Cynthia Schwartz Pam Cagle is the PebbleCreek Pickleball Club Volunteer/Player of the Month. While Pam is new to PebbleCreek and the club, she is not new to volunteering and helping others. Reflecting back on her childhood, Pam commented, “In grade school there was a girl who didn’t have shoes or clothes that fit her. Most…
Cynthia Schwartz The American Athletic Union (AAU) recently sponsored a pickleball tournament, AAU Pickleball All Ages and Skills plus The Road to The AAU Junior Olympic Games. Held in Wickenburg, the tournament offered events for ages seven to 99. This non-sanctioned tournament attracted players from PebbleCreek. It included matches in skill/age and also senior categories.…
David Zapatka This 12 common mistakes column began after playing with some very excited, highly motivated, new pickleball players at our community courts recently. After playing a couple games, this question was posed to me, “What should we do to improve and become 3.5 players?” We reviewed the first four mistakes the past two months. This month…
Cynthia Schwartz The PebbleCreek Pickleball Club (PCPB) hosted the first December Classic Pickleball Tournament. Wade Johnson, tournament director, commented, “The event was a huge success. There were 140 two-person teams competing in women’s, men’s, and mixed doubles matches. The competition for gold, silver, and bronze medals was organized by skill levels represented by color-coded divisions.…
Cynthia Schwartz The PebbleCreek Pickleball (PCPB) Club wrapped up the year 2020 with the first December Classic Pickleball Tournament. The three-day tournament was open to all PebbleCreek club members, and everyone who signed up was guaranteed a spot to play in the event. More than 250 players participated in the December Classic. Members were assigned…
Cynthia Schwartz Nancy Popenhagen is the PebbleCreek Pickleball Club (PCPB) Player/Volunteer of the month. She is the chairperson of the PCPB Court Allocation Committee (CAC), organizes skills and drills and is a coach for the novice, 2.0, and 2.5 classes. When asked why she volunteers, Nancy said, “I like giving back. People continue to help…
David Zapatka This 12 common mistakes column began after playing with some very excited and highly motivated new pickleball players at our community courts recently. After playing a couple of games, this question was posed to me, “What should we do to improve and become 3.5 players?” Last month we reviewed the first two mistakes. This month we take…
David Zapatka While playing at the IronOaks courts in Sun Lakes for my first time last month, I ran into a group of very excited and highly motivated new pickleball players. We played a couple games together, and when we departed, this question was posed to me, “What should we do to improve and become 3.5…
Cynthia Schwartz On Dec. 4, the PebbleCreek Pickleball Club hosted the annual Toys for Goodyear Kids (TGK) event. This event supports the city of Goodyear’s holiday season program that provides gifts for families in need. Judy Parker, the club’s officer-at-large, organized TGK with the help of Carla Woodward and Shirley Seymour. Judy commented, “It is…
David Zapatka Often called the most important shot in all of pickleball, the dink is the critical shot aspiring players must learn to improve their game. The dink is a shot hit slowly and softly into the opponents’ non-volley zone, as close to the net as possible. If the opponent hits this ball hard, it goes…