Skeptics Discover Pickleball

This series of 3 Meetup events is for skeptics who’ve never (or hardly ever) played pickleball but are sincerely and honestly dedicated to learning the sport. It’s not aimed at those who are just looking for a taste of the game to see if they’ll like it. If that’s you, go to Madison Pickleball Meetup group and sign up there for an “Intro (1.0)” class.

For these 3 events, we’ll start by assuming that most of you won’t know Thing 1 about the sport. But don’t worry; we’ll start at Thing 0 (which is: “The purpose of pickleball is to have fun!”). All classes will be on Wednesday evenings, from 6 to 8 PM, on Courts 7 and 8 at McGaw Park, 5236 Lacy Rd. in Fitchburg. And this is what we’ll cover:

Wed. Aug. 6 • Intro (1.0)
• 60% info: terminology, rules, equipment and gear, score-keeping, safety
• 40% play: dink drill, service practice, one game with running commentary

Wed. Aug. 13 • Learner (1.3)
• 40% info: tips, tricks, techniques, tactics, teamwork, skinnies, safety, etiquette
• 60% play: diagonal-dink drill, service practice, several fast-paced games, some coaching

Wed. Aug. 20 • Newbie (1.6)
• 20% info: grips, types of stroke, positioning, player communication, court rotations, variants (different ways to play the game depending on how many players you’ve got)
• 80% play: service target practice, several games, some nagging

RSVPs: We mean it!
This is a sequence of classes, each building on what came before. If you sign up, we expect you to honor that commitment and attend all 3 sessions. If you decide no later than Aug. 4 that you can’t, change your RSVP (bottom right of the event screen) to “not coming” so somebody on the waitlist can take your spot.

What to bring
Balls will be provided. The only equipment you’ll need are your tennies, some form of eye protection, and a paddle. (Don’t shell out big bucks for a paddle while you’re just getting started.) You may want to bring a cap, dark glasses, a source of hydration, and an energy bar.

Cancellations
If the weather looks iffy, I’ll send a go/no-go message 3 hours before start time. If we have to cancel any given session, we’ll try to reschedule it.

Payment
These classes are offered for free, but it does cost me some hard cash to reserve the courts, so I wouldn’t turn down 10 bucks per person if offered voluntarily (but not expected).

Questions and suggestions
Contact me directly at RichardSRussell@tds.net.