The Most Challenging Thing in Pickleball II
Part Deux
In today’s Bite Size pickleball newsletter:
The Most Challenging Thing in Pickleball Part Deux
The Power of Joy update
Bite Size Pickleball TV show update
THE MOST CHALLENGING THING IN PICKLEBALL: PART DEUX
A couple of newsletters ago I covered what I believe is the most challenging thing to do in pickleball, and that’s losing gracefully.
Most people I play with, or have played with, are pretty good losers. But, like in any group, there are a couple of outliers. And those people just take the game, and themselves, way too seriously. It’s like they have their whole life riding on the outcome of a pickleball game. And this, in turn, causes some truly obnoxious outbursts.
Sometimes, those outbursts are directed at themselves, if they lose, or they’re playing poorly, and other times the outbursts are directed at their opponents after, say, winning a point against them (see illustration above). And here’s the thing I want to say to you if you’re one of these demonstrative players? Word gets around fast, and people start talking about you, and it isn’t typically good.
The other day I was playing next to one of these types and, at one point, the dude screamed so loud that it messed me up one court over while I was going for a shot. Pretty soon after, a couple of the good players, that were on the dude’s court, fled to our court while complaining about the guy.
I am not a therapist (however, I did play one on TV), but I would always suggest to someone who acts out so demonstratively to check their ego at the door, and perhaps take some needed time to look deeply into themselves and the source of their pain. Because I do think anguish is a type of pain.
I am talking about adults playing rec ball here. If you play competitively and you really think screaming, chest thumping, finger wagging, helps your game, then go for it. Same thing if you’re a teenager, or younger player. But on a rec court? Chill the f*ck out. Why? Because the majority of players really tire of you, and it’s actually selfish of you not to read the room/court and adjust your emotions. Otherwise, the game of telephone prevails…
THE POWER OF JOY
You might remember I wrote several posts about how the power of joy is a direct link to playing better pickleball and reaching peak performance. Way more often than, say, someone playing like our above culprits. The good news is the Pickleball Magazine article I wrote with the same title will be out in Thursdays’s edition and feature, who I believe to be, truly joyful professional players: Augie Ge, Jaume Martinez Vich, and Connor Garnett.
BITE SIZE PICKLEBALL TV SHOW UPDATE
I am excited to be almost done with episode 1, and then I will shop it around to the various TV outlets. Over the weekend, I linked up with a very fun comedian named Courtney Rainwater and shot a segment for the show. Yes, that is her real last name. Here were a few of her fans who got free passes to our taping.
Yup, Courtney Rainwater and her Bucketeers. Taylor Swift and the Swifties eat your hearts out!
On Friday, I have a meeting with Vice TV and their new sports department. I will be presenting them a different TV show idea called “Courting Pickleball.”
I hope your recent courting experiences have been nothing but pleasant, and we’ll see you next time around.