Dave Pike, Pickleballer in a Dinghy

Respond to this post by replying above this line New post on Six Thousand Miles Alone in a Dinghy Grand Finale is Almost Here (and I’m alive to tell the story) by Journey June 30, 2017:  Down Day Today--No Travel Miles for Journey, Wilson, or I Ok, just checked the weather and it is looking like we will be making a dash for the finish line tomorrow.  That is a big YEA and bigger RELIEF! We will be coming from Whitehall which is about 27 miles away.  Assuming we can get away from the dock at around 8:30 am, I believe we can be into Grand Haven between 11:30 am and noon. Unless the weather forecast is really off or we have fog like this morning, I think this is a safe bet. Once into the breakwater at Grand Haven, I will try to do a live Facebook feed assuming we have good cellular coverage.  I have made my page public so anyone can watch the live feed.  Click here to go to my Facebook page. Ann will be traveling this last and final leg with me and we will be stopping at the Marina Boardwalk Dinghy Dock (right behind Farmers Market) to help celebrate my stupidity, tenacity and "Crossing that darn wake with about 5,400 miles between waves".  It has been a ride that I will never forget, nor the people along the way!  Those of you who are pickle ballers, wave that paddle proud so I can see them when I come in.  My daughter, Nancy, will be at the dock (with a Pickleball Paddle in Hand) and we will give her updates as to where we are and she can relay them to those of you at the dock. In another week or two, after a little more thought (unlike my shoot from the hip blog posts), I will share some of the "life lessons" along the way and share some of my deeper thoughts about the why now, why a small boat, why solo, why, why, why? I would like to think I learned a little more about myself somewhere along the way as well as all the people who supported my Journey along the way. That includes all of you who voluntarily chose to follow my posts, even though I can get off topic or probably bore you to death a random thought along the way. To those of you who are still wondering what Pickleball is, I encourage you to go out and give it a try. The boating community and the Pickleball community are both great support groups and encouraging as you learn  boating or  pickleball skills! To those of you who have told me that I have in some way inspired you, that is an unexpected thrill for me.  It has never been about that, but I was inspired by an canoeist (Verlin Kruger) years ago and by a couple of young women (Kate and Jessie) who did the great loop a few years ago in a very small sailboat  and blogged about their adventures along the way. I think they lite the fire that had been smoldering for a number of years. So, if you are in the neighborhood tomorrow, please consider stopping by.  I would love to see you! Journey | June 30, 2017 at 7:07 pm | Categories: Uncategorized | URL: http://wp.me/p6sWcX-104 Comment    See all comments Unsubscribe to no longer receive posts from Six Thousand Miles Alone in a Dinghy. Change your email settings at Manage Subscriptions. Trouble clicking? Copy and paste this URL into your browser: https://sixthousandmilesinadinghy.wordpress.com/2017/06/30/grand-finale-is-almost-here-and-im-alive-to-tell-the-story/

Tournaments

Chris Walkley gives instruction to the players in Harwich's Chutes and Ladders Tourney

Upcoming Tournaments

July 16 Georgetown Mixed Doubles for Intermediates and up

contact Sue Trainoff at trainoff2000@yahoo.com

August 18,19 and 20
MA Senior Games
Marlborough MA 
visit http://www.wardparkpball.org/ma-games

July 28,29 and 30th
NH Senior Games
Manchester, NH
Contact Walt Hooker at pickleball@nhseniorgames.org

June Howell's Belmont Tourney

June Howell's Senior Pickleball Tourney in Belmont

 Special Thanks to June Howell of the Belmont Recreation Department for making it all possible, Michael Rubin of Reading who made the possible happen and Ruane Crummett the greatest Octogenarian pickleball player on the planet

Overall Individual Winners

Sue Trainoff of Danvers and Paul Knight of Alaska

The Sixties

Jack Drinkwater of Reading and Kathy Hingston of Concord

The Seventies

Arlene Deardorff Bedford and Michael Carey Concord

A Pickleball Journey

At some point in our lives many of us come up with an idea that others consider crazy. But despite that we push forward because we have become obsessed. And those that follow through become enriched by the experience. 

And so it is with Dave Pike 

https://sixthousandmilesinadinghy.wordpress.com/

NAN
Notice the pickleball shirt and ball. When Dave stops he looks for a place to play pickleball.  He has now completed over 4 thousand miles of "The Loop"

And that is why Marjorie and I drove to Albany, New York to play a few games of pickleball with Dave.lay.

  

And Dave thought we were crazy

Lexington Players

The Lexington A Team

It's been three years of play in Lexington and there are some strong players stepping it up

Wakefield Pickleball

Why spend Friday nights stuck in traffic heading to Maine, NH or the Cape?             

  

​

 Play pickleball in Wakefield and then go when the traffic dies down!  Americal Civic Center 467 Main Street

Competitive Pickleball is from 730PM to 9PM.  

Easy pickleball begins at 6PM and ends at 730PM

Traffic is eased at 9PM

Each session is $5.00 

Harrington's Pub is across the street

Paddle Up

Pickleball Paddles: Let the Paddle Do the Work

Posted on May 29, 2017 by Sarah Ansboury

I personally love new technology and I know a lot of you out there do too.  With that said, there are so many pickleball paddles to choose from.  It seems that many players run out and purchase a new paddle every few weeks.  So is it the paddle or the person?

Pickleball Paddle Expectations

There are some paddles I can barely hit over the net.  So a paddle can definitely help you.  But will it do every for you?  Will it make you perfect?  Absolutely not!

Paddles are designed to help in certain ways.  And what works for one player, may not work for the next.  When looking at paddles you need to figure out what you want out of the paddle:

• Do you want a bigger sweet spot?
• Do you want control?
• Do you want some extra power?

Personally, I look for a paddle that can provide me all three of these things.  I’m pleased to report my new Head paddle fits the bill in all three ways.

My New Pickleball Paddle

I have had a lot of questions about my new paddle so I am going to tell you a little about it. Like I said I wanted all of the things above so when they constructed this paddle I was so happy. It had a little different shape which is supposed to help with adding control. It has a polymer honeycomb core like most top paddles out there.

You don’t often see aluminum in the core anymore because it can send a lot of vibrations up your arm, are harder to control and tend to dent. The surface of my paddle grabs more than I have ever experienced giving me added control and spin. It is a carbon graphite surface that provides the touch I want along with the power.

There are two very cool things about my new paddle. First, every Extreme Tour paddle you buy will weigh 7.6 ounces. If you view the specs of other paddles, you will typically find a weight range (e.g. 7.3 – 7.8).  However with Head, if you are after a different weight it’s a different paddle.  Now as much as people ask about weight. Please ignore it!!!! The balance of a paddle is much more important than the actual weight. You can pick up a 7.5 ounce that is head heavy that will feel heavier than an 8.1 ounce that is more balanced.

Secondly, the handle of the paddle is one solid foam piece. Instead of a couple of pieces of wood glued together, they put the paddle into a mold that sprays foam around the handle of the paddle creating a solid piece forming to the paddle. This makes the paddle more stable and it feels more comfortable to me than many of the others out there.

What Works for You

The most important thing is to try a lot of different paddles to find what works best for you.  The materials the paddles are made of and how they are constructed will definitely affect your ability to dink, block a hard shot, or hit an effective third shot drop.

I’m of the school that thinks, “if it helps your game, then why not?”  Like racquetball and tennis before it, pickleball’s growth is spurring equipment manufacturers to respond quickly.  We will continue to see innovation in the months and years ahead.

There are many ways to try different paddles.  Pickleballcentral.com has a demo program that lets you try before you buy.  They will be carrying the Head pickleball paddles by the end of the summer.

Let the Paddle do the Work

Once you have found the paddle that best fits your game, let me offer one final piece of advice.  Let the paddle do the work.  Hold the paddle in your fingers, firmly, but gently.   If you are squeezing that paddle to death not only are you limiting what your paddle can do, but you are creating tension up your arm that can create tennis elbow or other injuries.

Look for more blog posts about pickleball paddles in future weeks.