Dinkville Member Represents Nashville Pickleball On News
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Dinkville Exceeds 1000 Members
THANK YOU to everyone who has been apart of this fun journey these past 8 months as we have now surpassed 1000+ Dinkville Members! This is just the beginning and we look forward to a very fun and exciting Spring! Keep inviting, Keep Dinkin', and let's continue to be the best Pickleball Community in the Nation!
Turn On Discord Notifications
With Dinkville exceeding 1000+ members, we have decided to mute all channels by default so members phones aren't getting pinged every second!! lol If you want to turn on notifications for a specific channels, please follow these steps. 1. Click on the channel, click on notifications, turn on notifications. Please click here to watch a quick tutorial video. Not in the Discord, click here
Dinkville Member On Nashville News
Dinkville Member Michael Smits and Adam Richards joined WKRN News 2 and discuss the growth of Pickleball in Nashville and how it is taking over the country! Michael was able to share how Pickleball has affected his life and the amazing community he has met through playing this wonderful game! Thank you Michael and Adam on an excellent interview as you can watch the full video here.
Get To Know Dinkville Member David Kazmerowski (Kaz)
Who are you? David Kazmerowski a.k.a "KAZ". I'm married to a wonderful woman, Barbara Browning, who by the way is a direct descendant of Devil Anse Hatfield of the Hatfields and McCoys. I'm very careful not to cross her.
When did you start playing pickleball? Early 2019. My sister-in-law took an adult class in the winter at Harpeth Hall School. She invited me to play one week and I was immediately hooked.
How did you get started in Dinkville? Word spread pretty quickly about Dinkville. I think I was an early member. I really appreciate the hard work Landon puts into this endeavor. Great growth! Right place at the right time!
Why do you love pickleball? As I said, I was immediately hooked. I come from an athletic family. In addition to basketball and tennis, my main sport has been lacrosse. I played in high school and college. Being from Maryland that is not surprising to many people since Maryland has been the hot bed for the sport for decades. I am also a college lacrosse official. This is my 32nd season and probably my final one. Pickleball meets my need to stay active to maintain my conditioning year round. I appreciate the social aspect of the sport. I have met hundreds of great people. When traveling I always take my gear and search out places to play. I also appreciate the smiles I see on the pickleball court. Several years ago, my mixed doubles tournament partner was Bree White, a really talented 29 year old player. At the time, I was 74 so we had to play in her age group. It surprised a lot of opponents to see a team with a 45 year age difference. I should have had her take me to the court in a wheelchair to mess with their minds. Finally, I absolutely love the sound of the ball on the paddle.......... the one thing non-pickleballers hate.
What's your favorite shot in pickleball? I'm a dinker not a banger. The soft game is strategic. I also like the dink lob sending your opponents back from the NVZ to the baseline. My power shot is my serve.
What are your goals this year in pickleball? My goal is to become proficient in both the forehand and backhand roll volleys that will allow me to disguise my misdirection play. I need lots of practice on this skill.
What is my advice to new players? Absolutely necessary to get some instruction on the basics of the sport. We have lots of qualified instructors here. Secondly, watch lesson videos and championship play. There are plenty out there.
Up Your Game Brought To You By The Dink:
Take the Short Cut: A Shorter Drive is a Better Drive
There's one mistake that I have made over and over while trying to set up a shake and bake.
One of my favorite partners of all time is a gent named Rob. He is elite at the 'bake' portion of the shake and bake. Dude should be churning out baguettes in Paris.
As a team, we chose to fully embrace the drive and crash strategy for most points. The mistake that I made far too often was incorrectly trying to accommodate Rob.
I would drive cross-court so that he could crash straight ahead. This is wrong for two reasons:
- Driving cross-court is generally less effective because the ball has to travel a greater distance and allows for more reaction time.
- It also limits where Rob can move when he crashes. He must cover his line, so he does not have as much freedom to be aggressive.
Instead, I should have been driving down the line to the opponent straight ahead. This would greatly reduce their reaction time and limit where they are able to play their next shot.
With Rob crashing at an angle, they're likely to skip the cross court dink/block and try to return the ball to me down the line. Since Rob knows this is their best option, he can crash even harder.
If a ball is left even remotely high, he is there to clean it up with a powerful 5th shot slam.
Being a polite partner can be different than what you originally thought. Test different strategies to see what works best for you.
Today In Pickleball Brought To You By The Dink:
Pickleball restraining order
You may not be surprised to hear about another community threatening lawsuits over pickleball noise. But this time, there may be some good to come from it.
Instead of prattling on about the simple fact that many neighbors don’t like the pickle-pop like they normally do, a news agency in the Phoenix area decided to talk to a noise expert about solutions. What a concept!
This acoustics & noise control expert says he’s contacted all the time about mitigating pickleball sounds.
In a news report, the sound expert advises against tennis court conversions because those courts are often too close to residences. Instead, he advocates for any new pickleball court to be built at least 150 feet away from any home.
Finally, it seems we have a magic number to bring to our town planning committees and project managers.
150 feet is equal to about 10 midsize cars, 25 skis, 6 movie theater screens…or 3.5 pickleball courts. It’s really not that much space for most suburban areas to factor in to pickleball plans.
Considering that two 12-foot walls at that facility near Phoenix may cost $140,000, it’ll save municipalities literal thousands to take the extra time to plan their pickle court placement.
The First Grand Slam of the Year
Arizona is starting to feel like home. Mesa will play host to the state's third pro event this year with the PPA Arizona Grand Slam.
Ben Johns and Anna Leigh Waters have won everything so far in 2023. If they keep the streak alive in Mesa, they could make it three straight triple crowns to start the year.
- ALW is back with Anna Bright for the second time this year
- Catherine Parenteau will run it with first-time partner Jorja Johnson
Waters should have a heck of a chance at the triple, but it’s going to be a little dicier for Johns, who now has Federico Staksrud in his top half of the singles bracket. It certainly helps his chances that Tyson McGuffin, JW Johnson and Dylan Frazier will be MIA.
Why aren’t Johnson and Frazier in that bracket? Well conspiracy theorists will tell you they’re focusing on men’s doubles and are aiming to beat Riley Newman/Matt Wright in the semi-finals.
- Dekel Bar to make his PPA 2023 debut alongside AJ Koller and Megan Fudge
If there is one team to contend against Waters/Johns in mixed doubles it's Bright and Newman. But they’ll have to get past Lucky Kovalova/Wright, who ousted them last time around.
In women’s doubles, Kovalova/Callie Smith hope to get back on track after going out in the second round last tournament to the number 17 seeds Bobbi Oshiro/Sarah Ansboury. Let’s also see if the Lea Jansen/Allyce Jones duo can earn back-to-back medals. Click here for an extended preview and podium predictions.
Watch the action live or test your pickleball shark knowledge with the bracket challenge here.
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Thanks,
Landon Hallam, Dinkville Commissioner, Landon@dinkville.com