To help prepare for the Palmetto Doubles Tournament being held at Odell July 31 - August 4, there will be a  doubles strategy clinic on Friday evening June 28th from 6 - 7 pm.  We are calling it  Fabulous Friday as there is no evening play on Tuesdays between now and the tournament. The clinic is free and no sign up is required.  The clinic is for 3.0 - 4.0 doubles teams that have registered for the Palmetto and  everyone who is thinking about it even if you still need a partner.   Schedule for the evening of Friday June 28th as follows.

4-6 pm - Open play for everyone - all six courts 

6-7 pm - clinic on doubles strategy 

7-830pm - Open play for everyone - Court designation 

If you haven't already,  find a partner and sign up for the tournament.  Discount for early registration has been extended until June 15th.   We also need volunteers for the check-in & event desks, raffle & silent auction and lots of court monitors.  All of these positions come with an official T-shirt and a free lunch.  A volunteer sign up sheet will be available at the clinic. 

In the meantime players may now stay together with their partners during drop in play from now until the end of July.

We had forty players for drop in play Monday morning.  It was four on four off, play to nine and the games were fast and furious.  The majority of you seemed to like the new paddle holders.  Please give a special thank you to Bob Fogle for putting them together. 

One comment several of you made -  that with the four on - four off, you end up playing with the same players a lot.  There were a couple of ideas but suggest the following as the easiest solution if you consider this a problem.   After the game the winners place their paddles in the first available holder.  The non-winners place their paddles in the next available holder leaving a gap of at least two paddle positions.  This will guarantee a mix of play and  the delay of getting to play again would be very small 

Another solution was we all chip in and buy the old Bed and Bath building that is sitting vacant and convert it into a pickleball facility.  But when a small convenient store in our local area sold for $4M that didn't seem too feasible.   Let's enjoy what we have and thank you all for your cooperation.  Much appreciated

Thank you all for a great year!  Have a safe holiday.

Aiken Pickleball Inc.  is hosting a New Players Clinic indoors at the Gregg Park Civic Center on Saturday, October 26th, for people new to the game of pickleball.  Schedule as follows:

830 -9am - Check-in at front desk

9 -10am - Clinic Instruction

10-11am - Practice Play

Clinic will include court setup, proper court position, an explanation of the “kitchen”, how to keep score, how to make the transition from tennis and other racquet sports to pickleball and much more.  Please wear tennis shoes and bring something to drink.  We will supply balls and paddles. Players must register and pay in advance which can be done online at GreggParkonline.com or at the Gregg Park Civic Cen ter.  Cost is $10 per person.   Non-members are welcome to attend but will be required to pay a $10 daily facility fee. 

Attendees will also be invited to attend a free New Players Practice session normally a week later.   Non-members of Gregg Park will still be required to pay the GP $10 daily admittance fee.