson and
his sister, georgia I mean, Idon't know if there's I mean,
next to Ben and Anna Lee who arenot together in MLP arguably
just the best mixed doubles team.
And then they got HurricaneTyra Black, who's a fantastic
right-side player.
And then they come around inthe fourth round and they get a

(35:54):
relative unknown, augie Guh,august Augustus gu, out of um,
arizona left side player.
He and he's the greatest guy.
I honestly I'm a big fan of hisUh.
He's 27, already has a degreein a master's.
Uh.
Uh, he was recently on apodcast, I think, zane's podcast
, the the dink um podcast,james' podcast, the Dink podcast

(36:18):
, and you hear his story andhe's a great athlete, great
spirit, but also very cerebralabout the game.
So him with the kids of DPC isjust a great nucleus and I think
they're going to be really goodand actually Augie and Tyra
played together in a tournamentrecently, went all the way to

(36:38):
the semis and lost a toughbattle against Ben and Annalise,
so it's going to be fun towatch that squad.
All the rankings post-MLP drafthad them.
I mean in the top three ofevery single post-draft analysis
board that I came across.

Speaker 1 (36:58):
Oh, wow, wow.
That's very exciting.
Now is the schedule out.

Speaker 2 (37:00):
It is and so they start.
I believe in columbus.
Uh, no, excuse me, they startin georgia, though they'll be.
The week after the ppa event ingeorgia is the kickoff for the
mlp season.
Uh, there will be a mid-yeartournament, which I think is
still tb.
No, it's actually going to bethe beer City Open, but the
playoffs rumor is week one ofthe playoffs will be back here

(37:23):
in Dallas, and so that'll be.

Speaker 3 (37:26):
What's that?
That would be amazing, yes.

Speaker 2 (37:27):
So I mean we have to all go out there, and I'm pretty
hopeful DPC will be in theplayoffs, and so we've got to go
out there and cheer out ourlocal squad.

Speaker 3 (37:37):
Yeah, I got my DPC shirt.
I still sport every now andthen to represent, and JW is
actually.
You know, I didn't know muchabout the pro game, but I
remember early on watching heand Dylan Frazier and that guy's
got the quickest hands.
He at the net is just sick.
I loved watching him.
So when they got him and hissister, I know that was quite a
coup.
So they will be strong.

(37:57):
I mean, they had a strong teamlast year.
This is going to be a fun oneto watch and hopefully they can
advance to the playoffs too.
That would be really cool.

Speaker 1 (38:06):
So you're saying the playoffs are going to be here.

Speaker 2 (38:09):
The rumor is it's like a two-week playoff, what
they have on the schedule.
So week one would be everyonethat qualified, I'm assuming,
and so whatever week that is, Idon't have the schedule, it's.

Speaker 1 (38:20):
November.
So I have MLP playoffs.
Round one is November 1stthrough the 3rd and then MLP
playoffs round two.
It says November 22nd to the24th.

Speaker 2 (38:28):
Right, so that first round.
The rumor is they're going tobe here in Dallas.

Speaker 1 (38:31):
All right, that's what I'm looking for, because
the rest of the schedule is nothere.
So they have a mid-seasontournament where they haven't
identified where they're holdingthat.

Speaker 2 (38:40):
I think they're doing that at Beer City, which is
Michigan.
Okay okay, yeah, you're right.
The closest event for us isthat round one of playoffs.

Speaker 1 (38:49):
Where's Beer City?

Speaker 2 (38:51):
I want to say it's Grand Rapids.

Speaker 3 (38:52):
Michigan Beer City.
You know it's right next toVodka Town.
You didn't know.

Speaker 1 (38:55):
You didn't know.
No, it is, it's right by VodkaTown.

Speaker 2 (38:58):
We're going to see a roadie.

Speaker 3 (38:58):
Let's do a road show out there.
What do you think?

Speaker 1 (39:02):
Well, we'll definitely have to make sure we
don't plan anything for thatweek so we can be there.
So, al, okay, I ask all myguests this your favorite shot
in pickleball, and it's probablysomething really unique that
nobody knows, so those that playme know.

Speaker 2 (39:23):
But I prefer the right side.
You know most guys, for somereason they tend to want their
forehand in the middle and theylike the left.
So from the right side, ifthere's any kind of up ball,
even at the tape level, I'llcross-court roll that sucker.
My cross-court opponent can'teven ATP.
It'll be too sharp of an angleand it's just a little roll that

(39:46):
I have.

Speaker 1 (39:47):
Okay, so you're on the right side and you have a
roll to the opponent on the left.

Speaker 3 (39:54):
So you do a backhand roll offside?
No, it would be a forehand roll, Okay forehand roll Okay.

Speaker 1 (40:00):
And it's so sharp that there's no, but it's so
quick that there's no ATPpossibility.
That's my favorite shot, yeah,yeah.

Speaker 2 (40:07):
I also have this little no peaky that I'll do
down the line on the personacross from me too.
But what's a no peaky Peoplethat play me off, meaning like
you're not looking well, I Ipretty much throw my shoulder
and body away and I leave mypaddle face open.
So I just push it right downthe line and everything else is
moving away, so yeah, I likethat that's trickery l hey john

(40:31):
a misdirection is legal inpickleball it's great.

Speaker 3 (40:34):
We had a guest on um uh with dink Ninjas and great
guy Joel Maurer, who's actuallydown in Austin too, and he said
that's his favorite part of thegame is the deception that you
have to be because everybody'sgoing to have a lot of the when
you get to a certain level.
Anyway, you have a lot of thesame tools in your toolbox so
you've got to sometimes have a,because you pull that shot off

(40:57):
something that you really justtrick somebody.
That stays in their head alittle bit too.

Speaker 2 (41:01):
Right, and it's a setup shot.
You know they say pickleball ismore chess than checkers, right
?
So you know you may hit oneshot a couple of times in a
match.
For that one opportunity thatyou set up that other shot that
you have that they don't knowyou have Exactly.

Speaker 3 (41:14):
Now, that's your favorite shot.
Let me ask you this Exactly.
So now that's your favoriteshot.
Let me ask you this what do youthink?

Speaker 2 (41:23):
Cause this is a debate is the most important
shot in pickleball.
Oh boy, uh.
I still think a third shot dropis the most important shot in
pickleball.
Because here's why If you can'tget to the kitchen line, if you
can't get to the non-volleyzone, um, it's going to be very
difficult, um, to win inpickleball.
And so that one shot gives youand your partner the ability to

(41:44):
join and neutralize that point.
Join your opponents at thenon-volley zone and neutralize
the point.
Drives are great, right, andall other trick shots are great,
but if you're in a defensiveposture position, it's hard to
win in pickleball.
So I still think a well-locatedsome people just hit right
third shot drops.
You've got to locate it too,and it's not always the backhand

(42:07):
.
I've played a lot of folks whocame from racquetball and their
backhands are their better shotthan their forehands.
But locating a third shot dropand giving a chance to get
yourself up to the line is thebest.

Speaker 1 (42:25):
So I'm at the part where I'm just working on the
drop, not necessarily where itgoes, that's hard, but it's a
long.
What I've learned in Pickleballand I say this all the time is
like you layer things and I gotto a point where, all of a
sudden, like I was listening topodcasts, I was watching videos
and I was taking lessons and andfrom multiple different people,
and then all of a sudden, I wasbad at everything.
And so, you know, I refocusedand Tim helped me with this.

(42:47):
He was like hey, let'sconcentrate on the things we're
talking about, don't watchanything else for a little bit
and see if you can.
And it completely helpedbecause I was just, I was all
over.
So it's like to me it's likelayering, like you just layer on
one or two skills.
You can't concentrate on thewhole game at one point unless
you're superhuman.
I don't know.
I'm not able to do it.

(43:08):
I'll say that so, but thatyou're right about that ability
to to drop.
That has made a world ofdifference between John and I,
because we're in that tweenerstage right, where we're not
playing four, fives, where it'sregular that you would, that you
play against people that aredropping and going to dink, most
of ours about 50, 50 now wherewe have team I don't even know

(43:29):
60-40, 60 bangers, 40 trying todrop and dink.
But when we do meet up with ateam that is also doing the same
thing, we get a lot of kudosfrom them.
That's happened the last twoweekends in our league match
where they're like man, it wasso fun playing with you guys
because you're pulling in allthe elements.

Speaker 2 (43:49):
You're playing pickleball, you know not tennis,
and that's a great way ofsaying it too.
When you said layering yourshots, karen, that's perfect,
because no matter how your playstyle is, you have to have a
variety of shots.
And go look at statistics andthere's really great statistical
analysis being done inpickleball pro level right now.
But the pros vary their shot.

(44:11):
They don't always hit thirdshot drops.
They don't always hit thirdshot drives.
I mean, there's one guy thatdoes nothing but drive.
He doesn't do very well andguess what?
Cause people at the higherlevels have better hands and
they can return those shotsright.
What's successful at one levelmay not be at the next.
So varying your shots is key,but next, so varying your shots
is key.
But a third shot drop is reallyjust a long dink.

(44:31):
So more you just practice, youknow dropping your paddle head
and catching the ball in frontand controlling that ball right
after it peaks and is descending.
Well, let's start movingbackwards.
So take one foot and take onestep off the line and do the
same shot.
Take another step.
Before you know, after five orsix shots you're on the baseline
and you're hitting long dinks.
That's all.
A drop shot is.
People freak out about the mostcritical shot in pickleball.

(44:54):
It's a piece of cake.
If you can dink, you can drop.

Speaker 1 (44:57):
Same shot.

Speaker 2 (44:58):
Just a little bit higher arc, a little longer
distance.
Dave Weinbach, his clinics,those that have gone through it.
He's got a great and I don'twant to steal his thunder.
He's got a great representationof how to do it, and so if you
can dink, you can drop.

Speaker 1 (45:12):
Yeah, the other latest thing that I've been
working on is when we do getinto a situation where we're put
back on the defense, how to getout of it, and sometimes it's
going to take like this morningit took three shots for me to
loosen up, but that's okay aslong as my partner knows that's
what I'm doing and we're not in.
Not, they're not running in,they're sticking with me as I'm

(45:33):
trying to, you know, soften mytouch and and you do all the
right things.
Right, and I think that's superimportant too, is that knowing
you're what your partner's goingdoing or working on, at that in
that moment, like not, I'm notjust throwing the ball up.
I used to just throw the ballup just because I I was a wall,
you know, I was like just get itback.
Now I'm learning to break down.

(45:55):
Like you said, scoop it up right, you know, not coming from the
side, not reaching, and you know, cause, that's a that's another
kind of thing that you can getaway with, but it's not ideal
Making sure you're movingforward.
I don't know if scooping is theright technical word, but
you're not coming from the side,you're coming from underneath,

(46:15):
like an underhanded dink, andit's okay.
When we say third shot, I meansometimes mine is my fifth or my
seventh and that's fine, drivethe first.
But then you're mixing thingsup up too and you're not always
doing the same thing.
I did catch a couple people offguard because they knew they
saw me working very hard ondrops and then every once in a

(46:36):
while you shake it up and youjust drive it at them and
they're so caught off guard,right, right.

Speaker 2 (46:42):
And that's the variance that I'm talking about
in your game.
If you go watch some pros, well, lindsay Newman is probably one
of the best, but Vivian David,who you know, she's fantastic.
You know I was thinking likegosh, who's my favorite pro
these days, and like there's allthese folks that play great.
She makes podiums with so manydifferent players.

Speaker 1 (46:59):
Oh really.

Speaker 2 (46:59):
And the reason is you know she has all the shots in
the game.
But her defense you knowbecause we all, inevitably even
the pros, pop a ball up.
We hit a ball up too high,that's attackable.
They give ground.
One of the commonmisconceptions in early
pickleball is you go forward andyou never give ground.

Speaker 1 (47:18):
Charge the hill at same time.
Do not get off the line.
We're going forward.

Speaker 2 (47:22):
And you get blown up.
You're eating pickleball, youhave yellow teeth, she'll give
ground and she gets low and sheputs her.
I'm demonstrating here in myoffice but she'll get her paddle
down, low, angled up, and youdon't swing, you don't push it.
The speed of the ball willdictate.
You know how strong you need tohold that.
But sometimes there's enoughspeed on that ball that just by

(47:44):
letting the ball basicallycatching with your paddle,
letting it hit your paddle,it'll go back over.
Drop softly, that now you canadvance right and if that one's
too high, that's okay.
Stay back for another one untilyou can go.
But um, uh, I think working ontransition shot, you know some
people just try to get throughtransition it's drop or drive
from the baseline and we'redinking heck.
There's a lot of pickleballthat happens in between and and

(48:07):
so working on transition shots,resets, there's drills that you
can do with your partner, I meanmy wife and I, like I'll have
her or I'll do it to her westand on the net, you're staying
in the kitchen, but it's adrill.
So it doesn't matter thatyou're faulting on every ball,
but the ball comes over andyou're hitting it hard, trying
to get it either really low orthey're taking out of their air,
or a short hop bounce and justtry and get the ball back over

(48:30):
softly and just do that over andover again.
And it's just a drill to workon transition resets, that very
few people work on those skillsets, but they're very important
because every game, every matchwe have, you're in that zone
right, so we work on those areas.

Speaker 1 (48:47):
Yeah, now wait, do the drill again.
So wait, one person standswhere.

Speaker 2 (48:51):
Okay, so one person's on the net literally not at the
kitchen line, but on the net.

Speaker 1 (48:55):
Okay.

Speaker 2 (48:55):
And the other person is in probably three-quarter
court, so in transition, butdeep transition and you know,
just feed ball, like where itshort hops or maybe it's low,
where you take it out of the airand then, just as the ball
comes over, just keep hitting itback and, do you know, six or
seven forehands and backhands,and then, once you're
comfortable and the ball'sconsistently going back over the
net height so you can hit itback now start moving it.

(49:17):
Try doing that same shot whenyou get extended, because
inevitably in a game there'sgoing to be a shot hit at an
angle and well, I don't practicethat, I only practice one right
in front of me, no, you know.
So you make it more gamesituational and then you can
move back to the non-volley zonethe person that was on the net
and practice the same resetswhere now they're dropping and
now they're unattackable.
If I'm trying to attack andit's unattackable, that's a

(49:40):
successful reset shot that weneed in our game.

Speaker 3 (49:43):
Yeah, that's actually one of my most satisfying parts
of pickleball is when you dostick to your game, and you know
there's been several points.
That happens all the time.
But this last weekend thepeople playing against us were
just wailing on the ball andwe're staying back and we're
just getting it and getting itand getting it, and then they
finally hit one out or theyfinally bury one in the net and

(50:04):
all you did was just serve itback to them.
Drives them nuts, but I mean,that's part of it.
You got to be trapped in thecircle of just trying to hit it
through you and we're justplaying the game to get it back,
try again, try again Feels good.

Speaker 2 (50:20):
I love it, that's great.

Speaker 1 (50:21):
My philosophy is live for another point.

Speaker 2 (50:24):
Live for another point that's your next t-shirt.

Speaker 3 (50:32):
That's right.

Speaker 1 (50:32):
Live for another point whatever it takes,
whatever that acronym is, let'sput it on a shirt.
Yeah, oh goodness Special.

Speaker 3 (50:44):
Shout out, by the way , to show sponsor.
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Let me tell you how nice a guyhe was.
We have a lobster ball machine.
Let me tell you how nice a guyhe was.
We have a lobster ball machine.
This guy gives us 100 balls, Imean, and crown pickleballs are
high quality, high visibility.
We went through the first ballsthat we had that were not crown
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We've been pounding these crownpickleballs for over a month no

(51:05):
harm, no foul, no cracks.
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Speaker 1 (51:17):
Kevin say hi, he's a great guy to know.
Let's get back to Al.
Well, so what do you want to dowith Pickleball?

Speaker 2 (51:21):
That's a good question.
You know, personally, I justwant to be the best I can be
Right.
So, um, it started, uh, in 21,.
Uh, craig, uh, d Crescent and Iwent up to Montana and we, we
won a tournament up there, whichwas great, it was fun, great
area.
By the way, if you've neverbeen to Montana.

Speaker 1 (51:41):
Oh, beautiful.
No, but I want die to read.
I would love to play pickleballin the mountains Go to go to
big fork.

Speaker 2 (51:51):
Uh, the Lafferty's have a complex up there.
Um, it's, it's beautiful, but,um, actually the crown of the
continent if you look it up onpickleball brackets.
I think the next tournament iscoming up up there in, uh, july
Great time of year to go but, um, driving home, cause it's like
an hour to get.
Well, actually, my wife and Iwe flew in and out of Salt Lake
and we did a big round tripthrough Yellowstone and whatnot,

(52:13):
even though we had won thetournament, I just knew I had to
get better, like in differentareas, and so that's just been a
journey.
I've been on the last couple ofyears and just continued to try
to get better, adding new shots.
You know offensive lobs.
It used to be my serve was justget the ball in right as deep

(52:37):
as possible, and I've decided toadd some pace and try to get
the ball to hit low and deep andjust push our opponents as deep
as possible on their return ofserve, so maybe we can
capitalize on a third at theirfeet.
I'm not going to tell you guyswhat I'm working on next because
I don't want to give away anysecrets, but just whatever the

(53:00):
aspects are of the game that Ican be as good, and really,
consistency.
You know, one of the early guysI listened to was Prem Karno,
the pickleball guru.
If you look him up, he's stillaround.
He does a lot of internationalstuff now.
But the differentiator atlevels right 3-0, 3-5, 4-0, 4-5,
and 5-0 is consistency.
So you have to be really,really good at what you do.

(53:23):
And then you have to add newfacets and layers, as you
mentioned earlier, karen, tolevel up, because this game you
can pick it up pretty easy,right, the first time you play I
think we all think, hey, I canbe pretty good at this.
And then there's that, you know, sharp curve up and then we
plateau and I think youmentioned earlier like you felt
you were going backwards.
Well, sometimes in our growthwe might lose games, we might

(53:43):
lose points, we may miss hitshots, but we're learning, right
, but.
But through that practice andthen gaining consistencies, we
start to ramp up again, and soso for me, getting more
consistent at what I do and thenadding other shots and
variables um to, to, to bebetter.
That's what I'm going tocontinue to work on, yeah, yeah,

(54:04):
oh yeah.
I'll.
I'll play some um open eventsfor age group age group this
year and I don't know.
I think the next step is givingback more, is probably becoming
a certified instructor and Imean I help folks but I guess
adding that validation so thatthey have the confidence to

(54:25):
learn it from some joker fromDenton.

Speaker 1 (54:28):
I tell John, I'm like I don't care and I've told our
captain this, like I don't careif we lose, as long as I put
everything out there.
And that's where I getfrustrated, like if I don't feel
like that we lived up to ourpotential, or we put it all into
the game, like for me that's, Ican lose a game and feel good

(54:50):
if I did what I know I can do.
So a lot of that comes down tolike you're saying consistency
and just perfecting some thingsbefore you and it's going to
take a long time.
We have hit that plateau manytimes and I feel like now we're
on a final trajectory.

(55:12):
We're like well, we becameempty nesters.
That helped.

Speaker 3 (55:16):
That does help.
We bought a lobster.
That helps too.

Speaker 2 (55:20):
That helps too Well hey, I'll brag on you guys
because part of this is it'spartner play too right and it's
knowing who you're playing withand what.
Maybe their shot tendencies areanticipation.
I mean, people discount thattoo In the game.
You have to anticipate youropponent's shot but also what
your partner's going to do.
So we worked together one day awhile back and I think your

(55:43):
next tournament out.
You guys were on the medalstand right.

Speaker 1 (55:45):
That's right Al credit to.

Speaker 2 (55:48):
Al right there.

Speaker 1 (55:50):
One of my three and one of his two.

Speaker 2 (55:54):
You guys did the work , but that's just it.
You take whatever counsel rightwhen you play it and then you
apply it, good things happen.

Speaker 1 (56:02):
Yeah, but, al, I mean , that was such a good session
and we're just so blessed to beable to meet people like you who
are willing to give up sometime and just work with us, and
that's made a huge difference.
That's where I learned theshake and bake.
I didn't even know that's whatit's named, and now I can give
myself my own shake and bake.
Is that a thing I like that?

Speaker 2 (56:21):
I like that when you create your own shake and bake
right.
And make your partner, youropponents, ache.
How about your can opener?
You learned the can opener too,that night too.
Oh, remind me, what was thatone?
Oh, remember you send oneopponent wide, Okay.
And when they return the ballto the middle of the court if
their partner hadn't covered thespace?
In between oh yeah, yeah, yeah,you put it down the middle.

Speaker 1 (56:40):
Okay, I forgot, that's the name of it.
Yeah, yeah, the can opener Canneed to remind me of that.
He needs, like John is reallygood at talking to me on the
court, which is super helpful.
I can't say anything Because ifI say anything, like you, know
what the three dreaded words ona pickleball court are?
Your ball?
No, I got it.
Oh yeah 95% of the time theperson that says I got it biffs

(57:05):
it Fail.
Yeah, that's not true,seriously, I've been watching.
It's about 95%.

Speaker 3 (57:12):
90 maybe Karen's really good about coaching me on
the court Always.

Speaker 2 (57:21):
We might need marriage canceling after this.
But hey, John, seriously, indoubles play though, one partner
should be the communicator.
I think if you watch AnnaBright and Rachel Rohrbacher,
they're really good.
Anna Bright, mine, yours.
She takes kind of the lead on,maybe, tweener balls, and that's
good to have.

(57:42):
So if you find yourself with anew partner and you're not quite
sure, unless they're vocalright away, be that vocal person
.
You know, yours, mine, becausethere's probably nothing more
frustrating than that ball thatbounced right in the middle and
you both look at it, you look ateach other.
It's the worst, Right, Right,it's the worst.

Speaker 3 (58:00):
Yeah, actually one of the high points for us was at
Robeson Ranch and anothermarried couple that we were
playing against a Robeson Ranchresidents.
They had to call a timeoutbecause they were about to just
have at it.
We're like, hey look, we're notthe only ones that struggled.
I mean it's tough, but no, karengets into her zone and I'm more
the guy that's being affableand trying to be upbeat, talking

(58:27):
to the opponents,congratulating them on shots,
that kind of stuff.
Karen I don't think has evercongratulated anybody on a shot.
That's not true.
I mean she's so focused on whatshe wants to do, she's in that
zone so I can be the one thatyou know is the other side of
that.
We're kind of good cop, bad copin it out there.
She's a gamer I love it.

Speaker 1 (58:42):
Yeah, and then also like you remind me remember wind
, or like he just does theselittle things that I need
reminders of, so it's reallyhelpful to me.

Speaker 2 (58:51):
I'm starting to appreciate that.

Speaker 1 (58:53):
The wind lately has been a huge factor.
But you know what we found out?
Al we're mutters, we actuallydo better in the wind.

Speaker 3 (59:00):
They call those horses that run well in the slop
.
They call them mutters when theconditions are crap, our game
seems to be good, because ourgame is just a bunch of grinding
it out anyway.
So I go.
You know what, honey?
We're mutters.

Speaker 2 (59:13):
We are mutters, Father was a mutter, his mutter
was a mutter.
Hey, there's something to that,john.
A lot of people, whenconditions aren't perfect, they
stay home right.
Yeah, I mean, if it's dry andthere's 15, 20 mile per hour, I
mean we, it's dry and you knowthere's 15, 20 mile per hour, I
mean we get them regularly atRobeson.

Speaker 1 (59:31):
Oh yeah, Go out there .

Speaker 2 (59:32):
Hit balls, hit into the wind, hit with, because,
just like in golf and conditionsor other sport, you know if you
can have a leg up on youropponent because you have a
little more experience, thebetter you're going to be.
So, yeah, it's going to bewindy when you're playing
outside pickleball, so but yeah,it's going to be windy when
you're playing outsidepickleball, so you might as well
go practice in it.

Speaker 1 (59:51):
Actually, I find, too , like dropping into the wind is
super helpful.
I know that sounds like mostpeople go.
Well, I'm not going to do that,I'm just going to drive.
But you know how.
They say that it's better tohave a high drop than a drop in
the net.
Have you heard that?
Well, if you drop in the net,have you heard that?

Speaker 2 (01:00:12):
Well, if you drop in the net, there's no opportunity
to get out of it.

Speaker 1 (01:00:14):
Exactly so.
My point is dropping in.
You can hit it, because that'sthe thing about drops is.
It's all about what's your grip, tension, speed.
It's soft, right, so it's kindof fun for me to drop into the
wind, because it's almost like Ihave somebody helping me relax

(01:00:37):
that ball or keep it.
You know what I'm saying Keepit dropping, let it get dropping
a little easier.

Speaker 2 (01:00:42):
Add a little cut, a little slice to it too as well,
makes it much more difficult toturn the curve.

Speaker 1 (01:00:48):
Well, al, that karen 5.0 like give mea.
Yeah I, I need to get to threefive first all right, all right
one day out, one day, one day.
So hey, tip for those playingthe wind.

Speaker 2 (01:01:01):
It was just windy this weekend.
Um, at quad states is, you know, if you're serving with the
wind at your back, you mightwant to give a couple steps off
the baseline so that all yourserves aren't landing, you know,
five yards out of bounds.
Uh, conversely, if you'rereturning the serves, go ahead
and cheat up a little.
You know, I know we want togive space, but those balls are,

(01:01:22):
they're going to bounce,they're not going to, they're
not going to carry, they're notgoing to so.
So step up a little bit and soyou're not off balance trying to
return a shot with too muchmomentum going forward.
So you can make littleadjustments in the wind that
matter.

Speaker 1 (01:01:36):
Yeah, yeah, oh shoot.
What was I going to say aboutthat, about the wind?

Speaker 3 (01:01:41):
It blows.
Oh man, getting old sucks.
Whatever she's a mutter.

Speaker 1 (01:01:43):
John, she's a mutter man getting old sucks.

Speaker 2 (01:01:48):
Whatever, she's a mutter, john, she's a mutter.

Speaker 1 (01:01:54):
Well, Al, it's been so great having you on here.
You're just one of thoseamazing people that we've got to
know through Pickleball youcomplete us.

Speaker 2 (01:02:06):
I can't even do what the kids do.
Mine looks like an apple.
We love you, apple.
You know well from ourcommunity, our pickleball
community.
Thank you both because y'all doa lot for us and so you
complete us.
But thank you for what you do.

Speaker 1 (01:02:22):
We just love pickleball and, honestly,
anything we can do to promote it.
That's what Oktoberfest wasabout and that's what you know,
anything that we can do.
I have no idea where this gameis going to take us.
All I know is that I don't everwant to stop playing and I'm
thankful that we have thistogether as a couple, and I'm
thankful and grateful for all ofthe friends and all of the

(01:02:45):
connections and all of therelationships that have come
have stemmed from it, and soanything we can do to give back
to it, we will, and I don't knowwhere we'll be, but we're also
very happy to have this podcastand get to know people, and this
will help our club members.
There's 1,600 of us.

(01:03:05):
How can you meet everyone andknow everyone?
So this is a way to peel backthose layers and say hey,
remember what?

Speaker 2 (01:03:12):
two short years ago there was less than a hundred
Karen, so that's an amazingaccomplishment.

Speaker 1 (01:03:16):
Who knew?

Speaker 2 (01:03:18):
Who knew?

Speaker 3 (01:03:19):
Who knew All right brother.
Well, we will tell you whenthis is going to go live and all
that and so that hopefully youcan share amongst your friends
and followers and some of thefolks that you hang with.
But we'll definitely do this.
We'd love to get together againsometime soon and take
advantage, drop some knowledgeon us, but let's see the crush

(01:03:40):
pull some stuff off.
We want to come watch the crushgame.
I think that'd be awesome.

Speaker 2 (01:03:43):
We will invite you to our matches, I promise.
All right, I appreciate you.
All right, man.
Hey, maybe we can do Make melook good in the edit, maybe we
do a live Instagram comment.

Speaker 1 (01:03:52):
John and I are really good at commentating matches.
Maybe we can do a live streamof one for you guys.

Speaker 2 (01:03:59):
I will make that happen?

Speaker 1 (01:04:00):
That sounds great, let's do that.

Speaker 2 (01:04:02):
Our season will be in May.
I think the second week of Mayis our first match.

Speaker 1 (01:04:06):
All right, yes, let's do that.
That sounds great, Awesome.
Well, thank you Al Appreciateit.
Keep pickling.

Speaker 3 (01:04:12):
See you soon.
All right, bye, Bye bud.