Pickleball Throws Sutton Howard a Lifeline

From the depths of hardship to the heights of athletic achievement, Sutton Howard's story is a testament to the transformative power of pickleball. This episode takes you on a heartfelt journey with Howard, from overcoming homelessness and substance abuse to becoming a pickleball marvel. As we chat with this remarkable individual, you'll be inspired by his rapid mastery of the game and the role it played in his personal revival. Together, we explore the strategies, psychological intricacies, and the sheer joy that comes from progressing in this inclusive and booming community.

This game isn't just about the score at the end of the match; it's about the stories built around the court. Our discussion dives into the nuances of pickleball strategies, the dynamics of doubles play, and the unique bond formed among players. Whether you're a couple navigating the challenges of playing together or a seasoned player contemplating the move to pro, this episode addresses the complexities and growth opportunities within the sport. We also acknowledge the incredible community support, from local clubs to professional events like Major League Pickleball that bring together players in an electric atmosphere of competition and camaraderie.

Finally, for those curious about the technical side, we get into the nitty-gritty of paddle technology and how equipment choices can significantly influence your game. As the sport evolves, so does the conversation around power and safety, prompting discussions about potential regulation changes. We share personal insights into finding the right gear, and how it can make or break your performance. Regardless of where you stand on the court, this episode serves up an engaging look into the world of pickleball and the remarkable individuals who make it more than just a game.

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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.
Use our link to receive a discount on your next purchase! https://crownpickleball.store/blazingpaddles

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
That's the stuff I'm talking about, that I love
seeing.
I love seeing people go fromlike, honestly, she was very
jerky and very like, just it wasvery uncoordinated and now like
to see the finesse and it'sjust the movements, and just
like she's become the movements,the sport Right, so it's.
It's actually pretty sweet yeah.

Speaker 2 (00:19):
I'm working on that.
I have a lot of jerky movement.
Welcome back, friends.
Here we are, Season one episode10, blazing Paddles.

Speaker 3 (00:26):
On that I have a lot of jerky movements.
Welcome back, friends.
Here we are.
Season one, episode 10, blazingPaddles, continues to move
forward despite all odds.
Today we have a great episodefor you.
We've had a theme, it seems alot of people talking about how
pickleball has turned aroundtheir life, and I don't think
there's anybody who can show amore extreme and motivational
example of that than our guesttoday, sutton Howard.
He went through probably a 10to 15 year spiral where he ended

(00:51):
up homeless in the streets ofSan Francisco, the Tenderloin
District.
Drugs and alcohol had takenover his life.
Former athlete who finally gothimself together and just over a
year ago picked up this greatgame and is already doing
unbelievable things.
So get your ears on saddle up.
I'd be glad you did.

Speaker 1 (01:14):
Okay, cool, can you hear me?
Fine, everything's fine.

Speaker 3 (01:18):
Yeah, everything's okay.
Yeah, I hear you.
Well, where are we getting youfrom?
Are you in California?

Speaker 1 (01:23):
Yes, like San Francisco Bay Area.

Speaker 3 (01:25):
Yeah, yeah, what part .

Speaker 1 (01:28):
San Mateo area, Burlingame.
Yeah, so peninsula there on thepeninsula.

Speaker 3 (01:33):
Yeah, because I mean I'm from Texas, but after
college I lived in Danville andthen in the city and then
actually in.
Sausalito.
It's a great beautiful area.

Speaker 1 (01:43):
Yeah, sausalito is great, yeah, yeah.

Speaker 3 (01:45):
Excellent, I love it.
It's like not a real place.
It's too cool.
No, it's not.

Speaker 1 (01:50):
Yeah, it's sweet right, yeah, ironically.
I love your guys' backdropSweet, Thank you oh thanks, man.
Yeah, I lived out there as so.
I loved it.
Yeah, that's awesome.

Speaker 3 (02:05):
So we were reading a little bit Try not to do too
much because we want to havesome spontaneity here but I love
your story, man, and I knowthat we've had several people on
here that we talked to andthey'll say, in one way, shape
or form, pickleball kind ofsaved their life or changed
their life, and you would fallinto that category.

(02:27):
I'd say Well, you know, it'skind of funny because we were
given your name by Joel.

Speaker 1 (02:32):
Mauer yeah, I got the Dink Ninjas.

Speaker 3 (02:34):
How do you know, joel ?
Oh, you got a.

Speaker 1 (02:35):
C representing.
Dink Ninjas.
So he reached out because heread the article and he put me
in connection with a couple ofpeople, including you guys, and
he thought it would be kind of agood thing to get out there.
And so he doesn't.
I don't know him at all otherthan he liked.
The story reached out to me andnow me and him are pretty good

(02:55):
friends and yeah, it just kindof was a connection thing.
So that's as far as I know.
I don't know too much aboutJoel other than his brand and
what he did for me.

Speaker 2 (03:07):
That's pretty cool.
That's just like that's apickleball story right there.
That's what pickleball does.

Speaker 1 (03:15):
Brings people together.
And he was on your guy's show,right?
Yeah, he was.

Speaker 3 (03:20):
He's such a nice guy and his story I guess you know.
He went through this thing withhis wife and he needed
something to just kind of takehis mind off everything he's
going through.
And so he ends up in pickleball.
We call ourselves the pandemicpicklers.
We'd never even heard of thegame until COVID and then all of
a sudden it was like somethingto do that we could actually do

(03:41):
pretty easy.

Speaker 2 (03:42):
I had no idea the growth, though, that was going
to ensue after that.

Speaker 1 (03:51):
Yeah, this is crazy.
Yeah.
Yeah, I was just getting out oflike, uh like treatment because
I've, you know, gone through alot of certain things that my
mom's like, oh, you would be sogood at this, and I'm not
kidding you the day I got homeand played that night.
I haven't stopped since.
It's been like probably just ayear now, and then the stuff
I've done in one year it doesn'teven.
It's like I don't even know,People don't even get it.
So it's pretty sweet, yeah.

Speaker 3 (04:12):
But you had to have some pretty uh.
I mean, I know you were anathlete growing up and you know,
probably played more than oneor two sports, what, what did
you grow up playing?

Speaker 1 (04:25):
Baseball and basketball were the two.
So no racket sports.
So that's the interesting thing.
So no racket sports, justbaseball.
But you know I'm very goodvisually Like, so I can see.
You know I watch a lot of it.
I study a lot of pickleball andI can kind of.
It's weird, I've got a prettysolid strength where I can kind
of just re-emulate what's beingdone.
So it's pretty trippy.

(04:45):
Yeah, it's pretty trippy howthis last year I've been able to
really, you know, put togethera pretty incredible game.

Speaker 2 (04:53):
So you know what that made me think of something?
Okay, so John played baseballand like sometimes I'll come in
the bathroom and like see him inthe mirror.
I'm like what are you doing?
He's like, he's like throw it,like he practices.
Remember when I caught youdoing that?

Speaker 3 (05:09):
Constantly fake swinging or fake throwing or
something you know, and I'm likeI'm like you guys do this, this
is a thing.

Speaker 2 (05:15):
So you're doing that, you're saying you can watch it
and then emulated and that's whyall you baseball players like
have your like.
There's a swag about a baseballplayer and and to to that, like
we had a octoberfest, we had aour a baseball, our local

(05:35):
baseball players playing theircoaches, and the one coach had
never played before in his lifethe head coach.
And at the beginning the kidswere beating the coaches because
obviously the coaches don'tplay.
But then I was like you justhang in there and by the end
were beating the coaches becauseobviously the coaches don't
play.
But then I was like you justhang in there and by the end of
it, those coaches man, you wouldhave thought that they had
played a lot.

Speaker 1 (05:51):
They figured it out, right, they figured it out.

Speaker 2 (05:54):
Yeah, that translates surprisingly.

Speaker 1 (05:58):
I guess for me it's just, yeah, I don't know what it
is, other than being able tosee it and just kind of go out
there and drill the hell out ofit, you know.
But, um, I, I just can't evenbelieve what this sport has come
to be in such a short time andhow awesome it is and how I mean
it's it actually has saved.
I mean, it's put me on such anawesome path.

(06:18):
So I'm pretty grateful to behere and to do stuff like this.
So's pretty awesome, yeah but Iwatch.

Speaker 3 (06:24):
I'm gonna piss off my wife real quick because you've
only been playing a year.
What?
What is your rating right now?

Speaker 1 (06:29):
so the rating isn't.
The rating isn't that highbecause of because I don't have
enough stuff logged, but I play.
I play in all 5-0 or proqualifying tournaments yeah,
yeah, yeah, and overnight and Imean, you know so, but I'm lucky
because we, we in our area, Iwe have a lot of professional

(06:49):
guys who train at our facilityand so I'm always the guy
getting in with those guys andso but it's, yeah, I'm pretty
lucky to have gotten to such ahigh level so fast and I've
actually I the money ball eventthat the PPA hosts, which is a
pro, the first one that they had.
We won gold in that event, sothat was pretty sweet.

Speaker 2 (07:08):
What?
Yeah, that's super sweet yeahso that was cool, yeah.

Speaker 1 (07:12):
So definitely a lot of cool accomplishments.

Speaker 3 (07:15):
Are you playing doubles?
Are you playing singles too?
Doubles yeah.

Speaker 2 (07:18):
Doubles, yeah, doubles yeah, yep.
Yeah.

Speaker 1 (07:21):
Yeah.

Speaker 2 (07:21):
Well, so let's go back and talk about your journey
into pickleball and your life.
I mean, it was the people outthere don't know it and share as
much as you want, but I mean itsounds like pickleball has been
a really positive thing in yourlife and why is?

Speaker 1 (07:37):
that, coming from kind of like the past that I've
come from, just got pretty darkfor me, and so just being able
to meet and connect with so manypeople of so many different
walks of life and being able toshare, like just the greatness
that this sport has to offer, isjust such a wonderful thing.

(07:58):
And I'll tell you what due tojust kind of like where I was
able to bring my ability, I wasable to get certified as well as
an instructor.
So there's nothing better forme to watch other people grow
and develop and really like seethat progression Right, see that
development, see that struggle,see that, because I'm all about
it and I love the struggle, Ilove when people go through hard

(08:19):
things, so that's kind of likethe beauty in it is to watch the
growth in that.
And that's what the sport isabout right, starting at a point
and getting to a certain point,right, getting to their best
point.
So that's kind of the beauty init for me.

Speaker 2 (08:34):
That's what I'm working on.
Is that getting to that?

Speaker 3 (08:37):
No, we need a therapist yeah right, oh yeah.
We need the mental coaching.

Speaker 1 (08:43):
I'll tell you what that's.
The that is the tough thing,like if you play mixed right,
it's just like, oh, so luckilybecause I have a mixed partner
that I've been playing with fora year and, um god, it was so
bad.
I felt so just so bad.
Like I look back and I'm justlike you, just yeah, it's just,
it can get it's and it's likebut you just have to learn how

(09:04):
to just really be positive andwork together and not let it go.
You know what I'm saying, justlet it go, and it's not.
You know.
And if you learn how to work,well, right, and you learn how
to compliment each other's gameand you don't go above and
beyond, like try and take it tosuch a high level, start here,
yeah Right.

(09:27):
No, I get beyond, like try andtake it to a such a high level,
start here, yeah right.
No, I get it, because I alwaysthat's what I did.
I I took the girl I played withand I took her here right.
And so now she's like, in thisyou know sink or swim, survive,
you know type of setting orwhatever.
But then I then I realized thatokay, let's start here and
let's grow together.
You know to get here, and nowit's awesome.
I mean, this girl plays at thesame level I do now, and she's
52 years old and just dominatesguys.

(09:47):
I mean, wait, how?
old 52 wow I mean you play withit.
You have a 52 year old femaleyeah and I taught her from
scratch too.
She didn't, she never shedidn't know nothing about the
game, and now she's winninggolds and women's doubles and
yeah it's pretty.
That's the stuff I'm talkingabout, that I love seeing.
I love seeing people go fromlike, honestly, she was very

(10:08):
jerky and very like, just it wasvery uncoordinated and now like
to see the finesse and it'sjust the movements, and it's
just like she's become themovements, the sport Right, so
it's, it's actually pretty sweetyeah.

Speaker 2 (10:22):
I'm working on that.
I have a lot of jerky movements.
It's actually pretty sweet.
Yeah, I'm working on that.
I have a lot of jerky movements.

Speaker 1 (10:27):
Hey, you just I've learned that you've got to just
take the game right and you'vegot to just screw the like.
If you do a lot of rec games,you do a lot of drilling,
whatever, you just leave allthat winning and losing behind
and you go in there and you justdo you and you work on whatever
you need to do, right, and justit doesn't matter if you win,
doesn't matter if he's sayingsomething, she's saying

(10:47):
something.
You go in there and you work onyour shit right and you, I mean
your stuff right and that's it.
And just because it doesn'tmatter, at the end of the day
you're not, if it's not atournament, then just just work
it out, you know, find yourrhythm both of us are going to
listen to this.

Speaker 3 (11:01):
I'm both going to be pointing at each other going see
Do you hear what he said?
Because Karen's so ubercompetitive, all she wants to do
is win, win, win, win, win, win.

Speaker 2 (11:09):
Well, no.

Speaker 3 (11:10):
Okay, hold on.

Speaker 2 (11:12):
I said I just want to play my best every single time
when I get disappointed is whenI feel like I can lose if I
played my best and feel good Ifwe play our best and and.
But when we don't put it outthere and we let our mind get in
the way, or we let you know myserving yips get in the way,

(11:33):
like you know I just you can'tdo that, like you got to put it
all out there, especially whenyou're on a league, because
every point counts for the teamand to me.
I don't want to let my partnerdown and I certainly don't want
to let the team down, becausewhat we do together counts for
the whole team and um, not justthat night but cumulatively
throughout the entire um season.

(11:55):
So it's not about the win lossas much as it is.
Did I put my best foot forwardthat in that?

Speaker 3 (12:02):
It's a lot about the win.
I told her I go, okay, let's goout there and have fun.
She goes.
You know it's fun winning,winning is fun.

Speaker 1 (12:09):
No, and the craziest thing is is cause I'm like a
psychopath when it comes towinning too, cause I've.
I mean, I remember when I was alittle kid, like when, when
parents, my parents, werekeeping score, like I, I like if
I tied, I cried you know whatI'm saying?
Like there was no.

(12:30):
When I first got to this game,all I thought it was about was
winning, so that's all I wantedto do, right?
So when I realized that it'sactually all about playing well
and contributing to your player,and then it's becomes this
bigger thing, Right?
So once I kind of let go of thatwhole part, you know, it just
became a little bit more fun.
And then, when you're playing alittle bit like in that fun
zone, it's not, you don't haveto keep it so serious and
actually you play better.

(12:50):
You play better when you'reloose and when you're in.
That you know that unconsciousmind, as they say, or whatever
it is, and not always up in here.
Second you go here, the secondyou try and start figuring shit
out and you will never figure itout.
It just gets tough, yeah yougotta keep that swag loose and
just met.
You know what I mean.
Be you, allow yourself to takethat big drive and big shot.

(13:12):
If it goes sailing over the,you know, I mean it doesn't
matter, right?

Speaker 2 (13:15):
no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no.
Take strike that, strike thatplease.
We just got over that.
She thinks you're giving mepermission.

Speaker 3 (13:24):
Don't worry, we've got a pretty good short game and
we're working on just stickingto our game.
What happens is we'll get intogames against some people who
might be bangers, and then Ijust want to kind of bang too,
because it's fun to hit afreaking winner.
Yeah, of course.
Yeah, except that when there'sone winner out of 10 tries it

(13:44):
doesn't go very well, I like tofocus on that winner.
Yeah, that one right yeah.

Speaker 2 (13:58):
And I'm like, hey, get as much joy.
All the elements of pickleballis.
You know, for me, when I make agreat drop that creates, or a
great dink that creates, apop-up that my partner can put
away, I get way more joy out ofthat.

Speaker 1 (14:13):
That's the best part.
Yeah, right.

Speaker 2 (14:16):
I'm like that.
Take joy in that, the joy thatyou got from hitting an amazing
drive.
You know the ball that justgoes right over the net and just
drops and right at your, atyour opponent's feet, and
there's nothing they can doabout it.
That feels so good.
But I feel so much better whenI can do the other now you know,
and it's like a mental switchthing.

Speaker 1 (14:35):
That's the best, that's the whole.
Yeah, I've yeah Good Good.

Speaker 2 (14:40):
No, no, I mean, I was in a game the other day and
they hit me.
It was me and a guy who wasolder, like 65.
And we were playing against twoguys that were in their 30s and
we actually beat them three outof four matches but I was loose
as a goose because I wasn't ina league situation and it was

(15:01):
open play and I was just likeyou know, whatever I what do I
have to lose?
Right?
But I mean, when I got they,they tried to hit me with a real
shark dink and it was to mybackhand and I got it right over
and they were like the guy waslike whoa, like they did not
expect that at all.

Speaker 1 (15:15):
Yeah, oh yeah, cause you were calm and you were just
cool and you were just cruising.
So that's, that's when, that'swhen you make the miraculous
shots and you play.
Well, I think, yeah, yeah.

Speaker 2 (15:25):
Oh totally.
Totally.

Speaker 3 (15:27):
Yeah, and I want to take a step back real quick
because a lot of people who Imean we play with our local
pickleball club is over 1,700members.
I mean it's crazy how big it ishere, but a lot of the guys
similar backgrounds, you knowplayed sports growing up and

(15:47):
then for one reason, another gothurt or we got distracted, that
kind of happened to you?

Speaker 1 (15:49):
right, you hurt your knee, I tore my mcl, and so that
was so.
Baseball was like everything tome, and that's what I I didn't
care about school, I didn't careabout anything.
Teachers gave me good gradesbecause I was a solid baseball
player.
And so when you get an injuryat that level, at a high level,
you coaches don't want youbecause they got the next kid
who's got a fresh knee, who's acatcher, right.

(16:10):
So so when I lost that, I waslike losing the love of my life.
And then I'm thinking, and thenI go into this place where,
well, what do I have now?
I don't, I don't know anything,I didn't study, I didn't do
anything.
So now I'm left with like, justthis loss, right.
And so it was really hard for meand it took 10, 15 years of
spiraling out of control until Ifound this game where then I

(16:32):
like, that's why I love thisgame, because it brought back
that childlike that, that thatold times, the baseball times.
Like I found it again after,you know, I mean, I found that
love again.
And so now it's like, right,where I left off, in, in, even
in a better form and not even ahigher level form.
So, um, yeah, it was thatinjury, that kind of, you know,
took me off track.
Uh, but that injury might'vebrought me, you know, to a

(16:55):
really sweet place, if you thinkabout it.
So you know, here now withpickleball.

Speaker 3 (17:00):
Yeah, that's a long.
That's a long road back, man.
I'm glad you made it back.

Speaker 1 (17:04):
It doesn't where I went.
It doesn't normally happen, soI'm pretty fortunate yeah.
Yeah, that's awesome and so didyou get hurt playing pickleball
at all?
Cause we did?
Yeah, no, I didn't.
Um, I I've been, I've been,yeah, I've been a trainer for
also quite some time, and so I'mall about the recovery.
I mean, I'm in the cold poolimmediately following, you know,

(17:26):
uh, the games or whatever.
But I do a lot of training, alot of like uh, certain types of
rehab, flexibility training,strength training.
So I do all that type of stuffbecause I, I know, as I'm
getting older now, that thing,as you guys will know too, is
that like things just don't workas well and things don't't you
don't heal as fast break daysfeel like they break if I go

(17:47):
play for three four hours thenext day.
I'm like trashed or I'm trashedafter right so you know, it's
all about the recovery for me,um as far as sustaining the
sport, you know.

Speaker 2 (17:56):
So yeah yeah, well, so every night we go back to bed
.
And you know those, what is it?
Normatec, the compression legs.
Yeah, I look like a marshmallowwoman.
I sit there and my legs are allblown up.
I do it for three hours, manjust watching TV.

Speaker 3 (18:14):
They swallow her.
They just swallow her.
It's compression, right?
Oh yeah, it's amazing.

Speaker 2 (18:19):
Does it get hot, amazing and John has the oh, no,
no, it just.
I mean, you can feel your bloodpulsing for sure.

Speaker 3 (18:26):
I've got the knee one .
I've got the knee one that'llfreeze, and then it goes to heat
.

Speaker 1 (18:30):
Yeah, that's cool, yeah, and then I've got the
compression boost.

Speaker 3 (18:32):
I mean it's because my knees, that's the same thing.

Speaker 1 (18:34):
You guys are robots over there, the whole thing.

Speaker 2 (18:38):
Yeah, yeah, well, I mean not getting hurt anymore.
And whereas, you know,throughout this whole journey,
one thing after another keepsbreaking.

Speaker 1 (18:47):
I'd be devastated if I got hurt now at this point,
because it's just like I feellike if I take a couple of days
off plan, I feel like I missedout, or I feel like I I got all
this catching up to do.
It's just like it's a trip.
It's just.
It's just like it's literallypart of my world.
It's just.
I don't even understand how andI know it has the same effect

(19:08):
on everybody else.
It's just so addicting.

Speaker 2 (19:09):
Now it's just.
Oh yeah, I missed open playthis morning and I had fomo big
time yeah, I want to go, but Iknew I had work to do.

Speaker 3 (19:16):
Just say fomo I did.
Oh my god people say that too.

Speaker 1 (19:20):
That's so funny.
How about when you play?
How about the days where youplay phenomenal for like a few
days straight, and then the daywhere you feel like you
shouldn't be out there?
I mean that's the tricky partabout this sport is the margin
for error and the is so small ifyou play somebody different and
they have just the time.
I mean it's.
I have days where I feel like Iliterally want to walk off

(19:43):
there, cry, leave, quit, leavequit, go to another country.
And that's why this sport isprobably so addicting is that
you always feel like you mightbe in a good spot and then it's
not.
You're not there, bud, you'renot there.

Speaker 3 (19:55):
It humbles you in a hurry.
It happens to me weekly.
Karen's lucky she gets to playa lot more than I do.
So we're playing in a leaguegame tonight and it's been three
days since I've played and I'malready stressed about dang.
I'm going to have to get my notonight is just for fun.

Speaker 2 (20:10):
This is our.
You know what's?

Speaker 3 (20:12):
fun Winning, yeah, that's your thing.

Speaker 1 (20:13):
Yeah, that's funny.

Speaker 2 (20:16):
We have our league match Friday.
What's today, today's Wednesday, friday night and then Saturday
morning?
But I have Friday morning,friday night and Saturday
morning, oh, so you're playing.
Yeah, yeah, she's coming.

Speaker 1 (20:29):
She's in the zone.
So is this a mixed league thatyou guys are involved in tonight
?

Speaker 2 (20:36):
So we're in two mixed leagues and then I'm in two
ladies leagues.

Speaker 1 (20:40):
Okay, cool.
Which is hard too, becausethose games are very different.
That's a whole differentelement too.

Speaker 2 (20:47):
Yeah right, do you play with a male partner?

Speaker 1 (20:50):
yeah I do yeah and that's yeah.
So that's it's crazy, becausethere's I mean, we're talking
about two completely differentgames like I can't even explain
to you how different those twogames are and it's like, yeah,
it's a trip, but that's the funpart.
Right is being able tounderstand and play all roles in
this game.

Speaker 3 (21:08):
So but it's, it's kind of a just yeah I mean you
better know you're.

Speaker 1 (21:12):
If you're playing, if you're going to a higher level
or you're getting better, you're, you do whatever.
You better know.

Speaker 2 (21:17):
You know the differences, because there are a
lot of differences, yeah oh,yeah, yeah, now um, can you name
a few that you can think of?
Say that again like do you okaywhen you're playing with your,
with your male partner?
Is it 50 50 court coverage?
And then do you take more ofthe court?

Speaker 1 (21:34):
with your female partner.
You know what, if I'm, Iusually am on the left side, so
we generally we stack, so I'mcovering a lot more and I have a
lot more power with my forehand.
But I think that whole thing,my forehand, but I think that
whole thing like forehand alwayscovers.
And you know, I think there's alot of misconceptions that I
think you know who.
Yeah, it's just, it's kind of atricky thing, but yeah,

(21:55):
generally I cover because I playmixed and I play men's and I'm
on the left side and men's too.
So I generally cover a lot more.
Um, I take a lot more, but um,yeah, it's just.

Speaker 2 (22:06):
Yeah, I'm kind of so you do that, and when you play
with your male partner too, yeah, and you're always on the line
usually because I play with thesame male partner.

Speaker 1 (22:14):
So usually we kind of have it down where I'm kind of
more of the aggressor.
He's ready for the speed ups,he's ready for the counters,
he's ready for the.
So I'm more kind of poweroverheads dinking, um kind of
covering your bin.

Speaker 3 (22:26):
he's calling yeah, basically exactly yeah, now do
you watch the pro game, are you?
Are you a fan of the pro game?
I?

Speaker 1 (22:34):
that's how I learned how to play this game.
I literally study it, um.
But the problem is is that thepro game and this is where I
think maybe I went wrong is Ilearned the pro game?
The pro game is not the same asthe rec game.
The pro game is dink, drive,whatever, get to the kitchen and
then you're at the kitchen andyou're playing it at the kitchen
.
Where I play it's everybody'sdriving, crashing.

(22:58):
It's wild.
It's this high-paced, insanetennis, I don't know whatever.
It's not that controlled.
Where I'm at it's and guys areat a high level so they play
hard, but, um, it's not.
If you watch the pros, it'smore of a controlled consistent.
I know it's changing a littlebit now, but if you watch, they

(23:18):
get to the kitchen and thenthey're working it out at the
kitchen and primarily, that's it.

Speaker 3 (23:22):
So that's the part that would frustrate us too,
because we we didn't, we didn'teven know much about the pro
game till about a year ago andwe kind of got involved with the
nationals, were out here and wewere volunteers and, uh, that's
the game, that's fun, it looks.
I mean, it's like, uh, you know, a ballet.
When they're there, they'rejust in the patience and all

(23:56):
that.

Speaker 1 (23:56):
and then you get out here and you want to do that and
people are just firing, startedplaying a lot of the 5-0
tournaments because, believe itor not, it's actually a slower,
easier game than the 3-5, 4-0,4-5.

Speaker 3 (24:08):
it's weird, but I'm so glad you said that.
I was talking to a friend aboutthat the other day too and she
was like yeah, it's like thegoing back to the chaos, it's
like the wild west down there.

Speaker 1 (24:16):
Yeah and the timing is off and everybody's hitting
them high and you're and you'rejust basically trying to survive
and you feel like, honestly, ifI were to go play down to like
a 3.0, 3.5, I would lose, Iwould suck, because it's just so
different than where, like, mytiming is at a different level,
right, and I've learned at thisother level that.

(24:37):
So it's weird.
When I go play like these, whenI like jump into a random game,
I like suck, you know, becauseit's weird, that's so funny,
it's different.

Speaker 3 (24:48):
I know you've played some PPA events.
Obviously have you done any MLPstyle.

Speaker 1 (24:53):
I have done MLP style .
We have them almost every monthhere.
That's a trip and that's a funevent.
I haven't won any MLPs, butI've definitely played quite a
few of them.
What do you guys think aboutthose?
Do you guys have them downthere?

Speaker 3 (25:13):
We've played in our pickleball club.
They put it on twice right.
And the last time we were both.
Karen was a substitute.
She ended up playing.
My team ended up getting silver.
It was nerve-wracking, dude.
It's a whole different kind ofthing.
I think.
If we played, we had to playeight matches to get to the

(25:33):
final, or something like that wehad dream breakers in six of
them.

Speaker 1 (25:35):
How sweet is that, though?
I feel like you've got thewhole crowd watching you.
You're going single.
That's the cool part.
That's the fun part.

Speaker 3 (25:41):
That's the cool part, yeah, that's the fun part, oh
my God, and you're like theseare just our friends and our
buddies and we're out there justgoing.
Oh man, it was.
It was crazy.
I do like I think it'd be great.
Like you said, you have maybeonce a month.
I think that's plenty for thatstyle, because it's a little bit
different mindset.
But we've got a localprofessional team here, dallas

(26:04):
Pickleball Club, and we're luckyenough to know a couple of guys
who own it.
So we went to the rally lastyear where they're introducing
their team and it was what is it?
Ignatovich and Elyse.

Speaker 1 (26:15):
Jones.
I mean, it's just amazing,callie Jo Smith maybe was on
that.
Yep, Yep, callie was there too.
Yeah, she was.

Speaker 3 (26:23):
Everybody.
It's like that part of the prosport too, where they're all so
nice yeah.

Speaker 2 (26:30):
You know they're just .
They're not.
There's not prima donnas inthat.
Yeah, it's like they're notprepared for this yet too.
You know they're not.
They're not the celebrity.

Speaker 1 (26:37):
They don't know it yet because it's so new.
So they're just beingthemselves right.

Speaker 2 (26:45):
Yeah, do so.
They're just being themselvesright yeah, you know right.

Speaker 1 (26:46):
Yeah, yeah, it really I think they're a little taken
back by like they're loving mygosh.

Speaker 2 (26:48):
You guys think I'm, you want my site, my autograph,
like they're like what I justplayed, pickleball man.

Speaker 1 (26:53):
That's like such a cool thing like.
Can you imagine someone goingup to you like, hey, can I have
your autograph?
I watch you on?
I mean, it's so cool, so do youguys have?
Um, I always see so many coolclubs out of Texas, right, is it
the Eastside?
Wait, eastside, let's see.

Speaker 3 (27:11):
Westside Drillers.

Speaker 1 (27:12):
Westside Drillers.
Then there's what are.
That's Al.
You know that.

Speaker 3 (27:17):
That's Al Arco.

Speaker 1 (27:18):
That's Al.

Speaker 3 (27:18):
That's our buddy Al who's on the Westside Drillers.
I'm sorry, I cut you off.

Speaker 1 (27:22):
No, no, I just on the west side drill.

Speaker 3 (27:31):
Yeah, I'm sorry I cut you off.
No, no I just, I always hear itlike there's so many different
clubs out there.
It's insane, right?
I mean, you guys have a lot ofstuff out there.
Right it's.
It's a pickleball crazy.
In dallas, you know, ppaheadquarters is located here and
of course you have austin,which is dreamland austin no,
you're thinking austin, but thatis another.

Speaker 2 (27:41):
It's just crazy down there because a a lot of the
pros Right, Steve Kuhn.
But the clubs here are.
I think it's something, I mean,it's new.
To be honest with you and ourclub.
We just had a couple of guysthat said, hey, they had a group
, a core group of guys thatplayed together.
Um, they had, they had a group,a core group of guys that

(28:02):
played together, and when one ofthem was traveling or got sick
or whatever they they were likewell, now what?
do we do Cause we want to playpickleball, well you know.
And then thought, then they,they saw this other group of
guys playing and anyway the ideawas like, why don't we create a
club where we can um pull inmore players if, when, when we
need need to, so we can continueplaying?

(28:24):
And it went from, I mean, whenwe first started, I think we,
when we hit over 100 members, wewere like whoa, we're like
that's too many because we don'thave enough pickleball courts,
right, and anyway, what werealized is that, at 1600 plus
players now or you know, ummembers now is just that people
want to be a part of thepickleball community, whether

(28:44):
they play all the time in the,in our club events or not.

Speaker 1 (28:47):
they just like, want to be plugged in part of it yeah
, and they just want to be.

Speaker 2 (28:52):
They want to hear what's going on.
They want to, you know,participate in tournaments when
we have them, go to our happyhour or not, or just like watch
our discord channel and seewhat's going on between the
players.
You know, it's just it's justcrazy.

Speaker 1 (29:06):
Yeah, it created pickleball, created this
community where it doesn'tmatter who you are, what you do
it.
It's just so beautiful how itcould bring so many people
together right for the samecommon you know, whatever, and
it's just.
I'm glad I'm a part of it.
I'm sure you guys are gladyou're a part of it and it's

(29:26):
just like it gives you like Iwake up, like this is something
that I can still, like you know,like in baseball, I was like my
goal was to make it pro, right.
I still have the hopes that Icould take this as pretty far
right.
So that's the beauty of it.
Everybody's got that kind ofhope where they can.
I can make it to 4-0, I canmake it to 4-5, I could go to
5-0, right.
So that's the cool thing isthat you get that, that you know

(29:49):
that kind of competitive, youknow winning game, like you know
thing back in your life thatyou used to have when you're a
little kid.
And that's where I that's how Ifeel about it.
So it's really, I mean, it'sjust I can't say enough about
this and what it's bringing.

Speaker 2 (30:03):
I can't believe that you've only been doing it a year
or two and near this, where youare, that so you've got there.
There's so much for you toaccomplish here and we are.
We're what.
Four years, three years, fouryears in now for good night and
not hit.
They haven't hit that four ohyet, oh Lord.
But we just seriously startedtaking it more seriously.

(30:24):
I mean, in the beginning,really literally, we were
playing in the street talking itoff.

Speaker 1 (30:29):
Yeah, just to do something.
Yeah, what are your guys' goals?
Like, do you guys want to playany big tournaments, or yeah?

Speaker 2 (30:36):
I do.

Speaker 1 (30:36):
You should.

Speaker 2 (30:37):
I'm dragging him along.

Speaker 1 (30:39):
It's so fun, I know, go to a PPA event, go, I mean it
is like just to be in theenvironment next to the pros.
I mean you'll go and you'll bewarming up and like Ben Johns
and Colin Johns but hey, can wesplit the court with you?
Or like like literally likeyou're just warming up with
Tyson or with these guys, thesebig guys.
It's like it's so fun and it'sit doesn't matter if you win or

(31:00):
lose.
But you have to check out theexperience.
I mean at any level.

Speaker 2 (31:04):
We've done it.
We've done that Because we hadNationals here and we have the
big Texas Open here.
But problem is when we playedin the Texas Open is that their
sandbagging is so bad, it'sterrible.

Speaker 1 (31:19):
I heard yeah.

Speaker 2 (31:20):
We had 5-0s playing in 3-0s.

Speaker 1 (31:22):
Because they want the national medal right, right,
which is so stupid.

Speaker 3 (31:25):
They want the golden ticket and all that stuff.

Speaker 2 (31:26):
It's so dumb, so until that's figured out, I'm
going to tell you this, SuttonUntil that's figured out, we're
not going to just dump our moneyinto it?
Yeah, no, but what we're goingto do in the meantime is work
our butts off to improve.
And I'll tell you, john, weneed to play our game.
Like we finally got on the samepage on that this last league

(31:47):
match and it worked for us, andlike what you were saying is
like at the higher level.
You know people are dropping,they're dinking, they're getting
up to the line and it's thatclassic kitchen exchange.

Speaker 1 (32:05):
And in our last league match, the final team
that we played afterwards- comeup to us and they were like man,
you guys are so awesome to playwith because it had every
element.

Speaker 2 (32:10):
They were like you were dinking, you were dropping,
you were playing pickleball andand that was a huge that.
That was better to me than agold medal at the texas open
because, yeah, because it waslike okay, everything we've been
practicing and working towardsis appreciated, and it does mean
that if we continue to do thatrather than match the banger

(32:33):
that we end up running into,then we will get to that next
level, absolutely, and that'sthe beauty of it.
So what's your favorite shot in?

Speaker 1 (32:43):
practical.
You know what I do this like.
I have this new like so if Iget like someone dinks me out to
my backhand, I'll do like I dothis two-hand backhand like roll
up the middle and but I'll theroll yeah I'll kind of fake like
I'm gonna just do the normalslice back back down the line,
but I hold it really long andthey just they spread apart and

(33:05):
the hole opens and then I justdrop it right up the middle of
two hands.
Yeah.
Yeah, so I use a lot of the twohands now and, um, like a lot of
the drive drops, like with alot of top spin.
If there's so like I'm hittinghard so they're so hard for them
to pick it up, right Cause it'sjust dipping so hard you can't
do anything with it.

Speaker 2 (33:23):
Yeah, so that's my favorite yeah.

Speaker 1 (33:25):
So if your partner knows and you're on and my drive
is ridiculous too so if they'reboth on, my partner knows get,
get out to the line because it'syour setups there and it's over
, you know.
So those are the fun, those arethings that I love.
You know, uh, when I know I'mconfident we can get quick
points.
Other than that, it's just thatI love dinking.
I love, like transition zone,working to the line, fighting

(33:47):
through that, getting there andthen setting yourself up or your
partner up.

Speaker 2 (33:52):
You know what I love too.
This happened the other day.
It's like when they have awinning shot on you and somehow
your whole body just takes overand your paddle gets there and
it gets it back and they're likewhat You're just like there,
you're just yeah, reset, reset,reset, reset, yeah.

Speaker 1 (34:10):
And then they mess up .
I don't even know how I did it.

Speaker 2 (34:13):
It's just like the body took over.
It was an out of bodyexperience and just did it.

Speaker 1 (34:17):
It just because it's learning the game.
Your body learns the game Rightand that's why, if you play
enough, you become the movementRight and so eventually, like
what I told you about my partner, like I'm watching her now and
I'm like, dude, you look sosweet, like these moves, like
it's so cool, you're likebecoming the movement Right.
Like because in the beginningit's like I look at old stuff of
mine, I'm like what was I doing?

(34:39):
I'm so weird and jerky, but nowit's so fluid, it's so smooth,
it's so just the touch right,it's the finesse.
So that's the cool part I lookforward to and you should look
forward to right.

Speaker 2 (34:49):
So yeah, sutton, when we become uh, when we I'll,
since we become friends I'llshare a video with you that will
make that you can pull up on abad day and and like okay, I
love it if you want to talk,it's called the elaine yeah, you
know how el from Seinfelddances, do you know?

Speaker 1 (35:05):
Yeah, all night doing that Like all crazy and her
legs flying.

Speaker 2 (35:08):
Yeah, I did do that.
I had the yips with my serve,yeah.
And so after I would serve, Iwould go like this and my leg
would fly up and I was liketrying to control the ball and
it's on video and video and itis funny, it's called it's.

Speaker 1 (35:27):
so what is it?
So when you people because afriend of mine, he's it's only
when he serves and it's the it'slike some sort of a mental
nervous thing, right, orsomething?

Speaker 3 (35:32):
it is.

Speaker 1 (35:33):
And then you get stuck in it, right like you.
You just keep repeating itbecause your body yeah.
So what is?

Speaker 3 (35:39):
yeah, because you tighten up and you know.
Then you're thinking about itand it's in your head.
It's like the harder.

Speaker 2 (35:43):
Everyone said well, stop thinking about it and it's
in your head and the harder.
Everyone said well, stopthinking about it.
I'm like.
The harder I stop trying tostop thinking about it, the more
I did it and you miss and youcan't make it right.

Speaker 1 (35:51):
It's just like you just keep missing, yeah.

Speaker 3 (35:55):
Well, it's like the guy.
I mean, what was it?
Was it Steve Sachs?
I mean, you're a baseball guyand when, all of a a sudden, he
lost the ability to throw theball to first base so weird, no
no explanation.

Speaker 1 (36:03):
It's just crazy, isn't that weird yeah?

Speaker 3 (36:05):
and so, yeah, we have people and you can tell when
they'll get it.
They're, they've got the yipsand you're not even supposed to
mention it.

Speaker 1 (36:10):
You're like oh, this is gonna be, yeah, this is gonna
be bad, yeah I got a questionfor you about drilling.

Speaker 3 (36:18):
Yeah, how often?
How many times a week do youthink you drill, and how many
hours?

Speaker 1 (36:21):
um, um.
So I play daily.
I play, you know I, I, if I'moverdone, you know I might take
a day or two off in between orwhatever.
But I'll probably drill between, you know, one and two and a
half hours and I primarily drill.
And then there's probably two,two days I'll play men's doubles
, really high level, intensemen's doubles, and then one I'll

(36:44):
play.
One day I'll play mixed doubles, but I'll play men's doubles,
really high level, intense men'sdoubles, and then one I'll play
.
One day I'll play mixed doubles, but I'll probably drill
between no more than three hours, maybe minimum an hour and a
half, and I have a really setregimen of drilling and it's all
standard stuff, but it's alljust stuff to keep.
Oh, and then, like, if there issomething I'm adding new or
implementing, we'll add that toit and we'll drill that Um, but

(37:05):
primarily, um, the drilling isjust to keep all your basics.
You know what I'm saying.
It's, it's, it's nothing really, unless you're adding a new
shot.
It's nothing that is reallytricky, it's all basic stuff but
it's, it's just seeing the reps, seeing the different um.
You know the paces, differenttiming, different uh stuff, like
that three hours is Matt ispushing it.

Speaker 3 (37:29):
You know what I'm saying, but so you're like uh,
80, I think that's what I'veheard too is like that 80, 20,
where you drill about 80% andonly play about 20 to kind of do
that.

Speaker 1 (37:37):
The only reason I do play is because I got to see
pace, especially at that level,is you got to see pace and you
got to learn timing.
But honestly, the, the yeah,and I love playing.
You know what I'm saying, but,um, sometimes you know what I'm
saying, but, um, sometimes youknow well, because I'm trying to
take it to such a high level.
Um, if you can, if you play toomany games, I think that you

(37:58):
can get yourself kind of caughtup, um, in like I don't know,
your growth kind of stops,because I don't know, sometimes
it's not really.
I know it's hard to explain.
So, like, if the games aren'treally beneficial, to kind of
like match that higher levelgames, then I'm just kind of
like doing it as a cardio thingkind of.
So the drilling keeps me inline and then I have a set group

(38:20):
of guys who I play with.
That play, you know, a prettyhigh level.
So we'll play two, at least,two to three times just to just
to see that pace and just to seethe movements right, just to
keep it fresh.
But if you keep it simple andyou keep your basics, your
drives, your drops, your dinks,your backhand, your forehand,
your speed ups, your counters,all that stuff.
You just continue to do thatand then eventually in the game

(38:42):
it's just so natural, you know,it's just, it's not that
complicated and actually thegame is pretty well.
It's challenging, but itactually is is it is easy when
you get to, when you really justunderstand what to do and you
know what to do and you kind ofjust like I'm getting to the
point where it just kind of Ijust it, just it just happens.

(39:03):
I don't even know what I'mdoing, it just it, just I know
when I'm here, I'm here, right,and when I'm here, I'm here when
I'm here, and it just my brainis just working on its own.
So's, that's kind of what allthe reps and all the seeing it
so much over and over again Iguess does for me.
Yeah.

Speaker 2 (39:19):
Now you said your mom is the one who mentioned
pickleball.
How did she become aware of?

Speaker 1 (39:23):
pickleball.
Mom and dad get the creditbecause, um, they I remember I
was wherever I was and theycalled me and she was, like you
have to do pickleball, you'll beunbelievable.
And I was like, I was like Ithink I played that high school
in 2005 once, like in someone'sbackyard when I didn't even know
what it was, and she has beenplaying for you know, she's 65

(39:49):
or 66.
And she's been, they've been myparents been playing, you know,
religiously too, um, for a fewyears now.
But she just kept telling me, Iremember on the phone, like you
gotta do pickleball, you'regonna be awesome, you're gonna
be.
And so she really gets thecredit for, um, me, for where
you are yeah for where I'm atreally getting in.

Speaker 2 (40:08):
Yeah, now did she.
Was she a tennis player thatfound pickleball, or does it?
Is it something, are they?

Speaker 1 (40:14):
No, we don't have any type of racket Background.
Yeah, no, racket backgroundyeah just something they were
looking.

Speaker 2 (40:25):
Yeah, they just kind of jumped on the craze.

Speaker 1 (40:28):
I guess it was probably a COVID thing, Because
I cause I think they were wherethey started was outside and, uh
, you know, going to parks justto do something, and then, um,
it turned into a prettyfull-time thing for them as well
.
I mean, they play all the timeand I actually coach them too.

Speaker 3 (40:43):
They play as a couple .

Speaker 1 (40:44):
They play as a couple they did, but they don't
anymore.
Yeah, so I think it's hard, man.

Speaker 3 (40:51):
It's hard, man, it's hard.

Speaker 1 (40:54):
Man.
I'll tell you what I don'tthink.
I don't think I think this.
I've had a more of a hard timemanaging this relationship than
I have in my whole life with anyrelationship.

Speaker 3 (41:07):
Yeah, and I've had worse fights in pickleball.

Speaker 1 (41:11):
So yeah, that was pretty funny, that's so funny.

Speaker 3 (41:14):
It is really tough to play with your spouse.
I'm telling you.

Speaker 2 (41:16):
We tell you all the time that we're one of the very
few couples that have not gottenpickle divorced.

Speaker 1 (41:22):
Yeah Is what we call it, and it happens.
I mean, it's a real thing.
Honestly, I got to the pointwhere I just hated seeing myself
getting so upset at somebodyelse, like because point where I
just hated seeing myselfgetting so upset at somebody
else, like because it's not whoI am, but I just hated how I
started seeing other people andI started absolutely despising
how it looks, so like I don'tcare if you miss, you make a
great shot.
I'm just going to be 100%,really positive.

(41:44):
It doesn't matter because itdoesn't look good and it's not.
It's it.
It creates so much dumb.
You know what I mean and youshouldn't make anybody feel like
that.
It's not the game's hard, it Imean to play in a mixed setting
like that.
It's challenging.
So I really look at it and useit as like a really fun,
positive thing.

(42:04):
The mixed game now.
So that kind of keeps it light,because it it trust me, it
caused it caused a lot of shityeah, oh man, we, we actually
had the experience finally acouple weeks ago in a league
game, because it it trust me, itcaused, it caused a lot of shit
.

Speaker 3 (42:16):
Yeah, oh man, we, we actually had the experience.
Finally, a couple of weeks ago,in a league game where this
couple we were playing against.
She called timeout and she wasripping her husband a new one
we're like we're finally thecalm ones, it's not us.

Speaker 1 (42:25):
Yeah, oh man, it's just, it is it?

Speaker 3 (42:27):
Oh man, it's just it is.
It's a different, differentdynamic altogether, but we're
gonna stick it out.

Speaker 2 (42:33):
Yeah, and what's your pick?
What's your pickleball club?

Speaker 1 (42:55):
So it's called the Bay Club.
Yeah, so the Bay Club is like amassive, like sweet, you know
workout facility, tennis,pickleball.
It's huge, they're all over,you know, San Diego, LA, I mean
they're, they're massive.
So, um, but the one, uh, sothere's, let's see 12 and six.
Yeah, there's like between 12and six, but, um, I mean, the
facility is massive, it's not.
There's not like that manycourts but other than the 12 and
six, but, uh, we have a lot ofdifferent locations that are
nearby, so we always get on acourt and you can reserve and
you can, you know, but beautifulcourts, I mean really beautiful

(43:18):
.

Speaker 2 (43:18):
Well, so you're saying that you have enough
courts to support the, the, thegrowth of this work.
We just got our courts, is whatI'm saying.
We just got them.
We just got our courts is whatI'm saying we just got them.

Speaker 1 (43:31):
It's getting kind of hectic, yeah.
So somebody and the funny thingis there's not a big I would
think in San Francisco therewould be a bit like someone
would put some more money intoit down here because but there's

(43:53):
no big like, there's no big MLPteam you know like an actual
MLP team.
There's no like.
So I don't know what.
I don't know what that's about,but it's.
I mean, pickleball is huge outhere, but it's also not it's
like I don't know, it's weird,yeah, yeah.

Speaker 2 (43:58):
Well, I think that's why I still keep saying to John,
even though we're four years inthis, like now, that there's
still so much room for growth inthis sport.
We're just, we're still at thetip.

Speaker 1 (44:08):
Yeah, oh my God, this is not.
This isn't even close to whereit's going.
Yeah, this is.
You can't stop this now, yeah.

Speaker 2 (44:17):
Oh, yeah, yeah.
So what do you want to do?
Setting with it Like?
I mean, it sounds like.
Do you want to go?

Speaker 1 (44:21):
pro.
Um, you know, I think that'slike.
I think I think that's likeeverybody gets to a point where
they're like I'm going to go pro.
Right, Honestly, I am going totake it as far as I can.
And you know what I really likehelping other people and I like
kind of sharing my knowledge.
So, honestly, I really find thejoy in watching other people

(44:41):
get better.
But, yeah, I'll probably takeit.
I've done only one proqualifier and I didn't really
have the right partner that Ihad been playing with, but so
I'll probably do.
I'll probably try and jump ontothe circuit at some point, but
I'm only a year into it too, soI mean, I can't imagine two,
three years.
You know what I'm saying.
So, yeah, so my goals are toprobably at least give it a shot

(45:06):
, because I definitely think Ican hang with the best of them
and also just help others.
You know, help people just kindof develop their game, because
it's really a cool thing for meto watch.

Speaker 2 (45:18):
So I love your mindset.
You're like I think I couldjust jump in there with them.

Speaker 1 (45:23):
Oh, I'm not.
You want to.
This is how I got.
This is how I got good, Iwalked into the pickleball gym
and I go okay, that court lookslike those are the best guys.
I mean, literally my first day.
I'm going to put my paddle downthere.
I don't care.
I don't care what happens.

Speaker 2 (45:36):
No way.

Speaker 1 (45:38):
I always.
And then I was like, okay,here's what I'll do, I'll start,
I'll find a level that isenough for me to struggle, but
enough for me to not be likeover my head.
And then I just kept climbinglevels and I kept seeking out
the best crew in the gyms and Ijust, you know, put got my, made
my way in and I worked my wayin and kind of developed that

(46:00):
way, you know so and you sat inthe mirror and you made this.

Speaker 2 (46:03):
Yeah, I check myself out.

Speaker 1 (46:05):
I do my little slice thing, I do my yeah right.

Speaker 2 (46:07):
I'm like, how am I holding my paddle here?
Do I look?

Speaker 1 (46:13):
cool.

Speaker 3 (46:15):
What paddle are you using?

Speaker 1 (46:25):
I'm a Yola guy but I've been honestly.
Recently just tried the AnnalieWaters paddle.
That's a whole different beast.

Speaker 2 (46:29):
Really which one?

Speaker 1 (46:33):
Let me see this thing .

Speaker 3 (46:36):
This one, oh yeah, the PaddleTech.

Speaker 1 (46:38):
Is it new?
It's her new one.
Yeah, it's her new one whereshe has her little AL with the
crown on it.

Speaker 2 (46:45):
Right.
There's no way that thisthing's going to last, that long
on the market.

Speaker 1 (46:48):
What's different, the power in this is you don't even
have to play, like it does thework for you, it's just bizarre
Really.
It's the most power.
Like you say, the gearbox isstrong.

Speaker 2 (47:03):
This is just as much, if not stronger.
So are you playing with that?
Then Did you switch.

Speaker 1 (47:08):
I've been just using it.
I love Yola and that's kind oflike my dream is to get
sponsored by them, uh, but yeah,because I, I, just I always
have had a good run with that,that paddle, um, but the, the, I
use the, actually the hyperionc2, it's, it's, yeah, it's kind
of the newer, one of the newerones, but yeah, I'm dying for
their new stuff to come out.

(47:29):
That's all.
The pros have the new ones.
I don't know if you've seen,like Tyson McGuffin and
Deckelbar, all those guys.
They have a new one that's out,but not out to the public yet.

Speaker 2 (47:38):
Okay.

Speaker 1 (47:38):
Yeah, so what do you guys play with it?

Speaker 2 (47:40):
may have that kind of power.
Well, we're both Yula, butwe're the Perseus.

Speaker 1 (47:53):
And so the difference between Perseus and Hyperion is
thinner right.
No, the hyperion just has thehas the round top.
It's like they call it theright.
It's like the.
I don't know whatever they callit, but it's more rat.
Yours is like got more of arectangular shape at top right
right.
And then I don't know like theysay that the hyperion c2s are
carbon charged.
I don't know, that's just theirnew technology.
The perseus might not have that, but the perseus is a great
paddle, yeah.

Speaker 2 (48:12):
Yeah, that's an excellent paddle, but you know
what I mean?
Literally, we're only what andI keep saying four, it's not
four years.
So March of 2020, so 21, 22, 23, 24.
Is that four years?
Yeah, four years.
Okay, all right, I can't God,I'm doing my math here.
All right, so we've spent.
I mean, I can't even tell youhow many paddles we bought, and

(48:32):
maybe, and it's, and it justkeeps the.
It's like the technology, it'slike an.
If an iphone came out everyother month, I mean I swear it's
a cottage industry.

Speaker 3 (48:42):
You have everybody jumping in.
Now it's like everybody wants apiece of the pickleball pie,
you know everybody's doing it,everybody, yeah, it's.

Speaker 1 (48:50):
It's so crazy.
It's like I'm a little kid in acandy store.
I mean, the number of paddles Ihave is sick, it's just.
But it's so fun, right, it'slike it's a toy, it's just like
it's just something that makesyou so excited, like it was like
a new baseball bat or some newglove right yeah, so yeah, but
it was funny like along thejourney and yours has been so
quick.

Speaker 2 (49:09):
I don't know if this happened for for you, but I
remember when I went to theWarrior right.

Speaker 3 (49:14):
Yeah, so Diadem, and that's a… Diadem, yes, diadem
Warrior.

Speaker 1 (49:17):
And I was like power man, I got all this power.
That was powerful, yeah.

Speaker 2 (49:20):
Oh, but then my wrist got all messed up.
Yeah, because I'm too littlefor it.
It weighed like over eight 84or 85 or something.

Speaker 1 (49:29):
yeah, yeah.

Speaker 2 (49:30):
So then I went, then I dropped down, so then that's
when I got the nickname LittleMonster, because if it was
flying it, was dying, that'sfunny.
But now I needed control becauseI want to go to that next level
.
Right, I don't want to bang, Iwant to drop and I need the feel
.
And I went oh, I also had theicon too, which is no feel right
, but I had great slice.

(49:51):
I had icon too, which is nofeel right that, but I had great
slice.
I had a great icon, not a slice.
I had a great, um, top spin.
That's where I had got learnedmy drive drop.
But then you know so then.
So each paddle is like kind oftaught me a little bit more
about the game does that makesense or like help?
me with a certain skill in thegame totally whereas now I'm
like the Eula Perseus is kind ofmy perfect blend between the

(50:13):
touch and the power.
But I'm sure that the nextlevel is going to be something
else, like you're exploring, youknow.

Speaker 1 (50:21):
And, yeah, I think that Perseus is a good.
Like you said, it's a good.
You know you can use it formultiple.
It's an all around solid paddle, right.

Speaker 2 (50:31):
Right.

Speaker 1 (50:32):
Yeah.

Speaker 2 (50:35):
Yeah, multiple, it's a, it's an all-around solid
paddle, right and so, right,yeah, yeah, but it it also.
It also, um, because I wentfrom a heavy paddle to a lighter
paddle, my timing was off, soyou have to make adjustments.
Right, because it's this one'sgoing to fly through the air at
not as much.
It's easier to fly through theair because it's not as big,
right, so the aerodynamics arethere and so I had to learn to
cut off a little bit.

Speaker 1 (50:56):
Um, make adjustments with each paddle yeah, it's, and
it's so crazy because, like Isaid, the margin for error in
this game is so small, like it'sso small, even that little,
even that little weight or thatnew grip on your, I mean, it
changes your entire.
Like it is such a crazy thing.
This game like literally everylook the wind or the indoor,

(51:18):
outdoor, like it changes yourentire game.
So you have to play everywhere,inside, outside, with good
people, with bad people, withmen, with women, with you have
to get it all, you have to do itall, otherwise it's just like
the margin is too.
You have to see it all.
So it's tricky, yeah do youhave now?

Speaker 3 (51:37):
you mentioned your dream is to have eula uh as a
sponsor.
Are you uh?
Do you have some sponsors rightnow or are you looking for
sponsors?

Speaker 1 (51:45):
holbrook and selkirk.
I had a little deal going withthem.
But I I just felt like inside Ijust wanted to kind of wait.
I felt like it, the paddle Ilove is a eula.
And I I just felt like inside Ijust wanted to kind of wait.
I felt like it, the paddle Ilove is a yola, and so I just
felt like inside.
It would be kind of like goingagainst the way I'm cheating,
yeah, so I just was like youdidn't believe.

Speaker 3 (52:04):
You didn't believe what you were hawking.

Speaker 1 (52:05):
Yeah, so it's like you know, why am I going to
switch to a paddle I've neverplayed with before, right, I've
never even tried.
But you know it's when it'sit's it was.
It was kind of like um tough,because it's like you know,
we're going to send you the gearand you got so much money to
spend monthly on gear andpaddles and this and that.
But I figured if it's going tohappen it'll come it'll.

Speaker 3 (52:34):
You know I'm so fresh in this game.
So yeah, you know the game.
The game now is getting towhere because you were talking
about how your drive isridiculous and all that Um, it's
getting people could hit theball so much harder than I think
they could just just a year ago.
It's insane.
You got people like Jack Sockwho are on the tour, who are
scaring people off the court and, um, it's going to be
interesting to see if they haveto start dialing it down a
little bit, because I know thatsome of the illegal paddles

(52:54):
people were accused of havingand things like that, I mean it
could be dangerous.

Speaker 1 (52:58):
No, and they will, and it's solely because of this
new paddle technology.
But I hear they're talkingabout you know, removing the
grit and so you have to learnhow to really control it, like
they're talking about so manydifferent ways, but enough
people are going to lose theirsight and their eyesights and
things like that they're goingto have.
Or glasses will becomemandatory, right, uh, so yeah,

(53:23):
it's getting pretty nutty,though, like the, the power that
I had in just a short time fromwhen I started to now is scary.
Like I mean, it's, it'sridiculous.
Like I can't even believe I canhit the ball this hard.

Speaker 2 (53:36):
Like, yeah, it's what are you doing?
Well, I think it's the baseit's, it's the.

Speaker 1 (53:42):
I have the.
I do a lot of like rotationalexercises, a lot of like
powerful um rotational stuff.
But I don't know what it is,but I, when I rip that ball, it
is like and even the top guysare like oh my god, like this is
like wow, it's just I'm able to.
I don't know if it's got to bea baseball thing, I'm just
connecting right out in frontrotating.

(54:04):
You know, I just gotta well,and the paddle technology, you
know, also helps.

Speaker 3 (54:08):
But I hit, you ever worry you're gonna hurt somebody
.
I mean, you ever have thatdoubt in your mind.

Speaker 1 (54:12):
There's's a couple of times after a swing when it
goes a little high and I'm justlike, oh geez, like yeah, and
I've hit people too, and it'sit's, you know it's, it's kind
of scary close.
You know what I mean.
And so you just have to be yeah, just gotta be careful.

(54:34):
That's all Now.

Speaker 2 (54:34):
I hope that they don't go to glasses.
Have you tried the safetyglasses?
I just, I don't think I can doit.
Yeah, just I can't.

Speaker 1 (54:36):
It throws off my depth.
There's something on you justmesses with me.
Yeah, I'm not into it.

Speaker 2 (54:39):
Yeah, yeah yeah, so I wear a hat every time.

Speaker 1 (54:42):
Yeah, because I mean I have, here's the trick here's
the crazy thing is this girlthat we were playing with the
other day.
She had a hat on like this,really low.
She got hit so hard in the sideof the head here her right eye
went out.
She went black for like an houroh my god and we're, she's
playing with guys when we'reripping the ball.
So yeah, she was.
I mean, she was lost and shewas crying.

(55:03):
I mean wait a minute bad she'sand she's a high five.

Speaker 3 (55:06):
Oh, like big time player this girl yeah, and she
got knocked right in the temple,hit off the net too, and it hit
off the net too.

Speaker 1 (55:13):
It wasn't a straight shot.
That's how hard it was coming.

Speaker 3 (55:16):
That's what happened to you.

Speaker 2 (55:16):
That's what happened to me the other day.
But where did it hit?
It hit me right on the cheek.

Speaker 1 (55:24):
It got her like right under the hat right like in the
temple.
She's tough and it was.
It was bad yeah.

Speaker 2 (55:33):
Well, but I can't wear the glasses.

Speaker 3 (55:36):
No, you can wear a helmet.
You can wear like a littlefootball helmet.

Speaker 2 (55:40):
Maybe I need a football helmet.

Speaker 1 (55:42):
The thing I'm really aware of is, just like you know,
if you have good hand eyecoordination man, just be ready.
Don't, don't get caughtsleeping, you know yeah, just be
safe and don't because thesenew paddles are coming out.
It's, it's a, it's a wholenother beast.
You know, last thing you wantto do is lose the thing you love
to do, right, yeah so how manymet?

Speaker 2 (56:04):
do you have medals?
Have you been?

Speaker 1 (56:06):
yeah, I've got like I want to say like four or five
now, uh, yeah but winners, yeah,solid wins too.
You know pretty big, pretty bigum the money.
The ppa finals was the best.
That's.
That's the money ball event,because we played some pretty
reputable people who are in thebig youtube world, you know um
yeah yeah, some pretty highlevel people.
So you know five, threes, fiveohs, five, fives um.

(56:30):
And then the other ones weretwo mixed, two three mixed,
three mixed and two men's.
So yeah, okay, yeah pretty good,though, for not I mean just for
kind of jumping right in, youknow oh really good.

Speaker 2 (56:45):
Yeah, or we're, uh, we're not, we're not there.

Speaker 1 (56:48):
You guys will be there, though you guys, you guys
seem to hey we're to do it therest of our lives.

Speaker 2 (56:54):
Yeah, that's all that matters.
We're going to be like yourparents.

Speaker 1 (56:56):
The medals, it's all just whatever right.
It's about this whole journeyof learning and getting better
together and getting yourselfbetter and learning that you can
accomplish stuff, no matterwhat you're doing.
You know what I mean.
And learning that you canaccomplish stuff, no matter what
you're doing.
You know what I mean.
So it's really a.
I've never seen anything likethis in my whole life and it's
really given me such a.

(57:17):
I mean, I wake up and I want toplay pickleball.
Right, that's it.

Speaker 3 (57:23):
I've never seen a sport where you could walk out
on the court, and there's neverbeen a time when you could not
judge a book by a cover, morethan in pickleball.

Speaker 1 (57:29):
The the different shapes and sizes and ages of
people it's just, you don't knowwhat, you don't know what
you're gonna get, and I've beenI've been beaten by people twice
my age who have rocked my worldlike literally oh yeah and it's
like wow, wow, yeah, so it'scool, it's just, it's a blast
yeah well, seton, you are, um,you're, you're an inspiration.

Speaker 2 (57:52):
I'll tell you that I mean in a year, like you said,
you know, say you were in thedarkest place in your life.
You came out and found thissport and and it gives you a
purpose every single day and Imean I can feel it and I, I
can't wait to see where you gowith this, because I mean you're
, you're certainly driven andand we look, I love that.

(58:14):
I love that you know,pickleball found you and you
found pickleball and it's, it's,you're, you're on a, you're on
a great trajectory thank you somuch.

Speaker 1 (58:23):
You guys are so awesome.
It was.
This is so cool.

Speaker 2 (58:25):
I I love what you guys are doing and it's such a
blast man we just want to bringmore awareness to pickleball and
, yeah, and, and you know, tellour pickleball stories because I
think it's such a blast man.
We just want to bring moreawareness to pickleball and,
yeah, and you know, tell ourpickleball stories because I
think it's just such a coolthing.
And, if we can.
You know, we have friends fromdifferent backgrounds, different
walks of life, different agesthan we ever would have had

(58:48):
without this game, and so Iwouldn't have known you without
this game.
And you live in California andI'm here, you know, and so I
wouldn't have known you withoutthis game.
And you live in California andI'm here, you know.
And that's the other thingabout Pickleball is that
wherever you go, you can pluginto any community and play Any
community.

Speaker 1 (59:00):
yeah, this is so cool .

Speaker 2 (59:04):
Well, I'm glad that we got introduced to you.

Speaker 1 (59:07):
Thank you, joel, yeah , right.

Speaker 3 (59:10):
We'll get your address.
Later too.
We'll send you a little swag,because we want you to be able
to represent oh yeah, hey,totally, I'll rep you guys for
sure, always, yeah.

Speaker 2 (59:20):
Awesome.
Do you like performance wear orwhat do you wear?

Speaker 1 (59:22):
when you play football, it doesn't matter, do?

Speaker 2 (59:25):
you wear cotton or do you wear?

Speaker 1 (59:28):
typically, people wear performance where it's like
moisture wicking.
Yeah, I usually do cotton, butif it's blazing paddles gear,
I'll rock it Saddles gear, I'llrock it.

Speaker 2 (59:40):
Yeah, I'll rock it you know what I'm saying.

Speaker 1 (59:43):
So you guys are awesome, man.
This has been so fun yeah.

Speaker 3 (59:47):
Well, we'll have to check in with you again too, to
make sure we're following theSutton story, Because it's going
to be pretty cool one day whenwe're watching and we see you
pop up on the tube.
Oh, I'll be there.

Speaker 1 (59:57):
I promise you that, yeah, for sure, yeah, and
hopefully, if I come out thereto you know, because I do a lot
of traveling for the tournamentsIf I come out there I'll
absolutely check in with youguys, for sure, 100%, 100% yeah,
man, yeah yeah, we'll lock youdown so you can give us a little
lesson yeah right, oh, I'd loveto, that'd be awesome yeah
since you like to teach, yeah, Ido.

(01:00:17):
Oh, yeah, for sure, you guys,that would be sweet.
Yeah, cool, alright, buddy well, god bless.

Speaker 3 (01:00:23):
I'm really happy that you've gotten where you are and
thank you so much for being onhere with us.

Speaker 1 (01:00:28):
This has been such a cool opportunity.
Thank you guys so much, reallyThanks a lot All right, thank
you.

Speaker 3 (01:00:33):
We'll talk to you again soon.
All right, bud All right son,Bye-bye, Bye son and, of course,

(01:01:06):
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(01:01:27):
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(01:01:51):
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