Last week I spent a whole article telling you to play more pickleball. Get there early, stay late, take the clinic, help somebody newer than you. I meant all of it.
So in the interest of full disclosure, here is everything I left out. 🥒
Your evenings are gone. Not busy. Gone. League is two nights a week, which sounds very reasonable right up until you find out league is never actually two hours. I get to Borden about an hour early and I leave about an hour after my last game, because somebody is always mid match worth watching and somebody else always wants one more. That is three to four hours, twice a week, and I have never once left early and felt good about it.
You are going to buy things. It starts with one paddle. Then a backup paddle, because what if. Then shoes that exist only for pickleball, because your running shoes will absolutely betray you the first time you move sideways. Then a bag to hold the paddles you already own, then tape, then balls in two colors, then something for your feet that you would have made fun of two years ago. I am not adding it up. You shouldn’t either.
You will get hurt and you will show up anyway. Ask me about the boot. 🦶
A court number will move into your head and pay no rent. Every league has a ladder, and once you know where you sit on it you cannot un-know it. I have spent most of this year on Court 2. Every so often I sneak onto Court 1, just long enough to be reminded why I live on Court 2. Indoor season is coming and I already know exactly which court I want to reach, which is not a normal way to think about a Tuesday.
You will think about it when you are not doing it. Third shot drop videos at eleven at night. Replaying Tuesday’s points on Wednesday. Standing in line somewhere, quietly figuring out where you should have moved your feet.
Your calendar becomes a negotiation. I block court time the same way I block a listing appointment, because the minute I treat it as optional it disappears. That is the only reason any of this fits.
So no, don’t play more pickleball. Not unless you are fine with making friends you did not plan on, getting into better shape than you have been in years, and building your week around a plastic ball with holes in it.
Totally your call. 😏
I’ll be at Borden in the Spring on Court 2…early.
P.S. If somebody you know keeps saying they want to try it, send them this one. Nothing gets a person onto a court faster than being told not to.