The paddle / racket sport thread

Hangar Flying
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Anyone here play pickleball or another racket/paddle sport?

I was blackmailed into playing pickleball with my mom about 18 months ago, and now am completely addicted. I joined a club and play a minimum of 3 days a week, usually more. I could wax on ad nauseum about its pleasure and benefits, but that would probably bore most of you.

I grew up playing tennis (mom and dad played into their 70s), racquetball, and handball, then began playing squash in Germany, which I continued when I moved back to the States. Squash is undoubtedly my favorite, but I don’t have the agility to cover the court like I did in my 30s. Although they look and are played completely differently, pickleball and squash are interesting in that they both are characterized as life-size chess. Much of the game is about moving your opponent to a disadvantageous postilion. In the case of pickleball, smashing the ball into your enemy, depriving them of a counter, is actually considered smart play. Sorry / not sorry is real.

How about you guys? Anyone surreptitiously relish smashing a plastic ball into your opponent’s thighs or enjoy another paddle or racket (racquet) sport regularly?

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I used to love playing Squash. I have never been what you would describe as being athletic, but as you said, it’s a game of strategy, and the better you get at it, the less you have to run about (unlike your opponent :wink: ).

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Lol, that reminds me of playing racquetball with my Dad in my teens so HE could get some exercise. What it ended up being was him standing flat footed in the middle of the court and me running all over the court to return the ball because everything I hit seemed to go back directly to him and he would just place his return on the other side of the court.

Wheels

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Ha, my dad was a fighter pilot and showed his sons absolutely no mercy at anything we did, whether it was skeet shooting or a snowball fight. I remember getting pelted with snowballs and us all running. He hated to lose!