The Sun Lakes Pickleball Club Cottonwood, from the Cottonwood Palo Verde community at Alma School and Riggs Road, has done it again! For the last several years, the club has been collecting funds and other donations for the Hamilton Kids at Hamilton High School in Chandler. These are kids of needy families or families who…
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, 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…
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…
David Zapatka When your opponent hits the ball high in the air, above your shoulders, think overhead smash! The smash is one of the most fun shots in all of pickleball. It ends rallies with an exclamation point. Execute this fun, rally-ending shot using these seven steps: 1. Use many small steps to position your…
David Zapatka Pickleball Bangers Are you getting tired of playing the bangers? They have one strategy; hit the ball as hard as they can. They rarely hit third shot drop shots. What can you do? There are two options. The first is the punch volley, a volley hit hard and deep. The second is the…
The Third Shot Drop. Why Is It So Important? David Zapatka The third shot drop is a shot performed near the baseline that lands softly in the opponents’ kitchen. The shot is designed with one thing in mind—get your team to the net. The mechanics of the third shot drop are simple. The ball sails…
David Zapatka “Is Pickleball the Perfect Pandemic Pastime?” On May 30, the New York Times ran an article with the title above. They went on to say Ellen DeGeneres recently declared herself among the intergenerational sport’s ardent enthusiasts. Just think of it. Social distancing is defined as maintaining a distance of six feet. Pickleball’s non-volley zone…
David Zapatka Last month, we announced the 2019 female Player-of-the-Year mother/daughter duo of Anna Leigh and Leigh Waters. This month, we are announcing the 2019 male Player-of-the-Year. You will recall last year’s male Player-of-the-Year was none other than the Valley’s very own Dick Johnson, known to so many of us around pickleball in the Phoenix…
Irene D’Aloisio It’s that time of year! It’s the biggest and best pickleball tournament in Sun Lakes! It’s too late to register, but you can come watch some really great pickleball play! It’s the Norris Invitational Tournament (NIT). This annual pickleball event is scheduled for Monday, March 2, through Thursday, March 5, 2020, with March…
David Zapatka This was a changing year for pickleball. There are now 15 to 20 tournaments occurring every week, and our sport cleared three million players in the continued player growth explosion. You might think with this many players, the voting and choice for player of the year would be tough, but Pickleball Rocks says,…