Good, Bad & Ugly Pickleball Venues | Aaron Thompson w/ Guardian Pickleball

Speaker 2 (00:00.492)
I went against a 80 year old woman and she's like, I don't run that much. And the first hit she runs up there and just slams over the net looks at me and goes, I can run when I want.

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So I was thinking this week in Kitchen Talk, we would talk about what makes a pickleball venue actually good. Not necessarily like Instagrammable or fancy. I'm talking like real life. What makes us love a place? What aggravates us? What is like over the top extra? We love it. Just kind of, we've been, we've all been to a lot of different places. So I think some must haves, they have to have good courts.

Speaker 3 (01:45.996)
Like, you know, not with cracks in them or, you know, if it's indoor having the nice surface and, you know, enough room, you know, so like good dimensions on their court.

Yeah, you know, early on in one of our episodes, way, way, way, way back, we talked about a bad court. Yeah, where they couldn't, I mean, there's no dividers or anything. mean, your ball is just rolling into another person's court. And admittedly, we're not really good at this. So we have that problem a lot. even like just grab an orange snow fence off the side of the road or something, you know what I mean? Dividers are necessary. Like you got to have your own little space.

very first one.

Speaker 3 (02:18.062)
Yeah, I like having the little dividers.

Speaker 4 (02:23.95)
I'd say good people. That's the most important thing to me. I'm not good enough to where if there's a crack in the cord, it's gonna matter to me. But if I'm having a good time and the people that I'm with are having a good time, then that's what makes it fun for me.

Because even when we've played up at the park that has no backstop or anything, they're horrible courts.

Chasing that ball.

Yeah, you gotta grab a camel back with some water to go get the ball.

We would bring like 8,000 balls so we didn't have to go get them. What are some like nice to haves? So for me, I think like a seating area where when you're done, like you can sit and wait or chill for a little bit. Or, you know, small little pro shop with some water. Those are like nice to haves. Like it doesn't have to be there.

Speaker 1 (03:09.1)
Well, I think one of the must haves we didn't cover is good restrooms.

that is a good one.

Yeah, now I'm not a restroom snob. I will use a porta potty like anybody else. Matter of fact, sometimes let's go porta potty. You know what mean? Sometimes they're good and you're just by yourself. You don't have to worry about others coming in. Unless you don't lock the door, then there's a problem.

Yeah, mostly like outdoor courts.

Yeah, yeah, yeah like there's one that we play at sometimes that you have to walk a mile to get to the bathroom Yeah, hmm. Yeah, and it's an uphill both ways kind of in the snow

Speaker 3 (03:41.334)
Yeah, so I think you're right on that. But, you know, nice to have if they have seating, you know, where you can like sit and stop on the court while other people are there if there's a nice area for the shading.

Yeah, for the outdoors, definitely some wind barrier.

On the fence? Yes. Yeah, that makes a huge difference.

Yeah, something and something maybe that keeps the leaves off if you're in that type of environment or a leaf sweeper that you can run.

I've been at a place where they had like the leaf blower type thing, which was nice. How about you?

Speaker 4 (04:13.102)
Nice to have, I would say, music. Yeah, I like when we have music. don't have to have it, but it makes it so much more fun when you just have music to play with.

Yeah. Yeah. I'm surprised you didn't go drinks.

That's a must have. That's must have. You skipped ahead.

How about something that aggravates you? I can tell you for me, I don't like when things are disorganized. Like when you show up to a scramble or open play or whatever and like no one's there to check you in. Or you don't know what's going on and everybody's just kind of looking at each other like, are we here on time? Are we not? Does anybody know what's going on? Like I don't like disorganization, especially if you're paying to be there.

You know, if you're at a park and everybody's just kind of organizing themselves, that's one thing. But if you're paying to do an open play or scramble or anything, I think you should be greeted. And then I think it should be organized by a staff member. Yes, we're adults and we all understand what open play is. But at some point it has to be like, this is where you paddle stack. This is how it's done. OK, we're going to start. OK, let's go.

Speaker 1 (05:19.148)
Right. Yeah, and paddle stacking. Like having a good place to stack your paddles. Now, do I have to wonder, is this where raccoons nest? You know, is a squirrel going to bite me? Right. Or is this for paddles? I'm not sure what this is.

like a labeled, you know, and this is how it works and this is how it's done.

It doesn't have to be fancy, but clean it out, make it look serviceable at least. I'm not going to have to get a tetanus shot after I stack my paddle.

Yeah, and I think having staff in general, you know? And I'm a huge person, don't overstaff things that don't need to be overstaffed. However, have minimum staff, you know? Like if you're just showing up and nobody's there, it's like, what is going on? Yeah.

Well, yeah, if not though, like your outdoor, your rec courts, your city courts have good signage. Right. You know, let's let the rules be known for everybody. Let's not have some people out there making up their own rules. Let's be able to just say, OK, you've been on this court long enough. This rule clearly states no court hogging. Right.

Speaker 3 (06:09.378)
Calvin Bowle.

Speaker 3 (06:15.98)
Yeah. How about you?

Mine kind of ties in with yours. One of my big things is having staff that are visible. When you're there and you've never seen one staff member come up and check in, see how you're doing, it just makes you feel more of an outsider. Yeah. Then when you go someplace that has impeccable customer service, you're greeted at the door, how are you? Checks in with your court, see if you guys need anything. To me, that means so much more than like,

fancy technology and crazy things like that. It's that personable connection that makes me want to go back to a place.

Yeah, I think with the technology, and I'm a huge technology person, I love when things can be automated, but if you use some proprietary app or system, it's like a new person's coming in, you don't just say, hey, download this app. Like, well, what am I supposed to do with it? How do I check in? What do I do? Like, help me through that process or have a sign that helps through the process, something similar to that.

I think one of the other must haves for me, I don't get to see it too often, is like a cigar lounge at your court. That would be a great nice thing.

Speaker 3 (07:25.422)
That be a nice thing to have.

I agree. an albuterol tent next to it. Yeah, for sure. You can breathe after.

Yeah, and I think, you know, the courts out there that are run by people, not, you know, public parks, I think having specific... What is the word? Like, you're not your duper, but like your skill level. Having specific skill level open plays and scrambles and things like that, I think that cuts down on a lot of agitation as well. So like, proper scheduling.

is another thing, I think, especially with the venues that are indoors and do have that opportunity, but you're gonna just do open play and then get pissed when a 2-5 comes into your 4-0 in your paddle stack. if that's what it's gonna be, then make it known to everybody.

Yeah, clearly identify those boundary lines. Right.

Speaker 3 (08:18.818)
say this is an all open play, know? The Austin Pickle Ranch has a great system and theirs is like, okay, this is beginner open play and there was only eight people, but all of us were beginners. And so none of us felt like, shit, we're gonna make this person look bad or whatever. We were all beginners and it made it nice. Now we've been to some open plays where it's just like free for all and everybody gets pissed at you because you don't really know what you're doing. And it's like, well, that's not my fault.

It will immediately make me leave. I have left open plays because of that. you walk in and like when you, nobody knows what's going on. I had no idea what was going on. There were players that are like, that was an all open play, but there was no one there even remotely on my level and it was not a fun place to be, so I

Yeah. So quick last question. What are your thoughts on and this wasn't in our notes, but what are your thoughts on the people who like self claim working there? What's the word? I'm like, they self identify as like, I'll help you and check you in like kind of that.

I get what you're saying.

Speaker 1 (09:23.591)
Like the appointed volunteer, the self-appointed.

volunteer.

which I've seen you do a couple of times. I think it's, for me, it's a great ambassador program, because you know the court, especially in the tournaments we've had.

Well, the only reason why I stepped in is because when they were organizing, the staff member was trying to tell everybody what was going on and the person came in late and was looking around because she had never been there. So I was just like, this is what he's doing because I didn't want her to feel like, what am I supposed to do? But the self appointed, like, I'll tell you what to do, where to go, how to work, how to play. I mean, that's a little different.

Yeah, I mean, doesn't I mean, as long as it's not overbearing doesn't really matter to me.

Speaker 4 (10:10.06)
for it as long as it's done in a very friendly manner. Like, hey hun, let me help you out. This is what we're doing, that kind of thing. But when it comes down to, you can't play with that paddle, don't tell me what to do.

Like the guy that told me that I can't play with my paddle in a tournament. I was like I could do what I want. Yeah

of the Pretty Pickleball Company paddle.

And they're like, you're new here, let me show you around. they don't even work there. It makes you feel automatically more.

I agree. So I think it depends on, you know, their... Definitely the And personality. We went to one in, like, a YMCA. this guy there, he was probably 75 years old. And the second we walked in, he was like, hey, I'm Chad, and I'm the, you know... He called himself something, which I know is not a real thing. you know, he was like, and this is how you paddle stack, and this is how you do this, and you can come play with us first. And we were like, wow.

Speaker 4 (10:38.562)
The person.

Speaker 1 (10:58.424)
court.

Speaker 3 (11:04.532)
Love that. That's awesome. nice. know, because we walked in and we didn't know what to do. Right. Because we we'd never even really played in a gym before.

Yeah, because you don't know who's coming through that door and you could be turning off a brand new player. Right. Who's just, okay, I finally got the nerve up and the courage to go and try this thing that I'm hearing so much about. Right. And then the wrong person could just turn them off to the whole sport.

Yeah. Well, if you're listening out there and you own a pickleball place, make sure you have good courts, good lighting, something to drink, a good schedule and organized.

and you're a self-appointed

Speaker 1 (11:46.69)
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Speaker 3 (12:23.768)
Just

Thank you announcer lady. Quick pickleball wisdom in and out before you know it. Now listen, listen up. Be patient after your third shot drop. Don't rush to the kitchen line after your drop. If your shot sits up, hold your ground and wait for a better opportunity. Move forward only when your drop forces your opponent to reach or let it bounce. Split step as they make contact. Never move while they're hitting. It's normal to need two to three drops to reach the line even.

for the pros. Advance with intention and back up, back that thing up, girl, if you give them an easy attack.

have to back up all the time.

That's I like playing with you.

Speaker 3 (13:04.248)
Ha!

Just

Speaker 1 (13:11.699)
It's time for Pickle Pal.

Speaker 1 (13:17.676)
Well, this one's a special one for me and you'll know why as soon as we get into it. we've got, what do veterans and first responders need other than more money? Well, free pickleball equipment and someone to teach them the game, of course. Our guest today built a charity that does exactly that, nonprofit, sending paddles, balls, and connecting people with volunteer coaches all at zero.

cost for our first responder in military communities. Under the umbrella of Guardian Outdoors, which already takes veterans fishing, hunting, and whitewater rafting, he's bringing pickleball to the heroes who've served from nationwide, all around the world. Aaron Thompson, founder of Guardian Pickleball, here with us today on the Big Dink Energy Podcast. Thanks so much.

Yeah, thanks for having me. Looking forward to it.

Yeah, we've been trying to connect on this one for a little while, both of our schedules are little crazy.

I think you were sick and then we were getting the wheelchair for the veteran and finally we're here, third time's a charm.

Speaker 1 (14:07.68)
Yeah, I already know, but our audience has to know, we got to explain this. You you're doing the fishing, the hunting, and the rafting for veterans and first responders, and then the next iteration is pickleball, obviously, from my perspective, but let's tell our listeners why.

So Pickleball is an activity that you don't have to wait for the weather. You don't have to wait for the right conditions. Unfortunately, actually the whitewater rafting is going away. The insurance company is not covering it anymore. that's that I was looking to branch out. So I chose Pickleball and it's just helped me so much. It's one of those things. Like I said, you don't have to wait for a weekend. You don't have to wait for the right conditions. If it's raining, you got indoor places to play. It's something you can do whenever you

Yeah, and the community is so phenomenal. I found, you you can't hardly go. Some of the, some of the rec play areas and some of the outdoor courts are a little clicky, but not, not by much. Someone will put their arms around you right away if you're a new guy. So was there a specific moment or person, and I know your personal story a little bit too, it probably, probably that ties into it that you realized Pickleball could serve the veterans and first responders the same way the outdoors does.

Absolutely.

Speaker 2 (15:13.038)
Absolutely. 110%. And not everybody's an outdoors person. You know, I've had a lot of people saying, oh, well, I don't fish, but here's a donation or I don't want to do extreme sports here's donation. But everybody I brought to pickleball, whether they made fun, I made fun of it at first before I got into it. And they, they're like, you know what, let's play. And it's just an exciting.

Yeah, absolutely. So kind of walk us through what happens when a veteran or first responder applies to guardian pickleball.

So what happens you go on my website, you fill out the application, I review it. I do respond back. I do need a form of identification. Unfortunately, there's stolen valor going around. So I need some kind of identification, either a military ID, V-214, a pass tag if you're a firefighter, know, an ID as a police officer, whatnot to prove that you have that. And then what happens is I send you and your family, you tell me how many paddles you need up to four.

I sent them out to you and then I link up a coach in your area. If there's not a coach in your area, I'll contact a local pickleball place to say, Hey, we need to get this guy coached. And whether you're a beginner advanced player, can most likely get you a coach set up with you to work with.

Awesome. So free paddles and equipment. It's a nonprofit, so how do you fund all that?

Speaker 2 (16:18.598)
Well, you guys have helped out a lot. You guys got the ball rolling for me. I remember we connected right when I brought this project. And then I had a bunch of paddle companies reach out to me, how can we help? You know, they'd send me paddles and then what I do is I package up the paddles and I send it out. It's as simple as that. There's not a lot of cost overhead with the charity, except for some of the things like getting wheelchairs for people that need wheelchairs and shipping out, shipping's a big cost. But that's the neat thing about this charity. Unlike a fishing charity where you have to put fuel on the boat. Right.

and everything like this, this is something that I can get you started right away.

That's awesome. Yeah, and that's important sometimes because, you know, the veterans, the first responders, when they are reaching out, it's typically, okay, it's bad enough now. I'm going to ask for help, right? You know that as prior military, prior law enforcement, we just typically do not reach out. We don't ask for help. So if you do get that coming across, it's so important to engage immediately and get them connected and on a path to healing. And yeah, that's so critical.

Yeah, and I'd say that's the hardest thing for the charity is just getting applicants. I know I've applied to Minneapolis. I mean, I've gone fishing in Montana with veteran organizations, but it took me a while to get there. And just, we just think we don't deserve it. It's here for you. I need you to sign up. Like you're the bread and butter of what I am. You're the brick and mortar. I need you. I need you to sign up. So if you're a veteran first responder, please sign up.

Yeah, and I can speak kind of to that on my side, just in the VA world alone. I'm only now getting all my VA stuff put together and getting what I need for my healthcare. And because for so long I sat out there and said, well, you know, I didn't do enough to deserve this or maybe some...

Speaker 1 (17:58.158)
just inside me was feeling like I was asking for a handout. And so I bet you there's a lot of that that goes on with this too. So if you're, I'll just say right now, if you're a veteran, you're a first responder and you're sitting out there, you're listening to this, and if you know one, share this podcast with them, they don't need to be so injured to get into this. They just need to qualify to get into this and it's going to greatly improve their overall mental health and wellbeing.

Absolutely. With PTSD, I have a traumatic brain injury, which we'll get into. It's helped me tremendously with that. We have a wheelchair veteran I work with. So it doesn't matter if you're in a wheelchair. We'll help you out. If you're not in a wheelchair, not all wounds are visible and people don't realize that. It's the best therapy I've found.

Yeah, so talk about, I mean, you've had some life, you you've had the military, you've had the police work, you've deployed overseas, you've, and for some reason, I think it's your TBI that caused you to be a firefighter, I mean, tell us, tell us your life, tell us a little life path here for you.

Yeah, so I joined the Army. My dad was in the Army. I felt like it was my calling. I joined the Army, went National Guard. I went in as an MP, wanted to be a police officer, found out that they don't do that anymore. It's all contracted now. So was like, well, here I am. I joined at 17, 17 years old. My recruiter said I could be a police officer and what do recruiters do lie. And I can't say too much because I was a recruiter for a year. But so flash forward, I always wanted to be a police officer my entire life. to the, actually graduated the police academy at 21 years old. I was the youngest police officer.

yeah, Henrico County, Virginia. I actually had to take off that night because I was assigned midnight shift because my parents wanted to take me out drinking for the first time. So yeah, I graduated Henrico County, which is a large county in Virginia, right outside of Richmond. I became a police officer. And then long story short, 2008 got deployed to Basra, Iraq. And the rest was kind of history. Unfortunately, we got ambushed. I got injured by an IED.

Speaker 2 (19:48.802)
Thought I was okay. I had a traumatic brain injury, spent a couple of weeks in the hospital in Bilad Air Force Base in Iraq. Went back to duty, thought I was fine. And then when I got back, my police work just suffered. And they said something's wrong with you. And ultimately they retired me from the army and the police department. I've since gotten better now. I am a volunteer firefighter. So it's gotta be that TBI injury that's doing it. But yeah.

or you lost a bet, one of the two.

I definitely lost the bet.

Yeah, that's such a great path. But it's a path you hear a lot of times. And I'm so thankful for the VA system and the systems that exist now that recognize that. And there's so much help out there. So if you're a veteran, first responder listening to this, VA has a great app you can get on your phone. And they don't qualify you as a veteran to get the app. So if you're a first responder but never served in the military, you can still get the app. And it's got a lot of mental health help there as well.

But one of the main things that I found is not getting too internal and being external and taking those little leaps of faith to get out there, get on a court, especially pickleball, and you'll find your people right away. Now, you the bad side of running a business sometimes, have you ever had to turn away somebody that applied?

Speaker 2 (20:53.55)
Yeah, absolutely 110%.

Speaker 2 (21:00.558)
Not yet. I've had people apply and then they didn't respond with their ID. And I understand that we have to go through the steps. Unfortunately, I had an incident many years ago where I lent a veteran money and it turns out they weren't a veteran. And I basically had to threaten to expose them to get the money back. So I don't play with the, it's not, if I ask for your ID, it's not because I don't believe you. It's just a verification process that we have to go through. Cause unfortunately people do lie. I haven't had to turn anybody away yet.

I will say that other with the fishing industry, have, mean, veterans and first responders are just like us. You're going to get the people in there that are assholes. I'll say it if I'm allowed to say it. And I'm not afraid to call them out. And I tell my civilian counterparts, if someone's acting like an asshole and call them out. So I have had to say, Hey, you're not welcome back on any of our events anymore. And I'm not afraid to say it, you know, just because we are veterans in law enforcement, that doesn't make us better than anybody else. It actually holds us to a higher standard in my opinion. Yeah.

Yep.

Speaker 1 (21:54.635)
Absolutely.

With Pickleblonde, no, the community's been great.

Yeah, absolutely. There's so much there that can be unpacked and we only have a short amount of time. know, with the reintegration stuff that we see, the challenges with that, the PTSD, the physical injuries, obviously what you're seeing is the mental health aspect of course too with getting people connected to pickleball. Is that right?

Yeah, absolutely. So a little backstory on that. I went through what I call the hyper fixation graveyard. I have gone through more hobbies than anybody in my life. In fact, everybody, my best friend Travis, he was in the army with me. He jokes, he's like, you've done scuba dive and you've done shooting sports. You've done, you know, I've, I've, did hockey for a little while, went to one, one match, but I had all the gear. buy all the best gear and I just get into this stuff. And the problem with every hobby I've done is it's been weather dependent. It's been.

You know, you can only do on the weekends. got shooting matches on the weekend. Well, if I miss a weekend, then my whole life I'm behind, you know, it's like, you miss a day of pickleball, you forget how to play. So it's just that mentality and pickleball. mean, there would be days. mean, you know, my PTSD was never like some, I've never, unfortunately had dark thoughts. mean, unfortunately I've never had dark thoughts or anything like that, but depression is a real thing. I wouldn't leave the house for days sometimes. I went to shower for days and pickleball. mean, like.

Speaker 2 (23:12.174)
As soon as we get off here, I'm playing pickleball today. I mean, I, every day I'm playing two to four hours. have to, and it just, when I'm playing pickleball, I forget about everything. You know, I forget about life.

Yeah, absolutely and it's the good brain chemicals, the good feeling chemicals, the endorphins, the serotonin, the oxytocin, all of it's there with pickleball. And again, like I keep saying to people, the community is something you have to experience. The only other thing I can equate it to that I've been involved with is the motorcycle community where you've got two wheels, we embrace you. Your bike won't break down on the side of the road before someone stops within a couple minutes to check on you and make sure that you're okay and get you what you need. And same in the pickleball community, we pick each other up and put our arms around each

each other. have you, obviously by now you've got the good stories too though, right? The stories of redemption, the stories of thankfulness and all that.

Absolutely. mean, people have told me I'm one of the most well adjusted combat veterans they've met. And yeah, I bottle up a lot of that, but I get to experience, like I have so much fun at Pickleball. I mean, I have friends there, you know, and I would have never met these people out in public. I've definitely come a long way and I've seen other veterans just come along. I've seen other firefighters, I just, you know, they're going through a lot and they get out on the court and it's just, they have something to look forward to. we, most people they get off work, they come home.

They have a wife, they're with their wife, they cook dinner, they sit down, watch TV, they go to bed. And they rinse and repeat that. And then on the weekends, maybe they go fishing.

Speaker 1 (24:38.168)
Yeah, and maybe put the alcohol in middle there too.

And alcohol is definitely a thing. people don't realize, I mean, there's 22 a day for a reason. And Guardian Pickleball is about making that zero a day. You know, I know that's a big goal, but it's just one avenue and anybody can get involved in Pickleball. You know, it doesn't matter. mean, I was 320 pounds. I've lost a hundred pounds, not from Pickleball. I've lost 50 pounds from Pickleball, but it's just, you know, it's life-changing. Like you want to get better and you don't realize how many calories you burn out on that court.

You know, and you get to, you get to talk the shit. like shit talking. So it's fun. get the camaraderie there. Yes. So it is definitely, it's hard. If you're not, if you haven't played pickleball, then you have to experience it.

Yeah, and let me just chime in on that. If you are playing pickleball and you haven't played with a veteran or first responder yet, go seek one of those people out. They will instantly help you with your trash talking. If your trash talking game is not there yet, we will help you.

And it may get pretty dark. So you may be like, cause you know, we have a dark humor.

Speaker 1 (25:39.116)
And I'm your partner, why are you attacking me? Because you're closer.

You're the weaker opponent.

Yeah, we always attack the weakest. And you know, I want to get back to what you said too about qualifying people because as you grow, and people need to know this, as you grow, those companies that are funding this and paying into this and paying it forward the way they are, they're going to want to track some of those charitable node nations too. And so again, it's not about not believing the people that are trying to get involved with this, but it is about helping those companies continue to do and even grow what they're already doing so we can add and inject more

more veterans, more first responders into this program, right?

Absolutely, yes. And we also do families as well. So like if you're, if you have a wife and two kids, we send them paddles too. Cause it definitely, the family dynamic of it is important. A family that plays together, it's just, it's hard. If you're just getting into pickleball and you don't know anybody that's doing it, it's hard. It's very intimidating to go to a court and find a game. But now, I mean, I can go, if I'm down in Charlotte, North Carolina, I'll go to a court and I don't know anybody there, but they welcome me. And it's just getting past that. So I do provide the families as well.

Speaker 2 (26:47.448)
Definitely apply. And if you want to be a coach, definitely apply.

Yeah, and that's great because the sometimes it's easy for me if I'm by myself just saying, I'm not going to go out today. But if my kid comes with the paddles and he's like, hey, dad, you want to go play again or you want to go dink around again, then it's harder for me than to say no, because I'm all about service. I'm service to others before I'm service to myself sometimes. And a lot of our veterans and first responders are exactly that same way. So that's fantastic to get the whole family involved like that, make sure everybody has a paddle in their hand.

Yeah. So if somebody wants, somebody's listening and they want to help, which I know they do, our audience is great about this. And this is a special shout out to you people listening right now. After this, pull your car over, do it safely and go engage. But how, how can they get involved? How can they help?

So there's several ways to get involved. If you go to guardianpickleball.org, if you're a veteran first responder, please sign up. Even if you don't think you deserve it, you do. Please sign up. This is for you. have a very, fortunately have over a hundred paddles waiting in my storage to just go out to these applicants. If you're not a veteran or first responder and you want to get involved, we need coaches. And when I say coaches, I'm not talking about professional coaches. If you know how to play pickleball, you're a coach.

Sign up on there. put you in my little database. You get a cool little sticker that says official coach. That's my way of giving back to you. And we will get you linked up as soon as an applicant within your area will link you up. You can teach them how to play and just have a good time. And then the third way is if you're a paddle company, we can always use more paddles. And I hate asking for money. We can always use monetary donations as well because it's right now I'm paying out of my pocket to ship these things out. I'm okay with that, you know, but as we just raised about $4,500 to $5,000 for a wheelchair for a

Speaker 2 (28:24.233)
because the VA was dragging their feet. monetary is there too, but paddles and people are just as important.

Great, great. Is there a veteran or first responder waiting right now for a coach? Is there an area of the country that needs a coach like right now that we can put the special call out and alert the bat signal to? Yeah.

Absolutely. So right now we do have a veteran in Los Angeles that I really need to find a coach for. Okay. So if we have anybody in the LA area, he knows how to play. I sent him a really good paddle and he's just looking to play. So LA is a big one. I know it's hard to get people. It's a busy area out there, but yeah, if you're in the LA area right now, could definitely use you. West coast definitely. I have a lot of East coast in the Maryland, Pennsylvania area where I'm at. So Midwest, West coast, you know what, anywhere.

I could use your help anyway. Even if you're five minutes down the road from me, sign up as a coach. Cause I mean, I'm, I can't do it all.

Yeah, and if and remember what what he said here, you don't have to be a professional coach. You have to be somebody that's connected to the game, maybe connected to a court, and you can just come alongside this veteran first responder as a partner, introduce them to the community even would would just be great, right? Awesome. Aaron, what's all the socials?

Speaker 2 (29:30.094)
Absolutely, 110%.

So you can follow me on TikTok at guardian.pb or Instagram at guardian.pb. I do a lot of charity updates. So when there are more so on my Instagram, but I also do fun videos. I'll do paddle reviews and actually pickleball Nikki, you had her on. She's a big inspiration to me. I love watching her videos and I try to keep up with her. I'm like, oh my God, she did this, I have to do this. And it's my mental health as well.

She's gonna love to hear that.

she is such an inspiration. And I talked to her almost, I mean, at least once a week I'm messaging her, but also YouTube, I just started Guardian Pickleball and it's just fun. Like right now I have my King of the Paddle series where I'm trying to dethrone my paddle and it's, it's more for me, I guess. I don't know. People enjoy and they engage, but it also just shows my love for this. And I mean, I learned how to play on a cruise ship. thought it was the, yeah, I thought it was the dumbest sport. My, my, cousin's very good.

aw.

Speaker 2 (30:24.332)
He's close to a four, my aunt's pretty good. And I used to make fun of them so much. My aunt was on the cruise with me and my son was, and they're like, let's play pickleball. was like, all right. I didn't even want to get off the ship. I was playing the entire time. had two tournaments on the ship. I'm like, gearing up and never played this game before in my life. I'm like, son, we got to win this one. got to this one. Of course we've been at it. And the court was actually a foot shorter on each side. So everybody else was having a hard time. Me and him, we're getting these great shots because we never played before.

And I got home immediately signed up at my local dildenkers and ordered a paddle. And the rest has been history. And that was back in July.

Yeah, yeah same similar path here and not this cruise ship thing matter of fact We did a cruise for our 20th anniversary and there was pickleball. We didn't even know about it We don't weren't even connected to it yet So I look back at that and kick myself for that but you know the the mesh bag with the two wooden paddles from Walmart and then here we are nowadays running the business and I think there's a lot of stories out there like that if you haven't had that story yet go do it now don't crap on pickleball until you go play pickleball because then you'll come back here and you'll wonder why you didn't get into this sooner, yeah

And that's the, that's the other big thing. mean, a lot of the guys at the firehouse, they joke on me, you know, I just posted a video recently, me dancing at our banquet and they're like, this is guy. What is this guy? Is this what this guy does when he's not playing pickleball? It's just what they do. But I've brought a couple of them out and they're like, oh my God. And now they're going with me all the time now. And if I could just get the older heads, they're like, oh, this is, you know, this is dumb or, know, I'm like, well, play it, man. You don't want you to play it. You're going to be hooked.

That's right. I believe that. People who crap on it are just people who haven't played it yet. That's what it is.

Speaker 2 (31:53.696)
And they think of old people. It's, it's a, but I'm telling you, you go against, I went against an 80 year old woman and she's like, I don't run that much. And the first hit she runs up there and just slams it over the net. Looks at me and goes, I can run when I want. was like, that's the cool thing about this sport is you can literally be with an 80 year old and a 20 year old and they're having fun.

Yeah. All right. For all of our listeners out there, go find Guardian Pickleball. Do it now. Do it today. Then the most important thing, like and share everything on their page and get involved. Monetary donations accepted, coaches needed, players needed. You know somebody that is one of those two. So go share. Thanks for being on the Big Dink Energy Podcast, Aaron.

Thank you so much, looking forward to it.

It's time

Speaker 1 (32:38.702)
Yep, it is. Pick six is where we take one question each bring two answers and immediately regret agreeing to this segment just like the rest of the show So today I thought how about this things you can say to your dog, but not to your kids

Now I had a hard time with this because a lot of the stuff we say to our dogs we also say to our children.

Yeah, well, we're homeschoolers, so.

We've said this quite a few times, but get your nose out of my crotch.

I've said that to children. Mine is similar to not sniff strangers.

Speaker 1 (33:09.102)
you

Speaker 1 (33:12.558)
Stop licking yourself in front of company. It could also be stop licking company.

That's true. If you poop on the carpet again, we're going to have problems. Yeah.

I can totally see that one. Quit eating the trash.

that's a good one. That's a good one. Stop humping, keep your red rocket to yourself.

Oh, your lipstick. Oh my god, a little chihuahua.

Speaker 1 (33:33.026)
Hahaha!

Speaker 1 (33:38.04)
Tell us what you got, get up in the comments. What do you think? Things you can say to your dog, but not to your kids.

Speaker 3 (33:47.022)
News you can use.

Speaker 1 (33:52.334)
This just in, Pickleball USA just dropped new rules for 2026 and they're not messing around anymore. As of Jan 1, January 1st for you all out there, the rule book got some updates that are causing stir on the courts. Rally scoring just got real. You can now win the game on any point, whether you're serving or receiving, whether you're a pitcher or a catcher. No more of that awkward freeze when you're ahead and can't close it out. And then here's the big one, Clearly Rule is what it's called.

Your volley serve now has to clearly be below your waist. Your paddle has to clearly be below your wrist. And you have to clearly use an upward motion. If it's close, it's a fault. No more gray area. No more borderline serves.

Yeah, I'm interested to see how these new rules are going to affect things.

one more, one more also. Line calls have to be immediate. No more waiting to see if your partner can return the ball before calling it out. Call it right away or it's considered in.

good one. That's a real good one.

Speaker 1 (34:50.816)
And now you know the rest of the story.

Heh!

Speaker 1 (35:01.72)
Find us at bdepodcast.com or at bdepodcast on the socials. Drop us a message. We might just feature you in the next episode. If you had a good time, well, same z's. If not, maybe try again. We grow on people. So you know the deal. Follow the show, tell a friend, and leave us a review. Or just pretend this never happened. Until next time, keep the dink soft and the energy big.