Are you pickleball krazy?

Have you ever felt krazy about something or someone, but also intimidated by it or them at the same time? That would be me and Pickleball. {Please check out the following article on "How Pickleball Became America's Fastest-Growing Sport" (How Pickleball Became America's Fastest-Growing Sport (dogonews.com)}

I’m fairly new to the Pickleball (Pb) scene, having picked up the paddle a little bit over the past two years, but more consistently over the past six months.

I’ve taken a few lessons, which has been great, but the most meaningful lessons and Pb “drilling” have been with my husband. (Drills are exercises that are designed to isolate and work on a particular skill or set of skills.) I truly cherish the days when he and I drill at the court. Most of the time during these drills, we laugh a lot, but mostly at my faux pas.

My husband is one of a kind. He is gracious, patient, a great teacher, and pretty much excels at most sports he plays. He is a former tennis player as well as a ping-pong player. I’ve heard Pickleball described as a hybrid between tennis, ping-pong, and badminton, and as you can imagine, my husband is a great player! {Please click on the following link to check out my husband's new online pickleball store called PickleB Prints (Pickleball graphic clothing for men, women and youth and accessories. – PickleB Prints).} www.picklebprints.com

As for me, I consider myself a beginner plus. As I shared in an earlier blog, I had a lot of back pain as a child and in my mid-teens. I ended up having my first back fusion surgery and another one a year later. Given this, I couldn’t participate in sports. Then as an adult, although I would work out, I wasn’t really into any sports until I did taekwondo and mixed martial arts for a little while and ended up taking it to my red belt. I really enjoyed martial arts, but it was too much of a commitment for me as my work schedule was hectic and I had to travel quite often. 

My husband and I were looking for something that we could do together, beyond watching movies, traveling, and hiking and Pickleball seemed to be a good option. He started the sport first, as I had been having some shoulder issues. He is much more advanced than me, but also more of a natural athlete. However, my eventual goal is to be able to kick his butt. LOL!

Pickleball happens to be my first paddle sport and so hand-eye coordination, footwork, and agility (the 3 essential skills for Pickleball success) are very new to me and quite frustrating at times.

Have you ever started a sport and felt intimidated, nervous and ended up feeling so bad about yourself that you felt like you wanted to quit? 

I recently had a gloomy Monday experience that turned into one of the most challenging days that I’ve had in a long time. I got up early and decided I was going by myself to one of the PB courts down the road to see if I could do some drilling and play a few games before work. By the time I got there, the drilling time had passed, and everybody was playing games. I played three or four games and ended up losing every one of them. By the time I was done, I felt hopeless, defeated and so bad about myself that it influenced the rest of the day and in a negative way. I had a short online presentation to give for work and the whole time I felt nervous, and I had difficulty focusing. 

After the day I had been through, I picked up a book from new Pickleball friends the week before called "The unexpected joy of pickleball" by Karen Saliba and Ken Kikkawa (on Amazon). I went directly to the chapter on “Oh Forget It…I Don’t Want to Play Anymore!” As I was reading the chapter, I felt as if she was speaking directly to me. She talked about wanting to cry and the “mood dip.”  She also mentioned having a “slight ‘failure’ feeling that had crept in as the week progressed and that she unknowingly took that feeling onto the court.” That’s exactly what happened to me. I truly know that I am not alone in life, but this chapter reminded me that the feelings I was feeling on that Monday were real, and all too common. It is amazing how feelings of insecurity and/or a poor view of self can influence other events, if you let it. I certainly learned a great lesson the day after and one in which, I hope to never replicate.

In one of my previous blogs, I shared that I am an analytical thinker. I also tend to be categorized as having a Type A personality, although as I was researching the definition, I don’t think I am exclusively Type A, as I’ve become more patient and less controlling as I’ve gotten older and even more committed to my relationships. I also found out that there is a Type C personality, which also describes some of my personality- precise, detail-oriented, and conscientious. 

Given my personality traits, especially my competitive nature and my intense desire for achievement, I am learning to exercise patience and self-love. I have had to remind myself to relax, know that I am there to have fun and that there are going to be emotional ups and downs to learning a new sport.

The day after my “manic Monday”, I was reminded of one of my daily mantras, which is that “I will be peaceful on purpose!” (It is based on the book of John chapter 14, verse 27 - “Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid."). This made me realize that the day before I was taking myself too seriously and I allowed myself to get nervous and self-conscious. I also forgot to have fun and enjoy my journey in pickleball.

NEVER FORGET TO ENJOY THE JOURNEY AND HAVE FUN!