The adage is you can’t teach an old dog new tricks. Well, that dog has never played pickleball.
This old dog was coerced, manipulated, pushed, roped in, enticed, and many more words that made this old dog find the latest trend of sports and pick up the game of pickleball. I was invited a few Saturdays ago to go and do a story on the game played at the Southern Methodist Church in Kernville. The action was happening all around me and was intense, competitive, yet friendly. I took it all in while one of the main people to have thrown that rope was Wayne Moore. He was giving me little tidbits of info about the game. I took my wife Colleen with me to watch also. This group of athletes were serious in playing pickleball. The competitiveness was filled to the brim. This was the start of this old dog’s blood boiling in competitive nature.
But I pushed those feelings down and continued to do my job. Then of course the Mt. Mesa Men’s Club, again through the work of Moore, decided to put on a tournament. All the paperwork was handled the pieces falling in place. Then it was on. It was then that the suggestion was hinted, whispered, gently shoved in that direction of playing in the tournament. Well, that was all I needed and it made my wife and I sign up to play. Now all we needed was a place to play.
The Kernville group invited us to come out and play. This was an adventure to say the least. Colleen and I played many games both as partners and individually with others. This great group, helped, aided, took the time to teach, to show us the ins and outs of playing the game of pickleball. We took the bait and now we are hooked. We have only played twice in fun, practice type games, but both of us are yearning to continue to grow as pickleball players. We look forward to playing in the tournament and continuing to enjoy the Saturday get togethers that include a great deal of fine people that have taken the newbies under their wing. I know I speak for both my wife and I when I say thank you for your help, patience, and most of all your kindness to allow us to learn the game of pickleball.
Of course, my body will never forgive you pickleball as after each time of playing, I hurt in places I never thought possible. New aches and pains have developed and twisted this old dog’s body into a shape. One might say the shape of a pickleball. So coming from one old dog to any others out there, it’s never too late to learn the new trick of playing pickleball. That’s a Matter of Opinion!
This just in: Old dog learns new tricks
