Aiken Pickleball News

New Nets at Odell

In case you haven’t noticed, we now have new nets at Odell Weeks. And if you haven’t noticed you obviously haven’t tried to put one up. Being brand new, they are a little tight but hopefully they will get easier to put up as the nets stretch out. The good news is that only one rod is different – it’s male at both ends. Start with that one and just keep going as all the other rods are the same length. Don’t forget the center brace.

There is one slight change: the center net pole goes on one side of the center brace frame and the net goes on the other. It’s not a big problem world if you have it backwards as it will still work; it is just designed that way. Hint - after you get the frame together, try putting the net’s center pole in first and go from there. If you are still having problems, don’t hesitate to ask someone for help.

And if you happen to discover a net tape that is broken, please roll up the net and take it to the front desk to be repaired. In lieu of using duct tape as a quick fix, the nets are actually repaired by replacing the broken tape and then hand stitched.

Houndslake Pickleball Grand Opening Huge Success

A great time was had by all at the grand opening of Houndslake's new pickleball courts. Over 70 people attend. Thanks for all the Aiken Pickleball players who volunteered their time to make this a great event. Click here to see Facebook article and photos of the new courts in action.

Ask the Pickleball Refs by David Hoel

During our annual Palmetto Doubles tournaments our referees always run into some interesting rule questions and our tournament in September was no exception. We thought we’d pass on some of the more unusual issues for everyone to learn from.

Below is an example:

SITUATION: During a non-refereed doubles match, Player #1 on Team A struck a volley from outside the non-volley zone (commonly called “the kitchen”). Player #2 on Team A tried to hit the same volley but missed. After Player #1 struck the ball, his paddle hit Player #2’s paddle, knocking it out of Player #2’s hand and it landed in the non-volley zone. Team B claimed Player #2’s paddle constituted a non-volley zone fault because Player #1 had contacted Player #2 in the act of volleying.

QUESTION: Under USAPA Rules, was Team B’s claim of a non-volley zone fault valid?

ANSWER: Yes. Team B obviously knows the momentum rule or has been reading the “Ask the Pickleball Refs” Facebook page where this exact scenario has been discussed several times. USAPA Rule 9.B governs. If it’s part of the volley momentum, the point at which Player #1 contacts Player #2, the two become one so it’s no different than if Player #1s paddle fell into the non-volley zone.

Houndslake Country Club - The pickleball courts are finished!

A fantastic job on refurbishing some tennis courts to pickleball at Houndslake. You can try them out this week at no cost. We still need five more players for the Houndslake demo on Saturday October 5th. Please sign up at the sign up list for "Houndsake Volunteers" or contact Chuck Buchanan. We need to show them some pickleball enthusiasm!!! The time will be from 3:35 to 6:00 pm. Click here to see the finished results. Absolutly beautiful!

The new pickleball courts are located at the old tennis facility on Houndslake Drive, between Pine Log Rd and Hitchcock Parkway. Plans are to add three additional courts if there is sufficient play. Photo below is of the Pickleball Clubhouse at Houndslake Country Club taken during the contruction phase of the first three courts.

Raffle at September 27th Social

Dianne Floyd won the raffle drawing at our September Social. The prize included a certificate for a 60-minute pickleball lesson from Mo Garcia, a Pro-Lite SuperNova, Black Diamond Pro, Graphite performance paddle supplied by Simone Jardim World Champion, one tin of Onix outdoor balls (3pcs), and a paddle cover – a total value of over $200.00!

The prize is courtesy of Mo Power Sport LLC. The raffle took in $290 and all proceeds go to support Aiken Pickleball. Thank you Mo for your generous donation, and congratulations to Dianne for winning a great prize.

Clarification of Local Rule

The recent tournament enabled us to apply the new "Local Rule" against crossing a court divider during play. The rule was quite effective and we received many constructive comments. With that experience, we've added some clarifying language as follows:

A player crossing a court divider is a fault.

Includes the imaginary line from divider to wall
Regardless of whether the adjacent court is occupied
Even if the ball is dead before momentum causes the player to cross divider (same as a kitchen fault)
Does not apply to merely reaching over a divider,
nor safely retrieving a ball after a point has ended

Pickleball Press - Aiken Pickleball Tournament in the News

In case you missed the Pickleball Tournament that was held at Odell Weeks over the weekend, you can read all about it in the Aiken Standard (click here), the Augusta Chronicle (click here), the Local News (click here), and even view it on Facebook - Boy are we popular!

Pickleball is coming to Houndslake Country Club

The Houndslake Country Club has started work on converting tennis courts 5 & 6 into Pickleball Courts. Three (3) pickleball courts will be created initially with space to expand to six (6). A social will be held in early October to introduce the game.

Need Volunteers to help complete the filling of cracks in the concrete surface of the courts.

Contact: Dick Funkhouser (270-3448) or Jerry Clements (215-9190)

Tennis Courts 1&2 (Hard) & 3&4 (Clay) will also be improved.

New Bulletin Board

Have you seen the new Bulletin Board? It’s hard to miss when you come down the hallway toward Gym #2. The large overhead banner “Welcome to Aiken Pickleball” catches your eyes along with the colorful displays of useful information such as a flyer (also entitled “Welcome to Aiken Pickleball”) that provides information for beginners on the best way to get started.

The bulletin board also includes information about our instructors, lessons/clinics/drills they provide and much, much more. Check it out. And while you are at it, give special thanks to Bebe Murphy and her husband Gene for putting it all together. Well done, Bebe. It looks great!

Feedback

The articles Lesson with a Difference, Drills with “Little Mo”, and Wednesday Clinics are the results of a meeting that took place last Tuesday between the Leadership Team and our certified instructors. The focus was on feedback received from various players on ways to improve lessons and clinics.

We know that we can please some of you most of the time, most of you some of the time, and although it is probably an impossible task, we will continue to try and please all of you, all of the time. But we can not do it alone - we need your feedback!

If you see something that is wrong, or have suggestions on how things can be improved - please provide your positive feedback to the members of the Leadership Team at info@aikenpickleball.com. That address forwards to all three Leadership Team members. You can also provide input through your player representative. Their photos and email addresses are displayed under the “Contact us” tab. Thank you.