[An aside before beginning this blog: I've never discovered why the non-volley zone is called "the kitchen," but it is. Because of that, and the very name of the sport having to do with food, it seems appropriate now and then to carry that theme forward, so today's entry about poaching and pickling seems appropriate. To those who hate puns, please forgive me.]

Poaching comes in two varieties: planned and unplanned (or opportunistic). Both types can help you win points.

The National Pickleball Tournament, hosted by the USAPA, is finally happening soon. It's taken a lot of hard work by a lot of people to get to this point (along with funding by some terrific supporters), and they all deserve a huge round of applause (and your business). Although I'm no longer closely involved with the USAPA, I keep tabs on what's happening via their web site (www.usapa.org) and what I hear locally from others, and this tournament is quite an achievement.

Disclaimer: The names in this blog post have been changed to protect the innocent – and the guilty :-)

The other day, we were talking about how we practice. As with everything else about pickleball, there were different opinions, but the most interesting discussion was about whether you should hit the ball toward your practice opponent or away from him or her.

When I picked the title for my book, The Art of Pickleball, I wasn’t thinking about Sun Tzu’s principles in The Art of War, Robert Pirsig’s journey in Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance, or even Julia Child’s Mastering the Art of French Cooking. The truth is that I had planned to call the book Winning Pickleball. My publisher said that was not so great for advertising: the book would be at the bottom of all alphabetical lists. She suggested I choose a title starting with a letter closer to the start of the alphabet.

My son was visiting friends recently and happened upon some strangers playing doubles pickleball. Of course, he had to stop and say hello and eventually join in their games. What he related later was interesting and something I hadn’t run across before.

The folks playing pickleball in this park didn’t play by the rules. By that, I mean the established USAPA rules. They knew the rules – but, for whatever reason, they played differently. By choice.

This week, I was thinking about winning strategies (again). While there’s a lot to be said for just getting out there and enjoying playing pickleball, if you’re reading this, chances are you also think about winning and want to better your odds.

I was talking with someone about pickleball strategy the other day and he said he’d been approaching the game logically in his mind, trying to improve his playing without playing. (It’s an interesting idea that I believe might actually work to some degree.) Since he is, by reputation, a good player, I listened as he rattled off statistics and logical assumptions.

There are two different types of anticipation: one that isn’t a conscious choice and can be detrimental to your pickleball game, and an advantageous one that you can use consciously in order to improve your play.

Detrimental Anticipation
In William Goldman's wonderful story, The Princess Bride, the evil Count says, "One of my theories . . . is that pain involves anticipation." He then chains Westley, the hero, next to a torture device he promises to use on Westley later. This is detrimental anticipation.

In The Art of Pickleball, I listed game variations suggested by the USAPA. In this post, I’ll share those with you again, along with some new variations I’ve tried or that have been suggested by other players. Why are these of interest?

What a great sport. I’m glad to be back. And I took my own advice and went out with a clear head, just for the joy of it, and had a great time.

I played well, especially considering how long it’s been since I was at the courts. I took the “Fearless” approach I mentioned here last week: I worked on staying calm and believed in my body’s ability to play well with the practice it’s had. Of course, these were just pickup games, but they were fun and swept me back into the arms of the sport. Ahhhhh. I’m still smiling.