Pickleball

I have a new love in my life. It's called Pickleball. It is a great game that is really a combination of tennis and ping pong. The court is about 1/4 the size of a tennis court. Instead of a raquet, you use a paddle that is about half the size of a raquetball raquet. The ball is kind of like a whiffleball, only much harder.
I first started playing in October when I was up in Meadow vista playing tennis with an old friend that I used to teach with at Grant. While playing tennis, I noticed that there were lines painted for a much smaller court. I thought that the lines may have been for paddle tennis which is another game that I really enjoy. After a while a guy showed up with a couple of portable nets and I asked him if he were playing paddle tennis. He said no, he was going to set up for some game called pickleball. My friend and I decided to let him have the court so that he could set up, and we went to the other tennis court that was not marked for pickleball.
While playing tennis, my friend and I had a conversation between points. He asked me if my brother was still coaching at Boise State University. I told him no, that my brother was now at the University of Colorado. At that point, an older, shorter, and somewhat chunky guy interupted our conversation by saying that his nephew coached at Colorado and that they had just upset Oklahoma. He kept talking about it, and then I realized that the guy was my uncle Dennis. I was kind of surprised to see him there because Meadow vista is just past Auburn, while Dennis lives in Placerville. Dennis did'nt recognize me and continued to talk about his nephew at Colorado. I decided to continue the conversation with Dennis without telling him who I was. I told him that my brother coached at Colorado and he repeated that his nephew also did. So I asked him what his Nephews name was. He said, "Robert Tucker". I then replied, "I'm Craig Tucker, Robby's my brother". For a couple of seconds he looked real confused, then he said, "Craig!" "What are you doing here? You live in Sacramento!" And I said, "what are you doing here? You live in Placerville!"
Dennis told me that I should try Pickleball because it was a lot funner than tennis. I did'nt believe him, but I decided that I would give it a try the next time that I came up. When I did try it, I was instantly hooked. It is such a fun game. The game is very fast and requires a lot of skill. Time flies when you are playing. Before you know it, three hours have gone bye and it seems like you just started playing. I did well right away, probably because of my tennis background. I almost never miss a game. I drive up there every wednesday after school and on saturday mornings.
I introduced Jamie to the sport in December and he has already bought four raquets and a portable net. Last night, he called me up at 11:00 PM to tell me that he talked to a guy from the Sacramento department Parks and Recreation about the sport and the possibility of the city installing permanent Pickleball courts someday.
Yesterday, we headed up to Meadow vista with my Dad and Viet. We had a lot of really competitive games with Dennis and Bill. The following photographs are from yeserday.



Jamie showing the championship form that has quickly made him the second best Meadow vista Pickleball player.



Viet reaching down to score a point.


Who says old guys can't jump? Dennis showing off his two-inch vertical leap.


Dad chasing down a Jamie kill-shot.



Dennis showing the form that has made him one of the elite Meadow vista players.



The champions!


The thrill of victory!


The agony of defeat.