Today I played indoor “open play” pickleball. I was assigned to a court with a couple of my friends and a woman who wasn’t very good, but that was fine. Eventually I went to another court, and a guy there was SO obnoxious. One of my friends left early (after paying $14.70 to play) because he was “dangerous” to play with. Another of my friends trying to play with him just kind of “shut down” because she was afraid she was going to get hurt, and she was happy when she could leave that court. Right before I started playing a game with him (I didn’t realize all of this at the time), the manager came to the court and tried to suggest he go to a higher level court, but he refused! He played the “whole court” as opposed to his half, at risk of hurting his partner (for one game me). It was NOT fun.
I may have posted this already, but at another open play session recently I was on a court with someone who insisted he belonged on that court, but we were truly worried he was going to fall backwards and hurt himself while playing.
We usually have lots of fun during open play, but it can be hard because everyone is allowed to “self rate” and some see themselves as much better than they are, and some don’t want to play with people who will be tough to beat (I guess - I haven’t actually had that issue before today).
Sorry you had that experience. Typically I find ways to sign up with friends of local pb club members in Beginner/Advanced Beginner events or Bronze events at the indoor place. But sometimes there are mixers that include higher level players. Phew - I’ve always been fortunate to have gracious players who share the court. At the Saturday holiday event (local club party but held at the indoor place) I had fun even when paired with better players who were friendly and encouraging.
I will never be good enough to play a super fast game with the bangers. But… gotta admit I smile when once in a while one of my serves (nothing special) or soft hits stymies a much better player. It’s not just getting the point I enjoy - it’s the look on their faces when they miss a low ball coming from this wimpy little old lady.
Thanks. I’ve found most PB players to be very nice, and patient with people who don’t play as well, for at least a couple of games. At the indoor place where we play, people can “self rate” so management can’t really easily control how things wind up. They try to put similarly rated people on the same court, but it’s a numbers issue for them. More often I’ve found people rate themselves too high, not too low.
Many of us who play at our indoor place relatively often rate ourselves by who we want to play with. We don’t want to be with the “newbies” and we don’t want to be with the really hard hitters/advanced players. I know management would like us to get DUPR ratings, but most of us haven’t.
We really do need some precip in Colorado, sigh. But lacking that, I did enjoy taking advantage of today’s primo weather (high 50s, sunny) to play outdoors… as sub with a regular 4-some. Lots of folks must have had the same idea. I actually had two other opportunities to play, both arising last minute via big text chains.
Did anybody receive any pickleball themed gifts? I actually picked out my own used paddle at a store-moving sale, added some new pickleballs (2 for one deal) under the tree. Then my daughter kindly gived me a new pb bag. She’s my shy kid, but she actually chatted with a store salesperson to decide which model to select. I smile each time I use it.