Fi, fi, fo fum!
Don’t be scared of the Giant’s bum
In today’s Bite Size Pickleball Newsletter:
Don’t let a better player intimidate you.
Simple lesson for beginners and intermediates.
New Phrase of the Week.
Chaz Jones BBC 47 Part Series on Pickleball in America (the saga continues).
DON’T BE INTIMIDATED BY A BETTER PLAYER
Mainly, because they want you to be. If you get intimidated, it’ll only make you play tighter and fuel their confidence. “OK, Mr. Rick, but this dude is way better than me, he’s doing Ernes and Berts with his eyes closed, and you’re telling me NOT to get intimidated? Yeah, right!”
Want an alternative? Be in awe of them, not afraid. Being in awe will help you focus on THEM, and get you out of your own fear-based mind. I have discussed this before in my How to Play Better Pickleball book, I call it “out-focus.” Out-focus is putting our attention on the players across the net from us. Tune in to them, and you’ll tune out to yourself more often.
The other thing “awe” will do is help you learn some of that better player’s moves. Because you’re focused on them, you’ll see a lot more, and it’ll make you curious, “I wonder if I can add some of that to my game?” Oh, you most certainly can, and should! Awe and curiosity will aide that discovery process.
And, who knows, you may even win a few points from the giant and it will help boost your confidence. I once hit a pro in the gonads in a firefight. Made my confidence soar. No, I wasn’t aiming for the ballseye, but, hey, it happened, run with it!
Side tip: Pull that player aside and ask them for some advice, or tips on a shot of theirs you may have liked. Most will be happy to share with you.
Awe>intimidation. Lastly, don’t give up before the game even begins!
SIMPLE LESSON FOR BEGINNERS & INTERMEDIATES
Hit it harder. That’s it. That’s the lesson. Naw, I’ll expand a little for you so you don’t misinterpret the message like a few folks did on the Bite Size Pickleball Facebook group. I’m not saying, “Hit it harder and be a banger.” My connotation is: “Stop playing so carefully and hit it harder.”
When you’re playing too careful it causes you to play tight and it reflects in everything you do on the court, right down to the way you grip your paddle too tightly. BTW, for you tennis players: It is called a “paddle” not a “racquet.”
But back to the lesson at hand. Do you see how I am not suggesting you become a banger? I am suggesting that by hitting a little harder, you will begin to swing your nerves right out of your body. It will help you open yourself up! You know, your chakras :) So, you hit a few balls out. I’d much rather have you do that, and then begin to dial it back down, and hone your shots from that point.
I have taken multiple players aside and given them this tip. There isn’t one that it didn’t work for. Again, don’t become a smasher, just look to take a little more risk with your shots. That capacity for risk will help you get to the next level. If you’re always playing it safe, you’ll continue to stay on the same plateau. When you hit a little harder you’ll be breaking yourself out of the box.
One of the best places to put this into action is on a wall. If you can find one, go out and starting trying to hit through that wall. Don’t worry about the wall itself, it’s not budging. You, on the other hand, will be! Right up to the next level.
NEW PHRASE OF THE WEEK
Pickle Footed Kitchen Hoarder. Or: PFKH. (noun) A player who is constantly putting their feet in the kitchen, or on the line. And if you, god forbid, ever call them for a foot fault they’ll deny it with all their life. “John is such a pickle footed kitchen hoarder that I feel like he should be providing the whole court with brownies from all his time spent in there.”
CHAZ JONES BBC’S 47 PART SERIES ON PICKLEBALL IN AMERICA
In this candid, and intimate, interview, our Cleo award winning journalist Chaz Jones is confronted by a highly offended pickle.