Host Paul McGrath sits down with Westborough Pickleball masters George Fortier and Nelson Ball.
They discussed all things Pickleball, from the Westborough Courts to equipment.
Welcome to on the sidelines the show that discusses Sports and how Sports intersects Our Lives I am your host Paul mcra and I am glad that you can join us for this show today’s show will focus on the latest rage to help keep us physically fit for many of us the
Challenge to keep somewhat physically fit traces back to the presidency of John F Kennedy in the early 1960s shortly after his inauguration a conference on physical fitness was convened and the president’s Council on Fitness was reorganized well how far have we come many of us remember the jogging craze of
Which I was a part participating in other established sports activities has kept many of us engaged but what is the latest well it seems to be something called pickle ball according to the Sports and Fitness industry Association there were 8.9 million players in the United States in the year
2022 with the number expected to increase to 22.9 million in three years that number projects to be over 6% of the United States population to help us discuss this phenomenon on the sidelines is pleased to have the father of of pickle ball in westbo Nelson ball and the commissioner
Of the YMCA’s morning pickle ball Extravaganza George Foria gentlemen welcome to on the sidelines thank you Paul thank you very much Paul and Nelson you’re joining us from Florida so um we’re glad you could make it and uh be on the show but before I get to you
Gentlemen I just want to go back to a little bit of history that we found on the internet as far as how pickle ball developed and it goes back to a fellow and we have his picture here his name is Joel MC Pritchard and he was a member of
The House of United States House of Representatives for the state of Washington from the year 1973 to 1985 and in 1965 he came home from a game of golf and the family wanted to play badminton but they couldn’t couldn’t find a shuttlecock so he asked the family to
Devise a game and supposedly pickle ball became the answer the conclusion to finding a lost shuttlecock it was pickle ball well since 1965 it certainly has proliferated and it is the latest rage in sports so let’s go back let’s start with you Nelson we call you the granddaddy of uh the
Development of pickle ball in westbo can you let us know how it developed in westro and how you became involved sure I’d be happy to uh I uh since I’m in Florida I don’t have my files or notes but I’ve tried to put something together for memory and what happened um I played
Tennis for like 45 years we were all in our 80s and we disintegrated kind of due to a lot of health issues also played tennis in Florida and while I was down here I heard of this game called pickle ball so I went over to this gym where
They were playing and walked in and here was these people playing on a court half the size of a tennis court about 40 by 22 they had a paddle in their hand they had what looked like a big size whiffle ball and they were playing away so I
Said GE this sounds fun can I learn and they said sure they gave me a paddle and I learned the game and I said wow so when I got back to Massachusetts that fall uh we what the problem was was that snowbirds uh in Florida and you might
Say sunburns in Arizona when they returned to their Northern homes they were looking for being able to continue their game so uh I’m not really sure but I found about four couples and we very first games we played was at a major Taylor Elementary School in Boon uh we
Took painters tape you know the blue inch one inch tape we put it on the tennis court and we started playing there our our next move we went over to the tech school in Marboro Hudson and they let us use a few of the worst
Courts you might say uh to play in and uh one of our Fells Dennis Pard uh he devised a a PO I mean a tube plastic tube and he use you know a child’s big chalk and we they let us chalk on there because the the rain would wash it off
And then for that following winter uh in 211 I approached Betsy moin who was then the executive director of the Y and Westboro and told her about the sport and she was very enthusiastic so we went to work um we couldn’t use the gym but
They had a workout room and we were able to put again the old painters tape down on the floor it was kind of interesting to play because one wall was compl completely mirrored so you had to be sure you weren’t watching yourself but you were watching your opponent on the
Other side Nelson yeah yeah and so that that’s what we played so then the other um other place that started that you could play indoors was at the West Northboro Town Hall oh god there was a couple over there uh Tom Hayes who was a a funeral director and his friend er um
Eric I ER Eric I think she call it and they you played in that sh which was very close because you had you’re almost on top of the bleachers and you often hit the basketball but we worked and we played on that the next move was that
The town of marbor uh started some outdoor courts with a kind of a unique feature they had a come up with a design that they could move their net up and down so the court was supposed to serve both as a pickle ball court and volleyball I don’t think there was much
Volleyball ever played but there was a lot of the pickle ball uh play there then the the next thing was with the we went we still played indoors at the Y we played outside over in that area and then we started playing uh what’s the
School down there um one my memory uh in westbo the elementary school yeah fails Hastings Hastings Hasting we played outside uh in Hastings and we had a pretty large group there that played inside and out and then we played it why and the next step was that the I approached the Town recreation
Group I will say they weren’t very receptive to the idea but they finally allowed us to play in the old gym which was the Forbes High School building right and they let us we couldn’t paint the floor but they let us again put a a
More permanent type of tape and we had a u a um fold up net which we used and then the The Next Step was in in the Shrewsbury tennis club uh the sburg tennis club gave us two quarts and what we would do we would take 25 pieces of
Tape which which were usable actually set up the court and and then we on the tennis courts we used the tennis net and we kind of you might say borrowed weights from their gym took bunge cords lowered the tennis net because the tennis net on pickle ball is about three
Inches lower in the middle and we that’s we played there for uh two or three years um then finally um what we went back to the the why and at that time there was a new director uh Jeff lber and he was very receptive and he said
Okay you know we while we were playing upstairs we really needed the height to make this game work and they allowed us to paint Four Courts on the gym excuse me two courts on the gym because the court was divided and the other half was left for pick for basketball and then
The group just grew so large that they finally agreed to let us paint two more courts and we had four courts of play and the place would you know there’ be 50 people there and there’d be uh 16 people playing and another 30 40 which is the program George has picked up and
Done such a war a great job of continuing The Next Step was we went after we the town of Westboro took over you may recall and they rehabbed and reshaped the whole Forbes building and therefore we got kicked out of that uh uh gym and that’s when the
Jeff let us come into in into the Y um the next uh time we I think we’ve been in the Y now I can’t believe the original y we were 211 and I I can’t recall the exact date when we moved in and periti the courts um and then two
Years ago um Unfortunately they had a a leak K kicked the basketball up and broke a valve of the fire alarm system I mean of the water system and then they’ve repainted the floors and thankfully paint our lines underneath the final coat so now we won’t have to
Worry about our lines wearing off with the uh the basketball players so you know we we’ve had great help um while while we had a little resistance in Westboro we had the one one fellow um I’m trying to think of his name it escapes me at the moment uh who later
Became a the chairman and they backed this and then um a fellow came down from Maine who was the head of the wreck and he’d had a pick a ball in this down he was very and then we now have Jen Kirkland who is a uh head of the
Director of the and she’s been a great backer and then in five years ago in 19 um the town was going to put in two tennis courts um may remember they had they were applying for a grant as I recall and they had to put a base down
In order to apply for the grant didn’t get the grant but then found some money and were’re going to build so a whole bunch of us approached them and said you know would you be willing to build Just One tennis court and four pickle ball courts and they were very good about it
And and they agreed to that and that’s how we finally got our first outdoor really dedicated courts in westbow uh we played on that for a year and we realized that the other court was used very little maybe in the morning occasionally but since there were 14
More courts in town we went back to the selectman and said look at uh there really isn’t use over there any chance we could convert the second Four Courts and they were open to it the only problem we ran into was it was Co now and even though it’s not a big income
The wck does get a fee income from all the programs they use in hold in town and uh they couldn’t do that so I said get me a quote and we went ahead and we built the extra Four Courts with one significant change we redirected them
North and South so it’s not have the sun in your eyes you know morning and and evening as we did on the other courts but uh I want to mention that there there were some people who played um really a part in in in getting this way back even um we
Had let me see if I can get all those I know Paul Walcott was one of the original ones he had it uh in his own yard Carol Bishop has been there the last couple years George has helped out herberg Bob Cunningham and Bill and I
Think I say Don Donna ble all these folks and then George and and Marie and Eve try and Fred dumy have done done a a great job in educating holding classes and things we also did it with a why uh excuse me with the town library and that’s pretty much you know what’s
What’s built up the program in town a lot of people have helped I when I have to do this it just boggles my mind that it’s been 13 years now uh and and the progression uh we went through I’ll tell you a funny story when Shrewsberry uh
They opened a couple of Courts over by White City so a group he said well we’ll come over and help you celebrate your opening and there were four of us playing Tom Hayes was 91 I was 90 Howard can’t think if his last name was 87 then
We had a youngster 75 playing with us and we help them dedicate their courts so that’s the beauty of this I mean for me just to go over there and ride by the courts not even play but to see all these people having great time together the sociability the physical part of it
It’s been a great great to me to see what this is done and I’m glad I’ve had the opportunity to do it Paul well that’s great Nelson I I think you’re a little modest there the the um the courts there at Chanty Lake are also to
Many known as the Nelson P ball uh courts and we’re going to show some video here uh Nelson and if you could comment on the the courts and what you have there uh that would be great so if Aiden if we can run the run the tape if
You can see that Nelson there you are oh yes so you can see visually how the one the original courts went North and South uh excuse me east and west and then when we move and set the ones to the right uh they’re they’re North and
That Evol it one of the things where you notice all the people sitting up there in the back um we we do have a little bit of a problem there uh in that sun and it’s our hope to be putting up a pavilion uh so that people could get be
Out of the sun um in the summer because also if they try to get too close to the bushes we’ve been having trouble with ticks coming out so you can see the crowd there this is I think maybe it was one of the dedications and we’ve had
Such a great group of people had a gentleman walk up to me about two months ago and he said you Sav my life my life Nelson I thought you know now he’s going to zing me with something but no what he said instead what he said was you know
He listen I retired I think it was 60 days ago he says after 30 days I was going B one of my friends you know said to me come over and play Pickleball he says I’m here three days a week I said well that’s great I’m glad you’re
Enjoying it as well as you are so you know you can all ages can play there’s no limitation and I think one of the things George knows but many people might may not be aware is that you know people as they get older they can still possibly walk they might ride a bike
They might treadmill but they don’t walk side to side and the side to side motion like a pingpong and all that tremendous help to your ankles and your ankles play a predominant part in your balance so pickle ball has a real advantage to older people play not just the
Sociability which is such an important factor uh particularly for single people and widows and widowers you know it’s been a great thing that respect as well okay well let’s uh give you a break we’ll get to George here and George how did you get into pickle ball um all
Right Paul in westbo sure or maybe not westbo I don’t know where you well I actually started in up but before I even get to that I just want to uh thank you for the promotion to commissioner I mean I think it was said J and I appreciate
That I have been referred to as the mayor of pickle ball at the Y but Nelson’s the one who deserves the title and he’s actually The Godfather pickle ball and you’ve already address that so I won’t say much about it as only I want to repeat that without Nelson ball we
Wouldn’t have pickle ball in the town of westbo and we have beautiful courts because of Nelson ball and we have indoor play at the Y because of Nelson ball so he deserves a round of applause from now until Infinity than you you’re welcome Nelson how I got involved I
Retired six years ago and for the first year you know having worked for about 42 years I was a little restless and I was going for long walks every day and trying to stay fit as best I could and I was having lunch one day with my wife
And her cousin uh Jerry McDonald who was a great pickle ball player former 50-year tennis player so he said to Ann when I stepped out of the room how’s George doing in retirement and she said well he’ll tell you he’s enjoying it tremendously but I think he’s bored so
He said I think I have the perfect game for him pickle ball so he came back and I came back into the room and he said said do you want to try something out I said I’d be happy to so at the time they were playing there were a couple Courts
At uh kis beach in Upton and they played on Saturday mornings for a couple of hours so Jerry and I went over to uh the courts and you know he introduced me gave me some Basics and they had an extra paddle that was a wooden paddle
And you know that’s not fun to play with Nelson right so I played with this wooden right your hand weighed me down I thought I was going to have tennis elbow after 2 hours and finally I said this paddle feels real heavy and Jerry said
Oh I’ve got an extra one in my bag so he let me borrow his paddle it made a huge difference because it was a much lighter paddle and I started there and then I went to playing Grafton and played in Grafton with some great people for a
Couple of years outdoor play only and um just to trace my history as you did so then we played indoors at the Town Hall that it’s a senior sen in Grafton for a couple of years um and then I went to play at the Y I think maybe one or two
Winters later and that’s where I met Nelson it’s probably five years ago or something and since then we’ve played together um we’ve run some clinics together and we’ve had a lot of fun with pickle ball haven’t we had some celebrations of birthdays celebrations of Courts and everything and then i’
I’ve since played and I’ve tried a number of different venues number of different courts uh pickle ball is everywhere there’s a reason it’s called a fastest growing sport in America and in the world for that matter um so I’ve played in natic uh I’ve played in Shrewsberry at the course I’ve played at
The Town Hall in westbo where sometimes when the ball hits the floor it dies it hits a hole and it doesn’t bounce it’s like the old Celtics on the P floor had to know where the ex um you know we were in in Amia Island last winter and I
Found some courts in a island and played there while we were there and this is important um this is generational and the younger Generations are catching on very rapidly two years ago my family was in a gunit Maine and we knew there were courts in a gunit so my son who’s
Developed into a very good pickle ball player and his kids and my my daughter’s kids came out one day we found an empty court in a gunet and three generations played pickle ball and that was tremendous fun we had a wonderful time doing that so you know wherever I’m I’m
Going anywhere I’m going to be looking for chords too and as Nelson mentioned um you know when I was new to pickle ball at the Y that winter Nelson was very kind with his time and generous and offering some tips and other people there as well and uh I appreciated that
And I hope that I continue this to do the same thing every day at the Y but for a couple of years eve Choy and Maurice Santos and I we we uh ran some uh pickleball clinics for newbies at the Y and I know that we’ve taught a lot of
People to play pickle ball and they’re still playing today they’re playing today and some of them I hate to admit are better than we are but that’s that’s what you get for teaching younger people yeah um but I want to give another example of this age differential and how
It really doesn’t matter in pickle ball I was telling Paul when I first talked to him about this what a week ago or something that I was playing at the Y this year this past winter and uh my partner was 6 5 and I’m 75 and the
People were playing with 28 and 38 and we played a competitive game and when the game was over I just happened to think about it it wasn’t intended as an excuse but just it was an aha moment for me I said you we lost I think we played
A nine because there’s a lot of people instead of what the game should be 11 and I think the game the score was N9 to7 and I said I just want you two to realize that your average age is 33 our average age is 7 so I hope you’re still playing when you’re
70 good for you and that’s uh you know and that can occur any day wherever you play whether it’s the Chanty courts or the Y court or any place and that’s what makes it fun and as I mentioned we had a a holiday pickle ball party at the why
You know Nelson was there and we recognized him for of course and 45 people were there and the average there is you know between 35 and 50 on any given day so it’s incredibly popular sport I could give you some numbers if you want but it’s played I I did a
Little research it’s played in China in Japan in Italy in England in Switzerland in the Philippines uh in Guam and uh on cruise ships now so it’s it’s everywhere and I think when you play you got you two can tell me what is the average if
There is such a thing of how long it takes a game in other words for golf I love golf I’m out there for four hours but pickle ball is really con cated I think yeah it it depends on who the four players are if it’s four players who are
About the same skill level and competitive an average game is probably 15 minutes if it’s a new person playing on one of the teams um the game could be over in five minutes so what’s the the only part that’s a little bit frustrating is you know when you play with that many people
In only three courts the why has changed when they redid it to Four Courts to three courts but the numbers have gone up and so the average weight time now is about 20 minutes between games between it’s a lot yeah yeah so you have a break
But some people who are so active will walk the track while waiting and others will do yoga in the corner and you know and stretch and all of that stuff so well let’s take a peek at the Y we got a couple of pictures here from the Y this
Is where George spends most of his time there there we go that’s as you can see it’s hard uh three there are three courts Side by each there yeah recogniz I think that’s Howard in the foreground I couldn’t tell you that anyway can you see him Nelson those pictures show four
Chords yeah that’s the older shot so anyway there you are there’s so you so the people stand up against the wall there and and why don’t you talk about the paddle and how you know who plays I mean I went and I said do they have a Chinese system here of who plays
But you do have a system on who plays and how you who you don’t play with the same person every time no right right there’s stacks of of four and on top of each stack of paddles there’s signage that says winner and runner up because these days nobody wants to admit that
They lost the game so instead you’re a runner up Oh I thought you came in second place you do but it’s runner up so when you come off the court after a game uh the two winners put their paddles in one group and the two runners
In the other group but it’s you know you take the next four so you’re always mixing people that way and it works out very well so you never know who you’re playing with or against it’s just you gra yeah you really don’t and uh as new people come in like people are there
Some people there at 8:15 8:30 others come in at nine they’ll just put their paddle wherever there’s an opening so if there’s two paddles in one stack they’ll put it there and every stack of four goes out on the course so it’s four in four out there are different systems
That different places use uh I’ve been playing a little bit at Teamworks in North bro lately and what they do is uh the winners stay on and the losers come out and the winners split up up but after two games they come out too so nobody’s staying on the courts the whole
2hour time period so it works out very well for people all right well I’m not asking you two how do you how do you play this game what it’s all about we’ve we’ve gone to a uh we have a video here on how to play so let’s see what they
Say and if you two agree hi ya my name is Stacy Townson and let’s learn to play better pickleball with Pickler and USA pickle ball Your friends co-workers the new celebrities everybody is talking about the fastest growing sport pickle ball now it’s time for you to join the fun pickle ball can be played as a doubles game where you have two players on each side of the court or it can be
Played as a singles game where there’s only one person on each side of the court to start a game decide who will serve first any Fair method will do once you decide who serves first the player starting on the right hand side of the Court will serve pickle ball uses an
Underhand serve or you can use a drop serve and the serve must go crosscourt pickle ball has a two bounce rule which means the first two shots of a rally must bounce so both the serve must bounce and the return must Bounce from there you may hit the a ball off
The bounce or out of the air which we call a volley the rally will continue until someone makes a fault for instance there’s a double bounce someone hits a pickle ball out of bounds out or someone hits the pickle ball into the net all shots that are in the court or on the
Lines of the Court are in except that the serve must be in the service box beyond the kitchen line if the serve hits the kitchen or the kitchen line then that is out out balls are called by the player or Team on the side of the the pickle ball court where the pickle
Ball bounces be sure to call out balls loudly and only when you see the pickle ball out of Bounce out now let’s talk about scoring in pickle ball which admittedly can be a little confusing first you can only score if you’re the serving team so if you win the rally as
A serving team you win a point you switch sides of the court and the same server will serve but in the opposite direction if you lose the rally as a serving team then the serve moves to the next player if the serve goes to the other side of
The Court which we call a side out then the person on the right hand side of the Court will go first and doubles pickle ball in singles pickle ball you will serve on the side of the Court based on your score in doubles pickle ball the first serving team only has one service
Turn this is why you start every doubles game with a loud 0 two after the first side out each side then has two service turns in other words each player gets a shot at serving speaking of the score be sure to shout it out loudly before every
Serve the first number is your score the second number is the other side score and the third number is which service turn you are on for doubles pickle ball singles pickle ball Which is less popular than doubles pickle ball will only have two numbers for instance 0 0
Because each side will only have one service turn most pickle ball games are played to 11 points and you must win by two points one other unique rule to the sport of pickle ball is that you cannot hit the ball out of the air while you are
Standing in the non volley Zone in other words no volleys in the kitchen this also means that your momentum cannot carry you into the kitchen when hitting a volley bitchen reaching over the nonv zone line above the surface area of the court is permitted you can also hit the pickle
Ball after the pickle Ball’s bounced in the nonv zone you can even stand in the kitchen although not recommended as long as you are not voling the pickle ball so again no volleys in the kitchen so let’s put it all together we have an underhand serve must go
Crosscourt both the serve and the return must bounce if the serving team wins the rally they get a point and switch sides remember you only switch sides if you win a point as the serving team if the serving team loses then everyone stays put no points are awarded and the serve
Goes to the next person first team to 11 points wins at the end of the game be sure to paddl tap and give kudos for a great game and lastly remember no volleys in the kitchen so do you have it all down if not no worries get out there
Join the fun and the fastest growing sport pickle Ball if you like this pickle ball video be sure to share it with your pickle ball friends friend and partners and we’ll see you out on the pickleball courts okay pickle balls any comments on that yeah I can’t wait to react to it thank you Paul uh first of all it’s an
Excellent video but in reality I’d say most people takes them probably three to six months to learn how to score where to stand all of that stuff some people catch on quicker than others but some people will look to the experienced player to tell them where to stand and
What the score is Right Nelson because they’re just I think that’s one of the things that people are really good about helping newer people and offering you know suggestions and showing them what it is and I Paul I have a I have a paddle here would you like me to hold it
Up you may hold it up we’re going to talk about equipment so uh show us because I I know a lot of people many people think that this is mini tennis uh but in tennis you have a racket but in in pickle ball we have a paddle so if
You can talk about paddles we’ll talk about equipment and what is that one Nelson uh this paddle is actually from a professional pickle ball team in Chicago the that’s their logo and it’s called Chicago slice so you’ve got pro teams now playing uh this one is fairly light
It’s a there’s a regulation of how much size you can have and then there’s weight the heavier the paddle the more power but less control the lighter the paddle more controll but you have to hit harder so it depends on your age and your strength what you have and that’s
Why when you order a paddle like from pickle ball Central you have the advantage within 30 days of returning it which most places you know once you buy it that’s it as long as it’s not damaged they’ll take it back and change it over for you go ahead George well just before
I get to George is is pickle ball somewhat like golf I mean there must be rules and regulations on sizes of paddle balls and sizes of the balls and the dimensions of the Court which you had to when you were measuring it off in the early days there must be rules and regulations
Somewhere oh yes there are go ahead George for a recreational play that’s not so much an issue but if people are playing a tournaments it absolutely is an issue but here’s another paddle sample this is called the gearbox gx5 gearbox oh that’s and what this says on
The side of it is USA PA approved so that means it’s an approved paddle to play in tournaments USPA usapa United States America pickle ball Association right so we’re really formal now we are we are and this also designates the weight of this pad 7.8 o gearbox comes
In an 8.2 ounz paddle as well now some people prefer the heavier paddle it has its pros and cons that’s very lightweight paddle yeah so it’s a little bit larger than a pingpong p but not much I mean but there are so many different paddles on the market now as
Nelson was alluding to some are wider so you have a bigger Sweet Spot some are longer uh some have a longer handle and that’s for the people who use two-handed back Str returns so there’s different weights uh this comes in an 8.2 ounce as well I’ve tried the paddle I you know I
Suggest when you play with people like you can do the 30-day return thing or you can just ask people to borrow their paddle for a game I’ve done that a number of times before buying a paddle and I’ve loan this paddle to a few people and I know two that play now who
Have the same paddle because they like the feel of it so the advantage of a lighter weight paddle is you you don’t get tennis elbow you don’t get shoulder elbow as quickly um but you have to provide the power right so with a heavier paddle the paddle provides a lot
Of the power but stra right it’s more of a strain on you okay so that’s one paddle I have one other oh here’s another thing as I was saying somebody I don’t know who to give credit to I had the idea just put email labels on your paddle ma labels George
Has okay so you see that return label here right return to send so you don’t have to write it so if somebody’s looking and they pick up the four paddles for the next group they’ll say a George so they’ll call your name instead of walking up and down the court looking
For someone okay so there aren’t too many people that have a Chicago slice uh Nelson do you use that when you play or is that just for show no I really use it I want to comment while as George was saying there are different configurations but there
Is a strict limit as the amount of area words you can take the same area and shape it differently but the total square inches or I think of the paddle is with has to be within a regulation so there are some people will play with non-regulation but if you’re playing
With regulation it does have specific parameters as the total size regardless of how it’s configured right so another thing to protect your paddle because paddles get you know tapped at you know at the net after a game and they get put down on a table sometimes on the ground
When you play Outdoors is you can buy a paddle cover pickleball.com I get this free cover when I uh ordered a paddle for them pickle ball Central is a very good place to order because they have a multitude of paddles and you can you can put in certain you know criteria
Lightweight heavy big face wider longer heavier handle stuff so that’s good to know in the past two months I’d say I get a lot of information regarding pickle ball there’s probably a proliferation of paddles that are being developed every week every month this is a new paddle it’s a brand new paddle and
I’ve seen about 10 new paddles developed in the past couple months it’s called carbon pickle and it’s Pro Series and as you can tell see I have my name on that as well somebody has a label maker probably more expensive it looks thicker well it’s a little bit thicker and it
Has a hole in it that doesn’t really bother you you still have the same sweet spot on it and uh it’s a carbon face some people like to slice it helps to do that and uh also it’s very lightweight this is a 7po ounce paddle just like
This one so it was very little transition for me to switch from one to the other and I love the paddle I’ve been playing with it only about two weeks you can feel that it’s a and and you can you got a good gr got a and
Because of the colors I call it my Guinness paddle because it’s the black and tan you see have a few when you play yeah right no that’s after do do you want to see balls or yeah we’ll see balls before we get to the balls how about instruction I
Mean where did you two learn how to play did someone teach you or did you just pick it up or where would a person a young person an old any person learn how to play just just the the mechanics I think one of the important things as George is that people who do
Know how to play are very willing to share how they play so you watch some other people uh when I first learned I I went to the pick a ball Association got a rule book bought some books of there were even then there were some
Books out of things but I think it’s a great deal of it is sharing I do want to point out one other thing that George alluded to with the paddle the paddle in our ball creates noise and the number of communities are now limiting where you can put pickle ball courts in Falmouth
In fact they built eight courts there was a suit by neighbors and they closed them down so now there’s a great enthusiasm and just the other day I read there was a pole as George said with a hole but with a lot of holes which cuts down the
Surface of hitting but doesn’t detract from the be able toit but it does cut down on the noise so the the industry is working diligently to reduce the noise so that courts can be in in a lot of areas we’re fortunate you know with there at chy where we’re out ourselves
And neighbors are not close but uh there are places that the noise does become a factor yes hey I can continue with that Nelson Welsley the town of Welsley has has put up a big stink about the noise from pickle ball course and trying to shut down but the other one more locally
Right down the street of St Luke’s Church here in Westboro the pastor father Diego is a pickle ball player and he put up a pickle ball court in the parking lot last year had the lines drawn and everything and it went well for a little while until the neighbors
Started complaining about the noise and I from what I this is just one court you don’t from what I understand it you know people couldn’t start till 10:00 a.m. so there’s no 7 a.m. plane and had to stop by Sundown or something so you know I
Don’t know I think I don’t think some of these complaints are really legitimate but I’m biased as hell because I’m a pickle ball player well let’s get to the balls talk about what what’s all it looks like I could go play wle ball baseball well you could all right I’ve
Got I think I have four here unless I drop one on the floor that’s all right but there’s a distinction between indoor and outdoor balls so this ball is an indoor ball it has bigger holes it’s not as fast as an outdoor ball it comes in a
Variety of colors from yellow uh green blue orange all right and it has you can see that see the difference in the size this has more holes and smaller holes that’s an outdoor ball is the same it’s just the the reason you don’t want an indoor while Outdoors is because you
Don’t want you know air to push it aside so that’s an outdoor ball it tends to be quicker and then also an indoor you player usually on a hardwood surface and um this is an outdoor ball too you can play with any Ball but you know it’s better if you play with the
Ball whether it’s designated for outdoors or indoors so when you play does everyone bring their own ball or does a y Supply them or what how what do you do how do you do the balls it depends on where you are the Y will supply some balls but of late they’ve
Been saying we just gave you some balls a couple of weeks ago um at Teamworks there’s a sign that says bring your own balls yeah and you know most people who play have balls I I have about six balls in my bag at all times both indoors and
Outdoors so the ball I mean they’re standard you shouldn’t have any effect and you can get a three pack of balls at uh Dick Sporting Goods in North bro for $10 .99 it’s all different price on the balls too one of the reasons that the balls disappear frankly it’s not much I
Don’t believe it’s intent but you throw a ball in your jacket pocket or in your pants pocket or you throw it in your backpack and you walk off with it because we run into that yeah they do disappear as George says some clubs chip in money they have a bucket you know
Money and then they’ buy the ball so it depends on which where you’re playing but George is right most players will carry two or three in their bag and it shouldn’t be a problem on the court how long do you think a pickle ball would
Last I mean if you’re a few games in depends on the surface depends that’s true yeah yeah you know if you can get a month or two out of it that’s probably good I think yeah yeah I looked on the internet there’s a proliferation not only of paddles and balls but you know
Out to wear the shoes um is there a special shoe for a pickle ball that you just where tennis or sneak is Nelson you help us out should I show them George or sure yeah let me put my sunglasses on Nelson go ahead there we go notice the brand and
The color that’s an ASX ASX there’re not as mostly for running shoes they were the first one to come out with a picker Ball but now with a popularity all of the manufa your major manufacturing I’ve stuck with the as6 I’ve had very good luck with them I too I I’m an as6
Proponent I have about six or seven pairs of ax shoes you want to get Court shoes not running shoes too many people have fallen on the courts because the sole isn’t made the same it’s not made for the side by side movement and they fall wearing running shoes well this may
Be a difficult question but what would be the difference if we know it between like a tennis shoe and a pickle ball shoe they’re they’re essentially the same the same all it’s all marketing right it’s marketing yeah the thing I think you find with the many of the
Picker ball shoes have holes I mean the the material is it gives you better airing for outside play you know your heat don’t get as hot yeah but more and more companies that are calling them pickle ball shoes sure yeah oh I see I see but all if somebody’s looking you
Know you can just go on an Amazon and and type in pickle ball shoes and you’ll see everything that’s for sale well you’re inundated I I I looked and I like oh wait you know for me not knowing anything it’s like wait way too much
Here right but I I we talk about the outerwear and the clothing I see there are special hats the for pickle ball can we see some I know Nelson has one and George has one well this is specific to westbo this says westbo pickleball cour I think Nelson made these in his
Basement or something and then handed them so he had these made for us the westbo people which is very nice yeah those are nice hat people wear basically baseball cat abs and in the summertime they wear broader brims to keep the Sun out of their face and stuff
Right okay well we have to we we’ve talked about one negative aspect and that is the sound the the other negative somewhat negative aspect is not only is has pickle ball proliferated but the visits to emergency rooms at hospitals has proliferated uh because of this so let’s talk about injuries let’s talk
Should we do warm-ups we have a physical Fitness Guru Karen McKenzie is going to talk about physical fitness and warm-ups for pickle ball hi everybody this is Karen McKenzie with some advice for all you pickle Ballers out there and I know there are a lot of you it’s become very popular the
First thing you need to remember is to make sure you have the right shoes on make sure it’s a tie shoe keeps that foot nice and stable so you’re not apt to go side to side with your foot take a fall we don’t want that uh it’s
Important to make sure you’re in good shape uh I hope you’ve done your strength training and some stretching and also some aerobic work to get that heart rate up a little bit because you’re going to be moving back and forth and up and down um another thing to
Remember is to stretch before playing and there’s lots of things you can do you can reach up or drop down or just do some lunges side to side lunges with your arms um also I hope you’re doing some balance exercises if you’re taking any courses or going to your senior
Center uh you will always be able to find balance exercises and it’s important you don’t want to lose your balance while you’re running back and forth on the court if I had a final piece of advice I might say uh and I think it’s important is stay hydrated
It’s important you can stop and have a little drink now and then uh we don’t seniors don’t usually drink enough anyway so always keep that in mind if you keep everything in mind you’ll be sure to have a great time on the court for more exercise ideas and tips on how
To stay healthy tune into Fit for Life with Karen that’s me right here on westbo TV and now back to Paul all right well thanks Karen there you go gentlemen I mean you have to do what you have to do it’s like any sport I suppose you you do
Warm-ups and get ready I think one of your best safeties as George already alluded to is the right shoe there’s no question uh people who do fall in most cases don’t have a good shoe on the tennis shoe is built for that strength of side to side and the other place I
Think most of the falls occur is people trying to walk backwards for a lot you cannot walk backwards you’ve either got to turn to the side or completely turn around where the odds of your falling are very high so that’s one of the really important risk that they most
Tennis players know that but people who do not and I would average that probably 60% of pickle ball players or former tennis players that’s why they pick up the game quickly but I caution people do not try to run backwards it’s a real chance of a fall that’s that’s really important what
You just said Nelson and just uh one more comment on the shoes I’ve seen people playing and the shoes I’m wearing today hiking shoes and that doesn’t belong on the course uh they’re too heavy for one thing and they’re they’re probably going to help you fall so the
Don’t run backwards rule of all the people we’ve taught that’s the number one rule don’t run backwards it isn’t worth it whether you’re 35 or 85 it isn’t worth it because you you might trip over your own feet and the other one that’s equally important I think particularly when the ball is hit
Between you and and players try to hit the ball down the middle so it causes confusion or people don’t know who to go for it and in many instances nobody goes for it is call it call it it avoids collisions I’ve seen too many collisions on the courts because people both go for
It both swing at it and one person gets hit in the head well my limited knowledge George people of your pickle ball players is you try to hit the ball between two people so that they yes hit each other strategy it goes just the opposite George we’re trying to kill
Each other here I’m a kidding but that is part of the Str it is it is part of the strategy you know either lob over their heads if they’re playing too close to the net or hit it between them hoping it’ll cause some confusion you know it’s
A way of getting points but if you’re on the receiving end of that you need to protect yourself in whatever way you can and the other thing I learned was the term the kitchen I don’t know whoever came up with the kitchen but the people who invented the game back in 1965 right
Right it’s also called a nonv Zone it’s seven feet from on either side of the net and in some cours the better quarts in my opinion they painted an entirely different color like you’ll see the quarts blue but the kitchen air is green or something or a lighter shade of blue
And a darker shade of blue so it really stands out so well Nelson ball and George for I want to thank you for coming on and helping us explain this great new phenomenon pickle ball anybody have any lasting comments they’d like to make well there’s some terminology in
Pickle ball too and when is to get pickled and that’s what you don’t want to do if you’re a player so the game goes to 11 we play a nine to get Pickle means you lost 11 to nothing or nine to nothing and it’s kind of embarrassing
You should have a mercy rule now now now in golf you know there’s the general rules of golf and then you have the local rules now based on what you tell me the Y has a local rule that you don’t play till 11 you play to 9 now when you
Play to 9 do you still have to win by two or is it nine what do you look it’s first to nine first to nine yeah yeah I’d like to comment on one of the other things probably would be the best tip you could give anyone is how they
Hold their paddle in other words you should always have your paddle up in the middle ready because you can go to forehand or backhand and mo most starting people you they hang the racket down by their thigh or they they they don’t realize that you’ve got to have it
Ready so no matter which side of the ball comes you’re ready to position it that’s great advice and and you’ve watched a few games last week that Ball’s coming at you pretty fast sometimes well some of those people boom they they’re going right at you and and
It’s not only in terms of returning the ball it’s protection if you have your paddle up here you can protect your face something if it’s at your side you have no protection right George i i i AP apologize I know you brought some fashion designer clothing here can you
Show us some fashion designer clothing yeah just just a couple of things uh this is this one is this one is in terms of a pickle ball language here and I don’t know if you can see it but what it says is Dink responsibly don’t get dink responsibly don’t get smashed so Nelson
Knows what a dink and it’s when you just barely put the ball over the net and somebody’s standing back at the service line or something they can’t get to it but if you don’t dink responsibly meaning you hit it up high and someone’s standing there they’ll smash it at
You so that’s that’s the meaning to this one well if if you think it over the net right and it’s going to bounce twice aren’t you allowed to come in the kitchen or they can come in the kitchen with as long as it bounces in the
Kitchen as long as it bounces but then they can smash it at you if it’s high enough you know all for all this strategy there is strategy so so this one here was given to me by my granddaughter maybe you can read it it says papa is my name pickle ball is my
Game is that the truth that must be the truth so this is what I’m very proud to wear so this I guess your grandkids know you yeah they do they know you very well and uh the other thing I’d like to say to people is you know if you have a
Spouse or you know a serious significant other or adult children who are working you don’t have to buy another paddle there’s Father’s Day there’s Christmas I bought this paddle but before that the the two my son bought for me cuz he’s a pickle ball addict now too so he said
Dad what do you want for Christmas I said a new paddle so it worked out very well but it’s a great game uh almost anybody can play it you can find a court just about anywhere you go and uh it’s it’s healthy uh you’re working out you’re moving you’re socializing you
Meet some great people and you learn about a lot of other things people talk about there knee surgeries and hip surgeries and shoes that they purchase and all that stuff in the past year this is because of the age group I guess I know three people that I play with who
Had cataract surgery that’s not related to pickle ball but it’s related to age so three people but they’re back playing I also know two people who’ve had heart attacks and they’re back to playing so uh you know people recover and people want to get back on the course well I
Think it’s it’s it’s good for physical physical activity and social ability I mean to meet people be with people and as you say in the why you’re always playing with for and against different people right all right well Nelson ball George Foria thanks for being on the
Sidelines and giving us the insides to pickle ball thank you for having us thank you for having us this is Paul McGrath saying thanks for watching and I hope to see you at the game or on the pickle ball court and if you’re not in
The game or on the pickle ball court I hope to see you on the Sidelines
