Senior Pickleball Tips

In this episode we meet Gustavo Alonso Gonzalez who was (un)lucky enough to be paired up with Paddy for the English Open 2025 3.5, 65+ doubles tournament. Having never met each other, they met one minute before their first match!!!

Bearing in mind that the English Open is the largest tournament outside USA, this is quite a big deal!

In this two-part podcast describing their journey in that tournament, we first meet Gustavo and get to know him a bit. He is the founder of Senior European Pickleball Players, plays as many tournaments as he can, is a qualified tournament referee and is basically all-round, bloody excellent bloke!

In the second episode they go through the matches in the tournament, the mistakes they made, how they got on as partners, how they helped each other in every match and how they (somehow) got through to the final...

...and that is when you discover if they got the gold or not.....!!!

Find Senior European Pickleball Players Facebook group here:

https://www.facebook.com/groups/169839999456871

For our (FREE) Senior Pickleball Academy click here: https://www.skool.com/senior-pickleball-academy-9457/about

Paddy starts his deep dive into pickleball singles. This is the first of four episodes to help YOU not just compete in singles, but to WIN in singles.

Many seniors shy away from singles, but for many of us we love the independence of doing things for ourselves and the friendly competition with other similar 'singletons'. There is no doubt that singles attracts the more competitative player, so these episodes focus on strategy, tactics and especially the mental aspects of the game in regard to playing in competitions (for example, breathing techniques, how to avoid distratctions etc.). Paddy draws on his own experiences winning national gold and international bronze singles medals (for his age group). Doubles players would also gain from listening to these as well.

In this first episode, Paddy argues againt the notion that 'singles is not for seniors' and explains why. Then he starts the ball rolling on the importance of the serve and why it's different from doubles, including the importance of the willingness to take risks as, generally speaking, consistency may not be enough to get to singles' knockout stages.

Note: This podcast is part of the course on Singles Play. For this, and many other courses, check out:

https://www.skool.com/senior-pickleball-academy-9457/about

Paddy has found a segment from his interview with Coach John Gill (aka Aussie John Pickleball) where they talk about keeping safe from injuries and mishaps on the pickleball court. They discuss the main things like court shoes and eye protection, about what to do and (maybe more importantly) what NOT to do!

You may feel you've heard this all before - but it is well worth a recap, to keep you on the court and playing. We've all witnessed on-court injuries and we know that they are 90% preventable - so listen up and keep yourself active and playing.

https://www.youtube.com/@AussieJohnG

For our (FREE) Senior Pickleball Academy click here: https://www.skool.com/senior-pickleball-academy-9457/about

Please find in this episode, 8 minutes of mindfullness and calm - to listen to before you go on court. Whether you're going to play for a bit of fun with your pickle friends or about to play in a major tournament - you may find it useful to have this 8-minute moment of peace, to help you focus your mind.

Keep it with you wherever you go - play it in the car, walking to the courts or just before you warm up - you never know when you're going to need it!

For our (FREE) Senior Pickleball Academy click here: https://www.skool.com/senior-pickleball-academy-9457/about

In this podcast Paddy chats to Steve Willis who is not only fanatical about pickleball, but is also highly involved with US Senior Pickleball. Discover Steve's story as he goes from swimming to pickleball, gets addicted (like a lot of us!) and what he does when he realises that he wants to put something back into the sport.

USSP supports the development of pickleball for seniors throughout the United States - listen to what they can do for you...

Join USSP here; https://usseniorpickleball.com/

For our (FREE) Senior Pickleball Academy click here: https://www.skool.com/senior-pickleball-academy-9457/about

In this episode Paddy talks through how to transition from tennis to pickleball. Although there are MANY advantages such as an understanding of footwork and court positioning, there are also disadvantages such as going for the sidelines and too big a backswing.

Listen to Paddy as he goes through all this, while giving examples from his own transition - after playing tennis for 50+ years.

So if you've come from tennis, this is a must-listen.

For our (FREE) Senior Pickleball Academy click here: https://www.skool.com/senior-pickleball-academy-9457/about

Join thre waitlist for a 30% discount on the membership website:

https://senior-pickleball-tips.kit.com/63394dc96f

In this episode Paddy talks to his doubles partner, good friend and pickleball coach Phil about partner communications. They have entered a 50+, 3.5 tournament together for the first time and discuss how they are going to communicate with each other before playing, during play and afterwards.

The tournament is in two weeks' time, so it's important they 'get their act together'!

Partner communication is not just about calling 'Mine' or 'Yours' (although these are incredibly important), it's also about keeping each other's spirits high, NEVER being negative (not until after the game anyway!) and being crystal clear in what you communicate and how you communicate it.

They also talk about communicating with partners in competitative round robins - whom you may never have met before, as well as partner communication in informal, rec play.

So give it a listen - your partners will thank you for it!

For our (FREE) Senior Pickleball Academy click here: https://www.skool.com/senior-pickleball-academy-9457/about

In this episode Paddy talks with Ron Ponder who is the Director of Officiating at the Global Pickleball Federation and all-round great guy. They talk about how he got into pickleball and then got into refereeing while helping with DUPR and expanding the sport into the far reaches of this planet. For example, how Ron got to officiate in Madagascar's first national tournament after explaining to about a dozen enthusiastic players how to play!

Ron is very knowledgable about pickleball and shares some of that knowledge with us. He discusses issues such as refereeing and how to get into it, why pickleball is so popular around the world, it's phenomenal growth in Asia and the inevitable topic of needing ONE international body to get our sport into the Olympics.

But don't think that this is a boring interview - Ron is an engaging and erudite guest, willing to share his colourful pickleball journey with us, and we are privileged to be a part of it.

https://globalpickleballfederation.org

For our (FREE) Senior Pickleball Academy click here: https://www.skool.com/senior-pickleball-academy-9457/about

Remaining with the important theme of listening to our bodies, Paddy talks to Bill Reif about his book 'Treat Your Own Pickleball Injuries' out with Amazon. With 45+ years experience of being a physical therapist, he started playing pickleball five years ago and found himself looking after more and more pickleball players. So, on retiring, he wrote this very useful book.

Listen to Paddy and Bill discussing the particular injuries that come from pickleball's 'side-to-side' movements and what to do about them. More good stuff about preventing those injuries from happening in the first place, but also what to do when they (inevitably) arrive!

Bill has worked with the Olympics, Special Olympics and even in Hollywood - so he knows what he's talking about. Also, if you're not from Britain, discover what a 'niggle' is!

[IMPORTANT NOTE: If injuries or pain persists ALWAYS go and see your doctor/physician]

Order the book here:

https://www.amazon.com/Treat-Pickleball-Injuries-Step-Step/dp/B0F8P2DV49

For our (FREE) Senior Pickleball Academy click here: https://www.skool.com/senior-pickleball-academy-9457/about

In the second part of this episode Paddy and Susan (from Pro Motion Fitness) discuss the importance of having some kind of a daily routine to stretch our muscles and tendons and to help us gain some physical strength. This can help all of us with our pickleball game (and our lives in general!).

A 10- or 15-minute routine is good (or even longer if you can bare it!), but at least a 5-10 minute stretch is highly advisable. Whether it is yoga, pilates or the Canadian Air Force exercise regime (yes, there is one - my dear mum used to do it every morning!), just about any kind of movement can only help. And we'll learn how you can even incorporate the exercises your phyiso gave you into your own bespoke routine (why not eh?).

We'll also learn about how good it is for us to (wait for it....) stand on one leg!

So give this episode a listen - and remember to S-T-R-E-T-C-H.......!

Check out Pro Motion Fitness here:

https://ptwithsusan.com/about/

For our (FREE) Senior Pickleball Academy click here: https://www.skool.com/senior-pickleball-academy-9457/about