WHY MANY NEWER PLAYER LEAVE THE SPORT OF PICKLEBALL
The following observations are not meant to be negative by "content." Nor are they meant to be critical by :"intent." But they are noteworthy for all serious pickleball players to, " lament."
Recently, when I attended a local public funded Pickleball Open Play Program I was somewhat disappointed as to how the rotation of game play was being conducted. I was told by some of newer players, that the better players would not play with them, and they were experiencing problems getting enough players for a game. I played several games with these individuals and found that they had ample playing skills to participate in Open Play Pickleball. To be fair and accurate, this occurred with an hour of the last round of play, and some of the other players had left. But there was still ample numbers of players hanging at one of the courts.
I believe this problems results when you identify one court for beginners,” one court for “intermediates,” and one court for “advanced players.” Even when all players can choose which court to play on, for some players this creates an unwanted "stigma or labeling of their abilities,” especially when the more skilled players play together on the court designated for "advanced play." When there is one over crowded court, while other courts are underused, this is a gross waster of court space and time usage."
Some "long in the toot" tenured players may scoff at these observations, calling them the ramblings of want-to-be-advanced player.
When these god and goddesses of pickleball wisdom, hear a knock at their door, and are served
a "notice to appear," as a defendant in a discriminatory based civil rights lawsuit, simply because they chose to designate a pickleball court as a "beginners court," maybe then, they will understand the ramifications of stereotyping a player, as one of low skill, for no other reason then the designation of the court they choose to play on. CA-CHING! There goes the savings account.
Organized "open pickleball play," is not one size fits all. Each venue and each group of players, require different accommodations. Many private pickleball groups or clubs require their "open play participants" to have the minimum skill performance mandates of a 2.0 or 2.5 assessment. Public funded "open pickleball play" programs must confirm to "equal access" and "non-discriminatory policies" in their programs and their activities.
In my experiences teaching Pickleball to seniors in public funded "Open Play, Programs" would not prescribe to minimum skill performance standards. The mere "court designation" of "beginner, intermediate or advanced" may possibly be in conflict with those public policies.
The newest trend among many pickleball groups and clubs throughout the Nation is to DESIGNATE THE STYLE OF PICKLEBALL PLAY (Competitive-Aggressive Play or Recreational-Non-Aggressive Play). This designation does not create a "skill level labeling stigma,for players. This process is more conforming to public funded pickleball program's, 'equal access policies.'
Another benefit to using the STYLE DESIGNATION format is that it allows the Group Leaders to quickly adjust court availability based on the number of players in attendance.
Simply put, if more players in attendance choose to play the "Competitive-Aggressive Style" of pickleball, than those who choose to play the "Recreational-Nonaggressive Style" of pickleball, court space would be allocated based on "supply and demand." And in instances of the reverse order, the "supply and demand" principal would apply.
Recently, when I attended a local public funded Pickleball Open Play Program I was somewhat disappointed as to how the rotation of game play was being conducted. I was told by some of newer players, that the better players would not play with them, and they were experiencing problems getting enough players for a game. I played several games with these individuals and found that they had ample playing skills to participate in Open Play Pickleball. To be fair and accurate, this occurred with an hour of the last round of play, and some of the other players had left. But there was still ample numbers of players hanging at one of the courts.
I believe this problems results when you identify one court for beginners,” one court for “intermediates,” and one court for “advanced players.” Even when all players can choose which court to play on, for some players this creates an unwanted "stigma or labeling of their abilities,” especially when the more skilled players play together on the court designated for "advanced play." When there is one over crowded court, while other courts are underused, this is a gross waster of court space and time usage."
Some "long in the toot" tenured players may scoff at these observations, calling them the ramblings of want-to-be-advanced player.
When these god and goddesses of pickleball wisdom, hear a knock at their door, and are served
a "notice to appear," as a defendant in a discriminatory based civil rights lawsuit, simply because they chose to designate a pickleball court as a "beginners court," maybe then, they will understand the ramifications of stereotyping a player, as one of low skill, for no other reason then the designation of the court they choose to play on. CA-CHING! There goes the savings account.
Organized "open pickleball play," is not one size fits all. Each venue and each group of players, require different accommodations. Many private pickleball groups or clubs require their "open play participants" to have the minimum skill performance mandates of a 2.0 or 2.5 assessment. Public funded "open pickleball play" programs must confirm to "equal access" and "non-discriminatory policies" in their programs and their activities.
In my experiences teaching Pickleball to seniors in public funded "Open Play, Programs" would not prescribe to minimum skill performance standards. The mere "court designation" of "beginner, intermediate or advanced" may possibly be in conflict with those public policies.
The newest trend among many pickleball groups and clubs throughout the Nation is to DESIGNATE THE STYLE OF PICKLEBALL PLAY (Competitive-Aggressive Play or Recreational-Non-Aggressive Play). This designation does not create a "skill level labeling stigma,for players. This process is more conforming to public funded pickleball program's, 'equal access policies.'
Another benefit to using the STYLE DESIGNATION format is that it allows the Group Leaders to quickly adjust court availability based on the number of players in attendance.
Simply put, if more players in attendance choose to play the "Competitive-Aggressive Style" of pickleball, than those who choose to play the "Recreational-Nonaggressive Style" of pickleball, court space would be allocated based on "supply and demand." And in instances of the reverse order, the "supply and demand" principal would apply.
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