Aiken Pickleball News

We had a player hit in the eye today.  Ricochet off their partner's paddle and hit them directly in the eye.  Fortunately the player was wearing safety glasses.  You can buy them online for less than $20.   Highly recommended.  You can even get prescription safety glasses online or from your local  Optometrist.

Drills with "Little Mo'' will be every  Saturday until the end of May.  The drills will be held in the morning on Court 4  at Odell Weeks from 915-1030am.   As in the past, each week will have a different theme.     Schedule as follows:

Sat Mar 23 - Return of Serve, down the line.

Sat Mar 30 - Dinks with a purpose; hitting your target spots 

Sat Apr 6 - Half Volley soft drop; Half Volley drives.

Sat Apr 13 - Overhead smash; Volley snap at the kitchen.

Sat Apr 20 - 3rd Shot drop - Canceled - Moved to Saturday, June 1st

Sat Apr 27 - Drive topspin Volley

Sat May 4  - King/Queen of the court, (Doubles)

Sat May 11 - Drop, Chip, Drive.

Sat May 18 - Lobs

Sat May 25 - Specialty shots (Various Big Mo Shot choices).

Sat June 1st - 3rd shot drop (moved from April 20th)

Skill Levels do not matter in Drills with Little Mo.   Players rotate hitting balls fed by a ball machine.  Doesn't make any difference if you are a beginner or an advanced player. Each player hits approximately five-eight balls in a row and then rotates.  "Big Mo" will be there to show everyone the proper technique.

Cost is $15 per person per sixty minute session.  Each session is  limited to a maximum of six players (minimum of three).    Register and pay at the Odell front desks and present the receipt  to the instructor.

For those of you that don't know, "Little Mo" is a ball machine.  "Big Mo" is Mo Garcia our head teaching professional.  

We are pleased to announce that Chuck Buchanan has been selected as the USAP Ambassador for Aiken County, SC.  He will be working with Mo Garcia, the District Ambassador, to secure new pickleball venues throughout our area.

We are spending numerous hours correcting careless mistakes or senior moments. The past couple of Thursdays approximately 10% of the court reservations have been invalid. Some are as simple as not putting the first initial and last name of two players, or of making two court reservations side by side, but not listing two different players. More serious infractions are when players exceed the two-court limit, thus temporarily taking up a court they are not entitled to.

Currently court time is limited and everyone is in a hurry to get a reservation, but there is no reason not to enter the names correctly. Prior to entering the SUG, go to Docs and type in the names of the players you are playing with in the correct format (first initial, last name) and do a copy. When in SUG select the court you want and hit paste.  

Those of you that are having senior moments and exceeding the two-court limit on Thursdays will now have your last entry automatically deleted. Blatant repeat offenders will be referred to the City for code of conduct ethics violations.