Fashion Faux Pas, Friendship, and the Pickleball Phenomenon with Larysa Santiago

Ever shown up to a party wearing the same outfit as someone else? That's exactly what happened to Larysa Santiago and her pickleball partner; it's all about sport, style, and solidarity. This week, we're joined by Larysa, a charter member and "Erne Coordinator" of the Southlake Paddle Club, who brings to the table not just her tales of sartorial synergy but also her transformative journey with pickleball during a tumultuous period. We unwrap the layers of team spirit and the profound personal impacts that pickleball has on players, all while reveling in the delightful mishaps and coincidences that make the sport so endearing.

What's the secret ingredient to a thriving sports partnership? If you ask us after this week's chat with Larysa, it's a combination of matching outfits, shared goals, and a dash of serendipity. We reflect on the lighter side of competition, including a "blind date" with a new partner that led to unexpected success. Our conversation spins from personal victories on the court to the psychological battles players face, and we marvel at how pickleball creates a vibrant community of friends, families, and (in this case) former rugby players turned pickleball enthusiasts.

Strap in for a volley of laughter, strategy, and heart as we share stories from our growing pickleball community. This episode serves up memorable wins, the thrills of nail-biting defense and offense plays, and the sheer joy that echoes beyond the bounds of the court. Whether you're swinging a paddle for the first time or you're the king or queen of your local pickleball court, Larysa's infectious passion for the game is a reminder of the beauty and camaraderie found in this rapidly expanding sport. Join us for an episode that's as much about friendship and finding joy in life as it is about the game of pickleball itself.

Larysa Santiago is a local (Southlake, TX) pickleball influencer, #BlazingPaddles founding member, Southlake Paddle Club Charter Member, Erne Coordinator, former gymnast and rugby player. Larysa is one of many who can honestly say “Pickleball saved my life.” Saddle up and have a listen, you’ll be glad you did!

Instagram @larysaspics

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
She said I'm wearing a maroon skirt and I said, okay,
fine, so I had this like it'sactually mulberry, is what I
would call it Mulberry skirt,with, like a white top.
And then I show up to thecourse.
She is literally wearing theexact same outfit.
It was the most bizarre.
The Lord works in mysteriousways.
That's all I'm going to say.
He knows how important it is forme to feel like I'm on the same

(00:21):
page with my partner and just Idon't know.
You feel you feel together.
You feel I mean it's not thatyou're a team Like we're a team,
like we're against them, notthe other way around, like I
don't want to be against mypartner, I want to be against
the other team.
So it kind of makes it feellike that.

Speaker 2 (00:39):
I guess, honey, she doesn't want to be against your
partner.
I mean the way they look ohseason one, episode six, the
Lazing Paddles marches forwardand today we're going to have a
little pickleball story timewith our friend Larissa Santiago
.
And Larissa is a dear friend ofours, she's a co-member, she's
actually a charter member of theSouthlake Paddle Club.

(01:01):
She has been involved sincewe've been involved, has quite a
good background to share tooabout what pickleball has meant
to her life, kind of turned hermindset around when she needed
it most and she's probably oneof the few people you'll meet
Pickleball players.
It used to be a rugby player aswell.
She's got a real uniquebackground.
Larissa Santiago coming up onseason one, episode six, Blazing
Paddles, They'll saddle up.

(01:22):
Be glad you did, Larissa.
Have you played the last fewdays?

Speaker 1 (01:32):
I played with my kids last night.
Oh yeah, how was that?
It was fun.
They're finally, I wouldn't saytotally buying in, but they my
son for sure has the bug, so heis getting into it, but he's
been playing at Tech quite a bit.
His girlfriend was a tennisplayer, so she loves it.

Speaker 3 (01:55):
So they've been playing quite a bit.

Speaker 1 (01:58):
So he did challenge me to a singles match, which I
had to then whoop his butt 10 to6, or no, 11 to 6, that is.
And then he whined andcomplained that it was because
he had already played a fewsingles matches and he was so
tired.
And I said oh well, I'll playagain with you Tomorrow.

Speaker 2 (02:22):
Hey, we need to make that happen.
Jack's up in Lubbock with hispaddles.

Speaker 1 (02:25):
Yeah, yeah.

Speaker 3 (02:26):
Oh, that's so they have Wait.
So your son's in Lubbock?

Speaker 1 (02:29):
He is.
He is he's at Tech lastsemester.

Speaker 3 (02:32):
So we have both of our kids are at the same Schools
, yeah, schools, yeah, yeah yeah, that's pretty wild.

Speaker 1 (02:37):
We're doing the whole Wild West OU boomer situation.

Speaker 3 (02:44):
Yeah, what do you?
So?
Do you have like multipleschool outfits, like to support
each school?
Of course In?
Yeah, of course, of course.
Well, because Larissa, we willget into this in the podcast,
but I mean, you are quite thefashionista.

Speaker 2 (02:58):
We are Well, I don't know about that.

Speaker 3 (03:01):
She's been transforming a lot of players.
I have this on the list ofthings to talk about.

Speaker 2 (03:05):
Oh, that's great Babe .
Do you want to kick us off?
Is this a shot at reg?

Speaker 3 (03:09):
No, it's not a shot.
Like it's not just him, it's.
I saw some even went back andsaw on like whoever your
partner's with comes to thetable now with.

Speaker 2 (03:18):
Well, you're going to look good.
You got to you know if you'regoing to play, good you got to
look good, I feel good.

Speaker 3 (03:23):
Well, I want to hear what she has to say.
What was the driver behind it?

Speaker 1 (03:27):
So there was a time in the year of Job that I played
rugby and our entire rugbybackline was a bunch of blonde
silly girls, and the women inrugby weren't always attractive
women, and so we had thisT-shirt that said you don't have

(03:49):
to be ugly to play rugby, whichprobably wasn't very nice, but
it was so much fun to playagainst people who didn't feel
the need to put on theirlipstick and wear nice little
socks and whatever and whooptheir butts because they don't
expect it, and so I think itjust kind of carried over from

(04:12):
there.
I like last summer, I think,when I was playing with Carolyn,
she insisted that we havematching skirts and I thought,
okay, great, I want to sit nextto Carolyn and we're matching
anything because she'sabsolutely tiny.
And then I thought, ah, whocares?
And we went for it, and then itjust kind of took off from

(04:33):
there, and then my currentpartner, of course he brought it
up and wanted to match one dayand the next thing I know, we
matched it.
Now we match every day.

Speaker 3 (04:43):
That's awesome.
I even saw on your Facebook, Ithink it was.
Didn't you play in a tournamentwith a lady that you didn't
know?
Yes, and you guys oh my goshthat was so crazy.

Speaker 1 (04:54):
So I had a blind date to Texas Open last year and
Lulu is her name and she isabsolutely fabulous.
I can't wait to play with heragain.
We were like a match made inheaven on a blind date.
But she said that morning thatshe said, well, what are you
wearing?
And I said, well, I can wearanything, just you tell me what

(05:15):
you're wearing and we'll go fromthere.
She said I'm wearing a maroonskirt and I said, okay, fine, so
I had this like it's actuallymulberry is what I would call it
Mulberry skirt with, like awhite top.
And then I show up to thecourse.
She is literally wearing theexact same outfit.
It was the most bizarre.
The Lord works in mysteriousways.
That's all I'm going to say.
He knows how important it is forme to feel like I'm on the same

(05:38):
page with my partner and just Idon't know.
You feel, you feel together,you feel I mean it's not that I
know You're a team.

Speaker 3 (05:48):
Yeah.

Speaker 1 (05:48):
Like we're a team, like we're against them, not the
other way around.

Speaker 3 (05:51):
Right.

Speaker 1 (05:51):
I don't want to be against my partner, I want to be
against the other team.
So it kind of makes it feellike that, I guess.

Speaker 2 (05:56):
Yeah, honey, and they .
She doesn't want to be againstyour partner.

Speaker 3 (05:59):
I mean the way they look honey.

Speaker 2 (06:01):
Oh, not the way they play.

Speaker 3 (06:03):
I think her and Reggie.
Well, do you want to do anyintroduction before we get into
this, john?

Speaker 2 (06:08):
Well, and, like I told, the formal introduction we
do separate.
But this is just kind of a neatdeal for us because while we're
, you know, we switched thispodcast.
That used to be real kind ofbusinessy and what was HR?
And then when Karen, you know,started joining me for the
podcast, of course the end ofevery conversation would turn to
pickleball.
And so after a while werealized those were the most fun

(06:32):
parts of the podcast.
We talked pickleball andeverybody had like a little
pickleball story that from youwouldn't even guess it.
And then we interviewed theseladies from Piston Pickles.
They had their own podcast andwe decided you know what we just
need to, why are we evenmessing around anymore?
And we decided and Karen, we'retalking about the format we're
trying to get some people whoare maybe you have no idea who

(06:54):
they are, but they're slightlittle influencers.
So we've had, like these guysfrom the New Jersey Clinic that
we've talked to.
It was a pickleball clinic andthen we've had the guy who the
inventor of crown pickleballs.
And you know, we're trying toget a few people who are like
Fran last week.
Fran's a big influencer in thearea.
But we also want to talk aboutpeople who are big in our own
little community here, becausethat's who we play with and

(07:18):
you've been like a fixture eversince we joined the club.
I remember you.

Speaker 3 (07:23):
Early on, early on yeah.

Speaker 2 (07:25):
And just remember going.
That's, you know, she's got thekind of attitude.
I like her attitude.
I think whenever we playtogether, we play good together
because you've got a goodattitude.

Speaker 3 (07:33):
Yeah, I'm not saying others, don't.
He threw that in my face like ahundred million times.
No, can't you be like Larissa?

Speaker 2 (07:42):
It's a winner, you know just, you've played team
sports your whole life, so youknow I mean sitting there
pointing at people and sayingthis is what you did.
Wrong rarely gets the resultsof what you want.
It's more of hey, come on,let's go, let's get it together
and and.

Speaker 1 (07:55):
Yeah, I mean, I find the junkyard dog and everyone.
I just need the one willing tofight a little bit.

Speaker 2 (08:03):
And.

Speaker 1 (08:05):
I have played.
So I was an individual sportathlete, I was a gymnast and
I've learned to be really hardon myself.
And in that sport, you, thereis no perfect.
So you, you're always going tofail.
You're, there is no way to winin that sport.
There is a.
I've never had a 10.0.
I never got one as a gymnast.

(08:25):
I don't figure I ever will as ahuman.
But so I know that we're not.
We're always going to be alittle short, like I might.
I might come up a little short,but I might still win.
So that's my attitude when I'mplaying pickleball, that you
know I'm not going to be thebest, I might not have the best
shots.
I didn't play tennis, I don'thave the background, you know
blah, blah.
But by God, I'm going to go outthere and fight like a dog and

(08:49):
I'm going to, I'm going to tryto win and I'm going to bring
everything I have, whether youknow it's good, bad or ugly, and
if I have to win only, I'll dothat too, cause I just want to
win and I feel like see, that'syour partner is that person?
that you can bring along withyou and really, you know, change

(09:10):
the game.
I've had great partners as wellthat are able to help me stay
in that mindset, Cause I canalso get a little down on myself
or down on my partner, down onthe game itself, whatever it
happens to be.
So I do have good partners thatwill lift me up and be like
okay, next point, let's, let'sdo this.

(09:31):
You know a bad out call, that'salways one of my favorites.
It gets me in such a mood.

Speaker 3 (09:39):
So what John was saying, you know, was that we
have, you're an, you're aninfluencer in our, in our.
We have a South Lake battleclub and a lot of you know we
we've got an audience beyond theSouth Lake battle club.
So just to introduce them,we've been.
Were you a charter member?
I was, I was.
So, yeah, so, charter member,you got in on the game real

(10:02):
early, always like, took aleadership position when you
could and or or even, I guess,identified leadership
opportunities.
That just that's just how youare.
And so in our club of over 1500members, I mean I would say
you're a widely known person andbut you're just I relate to you

(10:25):
got Riz.
Yeah, you got Riz.
You're Riz.
Don't, don't ask John, he'ssuch a dad.
So so we want people to get toknow who Larissa is, and so
let's start with like how it,because I mean, we wouldn't have
known each other withoutpickleball, right?
That is true.
So how on earth everyone's gota pickleball story.

(10:46):
How what's?
Let's hear yours.

Speaker 1 (10:49):
Okay, so let's go back to COVID, and actually the
year before COVID in 2019, I hadsome pretty decent sized
personal failures and some stuffgoing on with my kids and
sports and you know things thatreally brought our year down.
And then, heading into 2020,you know, covid didn't just ice

(11:13):
that cake.
I found myself working 80 hourweeks.
You know, my both of my kidswere in school at the time and I
really didn't have anythingelse to do, and so my mother,
who's also a part of SouthlakePetal Club, decided that she was

(11:35):
tired of watching me wallowaround.
I had always been an athlete, Ihad always worked out, and at
that point in my life I wasn'tworking out at all.
I was just hiding behind mydesk and my work and moped open
around.
And so she's she was making mego out in the afternoons and
play pickleball, and she keptgetting the family together and

(11:55):
my kids included and my sisterand her kids, and at that time,
every public facility was closed, but we had some neighborhood
courts that the.
HOA.
They actually tried to come andlock the courts at one point,
but the HOA said no this isprivate property and as long as
everyone stays in their pods,then you know we can, we can, we

(12:16):
can play.
And so she herself had had likea total knee reconstruction
through a tennis, years oftennis, and she found this
pickleball game and kind of fellin love with it and then
started watching YouTube's andthen started teaching us kids
how to play and that's reallywhat got me started and I played
off and on that year, more offthan on, and then my daughter

(12:40):
was graduating in 2020, no, no,2021.
And the literally the weekendof her, her high school
graduation.
I looked around at all myfriends and all the kids and all
and I thought, man, this is it.
I'm not going to have a lifeunless I go out and make a life.
And I started playing more andmore pickleball.

(13:02):
And then I think, karen, I metyou at the mayor, like when we
played with the mayor's event.
That July.
And that's when I really I thinkyou and I went out and played
somebody that we weren'tsupposed to beat.
We were partners and we beatthem, we beat them, and so we
both got so excited and that wasjust kind of the birth of oh my

(13:26):
gosh, I can do this.
I my to be funny.
My mom was not letting me playin public because I wasn't good
enough and I didn't know therules and all this stuff.
So that was my first time I wasactually allowed out of my
little neighborhood courts to goplay in public and my mom and
dad were both there.
We just had a blast, you know.

(13:48):
Again, I think it's one ofthose super inclusive sports.
I mean, I have never been in asport where you didn't have to
be an athlete to dominate.
And so I'm here, playing withall these engineers and crazy
people that weren't necessarilyyour high school football stars

(14:10):
and whatever else I'd beensurrounded with my whole life.
So it was just kind of fun andit was a different pace super
competitive levels, of course,but for me at that time it was
super dummy down because I wasnot super competitive, I'd never

(14:30):
played a racket sport, but itjust everyone there that day at
that Mayer's event was super funand just inviting and wanting
to play and even though theywere kicking my booty, they were
having fun with me andencouraging me.

(14:50):
That's where I met Sean Coker,who I played with as well for a
long time and super encouraging,willing to teach me the game.
So it's just been great.

Speaker 3 (15:02):
Yeah, well, you've turned around and paid that
forward, so there were a lot ofpeople who helped you.
But then you've turned aroundand set up little clinics and
you're just.
You're a natural coach, andmaybe that's why she's so good
with you.
John, I'll pay attention moreand try to, but when I mean

(15:24):
you've set up little clinicswhere you get teams together,
you take a.
You're not offensive either.
You give direction, and I'venever felt offended.
To be told what to do byanother adult that I'm friends
with is kind of like, but notyou Well.

Speaker 1 (15:41):
so, in fairness, I did coach for many, many years
in gymnastics and rugby.
I coached a U15 national team.
I mean, I have had coaching inmy background, so but I I feel
like, you know, pickleball wasone of those sports that
everyone was joining kind of atthe same time and then you had

(16:02):
your laggers.
So then, two years on down theline, I want to play with my
friends, but they don't know howto play.
And now it's frustratingbecause I'm you know, maybe two
years ahead of them and how toplay and and, but I'm not
getting any better because myfriends aren't any good yet.
So it was one of those thingslike it kind of came out of like
a necessity to build yourcommunity.

(16:25):
And again I'll go back.
My mom was legendary at that.
She's the one that startedthese beginner lessons at at our
, at our HOA at Timuron, and herand my dad would do these
clinics twice a year for aboutyou know, four or five weeks,
just teaching beginners that thebasic rules and just you know
how to, how to, how to score,and so I took what they were

(16:49):
teaching me.
I had Sean and Paul and aplethora of other people that
really were so kind and generouswith their time and they're
teaching me, and so I felt likeI wanted to turn around and give
that back to my friends and myfamily.
And you know I have a prettygood knowledge of biomechanics
and so I always what'sbiomechanics?

(17:10):
Just a caveat, that don't do asI do, but do it as I say,
because I can see things that Ican't myself do, like you know,
keeping your paddle out front.
Of course we all know to dothat, but I don't do it very
well myself all the time, but Ican see when you're not doing it
, you know, like across the yeah.

(17:33):
So you know.
So if I can help somebody elseget better, I feel like that
makes me better, and so reallyit's a labor of wanting to get
better myself and to make thecommunity around me better.
And no better way to show thatoff is that when we go to these
tournaments, and then you know,spc just dominates the podium

(17:54):
everywhere we go and I think youknow, wow, these are people I
play with every single day ornight or, you know, at a king
and queen multiple times a weekand they're just dominating and
it's really impressive.
I think it's super fun, and soI try to listen when I play.
I try to watch other people andsee what they're doing.

(18:15):
I had the really fun I got towatch Caitlin Meadson and Alec,
her husband, drill one night.
We were there just kickingaround, and they were there just
kicking around no, no event,just just drilling.

(18:35):
We were.
I think it was like fouro'clock in the afternoon and I
sat and watched what she did andwatched, you know, the drills
they were doing, and I'm avisual learner and I take that
stuff and I want to work on ittoo.
One of the biggest takeawaysfor me was every time she hit a
ball.
She moved her feet two, threetimes.
Hit the ball, move her feet.

(18:56):
Hit the ball, move her feet.
And I thought, man, my friendPaul's been telling me that for
two years now, stop getting myfeet stuck in the mud about
watching her drill it andactually do it and not look
silly or feel silly doing it.
It made me want to do it and soI just got that much better

(19:17):
that day because I watchedsomebody else do something that
I too need to do, and so I feellike when we're drilling
together and playing togetherand I love I mean I love playing
with you and John you all knewthat and you know these little
mixed doubles, mixups it's myfavorite thing to do.

Speaker 2 (19:36):
Those are my favorite , I feel like we always learn
something.
Well.
So you know it's funny youmentioned that too, because I do
I probably learn more fromwatching the people we play with
than against than I do watchingthe pros.
I mean the pros, it's kind ofcool.
You can watch them and, andthey all have their videos and
they'll show you what you areand aren't doing.
But sometimes I feel like, okay, you're, you're like a six-oh.
So even the thing that you takefor granted, that you're just

(19:59):
you want to hold your paddlehere and flick it like that, all
right, take two steps back, Idon't you know.
And so when we're watching eachother and it's just it's like,
oh, it's Omar, omar can show mehow to do that, or you know
people who are right there thatcan show you.
I learn a lot like that too,and it's for the first what we
we March 2020.
So we're in our third year ofthis game and I don't think we

(20:23):
really gave two you know twobits of appreciation to the pro
game until about six months ago.
We didn't even really we didn'tcare pros or if there was
leagues and all that.
And then all of a sudden itkind of bubbled up and we got a
lot more interested in that thatpart of the game.
But this was the first sportI'd ever really participated in
where I was purelyrecreationally driven.
This was something I wanted todo for recreation, to play with

(20:45):
my friends, to play with my wife.
I didn't have any idea what.
I didn't follow any pros oranything like that.
Did you ever reach the pointwhere you got into the pro game
enough to like you have somepeople that you watch, follow
your fangirl for, or anythinglike that?

Speaker 1 (21:00):
I am a huge fangirl at Jesse Irvine, just cause the
pickle palms.

Speaker 3 (21:05):
Palm palm girl.
Palm palm Jesse Irvine.

Speaker 1 (21:07):
That's exactly right, and I have a good friend, audra
Renshaw.
That's a big pickle princessand she's a big fan, so I
started paying attention.
But I just love her passion forthe game.
She's ultra competitive and alittle sassy and so I love that
cause.
I identify with that a littlebit and you know and again, the

(21:34):
fashion part of it you know justwhy why not bring your own
signature your own signature.

Speaker 3 (21:40):
She does have a lot.

Speaker 1 (21:43):
Yeah, but I'll be honest, like I was the same,
there was Annalie Waters, andthen who else?
I couldn't even name anotherperson prior to probably this
year?

Speaker 2 (21:53):
Who's my favorite?
Who are you asking me who?
Your favorite is what's hername?

Speaker 3 (21:58):
Not Alyssa, I get it wrong every time.
Elise Jones, elise Jones, elise.

Speaker 1 (22:03):
Jones.

Speaker 3 (22:03):
She's scrappy.
She's little and she's scrappyand she'll dive for stuff.
That's who I relate to.
Yes, well, you.
You don't mind me, there's notmuch like yeah.

Speaker 2 (22:12):
She is like Four foot 11, five feet tall and maybe a
hundred pounds, soaking wet, andshe's a tiger.
She's all over the place.
We got a chance to meet her,actually, and she's just as nice
as they come as well.
She, karen, actually had acouple inches on her.
I couldn't believe it.

Speaker 3 (22:28):
She's smaller than me but she is mighty and that's
how.
That's how I like.
I feel I'm like you.
I didn't have a tennisbackground and and I didn't even
think about this, that you whatyou said earlier, cause
Francine said this last weekthat she wasn't an athlete ever
and I wouldn't say I was anathlete.
I mean I, I would say that Iwas a tomboy, cause I was and I

(22:51):
would jump in there and.
I was, but I'm not like.

Speaker 2 (22:56):
You're not super coordinated.

Speaker 3 (22:57):
No, shut up, I am super coordinated.
But but what you said aboutlike how the fact that the sport
we have engineers playing withus, like you know, and and
doctors and you know, I mean allall the different I didn't, I
had never like that, hadn't everentered my mind, that that's I

(23:17):
knew pickleball was for allright I say that all the time
and that you don't have to havelike a certain look or body type
to play this game.
But I hadn't put it quite tothat level where you don't
necessarily have to be athleticto be good in this, in this
sport.
No, I mean it helps.

Speaker 1 (23:32):
I mean, you know hand speed obviously.

Speaker 3 (23:35):
I hand coordination.

Speaker 1 (23:36):
But I look at all these what I would have
considered gamers, you knowwhatever you know video gamers
that, you know, I.
They come out with their skinny,gangly little bodies with no
muscle to whatsoever and thenthey put a wop on that
pickleball and I'm like what inthe world?
Where did it back up?

(23:57):
So I feel like it's, it'salmost, it is for everyone and
it is absolutely somethingeveryone can also get
incrementally better at.
I look at, you know, the leastamongst us, who started without
able to return a serve, who arenow playing full games and

(24:20):
multiple games in a night, ableto kind of hang in and make it
happen, and I think, man, youknow, this was someone that I
thought, wow, this is not.
You know, they should be, theyshould be crafting or cooking or
something a little more.
You know, not physical, but youknow.

(24:41):
Then I see the incrementalgains.
You know, six months ago thisperson started and they were,
you know, they were awful, andthen now here they are able to
finish six games in a night,relatively productively, and you
know, relatively productive,you know maybe half wins, you
know, and it's like, wow this.
I didn't even think this personcould return a serve six months

(25:03):
ago.

Speaker 3 (25:04):
Right.

Speaker 1 (25:05):
So I think it's.
It's really fun to watch.
I think it's fun to watch theprogression of people.
I think it's.
I never want to be so good thatI don't have anybody to play
with anymore, so I'm not goingpro anytime ever, Whether I had
the time.

Speaker 3 (25:21):
Is that such a thing, though, that you wouldn't have
anyone to play with, but whatyou're saying is you don't want
to leave your friends?
Yeah, because you're reallysuper involved in the club.
You're one of our Erniecoordinators, so Ernie
coordinator means an Ernie.
We've named the person at theevent who is responsible for
kind of given everyone the.

(25:42):
You know the, the uh, not rules,but the yeah the guidelines for
the type of play that they'redoing and you know, announcing
the format and who, and you know, are giving credit Taking the
scores and doing all that andtrack with the winners, and it
can be.

Speaker 2 (25:58):
Yeah, it's, it's an organizer, it's an on-site
organizer kind of takes control,makes everybody know what's
happening and you coordinate.
How many Ernie's do we have?

Speaker 1 (26:08):
Oh, my gosh.
We have over probably 50Ernie's now.

Speaker 2 (26:11):
Wow, 40 or 50.

Speaker 1 (26:12):
Wow, Um, but it kind of came out of I was at a lot of
the events and so I tended toknow everyone.
Um, you know everyone.
I feel like that was the bestplace for me to learn everyone
Um and so when I started, I wassingle um and I.

(26:34):
That's part of the reason Ipartner well with everyone is
because I have no pressure, Idon't have to go home with
anyone and and feel the shameand feel the, the pain hurt,
whatever.
Um, I just get to go out andplay and for the time that we're
together, great, and when we'renot, that was awesome.
See you tomorrow.

Speaker 3 (26:54):
Um, so I think that that I had no, and boy have
things changed for you, sister.

Speaker 1 (27:00):
Yeah, I mean there's still pretty much the same, Like
I still have almost the sameattitude Um.

Speaker 3 (27:07):
No, but it's different when you're in a
relationship, because Reggieeven said this to me he goes.

Speaker 2 (27:13):
Hey, you better make sure you don't get him in
trouble for saying it.

Speaker 3 (27:16):
I hope I mean you guys surely have talked about it
.

Speaker 1 (27:19):
Oh yeah.

Speaker 3 (27:20):
He's like, you know, because I was like you guys are
really good, because you guysare winning things together, you
know, and he's like, yeah, it'sstill.
He goes.
We're still not like playing atour optimum when we're playing
together and I'm like it is justa.
It's a dynamic when you're in arelationship.
It's a different dynamic outthere than it, because you would
behave or act or say thingsthat you would never say to
somebody, that you don't, thatyou're.

Speaker 1 (27:42):
You would, I guess, be more reserved maybe you know,
I think I I'm more willing tohold him accountable.
Be more honest, um, if you'regoing to be my partner all the
time, then I, I'm going to holdyou accountable, and again.
I had a great partner beforethat in Sean that I I was able
to do that with as well.
So the thing that I think Ithink when Reggie and I first

(28:06):
started partnering, we thoughtit was going to be so fast and
so easy to get good together.

Speaker 2 (28:11):
And we were humbled.

Speaker 1 (28:13):
We were humbled in a in a mad way, because I felt
like every time I was on, heplayed like duty.
And then every time he was on,I played like duty and I was
like, why can't we just seem toget it together?
And then I thought, well, it'scause we, we like each other.
So the pressure to want to dowell for each other is really
high, especially when we're inmatching outfits, and so, you

(28:38):
know, there's a little bit ofpressure there.
And finally I was like you knowwhat?
I just got to relax and justlet time do its thing.
And, sure enough, over the lastthree months we keep getting
better and better and bettertogether.
Um, and but I told him in thevery beginning because I didn't
know he was actually looking fora girlfriend, I thought he was
just looking for a pickleballpartner, um, so in the very

(29:00):
beginning I told him, like Ijust won't fight about
pickleball, I'm not interestedin it, I I'm not going pro.
This is something I do to getaway from work and the pressures
of, you know, paying for twokids in college and all the
other problems that life throwsat us that this is my happy
place, this is my safe place.

(29:21):
This is where I come.
I make it a point to get toknow everyone because I think
people are so interesting and,um, you know, come from such
crazy varied backgrounds.
I mean, we've got rocketscientists in our club, we've
got people who lived in Europeand, you know, know a lot more
about a lot more things than Iever will, um.

(29:41):
So I just think it's superinteresting that we also revere
our senior players, um, and, andI love to hear their stories
and how they got started, manyof them not until they were 60
plus, um.
And then I get to hear theyoung stories too, um, you know,
a little little baby Zeno, and,and all these kids that are

(30:02):
coming out and playing, and, andmy son, who's now kind of
caught the bug.
Um, it's really interesting andpeople are interesting.
So, um, it just wasn't.
It wasn't.
It's not a place where I wantto go with a partner and feel so
much pressure to win that, youknow, we argue or we fight about
it because it's just notimportant enough to me.
Um, because I'm going to playagain tomorrow, right, so I just

(30:26):
look at it like that.
I'm just, I'm just here tonightand whatever happens, tonight is
tonight and I'll be here toagain tomorrow.
We'll try again.

Speaker 2 (30:33):
Um, and that's generally where Karen and I have
our come apart, because I I'mthe same way.
It's like my fun thing, allright, this is fun.
I have, I have a job, I havetwo jobs, I have all kinds of
jobs and and we have stress.
That's my fun place and sowe'll go out there.
And I made the mistake once oftelling Karen now, this wasn't a
tournament, and I said, well,come on, let's just have fun.
And she did not like that atall.

(30:55):
She goes, you know, it's funwinning.

Speaker 3 (30:57):
winning is fun.
Winning is fun, Am I right?
Winning is fun.
Winning is fun.
Losing sucks.
Playing is fun but playingpickleball is fun, and I do.
I'm kind of a hybrid of you I'm.
I'm a little bit like I want topush myself to my absolute
limit when I play, like I wantto see how far I can go, how
good can I get, and so to meit's like, um, it's hard to

(31:23):
combine that with the funelement all the time, like
there's especially when I seethings that if you just make
this little tweak, we're gonna,you're gonna, you know, you're
gonna have more fun becauseyou're gonna be better and we're
gonna be winning which I knowJohn loves to win too, and and
so it's.
It's really hard to that'sreally, it's it.

Speaker 1 (31:43):
That is really it's.
Can we get better togetherincrementally and still have fun
doing it?
And right now I think I'm ableto do that.
Who knows on down the line?
But I look at somebody likeJarrett and Chrissy Hines.
Yes, they work really extremelyhard together.

(32:07):
I know I can't imagine thatevery time they drill together
or play together that they'rehaving any fun whatsoever.
But when they come out and theyplay in these events they are
having fun and they do look likethey're having fun and they
bring their kids and you knowthey're they're having a good
time and it's like that hardwork that they put in clearly
pays off.

(32:27):
That's what I want, and that'syou know.
So, and I think that's the keyto it is we're not gonna win
every game every time, everyweek, and some days we're just
gonna be awful.
Maybe we'll be awful together,hopefully not my.
My new goal is to figure outwhen my partner is down, how to
get them up and when.

(32:49):
Yeah, I'm down and I'm playinglike poop, how to get myself out
of the well, to bring it up formy partner?
I think that's a really big askbecause I mean, I get in my
head and it's almost like gameover, like I just I got the yips
one time and I just couldn'tserve and I and it was game over

(33:12):
, I, no matter what my partnersaid to me, I it's like I got in
the in my headspace and I justcouldn't, I couldn't get out, I
can't believe that such a thingand pickleball, I mean Karen is
just finally on the back end ofit, maybe getting over it.

Speaker 2 (33:26):
Yeah, and then we were out there last Friday for
our little celebration atChicken and Pickle, and our
friend Monica she is in theclutches of the back in it, but
she came out of it and then wentback in, and I think that that
scares me to death.

Speaker 1 (33:41):
It's a real thing.
It's a real thing.

Speaker 2 (33:44):
I felt so bad for it's like because there is,
there's nothing you can tellpeople, because all you can tell
them is get it out of your head, and they're like great, the
more I think about getting itout of my head, the more it's in
my head and, by the way, don'tthink about an elephant.

Speaker 3 (33:56):
Yeah, and it transfers into my hands and my
whole stinking body and at leastshe doesn't have like the
jerking body motions that I do.
Have you seen some of my videos?
Oh yeah, we'll have to make acompilation sometimes.

Speaker 2 (34:07):
It is embarrassing, it's like dance.

Speaker 3 (34:09):
It is I'm.
It's like my whole bodyconvulses into a into like these
weird positions as I'm tryingto control the body, that or the
ball that's in the air that Iclearly cannot control.
It is terrible.

Speaker 1 (34:22):
I like it.
It's a baseball slump and I wasfortunate enough to raise a
baseball player, and you know hewould get so frustrated.
And imagine he's 12 years old.
He doesn't have an emotional IQto handle.
You know, putting the sockstogether in the same drawer, not
not to mention like keep ittogether.

(34:44):
As a lefty pitcher at 12 yearsold, you know, and he would,
just he would.
We would drive home sometimesand I learned really early on in
that sport that, you know, as aparent of a pitcher, you never
sit in the stands.
You kind of take your chair ondown to the third base line and
enjoy it from there, because youjust to hear the other parents

(35:04):
criticize your kid, even ontheir best day.
Sometimes it's like man, oh,you know, whatever my kids out
there putting his heart out, youknow, and yeah, he's awful
today he's.
We used to call him wild thing.
He had a crazy strong arm, buthe could be so wild and so I,
you know, I, he was a pitcherand then later on a big hitter,

(35:31):
you know.
But he would go through theseslumps literally for like a week
or a month at a time where hecouldn't pitch.

Speaker 2 (35:40):
We had a catcher in our when I you know, I played
baseball my whole life andwhenever catchers went through a
thing where he could not let goof the ball to throw it back to
the pitcher, he just he kept.
He got caught.
It was the wildest thing ever.
That's the first experience Ihave with the yips is watching
people do that.
And then with golf on thegolfer and people start with the
, they start shaking and lockingup and that same thing

(36:02):
pickleball.

Speaker 1 (36:03):
So wild that I wouldn't think it would be.
I can literally go out tonightand play, exactly in my mind.
My body will feel exactly likeit did last night, but tonight I
won't be able to get a ballover the net.
It's the weirdest thing.

Speaker 2 (36:19):
It is it's crazy.
It's a unique sport in so manyways, and one.
One of the ways I think itmakes you said how accessible is
and it is because you know ifyou have Basic coordination, if
you have basic hand, you canpick up the game in a hurry to
where you could actually playand have fun out there.
I mean, I've seen people whoare terrible have fun out there.
You didn't have to be that goodand you can improve and you get

(36:39):
to a level.
Then all sudden you justplateau and when you reach the
plateau Karen's fond of sayingyou know it's a matter of
layering.
You gotta find something elseto layer to keep complimenting
your game.
So you know my layer right nowis I'm really trying to work on
my drive, really trying to gettop spin on the drive so it will
sink over the net.
And you just got to.
You can't work on too manythings at one time.

(37:00):
I think I was guilty of that.
No, we're gonna try three andfour and five things because my
game is so bad.
I gotta work on all this stuffand really it's not.
You just do the basics and thenpick up one.
Are you working on any onething right now that you really
trying to pick up your game?

Speaker 1 (37:15):
I would say probably the same thing.
Trying to work on a top spin, Ilove to hit out balls and I
feel like if I could get thatdrive to drop just a little bit
more.
And again, I think that'ssomething that you know you get
just good enough, and then youget to this level of play where

(37:37):
the players are just that muchbetter.
And so that's where I'm at.
Everybody I'm surrounded byright now can whip my booty, but
they also have had a littlemore paddle sports perhaps, or a
little more you know, lessonsor whatever, and they can.
They can top spin the ball, andI do think that makes a
difference, especially when youget into playing really hard.

(38:01):
We all get to battle the thebangers, and I can be a banger
at times.
I like to get in fast hands andbang around a little bit, but
the difference between me doingit and doing it well is that is
a top spin is trying to getunder the ball and and and

(38:21):
getting it to go in every timeinstead of Bouncing out really
good.

Speaker 2 (38:27):
I've got particle board on the outside leaning
against the wall that I go outthere and take about 20, 30
hacks a day just with each arm.
You know, I'm trying to makesure I keep both arms going to,
so I would say the other thingI'm really working on is
footwork.

Speaker 1 (38:41):
I've learned you know , that.
That all now, now that I dowatch pros because, again, like
you, I didn't before but nowthat I am watching the pros and
I'm watching that they, theirfeet, never stop moving.

Speaker 3 (38:52):
Never stop right until they're hitting the ball.

Speaker 1 (38:55):
Yes, they're not, and as soon as they hit the ball,
they're moving them again to getthemselves in a better position
.
Let's say next you know, ballcoming back, and so I think
that's.
That's really again.
I just I'm playing a little bithigher level now, not much, I
mean, come on, but just highenough that the people that are

(39:15):
beating my pants off they'removing their feet all the time,
they're anticipating shots andthey've got a good drive drop.
I think it's landing in higherquality player.

Speaker 2 (39:24):
now I'm getting beat by a whole better crowd now.

Speaker 3 (39:28):
Let me ask you what's your favorite shot.

Speaker 1 (39:33):
Not gonna lie, just a really good serve.
You know they.
They say, don't worry aboutyour serve, don't concentrate on
your serve.
You know, just just it's one ofthose shots that you just got
to get the ball in because youdon't want to give it away.
But I have won so many pointson serves Against again, against
better teams, against betterplayers, that there's just

(39:55):
nothing that feels better almost.
I mean maybe an overhead everynow and then, but a good serve
when you ace it or they can'treturn it, maybe six times in a
row.
You serve six times in a rowand you're like, yeah, this is
awesome.
So what is your?

Speaker 3 (40:10):
serve.
Look like what is it, is it not?

Speaker 1 (40:14):
No, it's totally non traditional.
I hold it.
So I had a gentleman teach mewhen I very, very first started
he was an engineer, of coursethat if you hold the ball at a
45 degree angle and you whack itright there, there's no way
it's not going to go in, becausethe physics of it, the
trajectory, the physics of theball, that's that is the, that's

(40:35):
how you do it, and I rarelyhave ever had serve issues.
But then again, like you said,we go into the layers.
Now and now I've learned toserve short and long and wide
and into the backhand and, toyou know, try to move it around
a little bit so that myopponents don't expect that same
serve every time.
And I do.

(40:56):
I can win some serves and Ithink it's so much fun and all
I'm doing is just moving my handpointed in what direction it's
going and I'm not reallychanging that much about it, but
it's just enough to maybe pickon somebody's backhand or it
feels like you get a free pointwhen you get a serve and I think
that's so much fun.

Speaker 2 (41:18):
I do too.
I didn't have to work on it.

Speaker 1 (41:19):
I don't have to do anything.
I just get to win and win andkeep winning.

Speaker 2 (41:24):
I'm with you because everybody said the most
important thing about a servejust get it in.
And OK, there's something tothat.
But I like putting, I love mybackhand spin and now I've
started doing like a smash serveto just to try to throw
something different at people.
And if you you get two pointsgame off your serve, that's
gravy man, that's me, that'sthose are freebies to me, those

(41:44):
are freebies.

Speaker 1 (41:45):
The other ones I have to work a little harder for.
Yes, it's fun to get anoverhead every now and then.
But again, now I'm playing alittle bit better people so I
can put an overhead up and theycan get it right back at me.

Speaker 2 (41:57):
So that's that's that's.

Speaker 1 (42:00):
That's getting a little different.

Speaker 3 (42:03):
So John and I have been told lately that we're
great defensive players andhadn't thought about this.
And and then I was playing withwomen and and Maggie Maggie
Well, she said we were playing acouple weeks ago and she was
like you are, you're a reallygreat defensive player.

(42:24):
So here's my thing.
I'm like, wow, that's reallyinteresting.
So we're good at keeping theball in play and what,
inevitably, when John and I playtogether our matches last games
last so much longer than otherpeople and it's because and so
I'm wrapping my brain aroundthis and I'm like it's because

(42:44):
we make too many mistakes, butit's made us great defensive
players.
So once we get our offensive in, like we will be really good
because we've learned to movetogether, we've learned to back
up when, knowing when to back upright.
It's the oh shit, shot back upright, oh shit, back up.
Yeah, and, and so getting our,so we've we've learned really

(43:09):
well to how to manage thosesituations and put ourselves in
in in positions to keep the ballin play Got that's really good.
So now let's work on, you know,our offensive shots and and,
and that's going to be like a.
That's going to be a mixedthing, like that's definitely,
if John and I want to playtogether, which we do, we've
committed to doing that.
So we're going to have tofigure this thing out because,

(43:32):
you know, I don't have the powerto put things away as much as
he would right Men just do, andI'm listening to podcast and
trying to, you know, justeducate myself on that.
But I really think if we canget this offense down, we're
going to.
That's really going to jump usup to the next level, because
John has a goal for 2024.

Speaker 1 (43:51):
Oh yeah, what's the goal?
What is it?

Speaker 2 (43:53):
John, I do be a 4 0.
Yeah.

Speaker 3 (43:57):
I'm right, which, which you know.
I don't even know how you, wewould the rating.

Speaker 2 (44:02):
I don't have any more muscles to tear.

Speaker 3 (44:04):
They're all torn.

Speaker 2 (44:06):
They're all recovered so I figure I can start to get
to where I can play with bothhands.
I'm starting to get where I canhit a drive.
Why not?
Why not go for a win?
The we?
We say that and we go out tothe three five challenge and you
know we're winning two or twoout of five, or three out of
five.
And it's man the, thecompetition in our club.

(44:27):
I will say this you go outthere for you're not going to
get many, just walkovers, andwhen that's great, I love that's
what's amazing.

Speaker 1 (44:34):
Like I said, we go to these tournaments and our own
club just dominates at thepodium.

Speaker 2 (44:38):
I mean, we're not going to battle test Night ever
Like.

Speaker 1 (44:42):
I.
Just I feel like we are sofortunate to have so many people
that are so passionate about itand getting better.
I mean, think about where weall were this time last year.

Speaker 3 (44:56):
And.

Speaker 1 (44:56):
I just look at how much I've you know better I've
gotten, despite my own self attimes.
You know, and and again, theincremental gains that we've all
faced and, honestly, like you,I'm a good defensive player
because I have to be, becauseI'm the girl throwing that ball

(45:17):
high in the air.
So, yeah, I'm going to learnhow to get it back and that was
something I learned in the lastyear.
Just because I hit it a littlehigh doesn't mean I can't hit a
smash back.
So stay in there, hang in there.
But I appreciate mixed is alsoa different game.
I can go out and I can playwith the ladies and it's a very

(45:41):
different game than when I goout and play a mixed game.
100%.
It's just a whole differentball game and I feel like I have
to be just that much better.
Honestly 100%.

Speaker 2 (45:54):
You got to be wide awake.
Wide awake and ready to rollPaddle up.

Speaker 1 (45:59):
You know there are very sometimes, and I don't know
if this is true for everyone,it's just true for me.
But sometimes I can be having areally bad day and roll out to
a women's league match and kindof work myself out of it and end
up playing pretty good.
That is not the case on a mixednight, if I've had a really bad

(46:20):
day at work and I'm just reallyunderwater for whatever reason.
I can't always overcome that.
To be fast and hit hard and beon that great defensive you know
, bus, keeping my feet movingand doing all the things.
I can't always do that I feellike that's when we go out and
play in the challenges for sure.

(46:41):
There are no dead beats.
No game is a guaranteed winever, ever.
And you know I've had plenty ofnights where I went 0-5 just
because I was having a day.

Speaker 2 (46:59):
Have you ever been relegated?
Did you get relegated?

Speaker 1 (47:01):
I have not been relegated yet.

Speaker 2 (47:06):
That's actually a thing in our club.
For people who you know, thelevel challenge is 3-5, 4-5 or
whatever.
I was saved just recentlybecause you have to go 0-5 twice
now.

Speaker 1 (47:18):
Oh really, yeah, you have to go 0-5 twice now, but I
am definitely in the land ofsomewhere between the 3-5s and
4-0s.
I can still go down to 3-5mixed and probably not win every
game.
Lucky for me, I went 5-0 a fewtimes so I got to go up, but I
go to the 4-0 and there havebeen a few times when you know

(47:41):
we've been weeks on end where weonly win one game.

Speaker 3 (47:45):
Right, but you won one Like.
I just want to get there, john,come on.
Choo-choo, a little choo-choothey could.
Let's go.
Yes, get your serves in.
I am getting my serves in.

Speaker 1 (47:57):
Yeah, it was.
I think it's luck.
I think you know it's just onthat night you're both feeling
good and all of a sudden it'slike magic and it just happens.
And again we haven't been ableto duplicate it in quite some
time.
So it's a strange.
It's just a strange bird.

Speaker 3 (48:17):
But what's so awesome is that you get to go up there
and compete against those thatare that much better, which is
just going to increase your game.
Like, wait, that's what I'msaying, We've got to, but I mean
we've got to be able to beatthe three fives before we can
get there.

Speaker 1 (48:30):
I think it's a humbling experience, especially
you know you can go and playagainst the Meadensons and, you
know, get pickled.
That's super fun.
Oh yeah, and I think to myselfman, you know I feel bad for
them, like this couldn't havebeen fun for them to teach us a
lesson, you know.
But again, it's the only way I'mgoing to get better, like it's

(48:51):
the only way I see how patientthey are, like, how disciplined
they are.
I am not disciplined, I am notpatient.
I am out there, you know, justbattling willy-nilly as I do,
but it does make me take a stepback and when I so, right after

(49:15):
I play like a four oh mixed,I'll go and play a king and
queen, which I love to do, thedoubles, even though my feet
don't love it.
It does make me slow down andbe more patient and kind of
practice that again, like, takeit down a notch and maybe not

(49:35):
try to win the king and queen,but just work on those things
that I was doing so poorly at.
And a four oh mixed, and by andlarge you usually slow down
just a little bit, just enoughthat you can work on it.
So it's really I mean thediscipline of some of these
folks in these higher level youknow, our club championships.

(49:56):
I look at those, those folks, Imean the difference between
them and me is discipline period.

Speaker 3 (50:02):
Well, okay.
So let me ask you this what isone of your?
Because you mentioned gettingpickled by the means and one of
our worst games ever.
This is so embarrassing and I'mgoing to ask you for yours.
So this is the worst loss thatwe've ever taken, john and I,
alex Smith okay, his partnerwasn't showing up, so he took us

(50:25):
on singles.
Was it 11 to one?
It's a different game.
I think it was 11 to one.

Speaker 2 (50:31):
And I was like 11, nine?
No, it was not.

Speaker 3 (50:34):
No, it was not.

Speaker 2 (50:35):
It was so bad I'm cutting this part, so I'm just
going to edit this.

Speaker 3 (50:39):
No, you're not, that was the worst loss we've ever
ever taken, because you howembarrassing is that?

Speaker 2 (50:48):
It's somebody's really good.
They have their pay.
They're facing a couple.
It's easy to beat them.

Speaker 3 (50:54):
A singles against two people Sure.

Speaker 2 (50:56):
Because you don't have to worry about what the
other person's going to do.
It's horrible.
Okay, what about your worstloss?

Speaker 3 (51:00):
Your worst loss, Larissa.
Can you remember one asembarrassing as that?

Speaker 1 (51:06):
So I'm a big fan, especially in, like a king and
queen format.
I don't believe that justbecause you start on court for
you can't win and I am the veryperson that does it all the time
.
I will start on court one, losethree games and then come back
up winning three more games andand win Queen of the court, so I

(51:27):
know it can be done, but Iwould say my worst loss that I
ever had, and it was a night oflosses.
I went back and my friend and Ihe had had surgery and he was
feeling like he was ready to getback in the game and I was like
, oh my gosh, this will be somuch fun, it'll be so easy for

(51:49):
me, oh.
And we went back and lost everygame and I was so upset at
myself For not being able topick up my partner and like be
good enough that that wouldhappen to us, or that I was so
upset for my partner because hewas so disappointed in himself
and so frustrated and there wasnothing I could say or do to

(52:12):
make it any better.
It was a super humbling,frustrating experience.
And that's when I that's what Iliterally the next week, and
I'm not kidding I went out anddrilled my ass off and Just sat
and played with my, my ball sitat my desk, you know, just doing

(52:32):
a little paddle stuff, and likeI just was like that's it, like
I think I'm any good.
No, I'm, I can't even.
You know, yeah, I should havebeen able to pick up that game,
or a game or two For the both ofus and I.
I couldn't do it that night andit was just frustrating.
You know just when you alright,let's flip it when you think

(52:54):
you're having your best win.
Let's see best, john what aboutyours?

Speaker 3 (53:03):
You think of it.

Speaker 2 (53:04):
Yeah, it would have to be something in the Probably
in the legends of the falltournament that we just did.

Speaker 1 (53:10):
That's a good one, you know, team win we are.

Speaker 2 (53:13):
You keep, we keep mentioning Caitlyn.
She was definitely our, our acein that in that game, and I got
a chance to play with her acouple times.
Well, she's amazing.
But our little team, you know,for us to make the finals that
was that was pretty cool.

Speaker 3 (53:27):
I mean, that was really pretty stiff competition.
Even though my heart hurts thatit's not when we got ourselves
over, I think that's the bestsecond answer that you could
have given.
Okay, lures, what about you?

Speaker 1 (53:39):
I would say Best wins gosh.
I've had a bunch, but Iremember this one in particular,
just because I still felt likemaybe I didn't belong, or it was
the very first season I playedin league.
I was really super unsure ofmyself.

(54:00):
I?
I didn't have much confidencein my abilities because, again,
I'm very inconsistent, honestly.
So I wasn't.
I was just thinking, oh lord,let Larissa, the girl who knows
how to play, show up today andnot the other girl, that other
one that doesn't.

Speaker 3 (54:16):
That I like.

Speaker 1 (54:18):
I went out and beat Kyla and Jeff Arnett and to me
they were like the king andqueen of pickleball.
I did yeah.
I had also come off of thatfirst round of MLP that we did
the year before and Alex Smithand I went undefeated the entire

(54:39):
season, even though we love wedidn't lose.
But our team lost in the finalround like semi-final I think,
found, and so that was super.
I mean that wait when was this.
What was this?
It was the first last October'sMLP, not this past.

Speaker 3 (55:00):
Okay, so that was who your team.

Speaker 1 (55:02):
Yeah, I was Karen Bumgardner, who I didn't really
know well at the time.

Speaker 2 (55:07):
I remember that that was what it was told.
Yep, I met Dean.

Speaker 1 (55:10):
Lackey for the first time.
Him and his wife were amazing.
And then I met Alex Smith forthe first time.
He and I were essentially blinddates on that.
We just went out the very firsttime.
We had never even practicedtogether and we won.
And you know, my favorite thingabout playing with him is you
know he's got enough confidencefor the both of us, and so he

(55:31):
just needed you know, he justneeded me to stay in it.
And I remember going.
One of our big first wins wasJoe Coniglio and Maria Sley Hor.
Oh, and.
I feel so good after that.
It was just a big coup for us,cuz.

Speaker 3 (55:47):
I'm sure they're gonna love you.

Speaker 1 (55:51):
So much like I Say that because I didn't think I
should win it, like I didn'tthink.
I know I get it like court, andso I felt like you know, to
give them a good run for theirmoney was.
It was just a really fun,awesome time.
You know, now shoot, they tearme up again because we've all
gotten better and they'vecertainly gotten better as well.

(56:12):
So it's, it's just a lot of fun.
I think the best wins arealways the ones you don't think
you even had a chance.

Speaker 3 (56:21):
Yes, go out there and just let it rip and and and.

Speaker 1 (56:23):
It's just so much fun and it is pickleball as as as
much as we're all getting betterand as much as we're all
practicing more, it's still awiffle ball, I know.

Speaker 2 (56:35):
I know hey, watch your mouth.
It's still got a mind of itsown.

Speaker 1 (56:40):
I feel like I still you know, there's times when I
think I have this amazing shot,that it's a freaking wiffle ball
and it just doesn't do what Iwanted to do.

Speaker 3 (56:50):
No.

Speaker 2 (56:50):
Like when you bounce it to serve.
It might bounce a certain waystop that, really threw me that.

Speaker 3 (56:55):
I had that was just horrible and I'm sorry Alex
Smith, because he gets tied intoa lot of this I brought him
down.
I I'm not going to relive.
It was on the last episode, soif you want to know why, you can
listen last episode what.
Where my big failure with himwas.
But, um, you know, I just lovethis sport and I love that it's
brought people into our livesthat we would never have known.

(57:16):
I wouldn't have known you if itwasn't for pickleball and I
just love that.
We've gotten to know each otherthrough this sport and just
watching you, even sometimes ifit's from afar, because you know
, we're not always being able toplay in the same things.
But just when I hear your, yourName and that you're part of
you, just like, you're just ashining, shining person, you're
just a happy, fun, shiningperson, you always put a smile

(57:38):
on my face.
You, you, you're the woman whoruns over and picks me off the
ground At bear hug and picks meoff the ground.

Speaker 1 (57:47):
So I think you know it's, that's the, that's the
beauty of the sport.
It it's we meet so many cooland interesting people.
I that is where my happy placeis, Um I have found.
You know, you and john thereand, and tim and shon and
everybody, um, you know,supporting each other and and

(58:08):
and really being humbled by eachother as well.
You know, I hear things like oh, we can't play on monday nights
right now because we're goingto bible study, and I think that
is so amazing because you know,here.
Here are the things that youknow I forget.
We're people.
We're real people doing real.
Real jobs.

(58:29):
You know, when I tell peoplewhat I do for a living, they're
like what?
And you have time to playpickleball and so, and so you
know, say, I make time to playpickleball.
That's right, or I think it'sfunny that when I go somewhere
and I don't have a hat on,people don't know who I am
because they don't See my hairlike I.
I'm not somebody with hair, butapparently you have a ponytail.

Speaker 3 (58:52):
What's worse is when somebody comes up and says my
name and I don't recognize themand they I should yeah because
they don't look the same.
Yeah, like you know?

Speaker 2 (59:01):
well, you just say that because you wear the same
uniform every day.
She wears her pickleballUniform every day.
She's got in.

Speaker 3 (59:09):
in the winter it's yoga pants and his wet shirt,
and in the summer it's um atennis skirt and a T-shirt.
So pretty much.

Speaker 1 (59:16):
Oh yeah, that's that's the uniform outside of my
house.
Um, I just I, I really Again, Ithink everyone has been so
positive and if they haven'tbeen, they've been run off
pretty quick.
Um and.
I, I want to continue that,that trend.
Um, I want to play with peoplewho are positive.

(59:37):
I want to play so hard and somean against somebody and then,
right after it's all over, we're, we're back over doing fireball
shots and having a blast andand you know, whatever, because
that's the, that's the, that'sthe part of the sport that's.
That's amazing.
Um, you know, we're not alwaysthe social part yeah good day
and I can own that and, as longas you know, my opponents can

(59:58):
own that as well, and we can alllaugh about it later and and
have a good time.
That's, that's.
That's the beauty, you know.
It's like uh, they say your,your friends are fought in war.
Um, that that's or forged.
I should say their friends areforged.
Yeah, that makes more senseForged in war, not fight.

Speaker 3 (01:00:17):
I was trying to follow that.

Speaker 1 (01:00:19):
Because the battles that you've gone together, I
mean no one else wouldunderstand.
It's kind of the same thing,like you and john have the
battles they I would neverunderstand and you, reggie, and
I have battles you guys wouldn'tunderstand, but that's how we
connect.
And so I feel like that's theblessing of the team sport and

(01:00:39):
it is still individual.
We still all have to work onour own.
You know weaknesses andwhatever, but coming together I
don't know that I could everplay singles.
Maybe I could, I don't know.

Speaker 2 (01:00:51):
I don't know if I have the head I might try now
that it's colder, I might, if Ican get my feet to cooperate
with me.
But I might try 2024, that thatmight be on the list too,
because you know, we gotta gottasay this too 2024, we will have
our new facility open, yes,which will be awesome.
Uh, I don't know if we told you, but you know rissos also
helped us with octoberfest, butwe are going to help camp summit

(01:01:14):
with their summer pickballtournament and we're going to do
octoberfest again.
We talked to the chamber.
They want us back, so we'll berunning that thing back, and so
2024 is going to be another veryPickless year.

Speaker 1 (01:01:26):
It's going to be fun.
I think it can be different.

Speaker 2 (01:01:29):
Epic Epic, yes yes, I want to be a part of all of it,
just because I just want toplay.
You are, you're blazing paddle.
You're blazing paddle as well.
That's right, that's right.

Speaker 1 (01:01:44):
We're going to take our lumps and our winds together
.
That'll be fun.
I loved Oktoberfest.
I loved getting our wholecommunity.
I was so shocked at how manypeople walked up and wanted to
paddle.

Speaker 3 (01:01:57):
Right To jump in and play too.
I know I wanted to go play.

Speaker 2 (01:02:00):
That was amazing.

Speaker 1 (01:02:01):
I know myself.
Next year we need to havewaivers Right.

Speaker 3 (01:02:06):
I have one written out.
It was so chaotic, I wasthinking holy cow.

Speaker 1 (01:02:12):
I don't know if y'all remember the little pink
picklers.

Speaker 2 (01:02:18):
The crown pickleball girls, oh my.

Speaker 1 (01:02:19):
God, I just loved those kids, the fact that they
got so into it.
Those little girls, the littlepink picklers, they got so into
it and they ended up wantingpaddles and going out and
playing in their socks.
That is the joy I mean, thatwas pure joy.
That night I was having so muchfun with them and everybody
there.
I thought man, this is, it justcan't get any better than this,

(01:02:42):
and the only thing that couldhappen is that next year it just
gets bigger and better, biggerand better.
More people more events, moreeverything.
It was having the mayors of allthe quad surrounding cities
there.
That was a hoot.
The baseball I was there forthe baseball coaches and the
seniors playing each other.

Speaker 3 (01:03:02):
That was great.

Speaker 1 (01:03:03):
It was amazing.
It's just so much fun and Ireally think we say pickleball
for all and we preach it to ourfriends and whoever will listen.
Really, but that was onecommunity event where it really
did show you could be anyone andyou could come right off the

(01:03:24):
street and grab a paddle fromthe right from the paddle
vendors and just start and go atit.
I mean it was a hoot and that itspanned all the ages.
The little kids wanted to play.
There was an older gentlemanthat walked up and wanted a
paddle.
He wanted to try it out.
I thought that was amazing.

Speaker 2 (01:03:47):
So the age ranges and you know Well, we had Audra and
Jamie.
They were a proud favorite.
They were awesome.
That was so amazing.

Speaker 1 (01:03:55):
It was.
You know it's funny, they're sosweet and again, it's the raw
joy that they just have it.
They just they maintain it.
You know every Jamie,especially you know he's.
I can't believe how great he isin a crowd.
Oh yeah, and he was such a ham.

(01:04:16):
He was like, yeah, and thecrowd would go crazy.

Speaker 3 (01:04:23):
And he'd like yeah, and we're talking about Audra
and Jamie, who are specialOlympians that played in October
Fest.
For those that don't know, soyeah, who knew what a ham.

Speaker 1 (01:04:33):
You know, I just think it's so amazing and, and
you know, just just everydaypeople doing an everyday thing,
but it was, it was.
It was really kind of ittranscended the whole October
Fest.
I mean, our little corner wassuper busy, it was crazy.

Speaker 3 (01:04:51):
Well, our whole goal was to is to bring entertainment
, new entertainment, to OctoberFest, but put bring the, bring
this sport to where people wouldbe, that and expose them to
this amazing sport right,without them having to go to a
pickable court and and getexposure there right.

(01:05:13):
So now, how many people do youthink you know were saw it and
were like man.
I do want to play this gameright and went and picked up a
paddle and got on a board.

Speaker 2 (01:05:23):
Yeah, they're like those people, aren't?

Speaker 3 (01:05:24):
geriatrics.

Speaker 1 (01:05:24):
Right, right, they were like, maybe I should do
this I ran into a couple ofladies and they came out to a
King and Queen event and then,you know, they were so nervous
it's like I forget.
People don't even want to tryit because they're scared to
come out or they're scared toeven.
You know they buy their littlepickleball set because they see
it on the internet and they heareveryone talking about it and

(01:05:47):
they've got you know how manyindoor facilities opening to to
encourage it and whatever.
So you know the sport isgrowing and everybody's.
It's a buzzword, you know inyour circles of you know I
haven't been to a holiday partyyet that somebody else hasn't
brought it up as well.
Of course I'm bringing it up,but you know it's fun to hear
other people bring it up and belike, wow, you play too.

(01:06:07):
You know, so it's so crazy.
But you forget how peoplepeople aren't they're still
scared.
They're still scared to comeout, they're still scared to try
it.
They maybe have peaked onYouTube to see what it looks
like.
And it and again watching it onvideo may or it may lose some of

(01:06:27):
the real, real kind of funabout it, and so you're right,
like we brought it to thecommunity, we showed them what
it was at very high levels aswell.
I think that was also one ofthe, you know, more fun events
was, you know, watching our clubchampions play the pros?

Speaker 2 (01:06:46):
Yeah, the pros Good to know.

Speaker 1 (01:06:47):
Like I mean, oh my gosh, like that's people are
like, wow, this, this really isa sport, it's not just an you
know, old person's recreationalgame or whatever the thing was.
So it is amazing.
And so again, we brought it outthere, we, we kind of forced it
out into our community and Ithink we we made some fans out

(01:07:07):
of it.
You know we had I think so too.

Speaker 3 (01:07:10):
So now that we know what we're doing, it won't be so
.
I've never worked so hard foran event ever in my life, and
I've run a lot of events, sothank you for your help.

Speaker 1 (01:07:19):
Absolutely.
I think it's going to be harderand harder to top it every year
, but I think we can do it.

Speaker 3 (01:07:27):
Oh, you watch.
I don't know, I got stuff on mysleeve.
We can do it.
We can do it.
All right, baby, what do youwant to say to wrap us up?
Who?

Speaker 2 (01:07:36):
are you calling baby me or Larissa Both?

Speaker 3 (01:07:37):
of you.

Speaker 2 (01:07:38):
Okay, well, look, we're going to put a bow on this
and Larissa will put a littlewrite up on the information too.
Most people in the club,obviously they probably are like
us and they know you, butthey're going to realize maybe I
didn't know you as well as Ithought I did, because, just I
mean a rugby player turned aballer to coach.
I mean the whole thing.
How you got started, I didn'tknow.

(01:08:00):
Karen had told me earlier thatyour mom, who's a heck of a
player, had sort of pulled youout of your out of your head a
little bit to get out here yourplay and that kind of deal and
how therapeutic and there's allkinds of stories.
I mean people who've had realhealth gains, people who've had
emotional gains, people who'vemet significant others, people

(01:08:21):
who have just expanded theirfriendships which you know I'm
going to sound HRE here butmental health right now is it
such a all time critical low,probably in our generation and
for anything that you can do totry to find others and
commiserate, build your tribeand have fun and meet good
people.

(01:08:41):
There's a lot that we said forwhy this game got so popular.

Speaker 1 (01:08:44):
I would tell you 100% , I came out of a life funk to
meet the best friends I've ever.
Had.
To be healthier than I've beenin the prior 10 years to this
and I, you know, being an exathlete, it was easy to sit

(01:09:05):
around and, just, you know, ridethose laurels or whatever.
But now to have something in mylife again that I'm working
toward physically again helps myemotional stability.
It's helping everything.
So I feel like you know whereelse could I just go on to sign
up, genius, put my name in aslot, have 15 other like-minded

(01:09:29):
people to go exercise withchasing a ball.
I mean I don't have to do thetreadmill and I don't have to go
make the effort to join a classand you know whatever.
Blah, blah, blah.
But I can go sweat and move myfeet for 10,000 steps every
night with all these people thatare just like me and having
just as much fun and we,honestly, I can't believe my

(01:09:53):
luck.
Like I, I can't believe my luck.
Yeah, I feel like I hope.
You know, I hope it stays thatway it's.
You know, sometimes when youlove something, it becomes a job
or it becomes a chore.
But so far, so good.
I'm three years in now no job,no chore.
I can't wait to go drill everynight, I can't wait to go play

(01:10:16):
and I can't wait to be aroundall the people in our club and
all the folks that I meet out atthe tournaments and other
events.
It's just pure joy.

Speaker 3 (01:10:27):
You know what it's what I love about pickleball.

Speaker 2 (01:10:29):
Oh, Karen says that about everything.

Speaker 3 (01:10:31):
I say it about pickleball all the time.

Speaker 2 (01:10:34):
That's two times a day.

Speaker 3 (01:10:35):
She was you know what I?

Speaker 1 (01:10:36):
love about pickleball .
I don't know what.
What else, what else, what else, what now, what?

Speaker 2 (01:10:40):
now.
So this is our friend, our goodfriend, our dear friend,
Larissa Santiago, and we will.
We're going to have this thing.
There'll be a full episode, butwe've done a lot of these
little mini posts where people,so people get invite size and
we're going to have those out onsocial and bring a little bit
more knowledge, knowledge base,to our tribe here about who you

(01:11:03):
are and we're just so glad tohave you.

Speaker 1 (01:11:05):
Well, thanks for having me, guys.
It's a lot of fun, and anytimeI get to spend with you is a
good day for me that's a perfectender.

Speaker 2 (01:11:13):
All right with that.
We're going to sign off onBlazing Paddles.
Larissa, hang on just a sec.
Bye.