60 Pickleball Players + 2 Tennis Players = 50/50 Court Split
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100+ Teams Signed Up For Dinkville Charity Tournament on October 7-8 at Peay Park
Peay Park in Goodlettsville is hosting their first ever Pickleball Tournament with our Dinkville Charity Tournament on October 7-8 benefitting Rachel's Garden Playground. There are 100+ total teams signed up currently so sign up to play today here. More Information about Rachel's Garden Foundation click here.
Brackets will be posted by Wednesday October 4th via all Dinkville Platforms
Music City Picklepaw Classic October 21-22
If you're in town on October 21-22, you should sing up for the Music City PicklePaw Classic- Sign up here.
Metro Parks 50/50 Court Rule Penalizes Large Groups Of Pickleball Players
It has been no secret, Richland Park has been Pickleball Headquarters on Saturday mornings in Nashville with over 50+ players each Saturday and growing. Players would drive 40+ miles to play and enjoy the community of new players in their area. Richland Park has 4 tennis courts, with 8 Pickleball Courts lined out, so it was a great spot for everyone to go and play together. Check out the video below from one of the mornings at Richland Park.
Metro Parks wants to make sure both Tennis and Pickleball players have the same opportunity to play so they have issued a Pilot Program that gives tennis and pickleball 2 courts each; 50/50 split. Honestly, it sounds like a pretty fair split and even for both sides. But Pickleball is an unique sport as it is mainly played in doubles and everyone mixes in together in a rotation. While tennis is mainly played as singles and they don't mix in together. So in a 50/50 court split, realistically you will have 2 singles tennis groups (4 total players) to 16 active pickleball players (2 tennis courts= 4 Pickleball Courts of 4 players) with multiple players rotating in.
20+ Pickleball Players to 4 tennis players isn't a recipe for success which is why I have my own thoughts below of a possible solution.
My Proposal- Designate Tennis and Pickleball Week Days and Split Weekends. Monday-Wednesday-Friday Tennis. Tuesday-Thursday Pickleball. Saturday Morning 5am-12pm Pickleball, Saturday Afternoon Tennis 12pm-10pm. Sunday Morning 5am-12pm Tennis, Sunday Afternoon Pickleball 12pm-10pm.
Both Sports can play everyday but must give up court to the sport priority that day.
This allows both Tennis and Pickleball Communities to enjoy a fun and exciting experience of likeminded people instead of mixing the two which can cause friction.
Dinkville is really looking forward to working with the city to try and find a better solution for all.
Curious to know what you think or if you have an idea yourself? Reply to this email and let me know!
Get To Know Dinkville Member Robert (Bob) Eisenberger
Who are you? Just moved to a new home in Spring Hill, Tennessee from Maryland to be near family. I am a retired Rocket Scientist (yes really) and former Air Force Officer that has always played Raquet Sports and now focuses on Pickleball. I play every day and have recently been certified as a PPR Instructor. I love to play tournaments: Mens, Mixed and Singles (as long as my body holds up) and recently won Gold at the TN Senior Olympics. We had a wonderful community in Maryland where we took relationships made on the court to social functions like “Dinko de Mayo” parties and group chats where we wished each other “Happy Birthday” wishes and “Good Luck” and “Congrats” notes. I am hoping to be part of the same here in Tennessee.
When did you start playing? Started playing Pickleball about 5 years ago, after 40 years of Racketball. When COVID hit, I started playing Pickleball outside and have not looked back.
How did you hear about Dinkville? Found Dinkville when I moved to Tennessee and was looking to join the Greater Nashville Pickleball community. Played in a Dinkville Tournament in July, had a blast, then supported a few of the Dinkville clinics where massive amount of newbies are showing up to get into the game.
Why do you love Pickleball? Its fun, its keeping me in shape and lets me meet and develop relationships with people of all ages, backgrounds and interesting stories.
What's your favorite shot? Down the Line passing shot.
What's your goals this year? Play for fun everyday, be competitive in tournaments in my age group and establish myself as an instructor in the community.
Advice for new players? Beware, Pickleball is addicting. You can always find players your level and a few hours of guaranteed fun!
Up Your Game
It’s Always Coming Back
"Most of the time, it's a fair assumption that the other team is going to get the ball back. It's just a matter of how can I make them as uncomfortable as possible with this ball?"
Kyle Yates is thinking two shots ahead when he initiates speedups. A well-placed speedup has only one job, to set up the next shot.
- A quick flick into an uncomfortable spot (think chicken wing, shoulder, or high to their backhand) starts the firefight.
- The opponent counters with a rushed or awkward attack. Having started the fight, Yates is ready for clean up on this sweet little 1-2 punch combo.
The initial flick is bait for the opponent. If they take the bait and try to attack back, it's likely to be a high uncontrolled attack. That is exactly what Yates is looking for. A ball that is just high enough for him to put it away.
It's common to think of the speedup as an attempt at a winner. It can be. But at higher levels, you have to expect that the ball is coming back. Use that to your advantage.
Today In Pickleball
Tennis Royalty Sets Sights on Pickle
If you could imagine the perfect pickleball doubles team, what would it look like? How about two 6’4” identical twin brothers, one that is right-handed and the other left-handed.
Well, sources close to The Dink have informed us that tennis’ most prolific duo, the Bryan Bros, are in serious talks with MLP and the PPA Tour about a run in pro pickleball.
Here’s a brief look at the resumes of Mike and Bob Bryan:
- World #1 doubles team for 438 weeks
- 16 Grand Slam doubles titles
- 119 Tour Titles
- Davis Cup Champions (2007)
- Olympic Gold Medalists (2012)
- 1,000+ career match wins
At 45 years old, the brothers aren’t looking to be another flash in the pan. They’re interested in a long-term approach with the goal of becoming #1.
And, they’re intent on becoming ambassadors for the game with the aim to:
- Lobby for college and Olympic pickleball
- Increase pickleball's competitive credibility
- Validate and encourage the transfer of top tennis pros to pickleball
- Encourage and grow youth pickleball with an emphasis on providing a pathway for inner-city youth
Will we see a Johns Bros vs Bryan Bros match before the end of the year? Will the tennis stars’ entry into the game be the end of pickleball as we now know it? (ok fine, that might be hyperbole). Read more about their crossover here.
Shhhh, This is Pickleball
One of the greatest factors limiting pickleball’s growth is noise. There is a news story every week where players are being prevented from playing or courts are unable to be built, because of the noise factor.
In Colorado, plans for a new pickleball park were completely halted. The city put a ‘restraining order’ on the game. No courts within 250 ft of a home.
In order to silence the hate, USA Pickleball has quietly worked on a solution.
From the USA Pickleball announcement (please whisper as you read):
- USA Pickleball’s Quiet Category for equipment will promote products that deliver essentially 50 percent or less of the acoustic footprint of equipment commonly sourced and used in community parks.
- The Quiet Category will encompass a wide range of products including paddles, balls, paddle covers, and noise mitigation screens for pickleball courts.
- USA Pickleball is also launching an incentive program for manufacturers to deliver noise-reduced solutions in the Competition-Certified Category.
Can we find an innovation to bring peace between neighbors? Not until Mike finally returns my ladder and nail gun that he borrowed last year.
But the hope is that advancements can continue to make the game more accessible and courts can be installed to keep up with the demand of millions of players.
24/7 Pickleball
When ESPN decided to air sports 24 hours a day, people thought they were crazy. When pickleball first hit the Tennis Channel, it was met with some backlash.
Some tennis fans did not love seeing tennis give space to pickleball. But the people have spoken, and they want pickleball 24/7.
- The PPA Tour and Tennis Channel have agreed to more pickleball in 2024. According to CNBC, “Tennis Channel will produce all PPA Tour events and have the rights to broadcast a vast majority of them on its pay-TV network and streaming platforms.”
- Together, they will create “Pickleballtv, a 24/7 standalone free, ad-supported streaming channel featuring matches as well as entertainment surrounding the sport.”
- “The agreement allows Tennis Channel owner Sinclair to retain the option of an equity stake in pickleball.com, the parent company of the PPA Tour. Dundon added it’s a 50-50 partnership between the two entities, noting the PPA Tour will put the capital in and Tennis Channel will bring its production and media expertise.”
If you ask most pickleball fans, they’d probably tell you they’re happy watching matches on YouTube. But it appears those days might soon be coming to an end.
Peoria Takes the First Bite
The Peoria Pythons extinguished the Scottsdale Scorchers last night at The Orchard.
- A stand-out 15-5 victory for Lauren Mercado and Rachel Rettger set the table for Pythons win.
- Michael Loyd and Ryan Trefey closed the match with an intense comeback victory in set 2.
No one in pickleball takes on entertainment quite like Jigsaw Health. The halftime show in week 1 is a cinematic masterpiece. Get your Oscar’s vote ready and catch the full replay here.
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Thanks,
Landon Hallam
Dinkville President