Sarasota County – Page 2 – Sarasota Pickleball

April 30, 2021April 30, 2021

I Signed Up For The Club Med Sandpiper Tournament Championship

I did it! I signed up for the Lucy Kitcher Club Med Sandpiper Championship; the most difficult process I have ever gone through to sign up for a tournament in my life. Holy moly!

First of all, I talked a few players into signing up for the tournament. Just look at the flyer. It sounds like a fantastic time. All inclusive for 4 days! Plus a sanctioned tournament.

This is the email I received from Lucy Kitcher, pickleball pro.

zerozero stay

Attachments Mon, Apr 26, 2:40 PM (4 days ago)

to Dinkpickleball

Pickleball Tournament Club Med Port St. Lucie.

All Inclusive Pickleball Tournament and Trip

22 pickleball courts

Port St. Lucie, Florida

What’s included

This is a four day all inclusive tournament and trip for only $599 per person. Everything is included from the moment you arrive at the resort until you leave. It covers all day gourmet dining and open bar (both alcoholic and nonalcoholic drinks), lovely accommodations, daily pickleball tournament, play, and court rental, day and night entertainment, cocktail party, and unlimited water and land activities around the resort. Plus medals and a t-shirt! A limited number of single rooms are available for a $100 supplement.

Location

This trip is held at the Club Med in Port St. Lucie, Florida not far from West Palm Beach on the east coast of Florida. The closest airport is Palm Beach International (PBI). There is a resort shuttle from the airport available for an additional fee (shuttle is only included in international trips). Advanced reservations are required. Another option is get an Uber from the airport. The ride is about fifty minutes.

Alternatively, you can rent a car. If you do so, you will have a greater selection of flights to Fort Lauderdale, Orlando or Miami airports which are all approximately one hour thirty minutes. Miami is slightly more.

Arrival and departure info.

Check in on day one is at 3pm. If you want to arrive before three and use the facilities, they charge $20 per person. That gives you full access to the resort which includes meals, drinks (alcoholic and nonalcoholic) and the use of all the resort amenities. However your room may not be available until 3pm. You can leave your bags in your car or at the front desk. We will meet at the pickleball courts for open play at 3:30. Stop by after you arrive. If you arrive early, feel free to go play!

Check out on the last day is 10am. You can stay and enjoy the resort all day for no additional charge, but you have to have your belongings out of your room by 10am. If there is no one checking into your room that day, you can ask for late check out at noon. There are showers available around the resort and you are welcome to leave your luggage at the front desk until your departure.

Pickleball activities

The tournament will take place first thing in the morning. In the afternoon there is optional open play.

On day three there will be an award ceremony at a cocktail party with drinks and hors d’oeuvres. There will be presentations for gold, silver and bronze medals for each skill group. There will also be a paddle give away on the last evening.

We have a reserved section in the restaurant for dinner and the option to sit together at breakfast and lunch. If you prefer to sit outside this is also an option.

Other activities

The following activities are included:

Golf: access to the driving range & lessons.
Tennis: free access to courts & lessons
Water sports: sailing, kayak & paddle boardIng
Trapeze: available in small groups
Collective sports: free access to courts, soccer, beach volleyball & basketball)
Pools
Outdoor Yoga
Outdoor Cardio & Fitness Classes

This list is during Covid. It may expand prior to our trip

Available for an additional fee:

Access to The Saints Golf course, 18-holes, 5 min from the resort
Water skiing
Spa

Deposit and payments

The total price of this trip is $599 per person based on double occupancy. There are a limited number of single rooms available for a supplement of $100. Your deposit of $199 is due when you book on PickleballTournaments.com (plus single supplement where applicable). Two additional payments of $200 each are due prior to the trip start date. You must be paid in full 60 days before travel. Your deposit is nonrefundable, however if you’re unable to attend, you are able to send someone else in your place, as long as you provide fourteen days advanced notice. After that, there is a $60 name change fee. If there are guests on the waitlist you will be provided a refund minus a $30 administrative fee. Included in the price of your trip is Club Med’s basic travel insurance which covers the cost of your stay at Club Med in case you are unable to attend the trip due to an injury that might prevent you from traveling, a death in the family, or similar.

Please refer to this website for more detailed information regarding the basic travel insurance. https://ns.clubmed.com/amn/rwd/terms/ClubMedTravelInsuranceBasicPlanUSA2009.pdf

If the resort closes for any reason, including COVID 19, you will be provided a credit to be used on a future LucyKitcher.com trip within two years.

Still have questions?

Visit https://lucykitcher.com

If you have any other questions, feel free send an email. ZeroZeroStay@yahoo.com

Ready to book?

For the tournament trip click here

https://www.pickleballtournaments.com/pbt_tlisting.pl?when=F&searchkeyword=Lucy&selsanctioning=&openregonly=false

Click here to go to the booking form for instructional trips

https://lucykitcher.com/book-a-trip/

Lucy Kitcher

ZeroZeroStay@yahoo.com

954-534-6292

A picture of Lucy Kitcher for Sarasota Pickleball

Okay, we were all in. Here comes the hard part. Signing up. Yep! FRUSTRATION! And I am dang good on the computer, so you know if I had a hard time….it had to be hard,.

(READ ABOUT LUCY KITCHER HERE)

To sign up you have to go through Pickleballtournaments.com. Okay, that’s not unusual because that’s where I sign up for most of my tournaments, Been there many times. And I went to pickleballtournaments,com and logged in. It went like this:

MUST BE MEMBER of USAPA or also know as USA Pickleball Association. Well, I am an AMBASSADOR. I am a member and on automatic renewal. I try many times and get the same message. MUST BE A MEMBER.

I log on to the USAPA site and click the button to renew for another 4 years just out of frustration, and I go back to Pickleballtourments,com to try again. Same message. What the????

I call Lucy. She looks into it and says it may take a day to reset.

That night at 7:00, I receive a call from USAPA that I have signed up for 4 years of magazines and not 4 years of membership. The USAPA will refund the $$$, and I am to go back in and renew the membership again. OH MY GOODNESS! By the way, I am also talking to Diane who is going through the same thing. She signed up for the magazine, too. She is also going though hell and high water to sign up for the Club Med tournament.

I have emailed Pickleballtournanments.com about my difficulties. They responded by saying I have to contact the tournament director. By this time, I have Lucy Kitcher on speed dial so I have talked to her, texted her and emailed her.

Lucy explains that you must be a member of the USA Pickleball Association at the time of the tournament which is at the end of the January 2022. That’s right, we are planning ahead. I tell Lucy, I better get a private room. She says she’ll save one for me. (I already know that one of my friends from New York is going to beg to come stay with me last moment and I’ll let them bunk in so private room….probably not.)

Outdoor Lounge Inspiration

My membership at USAPA was up for renewal 7/21. Even though I am on automatic renewal, when I tried to register for the Club Med, it said I wasn’t a member in January 2022. USAPA corrected that for me and I was back to Pickleballtournaments.com to try again and again and again.

Next snafu…you have to be a member of the SSIPA. What?! You cannot sign up unless you have a membership to the SUPER SENIOR INTERNATIONALPICKLEBALL ASSOCIATION.

Another test of my patience…I went thought the steps and signed up for $20.00.

Back to Pickleballtournaments.com. (Any sane person would have given up by now.) We also ran into the issue of someone who was in our group was under 50, so did she have to join the SSIPA? Another Lucy text.

Now all things right at USAPA and SSIPA, I went through the process once again; chose PRIVATE ROOM, MIXED DOUBLES AND WOMENS DOUBLES to play in the tournament; paid the down payment, and I am happy to report—I am signed up and good to go!

Now that I have become a sort of EXPERT on signing up for this tournament, feel free to contact me if you run into problems. I have done this for a couple of people. Last time I checked, over 90 from all across the country have signed up. I am hoping to have a large group from Sarasota attend.

So, that’s my story. I must really want to go to go through all that rigmarole.

Please join us.

Pickleballtournaments.com

Pickleball Terry

USA Pickleball Ambassador
PPR Certified Coach
Owner of Sarasotapickleball.com

Dinkpickleball@gmail.com

Text or call me for lessons at 941-400-0978

March 14, 2021

The Curse of the Number 10

We all have been there. The magic number 10. Just one point away from 11 and victory. You can almost taste the success. And that’s when it happens. You turn cocky. Cocky as heck! OVER CONFIDENT. Then what happens? The opponents start gaining on you. All of a sudden, you and your partner start making silly mistakes as in hitting the ball out or knocking it into the net. You and your partner look at each other in total disbelief as another side out happens, and the opponents gain a couple more points. Uh-oh! They are catching up and now the score is 9-10.

So now you are really frustrated and try to do some kill shots but alas, they go sailing by your opponents and they yell OUT! Your partner, feeling the same angst, serves the ball into the net. Side out again!

Now the opponents can see you coming unglued and quickly get 3 more points, much to your horror, and win the game. You all go to the net to tap paddles and you have to congratulate them on their comeback.
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What happened? It’s the curse of the number 10. I’ve seen it happen over and over again, and it has happened many times to me. But not anymore. Because I figured out how to UNCURSE the number 10.

How do you solve the curse of number 10?

You play with even more control then you did throughout the game. I teach this technique to my students. When you have 10 your strategy is to just get the ball over the net. Do not try for a kill shot. Don’t be tricky with your strokes, just get it over the net. Let the opponents make the mistakes. And they will as long as you stay cool as a cucumber and just place the ball over the net . Sooner than later, your opponents are going to crumble like a saltine cracker, and sweet victory is yours.

Play smart out there.
<br />

Pickleball Terry

USA Pickleball Ambassador
PPR Certified Coach
Owner of SarasotaPickleball.com

Dinkpickleball@gmail.com

March 3, 2021March 7, 2021

Your Lizard Brain And Pickleball

Your lizard brain…what?! I have a LIZARD BRAIN and what does it have to do with pickleball? Good question. Let’s start with the lizard brain…

Also referred to as your reptilian brain as it refers to the most primitive part of our brain, where lay the instincts that warn us of danger when it lurks.

Image result for reptilian brain psychology –

The “basal ganglia” (lizard brain) refers to a group of subcortical nuclei within the brain responsible primarily for motor control, as well as other roles such as motor learning, executive functions, emotional behaviors, and play an important role in reward and reinforcement, addictive behaviors and habit formation.

In Nick Bollettieri, tennis master and founder of IMG tennis camp, said in his documentary (Love Means Zero-Showtime) about your lizard brain, it is the part of your brain that automatically knows when to step out of the way of a speeding car. You don’t have to process it…look there is a car…what should I do? No, the lizard brain automatically takes over and you jump out of the way.

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Activate your automatic…This is what your pickleball instructor means when they say, “MUSCLE MEMORY.” The pickleball students execute a drill over and over again until it is locked and loaded into their brain and it becomes automatic.

Example: I was standing at the net at my Friday clinic when one of my students popped the ball up. At the moment, my thinking was more on what I was going to cook for dinner, but my lizard brain saw the ball and I automatically slammed it down the middle and past the dinking students. I apologized immediately. One of them said wide eyed, “How did you do that?” I said, “My lizard brain took over.”

Hence: to be better, to level up, and to be a competitive player, you have to DRILL DRILL DRILL. What do you have to do? DRILL!!! Lock in to your muscle memory.

If you don’t want to drill, you don’t want to win.

But Terry, drilling is boring. No. it isn’t. If you find it boring, you are doing it wrong. Get a foursome together and go to a court, not during the morning rush, and drill. Set a length of time, say for an hour or two. Somebody gets lazy in the group and declares it is boring and they want to play a game, then don’t ask them to drill next time. Get a group of DEDICATED TO IMPROVE. DRILL FOR THE THRILL!

Pickleball Terry — Receiving instructions at Pickleball Camp

Examples of some drills

Youtube is an excellent source to find pickleball drills. You can do 3rd Shot Drop drills, and dinking drills. Or sign up for a drill session with me.

Complaining students…

Whoa… I have blogged about this before, that in a clinic I was taking in Punta Gorda, one of the players complained to the instructor that his drill was boring. Oh, it went from bad to worse in just a few seconds as the student was scolded by the coach. “Don’t tell me how to run my class.” he demanded.

And I’ve had that happen to me. “Let’s move on, this is boring,” said one of my students. I moved on to another drill hoping she would find it more interesting.

IF YOU WANT TO MASTER ANY SPORT, YOU HAVE TO PRACTICE!

Tom Brady: Hey Coach, I don’t have to practice anymore, I’m Tom Brady.

Coach: Get out of here!

Muscle Memory and Learning Skills

The famous saying practice makes perfect applies here.

You might have heard people mention the term muscle memory when you’ve been training and exercising. Muscle memory can also be referred to as motor memory and it refers to your body’s memory to perform certain actions.

And researching MUSCLE MEMORY I find this…

The two parts of the brain which are responsible for controlling the muscle memory are the basal ganglia and the cerebellum. They help to learn sequences of actions and help to adjust errors in learning in order to improve our ability to perform the movements correctly.

The cerebellum (which is Latin for “little brain”) is a major structure of the hindbrain that is located near the brainstem. This part of the brain is responsible for coordinating voluntary movements. It is also responsible for a number of functions including motor skills such as balance, coordination, and posture.

In order to learn movements and make them habits which can be performed efficiently, you must go through a process of attempting the movements and then refining these movements until you are happy with how you perform them. The movement or behavior becomes learned and ‘hard wired.”

SarasotaPickleball.com

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A good example of this could be the first time you preform a pickleball underhanded serve with a continental grip. It feels weird and you fail at first, but keep on trying and you are able to improve your serve. During this process, you go from thinking really hard about how to execute it to performing it effortlessly without thinking!

The best example of motor memory would be learning to drive or to ride a bicycle – combinations of movements which at first are extremely difficult but once mastered are performed mostly without over thinking.

I hope this blog post inspires you to drill and not just get out there and play. Unless you are just a Sunday/Funday- kind of player, then ignore all of the above. But for the players who want to become better and be the kind of player everyone wants to challenge on the courts, then drilling is thrilling, and practice makes a better player.

Thank you for reading! All the best!

Pickleball Terry

Picture of Pickleball Terry, Terry Ryan

USA Pickleball Ambassador
PPR Certified Coach
Owner of SarasotaPickleball.com
Dinkpickleball@gmail.com

February 1, 2020February 1, 2020

The Tremendous 12 Pickleball Shots

A picture of Pickleball Terry, Terry Ryan, and Coach Russell of Suncoast Pickleball

I had the pleasure of participating in a Suncoast Pickleball Camp in Punta Gorda this past week. What an amazing experience, and boy, did I learn a lot…under fire. The 4 pros, Barry Waddell, John Sperling, Scott Tingley and David Dunkin all kept a close eye on the 32 students, so much so, that 2 courts over from me one of the pros yelled out, “Terry, did I just see you step in the kitchen?”

Sue serving at the Pickleball Camp — Sue showing her serve.

The camp started at 8:00 a.m. on 8 courts at the Pickleplex. If you don’t know what the Pickleplex is, it consists of 16 outdoor pickleball courts constructed on the Florida Southwestern College campus, and it literally put Punta Gorda on the pickleball map. Read this article here on how much $$$ the Pickleplex brought into the community.

We were divided into groups of 8 and had a different pro in the mornings and afternoons practicing: dinking, reset, lobs, serves, blocking and more, for 7 hours with a break for lunch. After 3 days, I’ll admit I was tired and sore.

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It was an amazing experience and I would suggest anyone who is serious about pickleball and sharpening their skills should take a clinic or camp.

On the first day, pro, Barry Waddell, mentioned that there are 12 tremendous pickleball shots with subshots. I asked him to send them to me via email, and I will share them with you.

https://blog.pickleballcentral.com/2019/05/28/meet-the-pros-barry-waddel/

The 12 Pickleball Shots according to Barry Waddell:

Serve (3 types: Topspin, Slice, Lob)
Forehand return of serve (2 types: topspin and slice)
Backhand return of serve (2 types: topspin, slice)
Forehand topspin ground stroke drive
Backhand topspin ground stroke drive
Forehand volley (5 types: block, jab, roll, reset, kill)
Backhand volley (5 types: block, jab, roll, reset, kill)
Overhead smash
Lob (2 types: flat, topspin)
Dinking (3 types: flat, slice, roll)
Third shot drop (3 types: flat, slice, roll)
ATP shot

There you go. Master these and you master the game of pickleball.

A picture of Pickleball Terry Ryan and Coach Russell from Suncoast Pickleball — Pickleball Terry and Coach Russell, owner of Suncoast Pickleball

June 7, 2018

My Review of Pickleball at Venice Community Center

On a hot day, I drove down to the Venice Community Center located at 326 S. Nokomis Ave., Venice to play intermediate pickleball on a Thursday, 11:00am – 2:00pm. I was happy to see there was plenty of parking and a very clean facility.

If it’s your first time here, you will need to purchase a card for $20.00. It is $2.00 per play. Cards may be purchased in the office, and there is a county employee who scans it in at the door.

The room is like your old high school auditorium with a black and white floor. At first it was a little confusing but I quickly got used to the white lines on the black and white floor.

Games were to 11, win by 2, and you write your name on a white board; 4 per square. A small group of players were there so I played constantly, however, I understand that the day before they had a large crowd and wait time was substantial.

People were very friendly and games were competitive. Great place to play pickleball on a hot, June day.

Venice Community Center
The Venice Community Center (VCC) is a beautiful 45,000 sq. ft. regional facility that serves the needs of residents and visitors in Sarasota County as well as counties to the north and south.

Monday, Wednesday, Thursday
11:00am – 2:00pm -Intermediates
2:00am – 5:00pm – Beginners
5:00pm – 8:00pm – Open Play

326 S. Nokomis Ave., Venice FL
(941) 861-1380