Pickleball and mental wellbeing

I love to skip sideways and  swing my arm and with timing and balance hit a ball. A beautiful whack sound and the ball flies over the net and bounces  on the court.  It feels good. It feels  so good I don’t even think about it. It feels instinctive, natural and relaxed. I must be playing pickleball.

It is now the turn of the lady on the other side of the net. She moves smoothly and gracefully. She skips towards the ball swings her arms and hits the ball back towards me. I skip towards the ball swing my arm and hit the ball back over the net. The ball bounces back and forth between us. Connecting and joining us as we dance around the pickleball court.

I love smashing away a volley. A winning shot where my opponents watch the ball fly undeterred and unhindered.  I get the feeling my opponents also love smashing volleys away for winning shots.

In this pickleball dance we both have the opportunity to hit winning  shots. To smash a volley for a winner. A volley smashed away results in both of us watching where the ball lands; one of us saying good shot, muttering silently, trudging after the ball, picking  it up while one of us smiles proudly. 

When I stand on a pickleball court I need other people on the court with me. Today there are three others on the court. Without them I wouldn’t be able to dance around the court. Without them I wouldn’t be able to stretch, turn and twist. I appreciate and thank  them  for turning up, picking up a paddle and moving onto the court with me.

My mind wanders. Back to when I was a child. I copied my mother. I copied her actions and watched her emotions, actions, thoughts.  I clapped my hands when she clapped her hands.

As an adult my mental and emotional health benefits from watching and copying other people. Choirs, music ensembles, drama, dance, bridge are all good for mental health.

Team sports such as soccer, netball, hockey, basketball, volleyball and pickleball are all good for mental as well as physical health. Team sports involve being aware of other people. When I play pickleball I watch, anticipate and guess what my opponent is going to do. I then react. When I play pickleball I want to beat them. I try to  avoid their strengths and exploit their weaknesses. I alter me behaviour because of their behaviour. I give and I take. When I play pickleball my opponent benefits just as much me. They are trying to beat me.

All sports have official rules and unwritten rules. The unwritten rules are so everybody wins socially, emotionally and mentally. 

I will now list my idea of what my unwritten rules of pickleball might be:

Everybody calls the ball on their side of the court. All the calls will not be perfect. The aim is for perfect behaviour. Which is accepting all calls without questioning. Not perfect calls.

Standing and arguing where the ball has actually landed is not good pickleball. A greater good is served by accepting all calls. Accepting all calls without comment outranks where the ball lands.

If ball or serve is out/fault call out/fault immediately.  Don’t hit the ball back; wait for rally to end and then say the ball was out/fault.

If any doubt about where the ball lands then it is in and play continues.

A ball lands on court from another play the point again. Always. Irrespective of the rally.

The server keeps and says the score before serving.

Don’t smash the ball directly at your opponent.

Treat other people the way you want to be treated.

If your opponent hits a good shot then say good shot. If your opponent hits a bad shot then say nothing.

If you hit a good shot then say nothing. If you hit bad shot then don’t say what you think.

 

 

Pickleball

What is an incredible fast growing, fun to play sport which is available to all and good for your physical, emotional, mental and social health?

The answer is pickleball. Pickleball came to Australia in 2015. First games were played in Cairns and were organised by Gabi Plumm who had a son playing pickleball in the USA.

First played in Tasmania in Launceston YMCA in 2017. First played in Hobart at Glenorchy YMCA and Kingborough Sports Centre in 2019.

Today over 200 people play pickleball regularly at 10 different locations. Old people, young people, fit abled bodied people, people with a handicap, people of any sex, even Collingwood supporters.

The inaugural state championships were recently played at Kingborough Sports Centre. Over 60 players in with two divisions.

 

1965: Pickleball began when some  politicians, on holiday in Bainbridge Island off the coast of Seattle, decided to have a game of golf. They returned from their game of golf and saw their kids listlessly mopping around.  They thought this is not good enough. They rounded up some sports equipment lying around and headed to the vacant badminton court.

Everybody started playing with the table tennis bats and ball. A game with rules evolved. Everybody loved the game.  The game spread rapidly amongst neighbours and friends.

The new game needed a name. Sometime years ago, in English yachting, the last boat to finish was called the pickle boat. It was said it was slow because it stopped to fish for herring and then pickle them.

Rowing used the name pickle boat to describe a boat crewed by all the people left over from the other boats. One of the founders of pickleball rowed when younger.

She thought the new game reminded her of a pickle boat. It was a game made from left over equipment and bits and pieces thrown together.

She named the game pickleball. The founders of pickleball  had a dog named pickle who always pinched the ball. This led to a myth that pickleball was named after the dog. It is likely the dog was named after the game not the reverse.

 

1972: Pickleball Inc was officially incorporated with official rules and equipment.

Today: Pickleball is a bat and ball game. Can be played indoors or outside. Normally doubles. But can be singles.

Like most bat and ball games the game begins with one person serving across the court. Their opponent then returns the ball.  A rally occurs with both sides hitting the ball over the net into the court until the point is won.   

A rally is won when one person hits the ball into the net, out of the court or fails to hit the ball.

 

Basic rules of pickleball: 

Court is a badminton court. Covered with lines that divide the court into four quarters and a non-volley zone.

Serve is served diagonally across the court into service square.

To prevent the sever dominating the server is not allowed to volley the ball until it has bounced. The ball must bounce twice, on both sides of the net before a volley can be played. In pickleball the serve is not an offensive weapon.

 

At any time in any rally a volley cannot be played directly behind the net. This non-volley area is marked out and called the kitchen.

The serving team gets two serves. One serve to each person. The person in the right-hand box serves first. If the first serve is lost the serve goes to their partner. A point is awarded to the server if they win the point.   If the server wins a point the serving team changes sides.

You can decide what number of points is the aim.  Normally the first side scoring 11, 9 or 7 points wins but I think everybody wins.

Social tennis on The Domain: Part Two

 

I play tennis with other people. Everybody I play with is unique. Everybody is different.  I play with anybody. I don’t judge people or discriminate. I look at their tennis style. I notice if their backhand is weaker than their forehand. I notice if they prefer the ball short or deep. I notice if they have a good volley or smash. After looking at my opponent I alter my game. I try and beat them by playing to their weakness.

My aim is to spot a weakness and then attack it. Do they hit the ball in certain ways or to certain spots? I change my game in order to beat their game. One lady often goes short. Hits a very good drop shot. I have to come in. One man hits a very good lob. I need to stand deeper at the net. Get ready for his lob. One lady often goes down the side. I need to stand a bit wider. I can hear Geoff muttering.

Geoff: You are labeling and judging people.

Me: I play with anybody. I judge them so I can beat them. I don’t get upset If I lose. My goal is to play well. To hit good shots. To play in the moment. To be relaxed, flexible and move well. My ultimate goal is for everybody on the court to play well.

Me: You could say I am treating my opponents badly by judging them and by trying to beat them but they are also trying to beat me. I need them and they need me. We are both aiming to beat each other.

Geoff: So that’s your goal. Beating people.

Me: I respect my opponents by trying to beat them. When I play tennis I play to win. It’s no fun playing against someone not trying to win. But win or lose is not the big goal.  A game which I win 6/0 is often a bad unenjoyable game. Losing 7/6 is a much better way to go. The ultimate goal is for everybody to win.

 

The Copenhagen City Heart Study is a much quoted and read study. 8577 participants were followed for all-cause mortality from 1991 to 2017. Their participation in various sports and other leisure time activities and length of life was monitored.

Various sports were associated with improvements in life expectancy compared with a sedentary group. The researchers found that tennis players added 9.7 years to life expectancy.  Badminton players added 6.2 years. Soccer players added 4.7 years. Cyclists added 3.7 years. Swimmers added 3.4 years. Joggers added 3.2 years. Health club members added 1.5 years.

This study showed that all physical exercise was associated with increased life expectancy. Social physical activities such as tennis, badminton or soccer were associated with greater increased life expectancy more than individual/solitary activities such as jogging, swimming or cycling.

Increased life expectancy is associated with both physical and social health.  Connecting with other people, playing and interacting with them is as important as physical exercise.

The Copenhagen Study found that people who played tennis lived on average an extra 9.7 years.  While receiving serve I think: Tennis is for team players. Me and my partner will both hit winners; hit the ball into the net; serve both well and badly. Both of us respect each other. This is the ways teams work.  

Tennis is for someone reasonably healthy emotionally. During tennis the ball will bounce or fly towards you. You then have to attack it with confidence. You have to take a risk. You have to do something which may or may not succeed. You have to gracefully accept either result.

The players I play against are emotionally and mentally healthy. They are nice people. I love them so much I love to beat them. It’s not tennis that makes them live longer. They are the type of person who lives a long and healthy life therefore they play tennis.

The message from Copenhagen is don’t play tennis. The message is social health is as important as physical health. Social health is about respecting your partner and opponent. The other message is people who live a long and well-balanced life play tennis. If doing a solitary physical activity then try and do it with other people or afterwards go social. You need a balanced life.

Social tennis on The Domain: Part One

The Domain is an oasis of green in the middle of central Hobart. An area of native plants and animals hiding a few tennis courts. Geoff the Eastern Rosella watches me as I walk to the tennis court. 

Geoff likes watching. Hiding in the foliage. Not getting involved. Splashes of red and blue but most of his feathers help him blend in.

When he is not helping me play better tennis he forages in the trees and shrubs and on the ground for nectar, fruit, berries, seeds and if he is lucky insects.

I approach the tennis courts. Two people loiter, bounce balls, stretch their legs and swing racquets. I am number three. We all look up the hill. Peering for number four. Who will it be? We watch the fourth person walk down the hill and enter the tennis courts.

We all wear different clothes. Colourful. Flexible. Neat and tidy. Sunglasses, caps. Water bottles in our bags.

We now have the magic number. Which is four. Let’s start. We have a few decisions to make. I let others decide who is playing with and against whom?  I don’t really care who I am playing with or against. I need both a partner and opponents.

I wait for others to decide. What the teams are. And who is serving and from what end. We then all stand on the court in our positions; say good game and play tennis.

My aim is not to win. My aim is to be nice and relaxed; loose; in the mood; nicely balanced; hitting good shots.

My aim is for everybody on the court to be playing well. For everybody to be nice and relaxed and hitting good shots.

The ball lands between me and my partner. We both hesitate. Then we both go for it. Then we both laugh and both agree to talk.

The wind is strong. Changes the shots at both ends. Time to live in the moment.

There is a moment when the ball hits the top of the net and rolls along the net. The ball appears to tease us.  Then decides who will win the point and who will lose.

More people arrive and more courts waken.

Bounce thump followed by bounce thump. The players talk.

“I thought it was going out. It dropped in.”

“The sun got in my eyes.”

“That was a funny bounce. The ball hit the tape.”

Between points we glance up at the clouds surrounding The Mountain. Where is the wind coming from? Is it going to rain?

The tennis ball heads towards my left. I move my arms and legs and hit a backhand shot into the net. Geoff the Green Rosella says the bleeding obvious.

Geoff: You should move your feet before moving your arm.

I nod in agreement. I always seem to know what to do after I should have done it.

Geoff shakes his head and says: Lack of footwork. How many times do you have to be told?

I think about my feet. Must move my feet; get comfortable and nicely balanced; swing easily and gracefully and hit the ball. Win a few points. Lose a few but who cares. I am now moving nicely. Nice and relaxed. Not stressed. I find the ball coming off my racquet a lot better. It is now going where I envisage. I begin instinctively hopping and skipping around the court and playing well.

Geoff nods in approval. Then he flies away. Geoff has done his job. He imagines more seeds over that way. Or maybe even an unlucky caterpillar.

Our first set finishes with a shaking of racquets then talk. Should we go for revenge or change partners?

After more tennis we shake our racquets again then gravitate towards morning tea.

We sit and talk.

I ask one lady about her sons: What are they doing nowadays? Where are they working?

She tells me about her sons. I enjoy listening to tales of their work, their lives and their future.

I ask another lady: How is your week going?

She tells me: Busy week. Had to look after my grandkids. They have been sick.

Another man tells me about the traffic. He then tells me about his dog. Yesterday he took his dog for a walk and they met a badly behaved owner with his dog.

I hear talk about the vaccine.  

But not as often as talk about grandkids.

A lady stands and reads out the roster after the break. She says who my partner will be, who we will play against and on which court. Somebody has to think about how to play with me. Others have to think about how to beat me. Where to hit the ball. Deep or short. Fast or slow. High or low. Spinning or not.

I love the idea of randomly playing with anybody. Not only playing with my mates. Accepting everybody and anybody.