USA PICKLEBALL Florida North District December Newsletter

Florida North District Newsletter • December 2022

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PLACES 2 PLAY The USA Pickleball website www.places2play.org/is a great resource for locating places to play pickleball. USA Pickleball encourages players to continually update the database with the latest information about places to play pickleball. We encourage you to visit

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COMPITITION Get your official USA Pickleball player rating Participate in sanctioned tournaments Receive athlete medical coverage at all sanctioned events that you play in Visit usapickleball.org to join

HIGHLIGHTS MEET AND GREET The Ocala Pickleball Club Meet and Greet was a hoot with members of every skill level playing on all eight courts.

Ambassadors Mary Russow from Gainesville and Dennis Stager from Leesburg join us in the festivities. Four pro level players put on a show. The members really enjoyed watching them play, hearing the tips and funny comments made by the players. Lunch was provided consisting of hot dogs, chips and bottled water.

Fundraiser consisted of a raffle for a pickleball chair and an Engage Pursuit MX paddle raised $202 as well as Ocala Pickleball Club t-shirts sales.

John Hunt • Marion County

ACTIVE OVER 50 Eddie Malone, an avid Pickleballer who plays out of Ron Parker Park, reached out to me to help him facilitate a Pickleball Intro to his ActiveOver50 community in Palm Coast on November 5th. St. Johns Ambassador Johnnie Shields and I ran a fun exhibition match. We brought our best 3.5 mixed doubles from our local park to play a friendly competition against each other. The object of the match was to show spectators, who may be interested in Pickleball, how fun and competitive this sport can be! The format was best out of three matches. The game scores were, 9-11, 12-10, 11-9 with Johnnie’s team winning the day by a very close margin. To say it was a “nail biter” was an understatement!

Pam Hatch • Saint Johns County

USA PICKLEBALL STATEMENT ON PLAYER RATINGS There have been several developments in the player ratings landscape over the past two weeks and, as the National Governing Body, USA Pickleball continues to be fully engaged in discussions with all key stakeholders regarding the future of player ratings. It is an involved process that carries a significant impact on our community. Therefore, we are evaluating all options and opportunities moving forward. This includes taking the necessary time to make appropriate decisions, but also moving as quickly as possible in order to provide clarity within the sport. We will then broadly communicate the outcome industry-wide. In the meantime, and until further notice, USA Pickleball will continue to use the UTPR (USA Pickleball Tournament Player Ratings) system in conjunction with PickleballTournaments.com.

Direct from usapickleball.org

FOWL PLAY The Fernandina Beach Pickleball Pirates on Amelia Island held a round robin event a week before Thanksgiving called “FOWL Play” and the entry fee was non-perishable food donation or cash for the local food pantry.

Had 3 events – Women’s 3.0 with 7 teams; Women’s 3.5 with 7 teams; and Men’s 3.5 with 8 teams. We were able to donate 123 pounds of food and $221 in cash to Barnabas Food Pantry.

Shelly Duncan • Nassau County

FOOD DRIVE Alachua County will be participating again this December in the local Food4Kids Food Drive. Last year our pickleball community collected over 424 pounds of food!

This year they will hold a Holiday Dink and Dine for mid December. All players play at a pickleball venue of their choice, then meet for lunch and cocktails at a local restaurant.

We have everyone attending bring an item of food to donate to the Food4Kids Food Drive. There is usually a drawing for a gift basket and everyone has a great time. If you are in Alachua County and would like to be involved request to join the Gainesville Pickleball Players Facebook group.

Mary Rossow • Alachua County

THE BUZZ

ON PICKLEBALL Practice Makes Perfect We’ve all heard this many times before, yet in this sport many rec-players just play the game and they make no time to work on skills to improve their game. Some may say that just playing more will make their game, and play, better. But that’s not entirely true. Let me explain…

In the mind-body connect we basically train our behaviors starting with our minds and then the body. Not the other way around. The mind trains the body in what we call “muscle memory”. Muscle memory is not only the physicality of movement but the recollection of how we move and respond. The way this works best is in controlled scenarios and repetition. This is where practice does its magic as it affords us the time to focus and concentrate on how we want the body to move and respond. In fact, I highly recommend a ball (https://bit.ly/greenballsforpb) that slows play down so you can develop these skills such that during play, or competition, you’re able to call upon these fundamentals to excel or improve your game.

So what basic practices are the ones to do, especially if you practice alone? Great question, and there is some prep you’ll need before just going out and hitting a bunch of balls. Here’s what I would recommend: 1. Cones- these low-profile cones are “targets” that you can place on the ground in strategic locations on the court that improve accuracy (https://bit.ly/practicecones) (I use these principally for service placement, to refine deep serves, lobs, and center line services that split the opposing players) 2. Practice Rings- these are low-profile rings (https://bit.ly/practicerings) that you use to work on shot placement in areas that disadvantage the opposition (these rings can be placed in the kitchen or back near the service line, or in other strategic areas of the court) Although these practices tools sound the same, they are different as they work on different skills as noted in their description.

If you can, go out with someone where the two of you can practice together. Where one of you serves to the other repeatedly and then switch-off. Then work on dinking and so on. Speaking of serves, it is now becoming a big part of the game as effective serves can disadvantage your opponents from the start. I’m not necessarily talking about fancy spin serves but strategic placement that puts the ball not just into play but stretches the other team awkwardly and then the advantage tips to you.

There’s nothing more frustrating than going out to play and having the shots you normally can count not happen! This is not necessarily you just having “a bad day”, although it might be as we all have those, but this is where the investment of practice kicks in and saves the day, and potentially the game.

Happy practicing!

Pickleball BUZZ @pickleballbuzz

UPCOMING EVENTS December 1-7 USA Pickleball Diamond Amateur Championship | Holly Hill, FL

Ambassador Spotlight

This first-ever event will be held Dec. 1-7 at beautiful Pictona at Holly Hill in Florida—one of the nation’s finest facilities, featuring 48 courts. Volunteers are still needed for this event. If you will be in the area and are willing to help for a day or even just a few hours please contact Bill Hess @ bhess@usapickleball.org

Mike Guyot • Saint Johns I started playing pickleball in The Villages 14 years ago. I learned to teach new players, rate experienced players, help Intermediates improve to Advance players, play and manage Team League programs, and help the Recreation Department effectively use their pickleball courts.

When I came back to Jacksonville 5 years ago, I restarted Nocatee's pickleball club, became a USA Pickleball Ambassador, got certified by PPR, helped start up and manage The Florida Georgia Pickleball Classic and Pickleball Veritas at Treaty Park, managed the 3 days of clinics offered by professional players the 3 days prior to these tournaments, taught the St. Johns county phys ed teachers how to play pickleball, taught a group of Wounded Warriors to play pickleball, and supported the Nease High School Pickleball Club.

I would like to expand Wounded Warriors exposure to pickleball throughout Florida and the US, and help high school and college pickleball clubs grow and thrive. Finally, I would like to help get an indoor pickleball venue operating in our area. Let's try to get the Ambassadors together in mid January for some games and team building.

December 15-17 Christmas at Rolling Hills | Green Cove Springs Final formats will be determined by the number of registrations. We will expand the draw size if possible.

Register at Pickleballbrackets.com

January 13-16 Lake City Winter Blast 2023| Lake City, Fl Come play in Lake City's 6th annual Winter Blast Tournament! Early bird pricing starts 11/5/22 and ends 11/15/22!

Register at Pickleballbrackets.com

January 14th Turtle Shores Community, Ponte Vedra Pam Hatch will be hosting a Pickleball Intro to the Turtle Shores community in Ponte Vedra.

Thanks to Go Pro Tennis and Pickleball, she will have plenty of paddles for players to demo.

Pam Hatch • Saint Johns County Ambassador • phatch5000@yahoo.com

January 28-29 The Hope Cup | Ponte Vedra Beach, Fl CHARITY PICKLEBALL TOURNAMENT to benefit THE VILLAGES OF HOPE. Player lounge available with breakfast, snacks and drinks.

Spectators welcomed and encouraged! Food trucks and silent auction on site.

VILLAGES OF HOPE Our Vision is to provide a safe place for women to live, to connect with a community of care, and experience unconditional love.

Our Mission is to be a sanctuary, a place of refuge, healing, and restoration for women seeking a life free from trafficking, sexual exploitation, and addiction.

Register at Pickleballbrackets.com

Thank you Go Pro Tennis & Pickleball for offering a December In-Store Discounts for local USA Pickleball Members & Newsletter Readers: 40% off all apparel.

Up to 20% off select paddles.

Up to 40% off select shoes.

Purchase a gift card of $100 or more, get a free GPT&P Performance shirt (*While supplies last).

We will meet or beat any authorized dealer discounts.

In order to receive these discounts, you just need to mention this newsletter.

February 24-26 Pickleball Veritas in the Ancient City | Treaty Park, Saint Augustine, Fl Registration Dates Open: 11/27/22 Closed: 02/13/23 Note: Tournament has a no refund policy Tournament Sanctioning: Not Sanctioned Registration - $50.00 Early Registration - Deadline: 01/28/23 - $40.00 Register at Pickleballtournaments.com

CONTACT

Michelle Mallard North Florida District Ambassador Email :ancientcitypicklers@gmail.com