Some of you know that I spent part of last week through the weekend with my sister in Minneapolis. We think it's cold in Michigan. insert giggle here It's a different sort of cold in Minnesota. 12 degrees here is a different sort of 12 degrees there. I've been home 4 days and I'm just beginning to warm up! I have digressed a little from my original plan.....
Amongst lots of sisterly things including, but not limited to: giggling, drinking coffee, shopping, eating, playing scrabble, giggling, hitting the gym, eating, shopping, you get the idea, we scheduled court time to play Pickleball. There is this pretty cool concept of a place called 'Pints and Paddle' and I have since learned that it is a chain. We scheduled a court time for 10:00am on a Thursday and the place was packed. We were happy to have been assigned a court away from the others. Neither of us had ever played. We watched a youtube video and read some rules. Both were a bit useless (I am a visual learner). It was helpful to watch some of the other games but we jumped right in with the basic knowledge that you serve underhand and keep the ball in the the box. Or kitchen....which I guess is a pickleball term.
Your paddle is a large, thick ping pong paddle. The ball is a wiffle ball. You can hit to one another to keep the ball in play for the sake of learning and getting comfortable OR you can smash and bloop the ball to gain points. We did not choose the latter. Since my recent-ish shoulder surgery and my sister's lack of depth perception (she would agree with this) had taken away any competitiveness, we were easy on each other. We made a pre-game pact that there would be no heroic saves. No sprints of any kind. No sharp cuts in change of direction. All crazy balls, missed or hit, were forgiven. Aaaaaand we did sweat!
Would I play again?? You bet! Santa brought some paddles for hubs and I this year! We will begin when the weather breaks. I hope he is remembering this 'gift'! Might we do a tournament ever? Who knows....we are both pretty competitive, but I've been broken and put back together a few times. Time will tell.
Is it like tennis? Yes. Is it like ping pong? Yes. It is addictive? I suppose that it can be. The best part though?? The ages and sizes and different fitness levels we watched on the courts was simply impressive. A few years back, I knew a few older than me folks who were playing and I thought "this might be a good replacement for fishing or golf in retirement". Well maybe it started out that way but it has progressed and spread to all ages! I sat near a lady at a Super Bowl party on Sunday who is a middle school teacher and she was describing playing with her students! It's just fun. But let's hit another important piece....
MY TAKE
You already know that there is a Karen teaching moment coming. Most of you are aware that I am putting the finishing touches on my book, 'Strength Through the Years' and I honestly can't wait to get copies out to people! Digressing again.....what's your thing? We have all done "things" fitness related according to our age and stage of life.
My things: I took tap and ballet as a kid, I rode my bike endlessly and played catch with my dad and brother, I played softball, I played raquetball, I tried and hated golf, I rode horses and dirt bikes, I ran middle distance, and hurdles, did some high jump and long jump, played volleyball, I learned to ski downhill and on the water, took swim lessons, played basketball, ran 5k races and half marathon trots, did some Cross Fit, taught Zumba, Pound, Yoga, and lots of studio and weight room classes, and add in and cross over with weight training. Whew. My things. Some of these 'things', never truly caught on and I did not continue to pursue them. Other 'things', I truly shined and took them to coaching. I have coached some amazing athletes in a variety of sports and have loved every minute of it!
But what is your thing? While reading over this list of mine, I can see that I don't continue to do or play most of them. I have either fallen out of love with the sport or to be brutally and painfully honest???? It hurts to run. It hurts to play raquetball. I will only do yoga if I am teaching to someone else. Do you have a thing that you still enjoy?
Check this out:
40% of 18-20 year olds play sports
41% of 21-25 year olds play sports
26% of 26-49 year olds play sports
20% of adults 50+ play sports
Have you found your thing? Are you still looking? What is going to keep you moving through the years?
Indeed, I would like you to thoughtfully reflect on the response to that question. Additionally, I wish to include this section in my book! Whatcha got??
Love and Pickleball--
Karen
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