Stuart Watkins
Paulette Kasperski (center) with a group of POP tennis players (photo by Stuart Watkins)
Paulette Kasperski and her POP tennis players reserved courts 14, 15, 16, and 17 at the DesertView courts to accommodate the 16 who showed up this day. Her group of players sometimes has more than 20 show up.
When there are more than four players per court, the extra players rotate in, and this lets everyone play. Most of the POP players who are on her list have had training when the Tennis Center offers clinics. If a new player has had tennis or pickleball experience, it is usually a quick adjustment to the style of play offered by POP tennis.
Some of the differences a new player will notice are the paddle is shorter, the green dot balls have less bounce, serves are made underhand, and the court is shorter. The alley is out of bounds. Scoring is the same as tennis. And the pace of play is slower than pickleball or tennis.
There are several groups of POP tennis players who meet at different times of the week. Paulette’s groups play from 10 a.m. to noon on Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday. If you are interested in playing POP tennis, it is probably best to take one of the free SaddleBrooke Tennis Center clinics to see if the sport is fun for you. There are also instructors who can give individual or group lessons for a reasonable fee. Call the SaddleBrooke Tennis Center at 520-825-0255 to find out when the next free clinics are being offered.