I had heard of the sport of Pickleball for quite a few years, but I had never ventured out to give it a whirl. Then, one day while walking my dog Alvin, in ‘Cullen Park’, which is a beautiful park in Whitby, Ontario, I came across games being played. We walked over to 3 courts enclosed with fencing and stood watching for a few moments. Although I had had some fun playing tennis at different points in my life with friends, these rackets seemed shorter and more solid with no strings and although the balls appeared from a distance to be about the same size, they had holes in them and bounced differently and made tons of noise after being hit! Well, welcome to Pickleball. They were paddles and not rackets and yes, much shorter. I had a short conversation with a gentleman in the area and from that point onwards, I was bound to be a Pickleball player.
In my early years, I was very active in sports. I was on several high school and College sports teams, including; track, soccer, football, swimming, water polo, martial arts and played soccer into my 50’s. During my 30’s and onwards, the funniest thing happened; ‘Life got in the way’ and I began adding on that extra weight that my body did not need. Shocking, any one ever heard of that before! I didn’t like my look. I tried and tried, the cutting back, the off and on the diets and I say that because I didn’t know who to listen to, what to believe and you know where that got me; yup, further in the hole. I beat me. I got more depressed looking in the mirror with clothes that never fit me, always determined not to buy bigger sizes. This mentally beat me up so badly that at times, I would cry my eyes out. As tough as I thought I was, this was another bit of education about myself that life was teaching me.
So now, Pickleball to the rescue. I started playing this game, you know, slowly learning the rules, getting a grip on how to hit the Pickleballs, hoping those seasoned players around me were not upset at me Mr New guy and then the real magic broke loose; I loved this game. I couldn’t stop playing it and I mean, every day and to this day. Like any sport, you learn to understand how your body reacts to what the particular physical activity is. I had some good knowledge of understanding this as I had been involved in many sports through the years and I was a ‘Use of Force Instructor’ for 3 years with the Toronto Police Service as an Officer and had been Provincially certified in warm up exercises and had some relatively fresh knowledge of things like, stretching. Although i’ve been injured many times, I know that stretching is a biggie. What really also helped tremendously was that we have just a great group of individuals, willing to help others learn the game and in general, just a large group of good people and we all enjoy being on the courts.
For me, my ‘Stage 2’ if I may call it that, was, as I started playing regularly, my weight started coming off and I wanted to start eating healthy and take control of my body again so I connected with a very good Dietician, put the two together and the real magical transformation begun to happen. Yes I recommend seeing your Doctor before taking on any serious physical activity, working in conjunction with a Dietician, but primarily, do some physical activity that you really enjoy and you will do it more and more. Also its good to connect with a certified fitness trainer to teach you about proper training techniques. I have not yet achieved my fitness goals but i’m very happy with my progress.
I play Pickleball with a large, special group of individuals, having fun and keeping fit and doing our best for overall good health. Ive played in different countries – although I love golf, a Pickleball paddle is much easier to travel with, especially since golf clubs usually come off the plane last – and if I leave a wet towel on the bed by accident, I much prefer my wife chasing me with a paddle than a golf club!
By the way, my Pickleball game is like my golf game, just out there having fun.