Sun's Out, Paddles Out
West Nashville DUPR Event
24+ Members signed up to play in the Dinkville DUPR Event at Slate Apartments in West Nashville. Organized by Neighborhood Captain Jason Tilley, members were able to show up and compete in a 9 round schedule. Please see pictures below from Sunday's event. More events coming soon so sign up today at Dinkville.com!
Good Vibes At Richland Park
Richland Park in Nashville is the place to be on a beautiful day! Great people and setup for a fun day of Pickle! If you haven't tried it out yet, make sure to head over there soon! Connect with our West Nashville group in our community discord to schedule a meet up today! See pictures below from members playing there this week!
Get To Know Dinkville Member Jeremy Higley
Who are you? Jeremy Higley, Florida transplant living in Germantown now. Software sales by day and pickleball addict by night.
When did you start playing pickleball? Started in ‘21 in Tampa when I noticed people playing at a court near my house. Bought some cheap paddles on Amazon, googled the rules and started joining the groups down there. My first few times I got absolutely destroyed by some elderly folks and I was hooked.
How did you get started with Dinkville? When I moved to Nashville in September I started looking for games and I found Dinkville through the Nashville Pickleball Group.
Why do you love pickleball? 2 Things. 1. The blend of speed and strategy in a competitive game 2. The people…everyone has been so accommodating and welcoming.
What’s your favorite shot in Pickleball? There is no greater feeling than a well timed Erne.
What’s your goals this year in pickleball? More consistent play to get to a 4.5 rating and to play in more tournaments
What’s your advice to new players? Find a demo program to get a good paddle that fits your game…it makes a world of difference. Also, lean on YouTube for drills, tips and strategies to implement while you’re playing.
Big game. Bigger commercials
It’s the biggest day in football and the biggest day in TV advertising. Can we learn something meaningful from those commercials? See for yourself during 30-Second Theology! Visit Life Church in Hendersonville at 8:30am, 10am, 11:30am, 1pm, or visit Church Online at Life.church.com
Up Your Game Brought To You By The Dink:
7 Ways to Conquer the Soft Game
The most frustrating players to play against are the ones who beat you in the soft game. Mark Price has 7 tips to make sure you come out on top when the game slows down:
- Create pressure with your positioning - Squeezing tight to the kitchen line can make the NVZ look smaller. If you're picking balls out of the air, they will have less time to react and recover between shots.
- Connect in front - Keeping the ball in front of you is ideal for consistent, controlled dinks.
- Keep it simple - Speaking of consistency, limit your motion when possible to a swing from the shoulder, which is all that is required in many situations.
- Small back-swing - It's pickleball, not golf. No trophies for distance here.
- Light grip pressure - I'd move this to number one in my book. When the pressure is on, the tendency is to tighten up and SQUEEZE the paddle. Keep it loose and breathe.
- Stay focused - ADHD can take over in a long dink rally. Try to stay patient and wait for a time to strike.
- Learn slice- Slice is a weapon in the dink game. Adding spin to the ball makes life difficult for your opponent. It changes how the ball bounces and how it reacts off their paddle.
There you go, 7 tips for the price of one. Write them on your water bottle or put them on an armband like Peyton Manning. Just don't forget them next time you hit the courts.
Today In Pickleball Brought To You By The Dink:
Introducing: The CNPL
Just in case you needed another acronym to memorize in the pro pickleball space: the Canadian National Pickleball League (CNPL) officially launched as the country’s first professional pickleball league.
Their 2023 season kicks off with regional draft qualifying events for spots on eight teams, each with owners, similar to what we’ve seen from MLP. According to the CNPL website, all of the preliminary events across Canada’s regions will be streamed online.
“Canada is bursting with talent that deserves to flourish; the CNPL will provide the opportunity for players to focus on their professional and skill development while simultaneously fostering the growth of the sport in Canada,” says Cameron Taylor, Co-Founder of CNPL and Founder and Head Teaching Professional of Taylored Pickleball Academy.
Team owners have yet to be announced, but CNPL has announced the first four committed players: Jorge Quintero, Kim Layton, Brad Chapman, and Kim Brent.
Player application forms for qualifying events will be accepted beginning March 1st.
Two for Two
The PPA Tour is two events in and the game's best players have locked in their second triple crowns. Anna Leigh Waters and Ben Johns put on another otherworldly performance securing three gold medals each.
Johns went to three game with Federico Staksrud in singles but continues to compete at his own level. The Johns bros appear to have Matt Wright and Riley Newman figured out for the time being. They won gold 11-3, 12-10, 11-8.
Waters gave up her first game of the year in the women's doubles final. She and Catherine Parenteau lost a game to Lea Jansen and Allyce Jones before hoisting the trophy. Waters then dropped one more game in her singles final against Parenteau, but won that match 11-3, 4-11, 11-6.
Wright and Lucy Kovalova shut down the new super team of Newman and Anna Bright in mixed doubles. They made it to another Championship Sunday but were no match for Waters/Johns. Bright/Newman settled for bronze.
The biggest surprise of the weekend was the seventeen seeded Bobbi Oshiro and Sarah Ansboury, who made a quarterfinal run defeating (1) Lucy Kovalova/Callie Smith and (8) Jorja Johnson/Andrea Koop. Read more here.
The PPA stays in the desert for their next tournament, the Carvana Arizona Grand Slam, beginning 2/16.
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Thanks,
Landon Hallam, Dinkville Commissioner, Landon@dinkville.com