35 Trial Lawyer • Spring 2022 See Pickle Ball 36 until he or she faults. The first side to get to 11 points and leading by at least two points, wins. Pickleball can be played with singles or doubles. Strategy and skill Pickleball is great for many reasons. First of all, pickleball is fun. You get to whack a ball and it is okay to hit your friends! What could be better. Pickleball is also easy to learn. Anyone can play. But while pickleball is easy to learn, it is hard to master. It makes it easier if you have a paddle sport background (tennis, racquetball, badminton, ping pong, squash) but it is not necessary. Some of the top players are from non-paddle sports (hockey, volleyball, soccer). Because there is strategy and skill, at a certain level young people can play with old people. And, unlike many sports, older people can beat younger people by being able to dink/place the ball. Grandparents play with their kids and their grandkids, and it is still fun. In fact, one of the best women’s teams in the country is a mother-daughter duo (Leigh and Anna LeighWaters). The daughter, Anna Leigh Waters, is now 15 and one of the top women players in the country. I find pickleball to be much friendlier than tennis. There are several reasons pickleball is so friendly. Often, you play at a park—not at my tennis club vs your tennis club. You also mix around with who you play with. Four of us will play together and often play two out of three games with each partner. Because the points can be really fun at the net, it is more enjoyable to play than tennis and you laugh more. Social fun I have met so many younger and older people, Republicans, Independents and Democrats, and been all over the country because of pickleball. It has been really nice to find something in common and enjoy being with someone who has very different views of the world. I believe remembering what we have in common with each other, rather than our differences, is what will help unite us again. You don’t just play with people your same age. You play with people of similar levels or you can combine partners of different levels to still have fun. I never would have imagined the number of new friends I have and the number of people I have met through pickleball. Free exercise One thing I love about pickleball is it The Pickleball Zone in Bend is an eight court indoor facility open to all ages. The winners this day were Enrique Ruiz (far left) and Michelle Esquivel (next to Ruiz). Paulson played with Mike Pazourek, a Portland area tennis pro.
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy Nzc3ODM=