Big DINK Energy | Over 40 Pickleball & Life
Big Dink Energy is pickleball, friends, funny shit, and the conversations that happen somewhere between the court and real life.
Hosted by Stephanie and Guy Beveridge with their longtime friend Stefanie, aka Paddle Princess, we're three adults over 40 who found pickleball and accidentally made it part of our personality.
We talk pickleball, life, gear, people, things we love, things that annoy us, and whatever else comes up. You don't have to be good at pickleball. Hell, you don't even have to play.
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Big DINK Energy | Over 40 Pickleball & Life
Pickleball Life Hacks & Arctic Chaos | Wally Green w/ Wally Green NYC
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We're coming in hot with:
🔹 One of us married someone purely for their anxiety cleaning.
🔹 Apparently asking your dog why it's staring is totally normal.
🔹 One man is sailing the Arctic completely alone right now.
Plus, Wally Green joins us to share how he went from a violent childhood in the Brooklyn projects to a pro table tennis career that took him solo into North Korea for a real-life game of ping pong diplomacy. Once pickleball's loudest hater, he's now all in, and even landed a role in the movie Marty Supreme.
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Why? To push the boundaries of human limits. I mean, what are where are limits? Yeah, I mean, if he takes too long, the pack ice will freeze. I didn't know ice ran in packs.
Speaker 2Uh we'll f Oh my geez.
GuyThis is Big Dink Energy, the pickleball podcast that's half insight, half nonsense, and all entertainment. If you love pickleball, don't take your stuff 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.
Speaker 6I'm burned up to the sky. 200 degrees. That's why they call me Mr. Ferrari and High.
GuyThey call us the Big Dink
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GuyEnergy Podcast, the official podcast of Pickleball. Now listen up, tune your ear holes to this right here, our sponsor. Before we get into it, big shout out to our partner at Bunnypop Studio. Listen, they make these handcrafted bag charms called ball besties. They do. That clip to your pickleball bag and hold a silent practice ball inside. Shh. Paws, avocados, crabs, all kinds of fun characters, and you can personalize each one with your name. The whole thing started because the founder made one for her pickleball loving mom and took it off and it took off from there. A functional, adorable, and guaranteed to start a conversation just like it did for you the other day at the court. Go to Bunnypop Studio, that's Bunnypop, B-U-N-I-P-O-P dot studio, and use code BDE10 for 10% off. That's Bunnypop Studio. All right, so something I wanted to get into this week. We do a lot of stuff around here that is hacky, I think. We hack a lot
Kitchen Talk - Hot takes, weird news, and what’s on our minds this week
Guyof things. Yeah. Just to make life easier, faster, I don't know, more fun. I don't know. But life hacks, right? That's something we haven't really brought up before. Now I'm not talking about like the TikTok BS and all that, where someone using a toilet paper roll to organize cables or something stupid, right? Like okay.
Speaker 4Just kidding.
GuyJust attack paddle printess. I'm talking about the real ones, though. But there are some TikTokers out there that are like that one guy, uh the 40 year, are you telling me for 40 years? I love him, yes. Yeah. But the ones we stumble on or we use repeatedly that maybe we just haven't thought of, you know, after after 40 years, I I'm still using this hack, right?
StephanieSo originally I took this as like meaningful life hacks and not like not like what you're talking about. Like my first life hack was to not save nice stuff. Like that's fine. Like a like burn your candle, drink the champagne, use the glasses. Like you don't have to wait for special occasions.
GuyLike that late, like the lady uh Marie Callendar or Collander or whatever.
StephanieMarie Calendar, you're hungry. Marie Kondo. Marie Kondo. No, I agree with that. I think that that's a good fact. Marie Kondo is is organizing organization.
Speaker 5I thought it was getting rid of stuff too, though, right?
StephanieYes.
Speaker 5But not at the way you're talking about.
Speaker 2But Steph's talking about like don't save your Tiffany jewelry for a special like hey, then wear your Tiffany jewelry.
StephanieWear it, use it. It doesn't matter. Like, I don't care, you know, like your cigar. It's a $750 cigar. Like, why are you waiting around? Like, use it if you want to use it. Smoke them if you got them, I'm saying.
GuyUh, I checked the other day. They're over a thousand a piece now, those special ones.
StephanieOh, I didn't know it was an investment. Now it's different. Now you better save that shit. No, I just think people do that all the time. Like, we're waiting to open that wine. And it's like, for what? Like a Friday night can be. Enjoy it now. Life is too short.
Speaker 2If it brings you joy, then bring bring it whenever. It doesn't, you don't have to wait for the right moment to bring you joy.
GuyYeah, because maybe now I feel stupid. I was like, oh, when you have leftover coffee, pour it in your ice tray and freeze it. That way, when you want iced coffee, you're not watering it down.
StephanieThat is a good one. That's that is a good one.
GuyYeah. So I mean, am I stupid now?
StephanieNo, I just I thought well, not this moment.
Speaker 2How about you?
GuyGive it five minutes.
Paddle PrincessMy biggest life hack is to marry someone who has OCD and who ha does anxiety cleaning. That is the best thing that I could have ever done. My husband stress cleans and he is very particular about cleaning. I don't hardly ever have to clean or cook because he doesn't like it's just a whole thing. That's that's my biggest life hack. Marry somebody who has to do it because they have to have things done a certain way, so you don't have to do it. I like that.
GuyI do, I like that. So this is a lesson for you ladies out there. Go find that guy. Go find that guy.
Speaker 2Oh, especially in football season before a Packer game. My baseboards are shining.
GuyI mean, even if he has to, you know, close a door 50 times before he can walk out of it.
Speaker 2He doesn't have that kind of o'clock.
StephanieHe drops the toothpicks to know how many there are.
GuyOh, rain man.
Speaker 2He used to organize the fridge alphabetically, but that had to stop. That's a little too much. Yeah.
GuyYeah, that's that's a little architect.
Speaker 2When we first dated our fridge was organized alphabetically.
GuyWell, and then it gets crazy because what if the ketchup is a K or a C? Depending on which one you can afford. Or just tomato watered.
StephanieThat that brings me up to one of my other life hacks that wasn't along the lines, but if you can afford to purchase or replace something that aggravates you on the daily, do it. Okay, what would be a good example? Well, I mean, you know, sometimes it's like you have a broken can opener or something and you're just like, oh, you know, and it's like just buy a damn new one. If I'm complaining about it and you just you deal with it, or you know, something's just broken, and and we we constantly like, oh, you know, I'll you know, it's not worth it or whatever. Just buy the damn stuff. So you just always forget because it's not a priority in the moment that you're using it.
Speaker 2Right.
GuyOne of mine, and I sometimes I don't do this because I forget. So, you know, when I travel, I've there's there there's never been a time where I haven't forgotten something, something minor, something small. Like last time I traveled, my laptop, I didn't have my laptop charger. So I knew I have a new one now. Amazon delivered right to the hotel for 20 bucks, is how much the charger costs. So it wasn't, you know, I I said this is a good purchase. But when you have to remember something, like especially the next morning, put it out of place or put something weird with it, like your shoe with it or your toothbrush over near it. So, you know, you don't forget it. Like if I have like my laptop charger, don't forget that. It's I'm plugging it in, so put my toothbrush near it. And then I'll be like, oh, I put my toothbrush here because I need to remember that laptop charger.
StephanieThat's interesting. It was kind of like habit stacking, but yeah, with that. I would have to say, I guess one of my like hacks, like that you're talking about, would be my chipotle label. I talk about tell everybody about your chipotle label. There's probably other people that do this too, but like I get the the salad, but I have them put the tortilla on the bottom of the bowl.
GuyTortilla goes in first.
StephanieTortilla goes in first, and then I have them build the salad and always put that lettuce first so it's not on top. And then, you know, all your I can you do that? Yeah, you just ask them, put can you put the lettuce on first? Really?
GuyBecause it's easier than I never thought of, but I always thought like why I want all this lettuce up here.
StephanieDown the line in order. I'm always like, roll follower. Girl, you better hop down over there and put that lettuce up there. So then you build your whole bowl, right?
GuySo there's a hack within a hack. Two hacks, two hacks for one first.
StephanieBuild your whole bowl up and then you you know eat your your bowl. But like I could only literally eat maybe half, maybe a quarter of it. Right. And then you take the tortilla and you fold it up, and now you got a second meal. You got a bowl. Now you got a burrito. You got a burrito.
Speaker 5You have a ballot.
StephanieAnd if you're me, I call it the husband meal because usually after open play or whatever, we'll go to Chipotle, and then I'm like, oh, I brought you something home. There you go. It's not, it's my leftovers. Love that.
GuyI yeah, because if I happen to see it on uh Life 360 that you're at Chipotle, I'm like, I'm gonna eat some good stuff tonight. And it's just your leftovers.
Speaker 2So there's yeah, there's my little that's a good one. I like that one.
GuyAnother one I use when I travel a lot is I take a picture of my parking space. Yes. In the parking garage.
StephanieWell, now Google does it.
GuyYeah, I still. I'm an old school guy. I take a picture of it.
StephanieLike it old school Disneyland. It was like, okay, we parked in you know, Goofy 5 Dumber 2. Somebody remember that. Yeah, nobody remembers it. No, no. Nobody remembers. That's a good one.
Speaker 2I would say the biggest thing for me, and this is so small, and I don't know if you would really consider it a hack, but it brings me joy every time I use it. And I know that we've talked about it before on the pod, but it's my towel warmer. Just get yourself a freaking towel warmer. It is, I don't know, when you wrap up in a warm towel after the bath or after a shower, it is just so it just feels luxurious and it makes you happy.
GuyIt makes you feel like you're at a resort.
Speaker 2Yes, a little serotonin boost and you feel happy.
GuyI like that. One of the other ones I have, and I don't know why I remember this from growing up, is if you're nauseous, you smell rubbing alcohol.
Speaker 2Yes. I actually did that this morning.
GuyAnd it it just stops. Nobody knows why it works, but it just stops the the nausea feeling, the feeling like you're gonna vomit.
StephanieYep. I didn't know that. Yeah, yeah.
GuyAnd I and another I don't know, am I just I'm just owning the conversation.
StephanieI was apparently on the wrong side. So no, you're good.
GuyJust further proof that we don't script this podcast. And sometimes we don't even talk to each other, even though we are three feet away from each other. I put everything in baggies when I pack. Or I I use a lot of baggies, especially in my utility bag where the toothpaste and all that. It's an inside joke.
Speaker 2But now they have packing cubes.
GuyYeah, I get it. But baggies are ubiquitous. You can use them for anything. And I keep a bunch of the freezer ones in there because they make great ice packs and there's always ice machines. And I'm of that age and of that injury level where I need ice packs sometimes. And the other one is keep a trash bag in your car, like a like a big trash bag. You never know when you're gonna need it, but just always have it. Especially if you have little kids, great to have some old Walmart bags in there, double them up. I'm feeling sick.
StephanieNo, the hell you are. You better get out.
GuyYou're feeling like you're about to be on the side of the road. That's what you're feeling like.
StephanieYou need to feel them legs to walk, right?
GuyI remember our son. He was I took him somewhere my first time and he just threw up all over himself. Yeah, we're gonna be able to do that. That's when you just throw everything away.
Speaker 2I remember when Temphi did that in your car. Yeah, it's just bad. Yeah.
GuyOh, those big plastic clamshell things that things come in, the real hard to cut open thing when they come in a plastic shell. You can use your can opener to open those.
Speaker 2I have done that. I've never done that. Mine's an electric one, like you gotta ew.
GuyLook at you. Fancy. Fancy. It's not that fancy. Fancy with the electricity. Oh, it's not that fancy. Golly, living in a mansion with her electric can over.
StephanieI'm surprised she's even here with us.
GuyRight next to her electric knife, I bet. It's probably an actual toaster.
Speaker 2We did have an electric knife for carving fish.
GuyOh, I have an electric knife for cutting foam, like out of cases. And there's all the ones that everybody knows out there. Like if you're trying to work, put your phone on airplane mode so you're not disturbed.
StephanieYeah, I don't know.
GuySet your alarm to get up every 45 minutes and walk and straight.
StephanieLike the pomodora method.
GuyYeah, pomodora method and all that. Tell us what your life hacks are. You can go to all of our socials, bdepodcast.com, and tell us what you have a life hack of. Send us pictures, send us comments. We want to know what we're missing out on. Let us know. Yes, all the way from the mailbag. This one comes from Shauna Smith Shame.
Fan Mail (Shout Outs, Comments, Love)
GuyBeing greedy on the names there with three of them, Shauna. On Instagram said, I really enjoyed meeting all of you at PickleCon.
Speaker 5Yay.
GuyI also really like the shirt you are wearing. Well, Shauna, thank you from the ladies here. It was nice meeting you as well. And that shirt was our dink and dash app Game Changer Shirts. Go find us and find those shirts. Maybe we'll send you one if you comment. Aim for the transition zone, not the kitchen.
Just The Tip - Pickleball Wisdom
GuyMost rec players, that's you out there, aim for the kitchen line when hitting two opponents. The real target is their feet in the transition zone. That awkward area between the baseline and the kitchen line is where they're moving forward and can't hit down on anything. And if you're at SeaWorld, you don't want to be in the splash zone. That's where points are won. It's time for pickle pal. Here we are again with another pickle pal, and this time we've got a big star with us. Today's guest grew up in Brooklyn Projects, headed for jail or worse,
Pickle Pals - Deep Dive with a Pickleball Court, Club or Influencer
Guyand got saved by a sport he didn't even like ping pong. And he turned pro, got sponsored by Rockstar Games, and in 2015 flew all alone by himself to North Korea. He's back, so he's okay to play in front of 5,000 people because he thought one guy with a paddle could do what governments couldn't. And I would say, go watch the video. I think he did a great job. And here's the kicker when pickleball blew up, he was, in his own words, the number one hater of the sport on planet Earth. So, Wally, how did pickleball hurt you? What happened to you?
Speaker 1That's great. Oh my God, so funny. Yeah, so when pickleball started getting like really popular, maybe a few years back, everyone was in my DM. They were like, oh, you need to play pickleball, you need to play pickleball, you pickleball this, pickleball that, pickleball this. I also play another sport pro, which is called paddle tennis. The new name for that sport is called pop tennis. They try to rebrand it. Um, and pickleball guys used to come flooding our courts. And in New York City, we don't have a lot of courts. We only have very few paddle tennis courts. And and those uh which are in Stuyvesant Town, uh Manhattan. And I used to get so angry and I used to tell them and say, listen, bro, I need to practice. You can't be if you want to come here, come here in the evening or something. So it was a mixture of that, a mixture of everyone just saying, it's the best sport, it's the greatest sport, and this, oh, you should be doing this, you should be doing that, you should be playing this. Uh, one of the YOLA uh reps that I worked with a lot, because I've been sponsored by YOLO for a very long time, even through well, it started through ping pong. And he was always telling me, Oh man, you'd be great at pickleball. And I was like, nah, I'm not playing that. So I just went on this crazy hate for pickleball. Where I was like really trying to hate the sport like hard, even to the point like I had this huge TikTok page, and I was and I'm very good at taking hashtags, people's hashtags. I was like, I'm yo, I'm gonna take the pickleball hashtag, I'm gonna ruin it. There was no chance because too many videos were coming out under the hashtag pickleball. It was crazy. And then I was like, you know what? I'm just gonna hate pickleball pages. So I started so so the first page I started hating on was the kitchen pickle. Every time they posted something, it would come to my page and I would just kind of like trash it. And then they reached out to me and they was like, yo, why do you hate us so much? And then I kind of felt bad. And I was like, Well, um, I don't really hate you, but you know, the sport is crazy. Yeah. And and that's how my hate started. That that was where the hate came from.
GuyI I love it, man. Because you uh we met you early on, uh, you trolled our page. That was yeah, yeah, yeah. It was kind of something like that, but I saw it for what it was, right? I saw it like, okay, this is a troll. He's you know, he he's in the he's in the paddle sports, so it it's not it's not true. And so my wife said, Well, we're just gonna make a friend out of him. And then we did, you know. So yeah, we we saw right through you, but some others may not. But I absolutely love it. I l I love the arc of that story, man. And because you said you even said like like table tennis saved your life and and pickleball probably uh you're on the same path, right? So tell us, you know, in Brooklyn and the projects and all that kind of stuff, I can only imagine. But for our listeners, like what you know, what was what was young Wally getting into and getting up to?
Speaker 1Yeah, so you know, I I grew up with a very extremely narcissistic stepfather who used to beat up my mom like every day, like choke her, you know, punch her, hit her. Um my mom was one of those ladies that would go to work always with the big dark glasses, right? Not because the sun was out, because you know, right, and no one was anything. And so my stepfather always used to always tell me things like, Oh, you'll never be successful, you'll be a failure, you'll be dead, you'll be in jail. And you know, he he tried to to to just like mentally and physically keep us down. And one of the reasons was because my stepfather was actually illiterate. So my stepfather couldn't read and he couldn't write, but he was a master carpenter, right? So he took a trade and he was like the best of the best when it comes to carpentry, and that's how he got by. But my mom, sure, my mom had a college education, right? So he felt even though he had this master trade, he always felt that my mom was superior to him because the way my mom would speak, like she would use these big I remember one time, I don't know if you could curse, but I remember one time my mom called him a dilapidated son of a bitch. And I was like, what does that even mean?
GuyBut yeah, first at first I know what son of a bitch is, but now I gotta figure out what dilapidated is, right?
Speaker 1Yeah, exactly.
GuyIs that so that does that make it worse?
Speaker 1Yeah, and and it did make it worse, right? Because she was she would always say things he didn't understand, and then his his next recourse would be physical abuse, sure. Right, because that's where he felt the most power. And um I grew up with this, you know, every day of my life. And and I just became a really violent kid and I started at gangs, you know, at twelve. You know, by thirteen I already had six guns that I owned at 13 years old. Yeah, my life was was going crazy and and I kind of blamed everyone else for what was going on in my house. And yeah, and yeah, and that's how and that's how the the trend started. It was just me being this very violent, angry kid and wanting to take it out on the whole world, you know, because of what my stepfather and what my mom was allowed doing, allowing him to do.
GuyYeah, uh yeah, I I think we see that cycle so much, you know. It's I I I gotta I gotta guess his dad was was kind of like that. And uh and then, you know, that's what he knew. And so the only way he could take control was fit, like you said, physical violence. But man, I'm so glad to see, you know, you recognizing that and then getting away from that. And then, man, the way you embrace everything that you do now, the way the outward, you know, personality that you have now is so refreshing because you know, everything you do, and I do a ton of research before I do these. You you're so genuine in in what you do, and and your passion really comes through in everything. So I mean, I absolutely love that. What a what a great origin story, man. That's you you could definitely be that superhero, you know, like, oh, I had this terrible backstory, but uh my parents were killed in an alley after we went to a movie, and now you know I'm with Rockstar Games with the North Korea, man. It's so it's so awesome. And I did see you on a I did see you on a stage at a TED talk, and I just gotta say, were you trying to look like Simon Phoenix from Demolition Man? Because you had the you had the blonde hair and everything. So I, you know, I had to bring that up.
Speaker 1Yeah, so the blonde hair thing with the designs in it, that's what I normally always look like. That's my signature thing. Because, you know, when you're traveling the world or playing competition, or when you're traveling everywhere, people, a lot of people don't remember faces, right? But they remember the hair. So the hair is always memorable, they can always remember that. So that's why I started doing the hairstyles with the bleach in it. But I'll tell you the origin of that because it's actually very funny. So I co-own a business, which the other cone owner, the other co-owner, uh, used to be Susan Sarandon, who's the famous legendary actress. And um, one day we were all it we had freshly opened and we were all inside, and her hairstylist was there. And I said to him, I said, you know what? I think I want to dye my hair. And it was just a random thing. And he goes, Man, you should dye it orange. And I was like, nah, I'm not gonna do that. Orange is crazy, that's crazy. And then his exact words were, I'm gay and I'm more man than you. That's what he said to me. I was like, what? I said, All right, bro, I'm gonna go dye it tomorrow. So I went, I dyed my hair the next day orange, and it looked crazy. And I was like, oh my god, I got orange hair. I'm walking around with an orange head, and what can I do with this? And so I remembered when I was a kid, I used to get these lines in my head. So I started to search for a barbershop where I can go where someone could do designs in my head. And I found one, and then that's what started a trend. And then I noticed that people would always remember the hair, they would always remember that's right, you know the the designs, and and that just became like my thing.
GuyYeah. Yeah, I I do I did some stuff in the after the Cold War, you know, I was in the military and stuff like that, and and one of the things was always remember, don't you you'll never remember a face necessarily unless they have something unique about their a scar, you know, something out of place or something like that. If you can remember a physical attribute about person that's that's hard to change, then you know you'll you'll lock that person in, you'll recognize them out on the street. So yeah, I absolutely love that. And it does, I bet you it opens up the conversation too. Yes right? People are like, oh, tell me about the hair, right? Yes, tell me about the designs. Yes, yeah. And so when you're going over, so you're screw I I gotta imagine, you're scrolling one day and you're and you're like, oh, there's an international tournament pyong, uh, pion gong. Yeah, I'm gonna go do that. Come on, tell me about the North Korea thing. What how did you end up in North Korea?
Speaker 1What's that what's the arc there? Yeah, so at this time in my table tennis career, I traveled all over the world, pretty much every major country. Uh I was doing a lot of interviews, a lot a lot of TV stuff, and right before that, I did Steve Harvey. So I did the Steve Harvey show, and that was like really big for me because I was a huge, you know, fan of Steve Harvey. Yeah. And then I was like, the next year came, and you know, you know, sometimes in your life you reach this height uh uh of what you want to accomplish and and you feel very accomplished. And now the next year coming is like, oh damn, you know. What's next? What's next? And so I was thinking of the what's next. And I started and I was just looking through the tournaments I was gonna play for the year in the world, because we get to see our tournaments at least one year before. So I was looking at all everything. I was like, all right, I was looking at China, that's great, Korea, you know, Germany. Yeah, I'll do that, I'll do all these. And then I saw Pyongyang Yang. And I was like, wait a minute, this is North Korea. And Dennis Rodman had just came back from North Korea and I followed that whole story. And I was like, he didn't have he didn't have crazy hair or anything, did he? Yeah, he did. And so yeah, I followed that that story. I was like, wow, this could be the next big thing that I do. Something that's bigger than myself, right? For sure. I was like, and then I remember, you know, an American history in 1971, America established relations with China through ping pong. It's called the ping pong diplomacy. And I was like, oh my God, I have an opportunity, if this works out, to recreate that history or make a new history and make it mine. Right. I just became so obsessed with it. And I was like, I need to go to North Korea. And that's where the idea came from, you know, because of the ping pong diplomacy. And also because Dennis Rodman just came back.
GuyYeah. So I mean, you you've got to go into that a little bit scared though, right? Thinking, uh man, I don't uh, you know, they're not they don't like the Western culture. Right. But they they do like celebrity for sure. But still a little bit of a little bit of fear going into that, I would imagine.
Speaker 1Is that right? For me, there was no fear. Like I've had guns put to my head, I've been stabbed, I've been shot. There's not a lot of things that really scare me. Uh, so I wasn't scared at all. There was one point where I got myself into a situation where it could have been scary, but I did a lot of research before I went there. I watched every documentary, I watched every possible film about that place before I went there. So a lot of the things that happened, I already expected. I knew, like, for example, uh, Westerners can't have any cell phone service. So when you get there, you're immediately cut off from the world. No Wi-Fi at all. No Wi-Fi. So that means you can't get on the computer, you can't send an email, none of that stuff. The only thing that I really didn't that I wasn't expecting was that they take your passport. So I didn't know that. So that wasn't really scary. It just gave me a reality that said, hey, bro, this is like real. Like, like you're really here now. Like, you know. But but I wasn't like scared. I even decided to take North Korean airline and the pro oh and and the process of getting a visa to go to North Korea will make you scared. If you go through the if you go through this process, you gotta be a crazy person to say, I'm gonna do this. Because everything is sketchy. Like I'll give you a quick example. Getting the visa, you have to go to China, Beijing, China, to get the visa, right? Now, when I get there, I call, you know, the office and somebody already knows my name. They're yeah, you know, just come to the embassy. I go to the embassy. You can't find an entry to get into the embassy because it looks like some weird compound with a big metal door. And I'm waiting outside, you know, I'm calling away outside. The guy goes, I'll meet you outside. So the guy comes outside and he goes, Hey, my name is blah, blah, blah. Can I get can you can I get can I get your passport? And I'm like, What do you mean get my passport? He goes, I'm gonna make the visa for you. And I'm like, okay, so we should no, we're supposed to go in, right? Because oh no, it's forbidden. So you have to give this guy your passport outside of my embassy. He takes your passport and goes in there. So every process from the flight tickets to the flights are very sketchy in that way to where you would say, I'm not going there. But I still wanted to go there.
GuyYeah, yeah, and that's one of the things you learn as an American if you travel abroad. Do not lose your passport. Yeah and and also know where the embassy is, know the phone number. I've been in, you know, a lot of parts of the Middle East and some Africa, and it was, you know, I always had three copies of my passport on me, you know, physical copies stuffed in my boot and different places. Right, right. You know, and some things I could barter with, like a watch and some cash. Oh, that's smart. Yeah, I I totally get that. I totally get that. So, sort of an ambassador tour there, do you feel like you you made some headroom, you you made some ground and and you uh, you know, made obviously uh put some feelings that, hey, you know, this is this is a sport we can all come together around.
Speaker 1Yeah, I I think so for sure, because you know, I was going to this country without a plan. Like, how does the kid from the head from the hood do a diplomacy for world peace in North Korea? It's just like it just sounds crazy. And I had no plan, but you know, I got to play a North Korean, right? Yeah. Even though I didn't have a plan, the first step was to take the action. Like in life, anything in life, you need to take action, right? You don't know where it's gonna go, but if you don't go, then nothing. That's right. Right.
GuyAnd sometimes we say here all the time, you get sometimes you gotta do it scared. You know, take that first step. Take, you know, be a little bit afraid, you know, and that and that's good. I think that's a driver for a lot of people is okay, I'm gonna I'm gonna put my face. It's like the TikTok, it's like the Instagram. I'm gonna put my face on screen for everybody to judge. Yes, right? Yes. And so we we do it scared because you know, when you have a good message like you do, it's so great that the world gets to experience that. And for and for the listeners, when you're done listening to this, go over to YouTube. You can find Wally's TED Talk. It's a great TED Talk too. So uh there's a there's a small movie, I don't know if people have seen it. Uh it's called Marty Supreme, right? And and you were portrayed in the movie. Tell us a little bit about you know that and and your experience with that.
Speaker 1Actually, there's a lot that people don't know if they didn't follow the journey from the beginning on social media because I posted a lot of videos about it. So, anyway, originally I was asked to be in this movie called Marty Supreme. This was a while ago. Somebody mentioned to me, and then I wasn't really interested because I didn't know what kind of movie it was gonna be. And usually movies about ping pong are really corny, like Balls of Fury was one that they asked a long time ago. Yeah, you know, they're funny, yes, but I don't want to be the face, I don't want to be as a person that's trying to make a sport cool and trying to make a sport look good. I don't want to be the guy who's in the movie that's making it look like, you know, like like a clown thing. So I was like, no, I'm okay. I I don't I I'm not interested. And then a Japanese friend of mine got a part in the movie. And he was like, Man, listen, you need to come down here, you need to be here because you know, I don't like anybody here. So, so and this is a very close ping pong friend of mine. And I was like, all right, bro, I'm gonna come down. So he told Josh, who's the director, he was like, you know, Wally say he's gonna come down. And then Josh was happy. He was like, All right, yeah, just tell him to come to set. Well, I had to go to wardrobe first, of course, and then come to set. So I get on set and I see Josh, and Josh's like, hey man, what's up? How are you? He's like, yo, you don't remember me? And I was like, no. Because I meet so many people every day. He goes, I met you 10 years ago at your club. I was like, what? I didn't remember it. I was like, oh, really? So yeah. He's like, I'm so happy that you're doing this. Let's find a place for you, right? So I like I said, I didn't have an audition on what I'm gonna do. So originally he put me with George Gervin. Uh, George Gervin is the iceman. He's a famous uh basketball player from like I think 60s or 70s. Yeah. So originally I was with him teaching him how to play ping pong. That was original. And then Josh came and says, Hey, you know what? I need to put him more in the light. Let's put him by the front where Timothy comes in. So they put me by the front. Timothy Chalamet. Yeah, Timothy Chalamet. So he put me by by the front, and now I'm playing ping pong with this girl, right? And we're just cooking as as he comes in. And I was fine with that. It was all good. We did it a couple of times, a couple of times. And then he comes to me, he goes, Hey, Wally, I want to give you line. And I was like, Oh, yeah. I was like, I'm good. That's Kate right there. That's K-A right there. I didn't know that. I didn't know that. So so I was like, nah, nah, nah, I'm good. You know, because I was fine. I was content with this fine. Say, no, no, no, you should take lines. Like, I'm good, I'm telling you, take the lines. I was like, all right, whatever. So he gave me these lines, and my lines were with Timothy. Right. So there's a lot of the movie that's cut out. And I actually found out from Josh, actually, a couple weeks ago, why that entire scene was cut. And the reason was before I tell you what the lines were, the reason why the entire scene was cut was because the actors didn't line up properly. So when they're shooting a movie, they shoot one camera from this side, right? They finish it, and then they redo the same scene from the camera from this side. So the actors have to line up properly so that it looks consistent. And and it didn't. So that's why the whole thing was scratched. Um, but anyway, so Timothy would come in, and it's the scene where they're in the club, the ping pong club. Not where they were gambling, but where he came and where the gangster guy was. So that was the first time he had arrived to this club since he lost in London. So a lot of people don't know that in the movie. So when he comes to that club, it was the first time everyone is seeing him since he lost the match in London. So my original line was, you know, the guy Luke. Luke is the big guy, right? Luke. So Luke is trying to get his attention. I'm trying to get his attention. Everybody's trying to get his attention, and I kind of pushed Luke out the way and I say, Hey, hey, Marty, hey, Marty, my man. I feel really bad about what happened to you in London. Right. And he goes, Yeah, I was messed up. And I was like, Yeah, you know, feel about blah blah blah, whatever. And those were the lines. Very simple. Then after that, took so many times to get it right because I kept doing gestures of like today. And this is a 1950s movie. Yeah, and it's a 1950s movie, so you have to, you know. So I get it correct. And then Josh comes to me and goes, Hey, I want to add something to your line. I said, What? After you say all of that, I want you to say fuck the Japanese. And I was like, bro, I'm not saying that, bro. You're trying to get me canceled. Well, you crazy. He's like, I'm telling you, it'll be good. I'm like, nah, I don't, I don't want, bro. I'm not trying to like condemn a whole race now, bro. It's crazy. Yeah. He's like, I'm telling you, don't worry, it's a movie. No one's gonna care. And I was like, oh man, this is crazy. So then I wind up saying that. And I so when the lines were cut, I would kind of I was kind of a little bit like relieved. You know, it would have been cool to have it, but at the same time, I was like, yeah, I don't want to be on a movie saying F the Japanese.
GuyYeah, next thing you know, you got Yakuza, guys with giant back tattoos after you.
Speaker 1Yeah, yeah. And and then um for the Tyler thing, so I kind of had an idea that Tyler, the creator's character, was loosely based off me. And uh, but I wasn't really sure. It's not a question that I want to ask, right? I don't want to ask, you know, maybe it's just got to be, you know. You want to seem suave, like, hey, I know what's going on here. Like I know, yeah, yeah. Pretending I know what's going on, right? So, so um, I was thinking this the whole time. Well, wasn't really sure. But after the end of the movie, and of course, you know that the character's name is Wally as well. After the end, after I went to the premiere, so the premiere and whatever, I reached out to Josh, texted him about what my real thoughts on the movie was, and then we talked a little bit. And then he sent me a video, he sent me a video from Tyler, yeah, which I posted on my social media. I saw that, man. And Tyler is saying, you know, hey, big Wally, you know, I hope you like the movie, and I hope I really did a good enough job for you. And I was like, bro, yeah, bro. And then that was like, you, you know, it it made sense then. And and that's when I really knew that that was the case.
GuySo it was pretty cool. Yeah, and that's such a great casting, too, because his you guys have a kind of a similar voice, you know. And I told you before we even roll the camera here, uh, my daughter's a huge fan. Uh, I I love listening to his stuff. So, man, that's that's so great, Tyler the creator. Uh, and sending you that video, what what a stand-up guy just he doesn't have to do that, you know what I mean? So that's so great, man.
Speaker 1Not at all. Yeah.
GuyThat's so great. So let's give a shout out to New York City. Why wouldn't we? Gotham, City Pickle, IPX, and all that kind of stuff. When people fly in, right, to new to NYC, what what's how do they get the real experience? Where do they need to go? What are they what do they need to make sure they do for pickleball?
Speaker 1Uh man, for pickleball, like there's a couple of things, man. I think visiting all the clubs, you know, City Pickle, Times Square, right? Because that's in Times Square. Playing pickleball in Times Square is crazy. Like, I also have a business, actually very near to City Pickle Times Square. The experience of being in Times Square and playing pickleball there, it's kind of weird. You're like, what? Pickleball, Times Square? So that's a cool place, right? Then you have places like Gotham. Gotham is gonna be like that hardcore, you know, court, just four courts, you know, pretty really, really nice place to play. IPX, which is new, they just recently opened. Huge. 13 courts. Yeah. Huge, huge place. I just actually gave them a ping pong table. So now they have a ping pong table there now, too. Nice. So huge place. And then I think more, you also need to get out into the outdoor court. Like you can't come to New York and not play at Hudson, at Hudson Yards. You know, you can't come here and not play at Riverside. There's the one in Brooklyn, which I really don't like so much. I forget what that's called. But you need to come to New York and get on the challenge court. I think that's how you get the real New York feel.
GuyYeah, we were there a couple months ago, and you know, we're walking through Central Park, and then all of a sudden there's this huge pickleball complex. We're like, oh my gosh, we didn't even know this was here. We weren't expecting it. Yeah. I mean, there's and it's so much of the city. I mean, so you're playing pickleball, that's loud, but then you got all the horn honking and all the people you have to walk in here. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And all the vendor carts, man. It it it is an experience. It's an experience for sure. So, Wally, tell us what's what's next for you? Anything you can pull the curtain back on and let our listeners know, like, hey, be watching for this or anything like that.
Speaker 1Yeah, so I just finished getting a cover spot into Pickleball magazine. So I'm on the cover of it.
GuyI saw, yeah, I saw that. I saw you look like a beast on there, bro.
Speaker 1Yeah, that that was from I I just came back from the Philippines playing uh pro exhibitions with the number one Australian player, Harrison Brown. So we were in the Philippines doing a series of pro exhibitions leading up to a big tournament where we would also play the winners, like that. And that was really cool. So a lot of those pictures came from that pro exhibition. That's great. So yeah, and then there's some noise. This is I don't know if this is a secret, but there's some noise about having an episode on partners.
GuyOkay.
Speaker 1Yeah, so so that might be a next step. And then also trying to do PPA, possibly MLP. As as long as like I had a really bad injury in July, like last year. I broke, I broke my ribs. I broke my ribs, knee ligament damage, meniscus tear. I mean, the fact that I can still play high level with his knee is is is incredible. But I have good, I have good doctors uh around me. So yeah, they always give me really solid advice and tell me what to do. So I'm just I'm just trying to figure out this knee situation. That's why in all my videos you see I wear this brace, this hinge brace. Like I can't play without it, but I can still move just as well as I could before I got injured.
GuyYeah, it it didn't, I tell you what, it didn't affect your behind the back shot. I'll just tell you that much. Yeah, dude, you you that is so that is so peak, you know, because if yeah, if I'm on the court playing with you and you do that, I'm like, I'm done. You know what I mean? Like now, now he's hitting it between his legs behind the back. I'm like, okay, this is this is a different level. He's just clowning me now.
Speaker 1It's fun. I I find all those things, all those things fun. Like, you know, I try to be on the court with everyone. Like, for example, like when I was in the Philippines, uh playing, these are pros we're we're playing against, right? And yeah, I have no problems against it. You know, I play ping pong for 20 years. I play pro paddle tennis since I was a kid. Paddle tennis is my first. Actually, pop tennis, palatis is my first racket sport. Played it since I was a kid. Since I was a kid, it's my first sport, racket sport. So even at like that level, I don't find it diff. I don't find it difficult. I don't find I don't find where I'm being like, oh my God, I can't. No, I I I I I don't feel that. But at the same time, you know, I I play with everyone. Like you'll you'll see me in intermediate open plays with my students. You'll see me playing with four rows, you'll see me playing with three rows, three fives. And it's crazy, but that's people always ask me, oh man, who are you playing with? You know, are you playing with five plus? And I'm like, no, I play with like three fives. I play with four O's. Yeah. You know, and people are like, What? That's so crazy. And I'm like, you know, the skill set that I have, I've been doing it for 20 years. The strokes, the roles, I've been doing this motion for 20 years. So I don't necessarily need five plus players to practice at all. Right. And I find it that, which is really crazy, because going to the Philippines and playing these pro exhibitions was an eye-opener, right? Because like I said, I don't play with five-o players, right? Right. I just want to I just want to cook them. I I I don't need to practice. I don't need to practice with them. But you know, I noticed that from playing with my student, like my student is like a 2-7 on paper, right? 2-7. Yeah, and I'll bring it to like a four-o open play. And and then it gives me a lot of work because I can do a lot of covering. And then I noticed that when I went to play this exhibition, these pro exhibitions, right? In my mind, I thought, oh man, how's it gonna be? Am I gonna be, am I gonna have a hard time? You know, like what's gonna happen? And I found that it was it was a little bit easier in a way because I didn't have to cover so much. I didn't have to worry about a bad drop. I didn't have to worry about a bad drive. I knew that when my partner hit the ball and I saw him hit and I watched and I started to crash kitchen, I knew that was gonna be a good ball. When I play the three O's and the four O's, that's not the case. But because that's not the case, that kind of helps me when I'm playing higher level. Because now I don't have to force anything. I I can play within my means, right? I don't have to reach all to the other side. I don't have to take an overhead that I don't need to, so stuff like that. Yeah.
GuyYeah. That's a great call out because even in like shooting sports, when when I go out to the range, you know, I've been I've been doing that stuff my whole life, but I still I start, you know, with no bullets and then I work up to one shot and then two shots. And I I go back to the fundamentals. I get to slow things down, so I make sure the fundamentals are really dialed in. When because when you get really good in the small things, then the bigger things seem so much easier at that point. So I I absolutely love that mentality you have there. So, Wally, where can everybody find you? How are they going to connect with you? Uh, what's all the socials?
Speaker 1I'm on Instagram now. I I don't really do TikTok anymore, but Instagram, it's Wally Green NYC. Instagram. So that's that's the best place to find me. And I'm very active on it.
GuyYes, yes, you definitely are. So go go make sure you follow Wally over on the Instagram. Wally, thanks so much for being on the Big Think Energy Podcast, man. Love what you're doing, brother. We love following you, and we love this connection.
Speaker 1Can I say one thing before we leave? Please do. For the audience. So you guys will definitely see me on Instagram, and you'll definitely see me chirping on your page. And I may even troll you. I most likely will troll you. But that means he likes you. It means I like you, and it's all about social media. Take the trolling, use it as engagement, and you'll grow. I promise you.
GuyYeah, love it. Wally, thank you so much for being on here. And I just cannot tell our listeners enough. Go follow Wally. You're gonna get a lot out of it. He he gives so much, and you can tell the passion just comes right through the video screen for you all. Thanks so much, Wally. Appreciate you, man. Appreciate you.
Speaker 4It's time to pick six.
GuyPick six, where we take one
Pick 6 ( 1 question and 6 answers)
Guyquestion and we each bring two answers and immediately regret to this segment. Tonight's pick six is things you say to your dog that would be weird to say to a person. Things you say to your dog that would be weird to say to a person. What you got, Steph?
StephanieQuit dragging your ass across the carpet. Some people also need to hear that. Yeah.
GuyYeah, I think so.
Speaker 2Mine would be who's a good boy? Use a good boy.
GuyDid you say that to David when he's doing the baseboards and everything? Why are you wet?
Speaker 2Yeah, that might be a little awkward. I guess why are you eating grass?
GuyThat's a good one.
Speaker 2Um, let's see. Things that would be weird. I don't really know.
GuyCool to say to your dog, but not to a person.
Speaker 2Why are you staring at me while I pee?
GuySometimes you gotta pay extra for that.
StephanieThat's true.
GuyMy last one would be get your nose out of their crotch.
Speaker 2Yeah.
GuyStop pumping that.
Speaker 2Yeah, that would be weird.
GuyShow me your belly.
Speaker 2Yeah.
GuyI had a time.
Speaker 2Who's a hungry man?
GuyTell us what you think. I guess. If you want to. Or don't.
Speaker 2BDE Podcast.com.
GuyWe don't care.
Speaker 2At this point. What's happening?
Speaker 1News you can use.
GuyThis just in at our news desk here
News You Can Use
Guyat the BDE Podcast. A 45-year-old man is alone in the Arctic right now, trying to do something nobody has ever done. We're not going to leave it to your imagination. I'm going to tell you right now.
StephanieI was going to guess.
GuyGuess it.
StephanieGo over the other side of the Arctic wall.
GuyUh, no. Eating a Klondike bar while in the Arctic? No. A 45-year-old sailor named Matt Rutherford from Annapolis, Maryland is completely alone on a 42-foot sailboat.
Speaker 2No, thank you.
GuyTrying to circumnavigate, circumvent the Arctic Ocean solo and unassisted, 10,000 nautical miles by himself through ice flows, gales, and waters, where if you fall asleep at the wrong time, you die. He even said that. Okay. Sleep can kill him. He said it. If he hits ice while he's sleeping, he's dead. Every time he closes his eyes, he's gambling. He has radar to spot bigger chunks of ice and thermal binoculars for smaller ones, but the ice doesn't care about your technology or your feelings, really.
Speaker 2Or your life. Yeah.
GuyHe's currently in Russian controlled waters. Das Vadanya. No. And has to check in with Moscow every single day. He has to report his position to FSB, Russia's security service. If he gets too close to shore, he's solo sailing through the Arctic while filing daily reports with Russian intelligence. That is insane.
StephanieWhy uh agree? Why?
GuyWell, I mean to push the boundaries of human limits. I mean, what are where are our limits?
StephanieYeah, I mean I'm good. I don't even like to use my hands to get ice. Yeah. Because it's too cold. Yeah. So no.
GuyThese I mean, these are the things that young men just in just dream of. Yeah, he's my age.
StephanieOkay. Plus a few.
GuyPlus a couple. Whatever.
StephanieThat's incredible.
GuyYeah.
StephanieI mean, good for him, but yeah, no. I feel no. What was his name?
GuyMatt Rutherford.
StephanieIs he on? He sounds like a newscaster.
GuyMatt Rutherford here.
StephanieYeah.
GuyStory about the Arctic Ocean at 11.
StephanieIs he on TikTok or something?
GuyUh yeah, I think he's on TikTok.
StephanieHis phone's probably frozen.
GuyHe has Starlink. No, and Starlink is expected to cut out once he gets deeper into Russian waters, which means he'll lose most of his ability to communicate with anyone for weeks. Just him, the boat, the ice, and so we don't even know if he's dead.
StephanieNo one even knows because you wouldn't be able to communicate anyway. Or if he gets murdered.
GuyYeah, I mean, here's the other thing a ticking time clock for him. Thank you. If he takes too long and summer turns to fall, the pack ice will freeze. I didn't know ice ran in packs. Uh we'll freeze around his boat and trap him. Yeah. The expedition is over. He's racing against the season itself.
StephanieRunning with the devil. Best of luck to you, dude. Best of luck. Get it, Matt.
GuyHey, you want to come on the podcast if you make it? Let us know.
StephanieThat's incredible.
GuyYeah.
StephanieAll right. Peace out, Home Scout.
GuyReally? 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
Wrap-Up & CTA - Final thoughts, shoutouts, and how to engage with us
Guyat bdepodcast.com or at BDE Podcast on the social. Drop us a message. We might just speak to you in the next episode. If you had a good time, well, stay in deal. If not, maybe try again with Raw 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 dinks top and the energy big. This just a tip is saying this. That sounds dumb. Let's
Mic’s Off, Mouths On – raw, unfiltered chat
Guynailing it over here.
