David Lawell
As the popularity of the game of pickleball increases, the desire to play in competitive tournaments increases too. As players’ skill level increases the competitive juices start to flow and the yearning to play in tournaments becomes the logical progression. Two factors leading to success in tournament play can depend on conditioning and consistency. Conditioning comes into play the further a player advances. Consistency allows the player to advance. How does one achieve consistency? Drills, drills, drills and practice makes perfect as the saying goes.
At Robson Ranch AZ we are lucky to have a great staff of trainers who are willing to impart their talent and knowledge of pickleball to beginners and experienced players alike. For the more experienced players, drills and strategy sessions are offered by Paula and Jerry Steger and Larry Kraus. The drill sessions are on the master schedule and are held on Tuesdays at noon following the Tuesday’s ladder play.
Paula and Jerry will work with all skill levels but tend to concentrate with players newer to the game. And their efforts are showing great results with many newer players succeeding in round robin and tournament play. Larry Kraus’ efforts are in helping out the little more advanced skill level players improve their competitive results. Each player needs to put in the time and effort to be more competitive, but with the help of these three instructors the task is not a total guessing game. If you are interested in stepping up your game, these three individuals are more than willing to help to set your schedule for Tuesdays at noon. You will not regret investing the time to learn a lot more about the pickleball game.
Soon the reps will become more plentiful and easier with the delivery of the club’s new ball machine. With the new machine even the training will achieve a new level of consistency. It should help at every level, beginners to 5.0. Hopefully our club will not wear it out in the first month! It will experience a high level of use helping all members become better players.
Speaking of competition, congratulations are in order to medal winners at the Duel in the Desert tournament at Palm Creek. Silver medal winner Jeff Jones and partner Eric Sandstrom in Men’s Doubles Skill Level 4.0 and Womens Doubles Skill Level 3.5 Barb Hager and Terri Yates also took a silver medal. Other players from the Ranch were Laurell Graf, MJ Wong, Brenda Amans, Sue Sherwood, Donna Duran, Jim Duran, Richard Shine, Mike Stacey, David Amans, Jon Nees, Dave Wong, Larry Kraus and Al Hager. The list of Robson players in the Robson Ranch third annual Skill Level tournament held March 18 thru March 21 at the Ranch courts will be many times longer, and we hope many of our residents will bring home the medals. To do that drill, drill, drill, practice, practice, practice see Paula, Jerry and Larry!