PickleBlogger.com

There is some controversy as to the word “pickle” in pickleball, it is generally accepted that in the summer of 1965, pickleball was founded by Joel Pritchard, Bill Bell, and Barney McCallum on Bainbridge Island, Washington. Shortly thereafter, Joan Pritchard, the wife of Joel had come up with the name “pickle ball”, associating it with the thrown-together leftover non-starters in the “pickle boat” of crew races. However, years later, as the sport of pickleball grew in popularity, there was some controversy when neighbors of the Pritchard family said they were present when Joan Pritchard named the game after their dog, Pickles. Nevertheless, the Pritchard family including Joan has remained steadfast for decades that the dog “Pickles” joined the family a few years after and in fact named after the pickleball game.  So, it seems the name "pickleball" is associated with the thrown-together leftover non-starters in the “pickle boat” of crew races.

Why is the kitchen called the kitchen in pickleball? It seems no one is really certain why the kitchen in pickleball is called the kitchen, it is believed, however, that it may have originated and borrowed from shuffleboard. Shuffleboard also has a kitchen area, where if you land, you lose 10 points.

How is your serve, are you confident when you serve, or perhaps a bit nervous?  The serve is one of the best opportunities we have in controlling the game and rattling your opponent. We all remember when we started to play this game, our serve was a soft hit over the net without a second thought, not difficult at all for your opponent, that has changed, and advanced players realize that a well-positioned serve can have advantages throughout the game. How can we improve our serve? As amateurs, we also can learn the techniques of serving in a way that can make it difficult for our opponent. A good example is serving the ball fast, right over the kitchen at the baseline of the court, of course, the opponent will adjust quickly if this is the only serve you focus on, so you need to mix it up, another good serve is a short low serve or deep right at your opponent's feet. It takes practice, in our community we are all amateurs, but competitive, we take about 15-20 minutes before we start

 Happy New Year to all pickleballers everywhere!