July 23, 2018 at 2:26 p.m.
Spreading the pickleball love
Pro Weinbach hosts clinic for budding Rhinelander pickleball community
Spreading the pickleball love
Odds are they are not playing tennis, however.
More likely than not they are playing a different racquet game, pickleball. Several local fans of the sport were on hand last Tuesday as pickleball pro Dave Weinbach of Madison presented a couple of clinics, each lasting a little more than 90 minutes.
"When people ask me around the country, 'What is pickleball?' I tell them it's a combination of tennis and table tennis on a badminton-sized court, using a ball that's like a whiffleball," Weinbach said.
Nicknamed "The Badger" on tour - a nod to his hometown and state - Weinbach was won 80 gold medals in a pickleball career that's spanned 14 years. That includes seven U.S. Open titles and six USAPA national championships.
Each summer Weinbach's sons attend a camp in the Northwoods. Three years ago, Weinbach first held a clinic for players in Rhinelander, and he's been coming back ever since - adding stops in Eagle River, Three Lakes and Wausau - as he "spreads the pickleball love" to those in the Northwoods.
Roughly 35 players were on hand for last week's clinics in Rhinelander, which is becoming a bubbling hot bed for the sport.
"We're doing this because we want to improve our games in Rhinelander," said Nancy Federle who along with her husband, John, have organized a group of players who play several times weekly. "We've been playing here for about 5-6 years and we just still need to know how the game is played to bring ourselves up to a higher level."
Federle said the number of participants has steadily increase from humble beginnings of 12 players or so who played occasionally at the YMCA of the Northwoods. Now, she says, her club has roughly 80 paid members with another 40-to-45 people on the groups email list.
One of the players who is relatively new to the group is area attorney Todd McEldowney, Jr. who picked up the game over the winter and has become hooked.
"The thing about pickleball players is that they're very social and they're anxious to get more people involved," he said.
The social aspect of the game is certainly a draw - while there is singles play, the majority of games are played as doubles, which puts four people in relatively close proximity for a prolonged period of time.
Another draw, according to Weinbach, is the sport's broad appeal to people of all ages, and it's relatively low start-up investment.
"When people try pickleball, they're almost immediately addicted to it because it's so fun, it's great exercise - really anybody can play," he said. "I've played pickleball with 4-year olds. I've played pickleball with 104-year olds. That's the beauty of the game. Anybody can play it. It's very easy to get started, all you need is a paddle and a ball. There are so many courts going up, not only in Wisconsin, but all over the country."
McEldowney said it took him only a few weeks to learn the basics and hold his own out on the court but, just like so many sports, learning the game is easy but mastering the game takes years.
A number of attendees at the clinic have a previous background and tennis and concurred that while positioning and tactics are key in tennis, they are even more important in pickleball.
That's because there's plenty of defense involved, especially when the ball is played to an area of the court called the kitchen - a seven-foot area on either side of the net where volleying the ball is prohibited. Much of the strategy is predicated on landing the ball in the opponent's kitchen in a manner in which they are forced to dink the ball back over the net, as opposed to hitting an attacking shot.
That was one of the major themes Weinbach drilled during the clinic, another was an emphasis on have a player's momentum moving forward when striking a shot, and respecting the net - which he engrained in players head by breaking into a version of Aretha Franklin's 1967 hit "Respect."
Federle said different players picked up different things from the clinic, which covered virtually every aspect of the game. She said even if each player focused on one or two items, their games will improve.
"Just one thing to bring to your own game to make a difference, make your game better," she said. "Being a coach myself, you just have to take one thing away or two things away and not worry about (the rest), because your mind is so muddled."
The players didn't have to waste much time putting their newly-learned skills to the test. Weather permitting, the group meets from 8 to 11 a.m. weekday mornings. Additionally there are sessions held on Monday and Wednesday evenings beginning at 5 p.m. Federle said Monday nights are especially good for beginners looking to try the game, while men's and ladies' play typically takes place Wednesday evenings.
"I just encourage a lot more people to come out and play," she said. "It's really fun. The more we get involved (the better). Right now we have 10 pickleball courts here at the high school. We have room for more people. It's just a fun game to become active in."
Jeremy Mayo may be reached at [email protected].
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