Jerry Fay The SaddleBrooke Ranch Pickleball Association has joined the SaddleBrooke Pickleball Association and the SaddleBrooke Tennis Club as part of the Tennis Shoes for the Homeless Program. A big thank you goes to Kim Ahlgrim-Heine, current president of the SaddleBrooke Ranch Pickleball Association, for setting up the program. Over the past four years, the…
Raymond H. Goettsch With the 2022 Winter Olympics in our rearview mirror, one wonders if pickleball can become an Olympic sport at the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris or the 2028 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles. The International Pickleball Federation (IPF), based in Goodyear, Ariz., is a non-profit, volunteer organization that has been working to have…
David Zapatka USA Pickleball National Championships The USA National Pickleball Championships were held for the third time at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden in Indian Wells, Calif., this past December. With 2,342 players competing in 3,944 matches in 172 brackets, it was the largest tournament in the history of pickleball. More than $70,000 in prize…
Raymond H. Goettsch With sincere appreciation, the SaddleBrooke Pickleball Association, Inc. (SPA) announces that Brian Komar and Krista Kunz have made a generous donation to assist in the expansion of pickleball at SaddleBrooke. For this sponsorship donation, SPA has designated court 7 as the Brian Komar and Krista Kunz court. Brian and Krista are “snowbirds”…
Raymond H. Goettsch The changes to the USA Pickleball rules have been announced. Probably the most important rule changes relate to the serve. The “chainsaw” serve The rules now prohibit the so-called “chainsaw” serve. Under this change, a player may only use his/her non-paddle hand to toss the pickleball for the serve. In other words, the…
Raymond H. Goettsch On Dec. 9, the SaddleBrooke Pickleball Association (SPA) began the construction of eight more pickleball courts off Ridgeview Blvd. next to the existing six courts built in 2012. The long-awaited construction was initiated by the celebratory shoveling of dirt. Everyone present had the opportunity to be part of the process by taking…
Raymond H. Goettsch SaddleBrooke Pickleball Association (SPA) members enjoyed SPA’s annual holiday party in the MountainView Ballroom on the evening of Dec. 1. The festive party was organized by SPA Social Director Donna Hollingsworth, and she was assisted at the party by Jen Wilkins, Pat Carney, and Lexi Phillips. Nearly 100 members and guests attended…
Raymond H. Goettsch This year, USA Pickleball adopted a provisional drop serve, Rule 4.A.8. Under this rule, the server can drop the pickleball and then serve after the bounce. No limitation is based upon the height of the drop beyond the physical limitations of the server’s reach. However, the ball must be dropped, not bounced.…
David Zapatka Backhand Groundstroke Quoting from Pickleball Fundamentals: Master the basics and compete with confidence by Mary Littlewood, when hitting a backhand groundstroke, “The same principles apply when you’re hitting a backhand groundstroke (as a forehand groundstroke) except that you move to the left rather than to the right (right-handed players). While some players change the…
Raymond H. Goettsch SaddleBrooke Pickleball Association member Mike Owens, age 63, participated in the Pro Pickleball Association Championship tournament in Las Vegas from Oct. 21 to 24. Mike and his partner, Keith Sturdivant, age 63, of SaddleBrooke Ranch, played in the 5.0 men’s doubles section. Due to the number of participants, the 60+ players and…