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President's Message
Dear Sequim Picklers,
I am going to start my message this month concerning one of my earlier messages: Please be nice and respectful at the courts. We have a lot of new families trying to learn this great game. I know we all have our groups we like to compete with, but remember, we were all beginners at some point. When you see new people around the courts please help them figure the system out. How do they get a court? What is the best practice and best time to play for their situation? Your help would certainly be appreciated. The Sequim Picklers' goal is to support the game of pickleball and anything you do to assist in growing the sport supports our Club.
My second message this month is all about the upcoming election. We currently have four positions that will be up for election this year: Vice President, Membership Chair, Director of Court Operations, and Secretary. Last year we opted to have some positions run for a one-year term to stagger the Board Election so that we do not have all new members departing at the same time. Some of the current Board Members may choose to run for a position again, but we highly recommend those who may be interested in running for one of the Board positions get in touch with our Nominating Committee. They are the ones who will provide the Board with members who they feel are most qualified for the positions. We always encourage at least two candidates to run for elections if possible.
A special thank you to the three members of our Nominating Committee. Please contact them if you are interested in running or have any questions.
Laura Hogan (DoOver2@aol.com ... 818-640-4250),
Don Church (dbchurch90@gmail.com ... 425-931-2567), and
John Gagan (yooper7225@gmail.com ... 360-460-1453)
SAVE THE DATE!
Annual Membership Meeting June 23rd
Carrie Blake Park
Details coming soon!
Membership Lowdown
Hi All – it’s so nice to have longer days and play more pickleball. Just this morning I was able to sneak out of work and play at Carrie Blake. It was awesome to see all the drilling practice going on led by Gayle Powers and her assistants! Drilling is key to improvement and consistency and it’s great to see so many people invested in their game.
I want to welcome the following new members (some include a couple of families!). The Chen’s: Jeffrey, Kelli, Royce, Ryan and Riley, the Sorenson’s: Joe, Bernie, Kaiden and Gavin, Glen and Karen Parker, Shawn Jensen, Ted and Theresa Watson, Joe Ciarlo, Miche Hollister, Hope Borsato and Michael Zimmerman. AND a very special welcome to two returning members: Joel Meier and Bill Schiffman! 'Happy to have you both back in the fold.
BADGES: Waiting for your badge? Check the shed! If you are a current member and don’t have one, likely is it there for you. New member? It takes a few weeks to order and receive the badges and I’ll send an email to you when it’s arrived and in the shed. Wear your badges proudly so people get to know your name and can invite you to play.
FEEDBACK & IDEAS? Call me (206-832-7627), email me (libby.hartman@outlook.com), and find me on the courts – this is usually in the afternoons and then various times on the weekend.
COFFEE TALK: Every first Sunday of the month we have coffee and bakery goods at the court to get a nice start to the pickling day. Come out and join us!
Pickleball is Life!
Libby Hartman
Membership Chair
Members! Please take a few minutes to review your Contact Information and keep us all up-to-date. If you have a new email, phone number, or address, contact our Membership Chair, Libby Hartman so that our records are correct.
Sequim Picklers Need YOU!
Picklers! Spring has sprung and the list of activities ahead of us calls for a handful of volunteers (or two, or three). Please consider paying it forward by volunteering to help with The Sequim Fling (June 27-30), our Highway Clean-up (April 20), The Esprit Event in Port Angeles (May 13), and the Annual Board Meeting and Party (June 23). The links above will provide you with contact information and more details can be found on the Events page on the website. There will be even more opportunities as we get into our tournament season. We rely on our fabulous Club members to help make the magic happen!
Courtside News
Thursday Draft and Go SPMiLP Night!
We were super excited to offer our first Thursday Draft and Go SPMiLP Night. After playing in, watching, and reviewing the scores we felt pretty good about the matchups. Our next event is scheduled for Thursday, May 9th. Please arrive by 5:00. Play starts at 5:15. Sign up at this link or on the Sequim Picklers' website pop-up link.
The PCOC Committee will hold the draft on Tuesday, May 7th and a list of teams will go out the following day. We are working in units of eight and are trying to balance teams. It is impossible to draft everyone. If you don’t (or didn’t) get drafted, register again. We keep a list and will prioritize you in any following drafts.
As before, you can only register as an individual. We are not registering intact teams. I want to thank everyone who participated in the April event. It was great to see new players give it a shot. The Draft and Go is open to all levels - you don’t have to be an expert in the format. The referees are amazing and can help you through the process!
Kyle McKenzie Clinic
We are pleased to announce that Kyle McKenzie has offered to run a two-day clinic. We are scheduled for June 8th and 9th. Kyle is a pro player, instructor, and head coach of the D.C. MLP Pro Pickleball Team. He will register two groups of eight players. The first group will consist of 3.5+ players and the second will include 4.0+ players. Each group will receive four hours of instruction on both days for a total of eight hours. The cost of the clinic is $400.00. For details about the event go to the Sequim Pickler’s Events page. For any questions and registration contact Kyle McKenzie at KyleMcKenziePickleball@gmail.com
Open Play
Open Play runs Sunday through Friday from 9:00 - 12:00. We define Open Play as an informal, drop-in format where players are welcome to paddle-up and join existing games. We have noticed that as SPMiLP Challenge teams have been formed, we have lost some of the spirit of Open Play. The PCOC is asking SPMiLP teams to practice and arrange games outside of Open Play.
On a similar note, leaders of Club sponsored drilling or clinics, occurring during Open Play, have been asked to monitor court space, communicate with incoming players and help them find an appropriate game or court. As court space becomes full these leaders will concede courts to Open Play. We think the MTW 8:00 - 9:30am drill sessions will help seed some lighter Open Play days with a variety of players.
Sequim Fling!
The Sequim Fling is open for registration June 27th - 30th. Visit PickleballBrackets.com to register. We will also need volunteers for this awesome event. Keep an eye out for an email with details.
Selkirk Balls/ Loaner Paddles
If you loan out paddles to the general public please make sure you get them back before the shed is locked. We have found paddles lined up along the shed doors as we open the following morning. Also, we are still experiencing a few weeks where we have had a significant drop in our ball count and occasionally we find them left out or in the hoppers overnight.
Backboards
If you have the option of playing on several open courts, please leave the court with the backboards open. This keeps backboards available for use.
Vacation
I will be on vacation from April 24 - May 12. Kendal Wake is our Assistant Director of Courts and Operations and all emails should be directed to him.
Welcome Sara Laughlin
Sara has agreed to join our PCOC team. She has a particular interest in making sure new players have an easy transition to the Club as a whole. Welcome!
Thanks!
Lettie
The Sequim Pickler Shop
is Opening Soon!
'Ready to update your pickleball wardrobe? Need new colors to brighten the courts? Well, we have you covered. We are implementing a new ordering process for Sequim Pickler Shirts. Beginning April 30th, an online order form will be available for you to select the size, color, and style of shirt. Orders will be due by May 21, 2024, with the goal of distributing the shirts at the Annual Potluck Meeting and the Sequim Fling.
The new shirts will have the same Sequim Picklers logo but we are offering all cotton tee shirts in both Men and Women's sizes, V and Crew Neck, Long and Short Sleeve. A variety of colors will be offered. If you are interested in purchasing the older performance material shirts, we still have a limited supply. Please contact Jennifer Perdue directly.
Payment will be cash or check on delivery. Prices are $20.00 for SS and $25.00 for LS. If you have any questions please email sequimpicklers@gmail.com and Jennifer Perdue will help you out.
The Esprit Conference is coming back to Port Angeles and as a part of the festivities, event coordinators are in the process of planning their Pickleball Tournament, which will be held on Monday, May 13th. Pickleball lessons for newcomers will be held at 10 am, and a 3-hour Pickleball Tournament will begin at noon.
The event will take place at the Elks outdoor courts in Port Angeles, and we are looking for Sequim Picklers volunteers to teach, referee, and help coordinate the event. If you are interested, please contact Katinka Nanna.
Members-only Links
Board Meeting Minutes, 4/07/24
PCOC Minutes, 4/02/2024
The Member's Only page password is SweetOrDill23 (please note this changed on August 10th). Save this for future use, but please don't share it with non-members.
Sequim Picklers Have a New Forum!
Have you been looking for a venue to communicate with other Sequim Picklers - a place to find a partner for a tournament, someone to drill with, or even share resources that would benefit other Club members? Look no further than our new Virtual Bulletin Board.
How to Post
Simply double tap anywhere or select the plus (+) button. A simple text post will appear. To attach a file or link, click any of the icons below the text. Padlet supports every file type you can imagine, from an Excel spreadsheet, to a Spotify playlist, to a YouTube Video, to any link from any site.
Etiquette
The rules are simple: No trash talk. No politics. Topics need to be pickleball-related and beneficial to our membership. Posts must include your contact information. If you post an item for sale and sell it, or are looking for something in particular and find it, please come back and remove your post. This is a MEMBERS ONLY forum….please do not share the link.Admin reserves the right to delete posts that do not conform to these
rules.
Questions? Send an email to Tanya Baumgardner
Pickleball RULES!
Lately, I have been getting questions about the serve, including someone questioning the legality of my own serve. So I would like to try and clarify why the serve seems to be so confusing.
Most players know that the serve is underhanded, must be moving in an upward arc at the time the paddle strikes the ball, and the highest point of the paddle head cannot be above the wrist, which cannot be above the waist, when the ball is struck (Rule 4.A.7). This is true whether a drop serve or a volley serve is being used.
What's happening, however, is that there are USA-P rules, and then rules that the pro player associations use, not always the same even among themselves, making it both confusing and frustrating.
As an example, the Professional Pickleball Association and Major League Pickleball merged in September 2023, yet the PPA Tour and MLP still retain their own distinct brands and formats. A new name is in the offing, but I have not heard that it has yet been announced. However, there are differences in service rules and scoring within these two groups, which you only really need to be aware of IF you are planning to play in their tournaments. For instance, some now use rally scoring, some use side-out scoring, and one has even eliminated the Server 1 and Server 2 option.
For the purposes of local pickleball, this is what you need to know about serving. Two types are currently legal: drop and volley. Both serves must be made with only one hand releasing the ball. There is to be no manipulation or spin applied to the ball immediately before the serve. The ball must be visible to the receiver. Contact with the ball must not be made above the waist.
A drop serve may be dropped from any unaided height and may bounce as many times as the server desires. The drop may not be propelled in any direction. The hand motion for dropping the ball is to hold the ball in the palm of the hand, palm facing down, and loosen the grip.
There is currently discussion and beta testing going on that would prevent a drop serve from being dropped above the waist. The thinking is that this would keep the paddle below the wrist and the wrist below the paddle head when hit - similar to the requirements for a volley serve. But that seems to be happening anyway, so why the added rule is being considered is not clear. The difference in ball height after bouncing is relatively minimal regardless of what height it is dropped from.
In a volley serve, the ball is not to be lifted (tossed) into the air before being hit, nor is purposeful spin allowed. Some slight spin is expected and accepted under current rules. However, a drop motion similar to what is used in the drop serve is being considered. In other words, the ball would not be allowed to roll off your hand but rather your palm would have to face down with the ball in it and then dropped so the paddle can hit it in the air, again in the upward motion while making contact at or below the waist.
Teaching the volley serve "in the old days" included the suggestion that the server think of it as similar to delivering the ball in bowling. The arm goes back and swings forward keeping the ball low. With all the weird attempts at cheating in recent years, maybe that's what the powers to be are trying to remind players of: the bowling ball serve.
In my case, the question was about the "upward" motion of my ball at release. In reality, it is not so much an upward motion or toss, as a "pulling back" from the ball, looking like there is some upward motion, and resulting in a very slight spin (not illegal at this point). If the palm-down release becomes a rule, that should eliminate the problem.
More specific service rules are being designed to prevent pickleball from becoming a service-dominated sport, similar to tennis. Again, the goals of pickleball are giving everyone a fair chance to participate, encouraging different ages and levels to play together, and having fun!
If you have questions about things you see happening on the court, please send them to kwt.dr588@gmail.com.
— Sequim Pickler Kathryn (“K.T.”) Thomas, is a Registered Trainer of Referees and former USA-Pickleball District Ambassador for the Pacific Northwest Coast.
IF YOU'RE THE LAST PICKLER TO LEAVE THE COURTS, please put away all balls and toss abandoned items (water bottles, sweatshirts, paddles, sunglasses) into the Lost & Found box in the shed. Lock up the shed and be sure to spin the combination so that it cannot be pulled open.
NO DOGS ON THE PICKLEBALL COURTS by order of the City of Sequim. Dogs are also prohibited from hanging out in the center alley between the courts. (Apologies to our canine friends...)
WEAR YOUR BADGE. Let the world know who you are — a proud Pickler. Carry your badge in your pickleball bag to snap on when you hit the courts.
WHITELISTING. Add "sequimpicklers@gmail.com" to your Contacts list and avoid having to search your Spam, Junk, and Trash mailboxes for the latest Sequim Picklers Update and other Club communications.
The Sequim Pickler Update comes out each month on the 16th. If you would like to contribute an article, picture, or link, please send your submission to Tanya Baumgardner no later than the 11th of the month.