  A Message from our president Hello all, Spring is here. The wind hasn’t been a major factor in our games for one week and we are experiencing some glorious sunshine. When it is nice on the Olympic Peninsula, it is hard to top it anywhere else. The pickling weather is perfect. I am devoting this president’s letter to reporting on the Tyson McGuffin camp that I attended in Palm Desert last month. If you are wondering about any recent PTPC board activity, please read the board minutes when they are posted to our website. If you have any questions, let us know. Here is a summary of the camp: The camp was held at the Monterey Country Club in Palm Desert. This was a 2-day camp that was 6 hours of play each day. You can sign up for one or two days. Tyson had two pros teaching with him. One of the pros was Cammy McGregor. She is a top senior player in singles and doubles. I have always liked her style of play. There were 20 participants which is very few compared to some of the larger camps that have as many as 60. There were twelve 3.0-3.5 players and eight 4.0-4.5 players. The two levels were together for the instruction and separated for play. Tyson gives instruction on a skill or strategy for about 15 minutes, and then he sends you to the court to work on it with a drill or fun game. Tyson’s camps have a great reputation for three major reasons: 1. He keeps his participant size low. 2. He gives a 15-minute videotaped private lesson to all his participants. 3. He is super accessible throughout the camp. I like Tyson’s teaching style. He is formal enough to be a good teaching professional but down to earth enough to keep it light and fun. An extra bonus with Tyson is that he shares all of his teaching notes and tips with everyone. He has a Youtube channel where you can watch all of his teaching videos for free. All and all, this was a great camp. It was well organized and flowed very smoothly. I didn’t need to take notes because I downloaded all of the notes online. The players were all fairly well matched in groups according to their skill levels. The curriculum that Tyson has created is a compilation of instruction he learned while getting two pickleball teaching certificates combined together with his own information. He has put together a great package of instruction, skills, and drills that are simple to comprehend and fun to implement. I would highly recommend taking one of Tyson’s camps. If you are interested in going to a pickleball clinic or a camp, I can also recommend instruction with Scott Moore. I have done two of his camps and both were well done. He usually has one or both of his sons Daniel and Jon teaching with him. They are a kind and generous family who are willing to take you at whatever level and help you improve your game. The other camps that I would recommend are those camps taught by Simone Jardim. I haven’t taken one of her camps yet, but I have read enough reviews and seen enough of her videos to be convinced that she is an excellent instructor. She runs most of her camps in Florida but has just signed with Nike to teach at other various venues around the U.S. Hope this letter might entice you to sign up for a camp. Happy pickling, Mary Tip of the month- Let the ball come to you.  Group photo sent in by Mary, who is pictured front left middle at the Tyson McGuffin Pickleball Camp in Palm Desert California. Check out his camps.  The Tyson McGuffin Pickleball Show. Click here  Tyson gives a short lesson on blocking. Watch here  I sometimes make a bad judgement call determining if the ball is going to go out. Here is a tutorial that I found helpful. Watch here.  Have you ever been waiting for your fourth player to show up for a game and at the last minute cancels or perhaps shows up late? When you are down to three, here is a game you can play that is not only fun, but helps improve your game as well. In this three-player game, each player will take turns serving and trying to win points against the other two players. However, each server will get two service turns instead of one and will serve from the right side when they have an even number of points and from the left side when they have an odd number of points.  Nike Sports Camps Click here for more information  Port Townsend Pickleball Club Board members outside on a beautiful sunny day gathering for the first time in over a year, in person during a board meeting. From left to right: Warren Smith, Lynn Pierle, Mary Critchlow, Jim Geren, Jeannie Ramsey, Eric Seder. Not present- Patti Rowdabaugh, Jim Dow. Present but taking the photo, Kim Anderson.  Hello, Picklers, As Port Townsend Pickleball Ambassador, I was asked if I would like to contribute a monthly article for the PTPC Newsletter, so here we go. My goal here is to provide tidbits of information, updates on pickleball goings-on outside of Port Townsend, answer questions about rules, or anything else. Strategic Plan Port Townsend Pickleball Club recently completed a year-long endeavor to develop a Strategic Plan. In its efforts to align the Club’s goals with its mission statement, the Strategic Planning Committee identified five areas of focus: 1. Develop permanent outdoor public courts for pickleball 2. Develop more places to play pickleball indoors 3. Promote the sport of pickleball in the community through various public relations efforts 4. Promote Port Townsend Pickleball Club to attract interest and generate membership 5. Develop processes for fundraising This was exciting work for the Club. Many thanks to those who served on the SPC—Mary Critchlow, Eric Seder, and Susan Green. Once the finishing touches are put on the document, it will be available for all to read on the PTPC website. Stay tuned for that. Make Pickleball Fun for Everyone We players love this game and we also love to win! In seriously competitive play—I’m referring to tournaments here—it is indeed good strategy to try to isolate the weaker player and overplay him or her. In recreational play, though, we want everyone to have fun. It’s very frustrating for the more skilled player to have to watch her partner get hammered while not getting opportunities to play the ball herself. So in recreational play, keep those competitive juices simmering, but don’t keep play away from the best player on the opposing team. Think about this: if you actually play to the stronger player, you can improve your game. And if you are the strongest player in your foursome, you can ease up on your level of play to keep the rallies going. You can also pick out a skill you’d like to work on, like 3rd shot drops or blocking shots, or work on strategy without considering where the weaker player is positioned. That way everyone has more fun!  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