Pickleball, Pack & Plays, and Duper Delusions | Coach AJ w/ Pickleball Helpline

We’re coming in hot with:

 🔹 A duper-rated tournament that ended in negative numbers but high vibes
 🔹 Goldfish-fueled toddler invasions and why “pack-and-play” is a lifestyle
 🔹 What not to resurface a pickleball court with (hint: Legos would be better)
 

Plus, Coach AJ from the Pickleball Helpline joins us to talk about turning court therapy into a career, sandbagging scandals, and how mindset beats muscle memory every time.

🎧 Listen now before your toddler gets body-bagged at open play.
 #BigDinkEnergy

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Transcript

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Speaker 4 (00:00.514)
But yeah, I'm so bad and it's so, sometimes it's just so defeating. It's so frustrating because I don't want to be that bad. Because like this is humbling.

me show you this though. She looked super cute.

This is Big Dink Energy, the pickleball podcast that's half insight, half nonsense, and all entertainment. If you love pickleball, don't take yourself too seriously and think a little trash talk makes the game better, welcome home. This is the place where life and pickleball intersect. We celebrate the chaos, call out the nonsense, and put the fun back in dysfunction. You're either in or you're out. And if you're still listening, you're in. So let's go.

Big Dink Energy starts now. You will believe it's not butter. We are the official podcast of pickleball. Big Dink Energy, come into your ear holes for free. And I just got to get this out of the way right now because I need y'all to know this. I definitely am. Thank you very much. Big Dink Energy is powered by blue balls and they're way more than the toughest pickle balls in the game. Yes, they are. Their extreme forties are built to take a beating guys.

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Speaker 3 (01:10.04)
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Sunday, Sunday, Yeah, we did a scr- Well, I did a, we did a scramble on Labor Day. But my sister and I did a women's doubles on Saturday. So we did two over the weekend.

Right? In your mind.

I am a professional. So you guys had a tournament?

Speaker 3 (02:04.034)
scramble. Denny's especially.

Speaker 3 (02:13.546)
bunch of you just sitting around cooking food?

was a long day, six hours each day. We played so many games, I think like eight each day. And it was a fun experience for sure. But the scramble was our best. And it was so much fun. We met so many great people. It was at Heights Athletic Club in Harker Heights.

It's like

Speaker 4 (02:27.202)
our first scramble tournament.

Speaker 4 (02:31.96)
really was.

Where was it?

Harker Heights, Texas, right outside Ford.

Yes, which is where we go to like play at, you know, the open play. Actually, we've never done an open play there. We've done this. you did an open play. Our first lessons there and we've done scrambles there and we've done private coaching and some classes. We haven't done, I haven't done an open play yet. So looking forward to that. But the scramble was awesome. We met a lot of amazing people.

We did our first lessons there.

Speaker 4 (03:01.91)
Yes, so many new friends.

Okay, so for the people that are listening and may not know what a scramble is, what's a scramble?

So Scramble is where you get to play with every single person in your group and you play against every single person in your group. And so, you know, it kind of shifts around. So everybody plays with everybody and then it tracks your score by based off like your win, your score wins and losses plus the spread between like.

I knew you were going to

Seven to eleven or whatever and then it gives you like a ranking

Speaker 3 (03:31.918)
Crazy over here.

my god.

And then it's like the swish app is what they use and it kind of adds up your totals and then it spits out like, you know, who's got gold, silver, in my case, bronze. I finally won something and I didn't even know I won.

Thanks.

Speaker 4 (03:48.174)
You got a medal, know. I knew you didn't know, because you were just walking around, I was like, I'm going to videotape this, because she has no clue.

You spoke that into existence today.

Because the day before no on Saturday So there's a guy named Ricky there and I think he's about 70 and he is such an amazing So sweet and he came out there just to support everybody playing And and on Saturday when my sister and I literally were the first people to lose I looked at her and I was like one of those days we're gonna get to hold one of those placards and get a medal and Ricky turns around and he says What are you gonna do break into somebody's

Yeah, yeah.

Speaker 4 (04:06.904)
He is so sweet.

Speaker 3 (04:26.124)
Is that? Shout out to Rick. I love you Rick.

Love, Ricky.

It was so savage and I loved it so much. quick comeback. hateful is my go-to. My love life. And then we just met so many amazing people like Kim and Sherry and we got to play with Sabrina. Like it was just so, my gosh, I loved it so much.

That's your love language.

It is,

Speaker 3 (04:52.45)
yes now palpitas i saw some videos of you

Don't.

Well, let's let's go on how many okay, so there's eight games. Okay. Let's ask her how many she

How many of the eight games did you win? I've seen the videos. I'm going to say the number is zero. I don't know I've ever seen like blind people like Stevie Wonder would probably get the ball over more than I than I saw you getting it over.

What is your guess?

Speaker 1 (05:08.95)
And I was there.

Speaker 4 (05:13.803)
Okay. You won.

Speaker 4 (05:25.506)
Valid point.

But you have gotten better!

No, I only say that in

and better when I'm that bad.

You definitely have. You definitely have.

Speaker 1 (05:35.33)
You made more serves, that's for sure.

Yes, for after like the first four games, then I finally started landing serves, but the first four games were not there. First four for each round because in, like I say, we had our first round and we did all of that and then torrential downpour. I mean, water was just flooding the courts. were out there. Yeah, we took like a two hour break because they were squeegeeing it and.

warm up, warm up, for a warm up.

But

Speaker 1 (05:59.96)
hour break.

Speaker 4 (06:05.006)
sweeping it out and everything and that took forever. So then they're like, we're gonna take like an hour break, but their hour break was like an hour and 20 minutes.

Shout out to them though, they hustled and they brought us.

They had shop vacs, towels, everything. But we had a huge break in between. So then the second round comes and of course I'm like, well, it's going to take me another four games to actually be able to make a serve. So yeah, it was pretty bad. The first round I ended up with a negative 8.3. So that's fantastic. Don't know anybody who's

the duper.

No, it's like how much your points spread. How much you're kind of losing by.

Speaker 4 (06:38.708)
That's your scramble. And then the second round, my total was a negative 7.8, so I increased a little bit. But yeah, I'm so bad, and it's so, sometimes it's just so defeating. It's so frustrating, because I don't want to be that bad. And I've never really been horrible at something that I've really tried at. And then going out at pickleball, I'm like, well damn, this sucks. Like, this is humbling.

That's a win for sure.

Speaker 1 (07:07.982)
me tell you this though, she looked super cute. Of course. In her dress and I'm so glad she came.

Now, remember our old neighbors, their daughter was only a cheerleader. And our son was doing tee ball or regular baseball. And her and her friend came over. They were cheerleaders. And I remember watching them try to throw a baseball and swing a bat. And you would have thought these were foreign instruments they have never seen before, something from another planet, the way they did that. you're an athlete from, you were a cheerleader before. it's just, you

know, 20 plus years ago, but yes. Yeah.

I think the thing with pickleball is it has a low barrier to get involved, but then it has a higher ceiling to get good. You know, you can still, even if you're, you're not good or you've never played, you can get in, you can play, you can have a ton of fun. You can meet people and you can get better as you go. Like I'm, I'm not great. My duper went down by like three points, but I know it did.

You only have three to work

Speaker 4 (08:11.8)
with.

No, it went from 2.7 to 2.4. Yeah, right. Yeah, you know what? Fractions, fractions. Right. I'm not high enough for it to go to down like three whole points. But my point is, is you get to meet people, you have fun, you learn, you improve. Right. All of those things have nothing to do with being good or winning. Yeah.

No, I agree. And that's why we got into it, quite frankly. It was just the community, was the fun, it was the atmosphere. was the, I mean, we judge, I judge everybody, but I mean, the non-judgment from some people. So all the great things are there. And the tournament, think, just kind of is a way to measure yourself a lot of times.

Yeah, and it's fun to have just a little bit of competitive. Like, I mean, I'm still not like, I'm competitive.

You and I are not just competitive. There's a lot there.

Speaker 1 (08:58.894)
But I just also just don't even care, like, as well. You know, when we lost the first thing... like, when we lost the very first thing and we were out, we were like, whatever, okay, well, you know. But I think my sister and I were talking and we were saying, you know, at our age now, like, I didn't really like a whole lot of girls growing up because they were just nasty and bitter and mean and hateful. And it's so nice now to meet women our age and we just...

Like we don't care. There's no pretentiousness. Right. We just hung out with these women like we had like known them our whole lives, right?

And like joked about extremely personal things. It's fun to be around them.

We're still texting. still... Like, I feel like they're my friends now. Right. That's what Pickleball brings.

It's a tribe of people and then you meet another tribe and you're like, you're my people too.

Speaker 3 (09:51.918)
going to be a couple of those ladies you're saying they were they're going to be in our tick tock

Yeah, so during our break we and made some content videos on the pickleball court where we were, we didn't want to just sit and do nothing and they brought pizza and I'm like, there ain't no way I can eat that. Yeah, which it smelled amazing so I had to leave. I know.

I like greasy peat.

I like, I'm gonna puke. I'm gonna puke if I have to get up and play eight more games.

We gotta

Speaker 3 (10:17.184)
worried about winning is that why you can

I was worried about being too slow.

We went up to the top courts and we made some content and I was like y'all should be in our videos and they were you know gracious enough to be in some of our videos so we'll be posting those. So much fun. This is for everybody like go out there sign up for a damn tournament who cares.

was super sweet. had a lot of.

Yeah, that's what it is all about.

Speaker 3 (10:39.982)
If you're sitting on the sidelines wondering, I play in a tournament or not, go do it. What's the worst that happens?

Just do it.

Me? mean, it was a duper rated tournament and I didn't even have a duper account so I had to create one. And then Stephanie's like, oh, what's your duper rating? I don't know. And she looks at it, she's like, it's a 2.0. And I was like, there's no way, because my thing just says zero, zero, zero, zero. Is that like a mercy score? Is that like the lowest you can get? She's like, Yeah.

Yeah, it is. Except me, I'm a solid 1.5.

You don't even have a duper yet. I do now.

Speaker 3 (11:14.19)
Bye!

have a duper. You're better than me.

We are, we're both better than you.

But I had a lot of fun, it was very humbling. But then I got to thinking about it. When it came to cheer and it came to things that I was really good at, I used to spend hours every day. Like if I was watching TV, I was laying in front of the TV in the splits. I was spending hours doing ab exercises and I was spending every single night that we didn't have a game, I was doing tumbling practice. I was always working at it.

May.

Speaker 3 (11:34.99)
to.

Speaker 4 (11:47.098)
And with pickleball, it's like, like once every two weeks, I go and play and then I expect to just be good. Like, no, that's not how it

We've all been very busy. So I mean, I think it's well worth it. It's super fun and everybody needs to go with it.

yes and sec

Speaker 4 (12:06.21)
go and try a pickleball tournament.

Yeah, go get on our socials and see some of the content that was created out there. See some of the videos from the tournament. And if you want to, we get some fan mail every once in a while. We got one from Alex. Alex says, hello there, just wanted to say the big dink energy podcast is killer. Fire emoji after that. The courtside banter makes me laugh every week. Thanks for that, Alex. You all can just do like Alex did and put some, don't look at me, okay?

Speaker 3 (12:37.294)
You can get on our socials you can do the electronic mail as the kids say as well at me bdpodcast.com That's the email for you all out there you boomers and just send us some fan mail We'd like to hear from you all and we'll give you a shout out and unless it's bad then we won't we'll just delete it

Speaker 4 (12:56.856)
Just

Just the tip, quick pickleball wisdom in and out before you know it. The tip today is stop camping the kitchen line. So most intermediate players learn to rush the kitchen, which is good, but then they glue themselves to the line like it's lava behind them. The problem, good opponents will tag your feet all day. So the fix to this is to float. You wanna take half a step back when you see a drive coming.

Give yourself room to defend, then step right back up when you reset the ball. Think of the kitchen line as a dance floor. You don't stand on it, you move with it. That's why I'm so good in the kitchen.

Just the

Yes

Speaker 4 (13:46.382)
It's time for Pickle Pals!

Speaker 3 (13:53.77)
Listen, have you ever wished you could call someone mid-meltdown on the court and just say, help, my third shot is trash and my partner hates me? Well, now you can. Today we're joined by Coach AJ, the creator of the Pickleball Helpline, Instagram's favorite mix of an emergency drill is court therapy and laugh out loud pickleball truths. She's been on Let's Make a Deal, dressed as, of course, a pickleballer, got to hang with Wayne Brady. I'm sure he smells good, we'll get into that. And she's got range for days and somehow makes the pain of poor footwork feel fun again.

If your game needs CPR, your dinks need divine intervention, or you're spiring after a 2-11 loss, don't worry, AJ's got you. Coach AJ, thanks so much for being on the Big Dink Energy podcast. We're glad you're here.

my God, thank you for having me. I loved that intro and I love the fact that you knew I was on Let's Make a Deal.

Speaker 2 (14:45.506)
It's funny because I was actually on Let's Make a Deal twice. okay. The first time I actually showed up dressed in a former costume for a character I had created as a mad scientist and I didn't get picked to go and be a contestant, but they really liked my story and they really wanted to have me back because FYI, I've never owned a car. I'm a New Yorker. I've barely driven and yes, now I live in LA.

wow

Speaker 2 (15:13.774)
and I need a car, but I still never took that next step to actually purchase a car. And so when the let's make a deal happened in the back of my head was that I'm going to win a car, but then I didn't get chosen. And when they told me they wanted to have me come back, they asked me to come back as a pickleball player. I kind of knew that- right. It was really hard, but I knew they were going to call me up for a car and they did. I had

that's awesome.

An amazing intro with Wayne Brady, him and I, and he brought on like two of the producers from the show. We ended up having a little dink rally on the stage. It was awesome. talked about the, you know, the power of pickleball and the joy it's brought into my life and many of our lives and why it really had such an impact on my life and really changed the course of my life. And within five minutes of the game starting, I lost.

no. Womp womp womp.

It was a won't want. Yeah, it was definitely still fun. Still got to, you know, get dressed as a pickleball player. Still fun, but I sadly lost the car.

Speaker 3 (16:22.69)
Yeah, he looks like a cool guy to hang out with. Maybe you turned him on to pickleball. Maybe he's a pickleballer now. We just don't, maybe I just don't know.

So nice.

Speaker 2 (16:31.15)
You know, that is a good question, because there are a bunch of celebrities. I never see his name in the mix, but there are a bunch of celebrities that do play. And, you know, there's a court out here in LA that was started by an actual studio. So it's former sound stages for TV shows that have now been converted into... During the pandemic, they were kind of dead and people were playing and...

That's cool. That is real.

Speaker 2 (17:00.216)
And they were like, well, maybe there's a business opportunity.

Of course, Hollywood. Of course.

think it's just Hollywood. think people become addicted and they're like, I want to spend my life on the court. I want to figure out how to not only do this seven hours a day, but turn it into a business. that's kind of where my, mean, I literally, I think I played once and I came home and I was like, no, this is what we're doing. Me and my business partner were on a completely different trajectory. We were in the midst of, we had just raised money.

going to launch a community-based app. And then I was introduced to Pickleball. I was walking through my local park one day, and I saw people playing, never heard the name. This was, you know, at the very early phases, early stages of the pandemic. And they were offering a free clinic that weekend, and I was...

Yeah, for sure.

Speaker 2 (18:00.75)
Yeah, and I knew I wanted to do something. And right before the pandemic started, I had essentially been in video production. So I started as a performer. Oh, wow. And then switched and moved onto the other side, producing content and doing content strategy for nonprofits, political organizations, social enterprises. And I'd been doing that. And then everything stopped during the pandemic.

Yep.

And it was challenging, but it also was the opportunity to say, okay, what do I want to do next? And I knew I, I knew I wanted to do something in pickleball. So my background also besides video production. I was a former competitive tennis player. Gross. Yes, I know. Gross, gross, gross. But I stopped very early. I used to have panic attacks on the court, like tennis and I have a very bad relationship and it just became not enjoyable.

Yeah.

Speaker 3 (18:47.518)
gross.

Speaker 2 (18:59.71)
And so I really hadn't picked up a racket in years. And pickleball just felt like the exact opposite. It was fun. It was freeing. was joyful. know, people were laughing on the court. I was like this. It reminded me of like why I loved tennis in the beginning, but with all out all of the crap that went along with it.

Yeah. Yeah. And that's, we are kind of the same way we, you know, we picked it up one day and tried it, went to a clinic, what is this all about? And then here we are, got podcasts and other things in the background, pickleball related. And it's outside my wheelhouse. I'm a police officer still and private military. I was, you know, I'm harder than woodpecker lips, at least in my mind. And, but here I am doing a podcast on pickleball of all things. So yeah, very, very similar. I think a lot of people have that story.

tried pickleball once and now I'm addicted. It's my crack. So the pickleball helpline, where did that kind of come from? Was it a chaotic lesson, a sleepist night, a bad partner? Where did that come from?

So that's a good question. mean, one of my students kept on calling me his pickleball therapist. So that was kind of the starting point, like that little seed of, okay, I'm offering more than just tech. I started noticing, know, students would come to me with questions in general. And the lesson became about answering those questions. And I thought,

Yeah.

Speaker 2 (20:25.866)
A, if my students are asking, you know, I have a limited number of people that I'm working with on a daily basis. In person, if my students are interested in figuring out how to answer these questions, well, I'm sure other people would. For sure. And I could reach other people beyond just the one-on-one or the group lessons that are happening in Los Angeles. My background's in video production, and so it kind of seemed like a no-brainer to do videos that quickly answered people's questions.

Yeah, that's fantastic because we're living in a world now where long form video is not the thing that people are consuming anymore. It's just short, know, TikTok kind of help with that. Vine, I think, happened before that to kind of help with answering those just short, you know, here's a little bit of humor, here's a little bit of information. You don't need to spend 59 minutes on a video for that. So that's fantastic. Do you have any weird or hilarious helpline moments that have happened so far?

But you should ask that. My partner was like, he's gonna ask you that question.

I gotta know the weirdos. I mean, we're already pickleballs, so we are the weirdos, right?

Yeah, you know, it's interesting. You know, I would say in general, people are obsessed with rules and obsessed with dupe. And what's legal and what's not. so I'd say in some ways, one of the most interesting or just like weird questions was someone had reached out and said, you know, I just participated in this tournament and I am.

Speaker 3 (21:36.24)
Mm-hmm

Speaker 2 (21:53.09)
convinced that this one guy that they played against was sandbagging and that he was convinced that he had created two profiles and he was using one profile to be able to play in this tournament. And what should you do? And, you know, I am not someone who's obsessed with Dupre or obsessed with ratings. I really don't compete. I keep that very separate from what I'm doing. I embrace people who enjoy that. You know, there's a lot of

wow.

Speaker 2 (22:21.4)
competitive people in this space and if it's enjoyable for them, fantastic. It's just not something that I've really, you know, I'm in my late 40s, I'm not in my 20s, like I love sharing the sport, I love analyzing the sport, but in terms of like competing, I see it as not a component in terms of my experience, at least maybe in the future, but you you never say never. But people are obsessed with duper.

Oh my gosh, Oh my gosh. that's one of the first, you know, it's kind of like if people find out you work out, what's your bench? And the same with pickup ball, what's your duper? It's such a small measurement of what you can actually accomplish on a court.

100%, but it is so, I don't know, people are so obsessed with it. Anyway, so I said to them, because I did actually work for Duper. I was their editorial director for about nine months where I was traveling a bit, covering Junior Pro Tour. I was covering what was happening on a global level and what was happening on a micro level. And so I definitely know

Wow.

Speaker 2 (23:30.37)
the importance of the issue of sandbagging in relation to so they're very, very, they take it seriously. And while I didn't quite have an answer, I said, definitely reach out to Duper. This is an issue that's like near and dear to their heart. And I have no doubt they're gonna solve it for you. And they got back to me, they did just that. And they said that Duper had essentially corrected the issue. They couldn't fixed the tournament or the outcome of the tournament, but they got rid of

one of the duplicate accounts that the person had. So they were correct. And yeah, I just thought that was like a fun little thing where I could be a part of that person's journey.

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. That's awesome, flying around on the corporate duper jet all over the country.

I wouldn't say I was running around on the court for a duper joke, but it was fun to both experience it from, know, because prior to that, I was really just obsessed with local stories because people come and they find pickleball and they have such, especially in the early phases, you know, if they become addicted, like it sounds like you are, they have this very euphoric experience where it becomes, it becomes very...

integrated into their daily life. for sure. so I met all these amazing people and got to hear their stories about how Pickball had changed their life. But I really wasn't that much embedded into the pro scene and understanding what was happening there. And now I just find it's just such an interesting environment because it's still figuring itself out. The pro scene is still relatively new. And so it's been fun to track that.

Speaker 3 (25:13.132)
So is there a, do you have like a signature move or coaching move that really helps people dig into the aha moment for them?

That is a great question. Do I have a signature move? know, so in general, I approach coaching from three pillars. starts with technique, then there's strategy, and then the third one is mindset. And the mindset aspect to me ends up being way more important than most people think. I would say, and it's...

Yeah, for sure.

Speaker 2 (25:47.04)
a big part of why I'm doing what I'm doing because I don't really think people understand how large of a opponent it is. Strategy is so fun and once you understand that, can really start playing, it becomes like chess. And then, especially when you're getting into competitive games, mindset is everything. It really is. And I saw that you had the dink shrink on and her and I did a couple of videos.

She's fantastic. She's fantastic.

Oh, I reached out to her immediately because that component just to me is just so important. I mean, it was so important. knew it was going to be important, but it's been important for me to reflect both as a player and a teacher and a student because I'm still learning as well, right? And it's a thing that I struggled with very early on in tennis. And I knew I didn't want to bring my baggage.

Yeah, every day.

Speaker 2 (26:48.386)
you know, into this new.

Yeah, for sure. So what is something that people would be surprised to learn about you that doesn't probably show up on the Instagram?

Besides, let's make a deal.

I'm kidding.

Well, maybe this is not surprising, but I started as a performer, as I said, and then I shifted into health and wellness. So I was a yoga instructor, I was a personal trainer, I was a Thai massage therapist. And that really, those modalities really have an impact also in terms of how I approach coaching and how I work with people because...

Speaker 2 (27:27.458)
technique and strategy and even mindset are one thing, but how we're able to handle ourselves physically on the court is super important. I've actually been in rehab for the past eight months. I tore my meniscus and it wasn't even playing, it was teaching. I went down to pick up a ball and I heard a pop and yeah. And so it's been a long process where I feel fine most of the time.

these days, but I was on the court teaching the other day and my knee went out and I went straight to the ground. And I got up and I was fine. Like I didn't really feel any pain, but my knee is still not 100%. And it might never be 100%. I'm not playing seven days a week like I used to and I just can't, and I don't know if I'll ever get back to where I was, but.

At least, you know, at least I can share the sport with other people because I didn't stop teaching. So I injured myself and maybe should have taken a break. Yeah. But this is what I do for a living now. So I really couldn't take a break. And so I kind of taught and put myself in a box where I couldn't move and worked around it. And now, now I'm fully mobile in terms of being on the court and being able to. But, know, it's changed and my relationship with pinball has changed.

Yeah, I think it does modify itself over time. And you brought up a good point that I don't know if a lot of people consider, but all the things you've done up until that point where you started coaching, you know, all those different experiences, what...

What people miss sometimes is that's a great breadth of knowledge. Having military law enforcement, that's deep, that's depth of knowledge, that's great. I can tell you bad guys all day long. But having a breadth of knowledge is fantastic for being able to coach people because you're to come across so many different people. So what led you there is what makes you so great at what you do in the coaching space because you have that breadth of knowledge about a lot of different things. So I'm sure your clients really feel that coming through.

Speaker 2 (29:29.228)
Yeah, I mean, in many ways coaching is you're on a stage. It's a small stage. And then, you know, the video component is a larger stage. You know, in many ways, you know, coming from a background in both sports and acting has kind of prepared me to take on this role. And look, teaching Pigglebell was not something I actually initially pursued. People just started asking me to teach and people would see, because initially I was just posting

stuff about what I loved about Pickball, just like fun, you know, kind of moments that I would capture on the court with my phone. And so I had friends reaching out. And so initially it was just like, I wanted everyone to play. Like I was enjoying it so much. I wanted everyone to play. And then people started wanting to pay me to teach them. I was like,

Yeah, because your passion comes clearly through there, I'm sure. Yeah. So let's do a little bit of what we call a dink or destroy or this or that. You know, I'm going give you two choices. You got to pick one and you can't go middle of the road. You can't choose both. right. All right. Footwork drills or paddle control drills? Footwork. All right. Tough love or warm encouragement?

I'm a bit of both, but I would say I like warm encouragement.

Alright, coaching a total beginner or fixing a rec player with bad habits?

Speaker 2 (30:48.046)
Oof, oof, that's a tough one. Because the bad habits are tough. It is really hard. It's much easier actually to start with someone who's never picked up a paddle. Like, yes, we're starting from zero. And I do love people that have a little foundation that I can literally just add fuel to the fire and kind of take, I love those kind of moments, but.

bad habits, know, are just hard to

Yeah, we see the same cadets that come through an academy who have been shooting for years versus the kids who have never shot before do a lot better. Yeah. All right. So if someone listening right now is feeling stuck, overwhelmed, or even low-key embarrassed by their level, what would you tell them if they called the pickleball hotline right now?

Well, I kind of been brought back to a phone call I had with a student. She had called me feeling very down that she had playing and had been playing for several months and the group that she was playing with kind of no longer made her feel welcome. She was kind of disinvited from the group because they felt like her level was much lower. And you see this kind of playing itself out in various forms in a lot of pickleball communities. So...

I would say first of all, I was really happy she shared that with me and that it was like normal that just because she is where she is today doesn't mean she's stuck there. And I thought she did the right move, which is reached out to someone for help, like with a little training, with a little restructuring that we could take her game. you know, I'm to this day now I get calls from friends of hers, you know, who are just, you know, someone had posted the other day about Laura.

Speaker 2 (32:35.896)
her name's Lori, about Lori's game, that she wants to be like Lori when she grows up. And she was referring to her pickleball game. But it took her kind of getting over feeling embarrassed, like she wasn't good enough. And that's where mindset comes in, right? For sure. That a lot of us are bringing like baggage based on how we're being treated in the court. But ultimately, if that group is making you feel like you're not good enough, well, you can either kind of

say, poor me and I suck, or you can figure out how to make changes. And changes can come from reaching out to a coach, getting some structured advice and training, but it can come from drilling. There's a limit to how much you can improve if your focus is on just playing games.

I thought you were going to say drilling them with the ball, like body bagging them and then lobbing all day long and laughing.

that's actually is something. So I had a student who was very fearful about being at the net. That, you know, in rec play these days, it's very common for and not to throw down your entire gender, but having men drill balls. so she was constantly getting hit. And he did spend an entire session with her getting comfortable.

And a big part of it is mentality, is mindset as well, is like, you're gonna expect from certain players that they're gonna hit the ball at you fast. And if your reaction is to kind of, you know, back off or kind of like jump out of the way, you're not actually meeting your opponent where they're at. So it starts with knowing who your opponent is, right?

Speaker 2 (34:16.142)
And then once you know their opponent is, it's having the strategy in order to meet them, like take their power, give them back their power. It was a funny drill that I have since that first initial idea that I came up with, just getting her to stand there and have balls being shot right out of her. And it was uncomfortable watching her, but there eventually came a point where she had to defend herself, right?

Yeah, that's right. And you got a weapon in your hand that'll help you with that. Yeah. That's right.

Like how many times do you want to be hit?

Speaker 2 (34:49.678)
So I'd say the most like unique thing is really just like meeting students where they're at and creatively coming up with solutions to their specific problem.

I love it. So Coach AJ, how come people, where's all the socials, how do they get a hold of you?

Yeah, so I am on YouTube, Instagram, TikTok, and I'm at Pickleball Helpline. And you can follow me there. Feel free to DM me if you have any questions. Please ask. I am there to help.

Awesome. Thank you so much for being on the Big Dink Energy podcast today. Reach out to her if you've got some hotline things that you need to take care of in your game or the way you play. She's got the answers for you. Thanks so much for being on today.

Thank you for having me, Guy.

Speaker 3 (35:31.547)
you

Speaker 3 (35:36.366)
Yes, yes, yes. It's that time of the podcast where we send something over the net. It's thumbs up for us or we destroy it, not for us. And I wanted to talk about this as something near and to my heart. It's kids at the pickleball court. listen, I get it. got, know, pickleball is a recreational sport. That's why we do this podcast for you rec players out there.

It's a good one.

Speaker 3 (36:01.794)
But I'm not trying to play with your snotty nose kid who just can barely hold a racket and you're trying to make them feel good about themselves. We already have participation trophies for everything. We don't spank kids anymore. I don't need to hear you encourage your kid when he sucks at pickleball.

I love playing with my kids, but my kids are a little older. Yeah They understand the game so I think

Yes, they understand the game.

So are you talking about like toddlers?

I'm talking about the, you brought your kids,

Speaker 1 (36:35.63)
Don't bring your kids to open play if they're babies. If they're toddlers or if they're seven years old.

Yeah, they're digging through your bag and dragging all your stuff out to the middle of the court.

Like we went to a park open play and unless it's going to be like your whole family putting your paddles in. That's true. If it's your whole family putting your four paddles together and you're going out to play as a family, that's fine. But if you're eight year old who barely knows how to play is paddle stacking and then gets put with somebody that wants, that's annoying. Yeah.

your family's whole.

Speaker 3 (37:08.13)
No, so I went out the other day and I was playing and a 46 year old showed up and I was like, no, absolutely not. You junksters out here.

I'm talking more about like, you know, under eight years old that doesn't understand how to play. If it's a teenager, that's different because you're kind of, that's just as like a 20 year old coming out there and trying to learn.

I'm not saying there's not kids out there like eight year olds that can body bank people and just

There's girl out there.

There was a girl at the tournament that was like legit. Okay, that's fine. But your five-year-old it no no I'm I'm going to pick a ball to get away from children

Speaker 3 (37:44.43)
Yeah, I mean, I get it. There's not a lot of options out there and the courts are fun because they're all enclosed, a lot of them. But if they're getting involved in the game, I'm not saying I'm going to hit them. I mean, if the ball, if I body bag your kid, I would never do that. I would never do that.

sorry. know. Like, kids specific programs. Yeah. That makes sense. I think they have like an after school program. They have like several different like.

Pick

Speaker 1 (38:10.599)
They're doing a new class. I saw that.

just four kids to learn pickleball and to play with each other. Cause there were two boys at the scramble tournament that we were at who they were phenomenal.

Right, I'm not talking about kids like that, that are at a level or-

No, that's not what saying. I'm just saying like...

I think it's like the six and under.

Speaker 3 (38:32.12)
Well, not even that, no. If you brought them as a way to babysit them out on the court, like, don't touch that, don't go over there. Exactly, like if they wanna play and they understand it, great, let's go, you know what I mean? Like when we went up to Gatesville and that little kid wanted to join us, gave him the paddle and he played, because he had played some sports at some point. So, you know, but it wasn't like...

That's a huge no.

Speaker 4 (38:52.526)
Yeah, that was cute.

Speaker 1 (38:59.37)
running around and getting like getting in everybody's way. Yeah. I don't like that.

and your kids out there choking on goldfish, get them off the court. You know what I mean?

And I saw that we were at a pickleball hideout, which is in Montgomery, Texas. And this lady had like her newborn or like it was a baby. And she had her in no, she had her in the stroller and we were at open play and she was playing and then she'd come back when, you know, she was done and you know, check on the baby. That's fine. The baby's sitting right there. Like, it's not doing anything. It's not running on the court. It's not doing, I mean, anything like

Don't tell me a body.

Speaker 3 (39:36.258)
They're not even cool with that.

Yeah, I mean she was just sleeping. That's fine. It's like I'm glad the mom was getting out and getting involved. But I think it's more like the toddlers that are just running everywhere and ruining other people's games.

And a lot of my stuff is tongue in cheek, so don't come at me in the comments about it. But listen, if we're trying to have a good time and have some fun and get a little exercise, I don't want to be grumpy old man.

Well, or rent a court. Like if you have the littler kids, a court. I agree with that. Don't go to open play or sign them up for a scramble or anything like that where it's going to hurt the other people playing.

Listen, you can bring your pack and play, turn it upside down, make it like a cage, put some weight on top, toss some goldfish crackers underneath there, and come out to the court and play. I mean, my gosh, how hard is it?

Speaker 1 (40:26.19)
You can't make a little baby jail. Why? I'm just saying, I'm a dink because I think kids should be involved. I absolutely love it. But open play and scrambles and anytime where there's other community involved is not the time to teach them and train them and you know...

Yeah, I don't know tell me ahead of time. Hey, I'm bringing my ten-year-old. He doesn't know anything about the game good Let's do it. We're gonna let's school them up right you know well Let's teach him what a body bag is all day long

Ha ha!

So I'm a dink if, you know, they're actually playing the game. I'm a destroy if it's just rando kid running around and dropping goldfish and fruit snacks everywhere. It's not babysitting. It's not. And I know those type of kids and I...

Yeah, I'm gonna I get I

Speaker 3 (41:10.306)
I keep Jolly Ranchers in my pocket just for your little toddlers. Don't bring them out there. No, I'm a dink too. Bring your kids out if they want to have fun, they want to learn the game, they want to play, but if they're just, if they're not into it and they can't do it and this is just your babysitter, bring the pack and play. Turn it into a cage.

I'm definitely a dink, but know your audience. Know who's around you, read the room. If this is a professional establishment that you're going to with an open play, you're going to be around other people who expect to be in a professional establishment with open play. If you're going to the court to play with your bestie and your girlfriends, then that's completely different, because they're going to expect that you're going to bring your kids.

Don't bring him to a dink or drink either. I ain't watching yo kids, ain't watching yo babies.

Ha ha!

Nobody else's kids. I did my time.

Speaker 1 (41:59.566)
I'm done. baby's kids, your snotty nose all running around.

as an MMA, some other kids in there. Survival of the fittest.

It's an idea

I think, I know we already said Dink or Destroy, but I mean, if it's like the park is different. You know what mean? No! It is, like, there's nobody else there, it's just you and your family, that's different. I'm talking about bringing it in to where other people are trying to play. Yes. That's what I'm referring to. Not that I don't want to...

I agree.

Speaker 3 (42:15.512)
What? No. There-

Speaker 4 (42:27.438)
Have some etiquette. Know the core etiquette.

Court etiquette, no babies. courtiquette.

We call it courtiquet.

You call a court

Speaker 4 (42:40.918)
Use, you can use.

Speaker 3 (42:47.086)
I've just been handed this copy.

There it is. That's what we were missing. Yeah.

Yeah, that's the energy you expect. 2022, the Willow Ridge neighborhood in Aurora, Colorado aimed to capitalize on the pickleball craze by converting a 40 year old tennis court into modern pickleball court using... What do think they used to convert the pickleball to courts in...

Are they outdoor? Do they have indoor tennis? Do I sound dumb?

Go, Govna! You want to go back into all that too? What do you think they used to convert the tennis courts, which seem like they would have already been set up, just okay.

Speaker 1 (43:19.254)
Okay, so regardless.

Speaker 1 (43:27.338)
Yeah, like all you have to do is like repaint them

No, they spent $140,000, $140,000 to use Versatiles. Do you know what Versatiles are?

Those are those like peelers.

No, snap together plastic tiles. Snap together plastic tiles. Initially the residents were excited, noting the court looked great and resembled a proper pickleball setup. However, the surface quickly proved problematic. It was uneven, cracked, and unsafe. No ball bounce back and gameplay was nearly impossible.

Like the little crude. Yeah.

Speaker 1 (44:00.512)
My sister and I have played on those actually. Yeah. In Austin.

They've got to be installed the right way. is that the scary court that was near the highway?

Yes. And it was those plastic things that they use for like basketball too. Like you could put in the back of your house, like those type of tiles that you click together.

Or why would you use that in Aurora color?

They were, it was, you know, it's one of those things like they probably shopped around there. They go, this is cheap. they, this one's 250,000. They want 140, get them in here. Versatile.

Speaker 4 (44:26.414)
this place.

Speaker 4 (44:31.234)
The amount of snow that Aurora gets and then with in the summer, it doesn't really get like super hot, there are like, does still get like that direct sunlight. Why would you?

I know. This is for your backyard basketball.

Yeah, that's I'm saying. So what did they end up doing? Is it still there?

One resident reportedly fell and injured their wrist and after three years of unsuccessful attempts to resolve the issue with the installing company, the court was dismantled and discarded, costing an additional $3,600 for disposal. Bringing the total loss to $143,600, the community felt misled, no kidding, as the tiles were stripped for pickleball but failed to deliver a functional playing surface. But again, you had tennis

So who made that executive decision and job?

Speaker 1 (45:17.39)
Can a pain, I mean, granted that's not the best.

Even those rollout courts that we saw. Pickle roll or something like that. Pickle roll you want to come on the podcast? Let's do it. I can use one for my backyard.

Pickle roll?

Speaker 1 (45:28.558)
That was just a poor decision that was obviously they didn't play pickleball. Yes, it was non-pickleball people saying hey, let's

Yeah, you already had courts, you know what I mean? And you could have just maybe poured a little bit more concrete or just thought through that a little bit better.

Fun fact we were talking about tennis. I'll decide I did not know they played on clay or grass

It's fun.

Speaker 3 (45:49.193)
for the tennis? Yes.

Yes. Modern.

I think you were like, you told me that and I was like, clay, like, isn't it just cement? Like, and then there's no cement. I don't know why I didn't know that. Never seen it played on grass. When I've seen tennis, they're on grass? I don't know. Did you know?

Clay and grass, yeah, tennis courts.

Speaker 4 (46:07.446)
I didn't know that, but I have seen where they've played on grass. It's weird. Mainly, like, European countries.

also.

I think every time I've seen tennis courts, they were like at our school and I think it was cement. Probably. So maybe that's why I just always assumed that. I've never watched Wimbledon. Wimbledon. Wimbledon or Wimbledon? Wimbledon. Wimbledon.

button.

So if you got some comments, up in the, got it in the comment. Nevermind.

Speaker 4 (46:33.262)
Hey guys.

That's it for this episode, unless you've got something to say. Think we got it wrong? Have a better take? We want to hear it. Find us at bdepodcast.com or at bdepodcast on the socials. Drop us a message. We might just feature you in the next episode. If you had a good time, well, same z's. If not, maybe try again. We grow on people. So you know the deal. Follow the show, tell a friend, and leave us a review. Or just pretend this never happened. Until next time, keep the dink soft and the energy big.