Newbies

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If you go to a regular pickleball session in Malaysia, somewhere in the far distance you might see what looks like a quarantined area, with a small group of people isolated from the rest of the group. This is not a area where bad unpopular players are banished, it’s the court that has been allocated to  the “newbies”.

As the name suggests a ”newbie” is a first timer or someone very new to the sport.

Now Pickleballers tend to tout themselves as a friendly and welcoming lot, but when it comes to Newbies, it’s a bit of a double edge sword.

On the one hand almost everyone in Pickleball will say things like come join us, give it a try, we have spare paddles etc all in the name of spreading the pickleball word! We want newcomers.

But then the doubt creeps in …….what if they are no good? Do I need to play them? Can someone else play them? I am not the best teacher, someone else will do a better job than me!.... Anything to avoid getting stuck in the Newbie court 😁

So we welcome newbies, but then prefer someone else plays them! Eventually the solution comes…… Quarantine them !! designate a newbie court ! keep them together and don’t let them out until they prove themselves.

Ofcourse some Newbies turn up who are really good straight of the bat from the very first hit. These people need to be quarantined even more, keep them in the newbie court away from the experienced players….. I mean no-one that’s ben playing for years wants to risk being beaten by a first time Newbie !

There is always curiosity about where each Newbie came from, how did they discover the game, so a kind of unofficial game has emerged amongst players. We watch newbies and “guess the sport” – this means by watching their playing style we can guess what racket sport they are “crossing over” from.

Examples:

Newbie Serves, immediately runs to the net and volleys the return (3rd shot) – This is a Tennis Newbie

Newbie puts massive top spin on every shot and never even attempts to dink – This is a Table Tennis Newbie

Newbie is really good at the et volleying, but keeps missing dinks off the bounce – This is a Badminton Newbie

Newbie chases down every ball and seems to be able to return shots from impossible angles  – This is a Squash Newbie

Newbie cant seem to hit anything – This is Just a newbie !

No one stays a newbie for long, three sessions in armed with their gleaming new Selkirk or  Joola raw carbon fibre paddle they are shouting advice to the next batch like old pros that have been at it for years.

 

 

 

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