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Friday, September 18, 2009
Pickleball, anyone?
By MARGARET DWIGGINS
Family Editor
There's a game craze sweeping the nation, and, while it hasn't quite gained a foothold in Findlay yet, Dick and Nancy Heebsh are working to change that.
The Heebshes, both retired, spend their winter months in Arizona, where long stretches of warm, dry weather allow the active couple to indulge in their love of the outdoors.
Pickleball has become one of their favorite activities at the Voyager, the retirement community in Tucson where they reside from January through April. They were itching for some pickleball action when they returned to Findlay in the spring, but found out very few people here had even heard of the game. They figured that if they wanted to find others to play with here, they'd need to recruit and train some players.
For the last several weeks, the couple have been leading clinics on Tuesday and Thursday mornings in the parking lot at the Senior Center, teaching others to play. Players of all ages have also been coming to the center on Wednesday evenings for open play.
Pickleball can best be described as a mix between pingpong and tennis. It can be played indoors or outdoors on a hard-surfaced court laid out in the dimensions of a badminton court. Players use paddles, similar to pingpong paddles but a little larger, to move a baseball-sized whiffle ball back and forth over a waist-high net (34" high). Usually, four people engage in a doubles match, although two people can play a singles match.
The game was invented in the 1960s by a family in Washington state. Its unusual name comes from the family's dog, Pickles, who kept running off with the ball and hiding it in the bushes.
It is a great activity for families, because players of all age groups can compete against each other. But it has proved especially popular in retirement communities, because, while players must keep moving, there is very little running involved.
Both Dick and Nancy say they have seen accomplished players who are well into their 80s, and Dick jokes that his goal is to continue playing into the 90-plus age group.
Pickleball has evolved well beyond a whimsical driveway game. Recreation centers across the country offer pickleball leagues. There is a governing organization, the USA Pickleball Association, which issues rules and sanctions tournaments on the state and national level.
The rules of the game take some getting used to, particularly for experienced tennis players like the Heebshes, because some of the elements of the game are similar to tennis, but different enough that novice players have to be alert about what they're doing while the ball is in play. For example, after a player serves, the ball must bounce twice, once on each side of the net, before players can hit it in the air. Servers can only hit the ball underhand and players at the net can't stand in the "kitchen," the long box at the front of the court.
Playing with a whiffle ball, especially if it's windy, also takes some adjustment, as does the position the players take on the court when playing doubles. The scoring system is quite different from tennis, too.
Dick, 67, has competed in pickleball at the Senior Olympics in Arizona. Both he and his wife admit they were intimidated when they first saw the players at their Arizona retirement community, many of whom are quite adept.
"Just about anyone can pick it up, but you've got to be able to move and have some eye-hand coordination," Dick said.
"It's a game of placement, especially at the beginning level," he said. "Once you get up into top players, you'll have four guys at the net, slamming the ball at each other with lightning-quick reflexes."
Dick thinks it's unlikely such an advanced level of play will ever be established in Findlay. He and Nancy would be happy just to get a league started that will continue through the winter, even after the Heebshes head west.
Because the sport is so attractive to older players, the Heebshes approached John Urbanski, executive director of the Hancock County Agency on Aging/Senior Center, when searching for a place to get pickleball off the ground in Findlay.
Urbanski gave the Heebshes use of a section of the Senior Center's parking lot and became even more enthusiastic about the endeavor after he set up a court on his own driveway for a staff picnic. Now Urbanski and his wife have caught the pickleball bug, as have several employees.
Erin Hemmelgarn, a physical education teacher at Findlay High School, said students at the high school do a two-week unit in pickleball every winter and really enjoy it.
Hemmelgarn said four courts are marked off in the gym. The pickleball unit follows a two-week unit in badminton, so the courts can be used for both activities.Nancy admits she was intimidated the first time she watched a women's league in Arizona, but it wasn't long before she felt confident enough to "play with the big girls," she said.
Nancy is no longer able to play tennis because of back and knee problems, but she's found pickleball is one of the few activities she can do without causing herself pain. Not only that, she lost several pounds once she started playing the game and got active again.
More than anything though, Nancy said she loves the game because it's just plain fun. She enjoys the camaraderie and laughter.
"You can get overwhelmed with the rules, but don't be hard on yourself, it takes time. People will help you," Nancy said.
Her husband agrees.
"It's very fun, it's a much more intimate game than tennis. You're on a smaller court and you're up together at the net a lot, and it's more social," Dick said.
Pickleball clinics will be held at 10 a.m. every Tuesday and Thursday at the Senior Center, 339 E. Melrose Ave., with open play sessions at 6 p.m. every Wednesday, while the weather holds. Players of any age can attend the clinics or the play sessions.
