Pickleball Gender War + Typti Smackdowns | Wadan Khan w/ Pickle N' Chill
Big DINK Energy | Over 40 Pickleball & LifeFebruary 03, 2026x
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00:39:2127.07 MB

Pickleball Gender War + Typti Smackdowns | Wadan Khan w/ Pickle N' Chill

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 Weโ€™re coming in hot with:
 ๐Ÿ”น A deep dive into mixed doubles and why your Corvette shouldn't try to tow a trailer
 ๐Ÿ”น Paddle taps, pocketed wedding rings, and ego-fueled dinks
 ๐Ÿ”น The gender dynamics that only pickleball seems bold enough to expose
 ๐Ÿ”น A foam-ball fever dream called Typtiโ€”and yes, weโ€™re obsessed

Plus, Wadon Khan from Pickle N' Chill joins us to talk turning โ€œNetflix and chillโ€ into pickleball and purposeโ€”building community, crushing loneliness, and how 85 miles wasnโ€™t enough.


 ๐ŸŽง Listen now before someone hits you with a paddle... or a sandal. 

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speaker-0 (00:00.428)
When a man and a woman play together, think more stuff is exposed. I'm sure it is. have noticed something when I play with men.

I'm just...

speaker-1 (00:08.654)
sounded weird. The way you put your wedding ring in your pocket.

Yes, we're with women. It's just like, hey, what's your name? Okay, let's play, you know, so.

Now we sink our cycles. Stop. This is Big Dink Energy, the pickleball podcast that's half insight, half nonsense, and all entertainment. If you love pickleball, don't take yourself too seriously and think a little trash talk makes the game better. Welcome home. This is the place where life and pickleball intersect. We celebrate the chaos, call out the nonsense, and put the fun back in dysfunction. You're either in or you're out. And if you're still listening, you're in.

So let's go. Big Dink Energy starts now.

Okay, we do not have time for this tonight.

speaker-1 (00:56.168)
sorry. Sorry. The official podcast of Pickleball coming to your ear holes right now. Now listen, we have a sponsor tonight. There's a million apps for tracking your score, zero for tracking the memories. Dink and Dash is changing that. Badges, journals, photos, Picklepals, and more. Your whole Pickleball story in one place and in your hand. It's coming soon. Follow at Dink underscore and underscore dash now.

Maybe we should apologize a little bit for our episode today about us being.

This is the sickness episode. There are two people in this room that don't look like me that are sick.

Well, is, Paddle Prince isn't even here tonight.

No, she has at home quarantine.

speaker-0 (01:41.364)
And I feel like Demi Moore, but without the G.I. Jane body and salary. But my voice for sure is a mess.

Well, you've been directly smoking cigars all day to try to loosen up your vocal cords. Yeah, so don't get the radio too close to your ear or your face because this one is contagious in more ways than one.

Well, apologize.

speaker-0 (02:08.301)
So I wanted to talk about, like, this whole week, mixed doubles has been just in the spotlight. And I kind of wanted to talk about how pickleball is one of the few co-ed sports in professional sports. Like, there's not very many of them. Well, besides racket sport... No, not for professional. There's really only curling. I mean, curling...

I do have it in tennis. No, softball too.

speaker-1 (02:34.316)
Off-ball professional.

Equestrian and sailing. Those are like the other co-ed professional sports. And it's something I think that, know, as many women competing together.

Berlin's my favorite.

speaker-2 (02:44.302)
Yeah, that's true.

It's very unique. is. When you opened with mixed doubles, I thought we were talking about marriage, but no. So, I mean, there are some other sports, but very few. it's one of the things I love about pickleball is mixed doubles, especially like when we play in tournaments or even just open play.

Yeah, and it's just been a huge thing in the professional space because it's very rare. But I think mixed doubles really removes hiding spots.

I see what you're saying.

So what do mean by hiding spot?

speaker-0 (03:16.278)
I just think that every point really shows a partnership and that you can't just hide behind, know, your, I don't want to say like your gender, but I mean, I think there's role, like role clarity. And I think men and women are different and different strengths show up at different times. So like if I was to ask you, you know, is a Corvette better than a semi, what would you say?

they both have different strengths. I want to tow something, I'm less likely to use the Corvette unless I want to tow it fast.

Exactly. It just depends on the job. speed, agility, precision versus power, mass and durability.

Yeah, when I'm out there mixed doubles, I do see a lot of dump trucks. Is that what you're talking about?

I'm just saying you wouldn't ask a Corvette to do a semi job and vice versa and that it doesn't make one superior It just makes them different and I think that that's not really being spoken about I think that in mixed doubles the we need to really talk about not comparing them but having them collaborate and I think that's the big the big issue that's not being talked about everybody's comparing the men to the women and It shouldn't be about that. That's what I think

speaker-1 (04:28.556)
Yeah, I like it because there is different dynamics, there's different finesse, there's different speeds, there's different power, and it does, I think it makes the game go a lot better.

Love to watch mixed doubles.

Yeah, I do too.

Yeah, when I'm playing with another dude, I'm like, hmm, okay, do I have to get this ball or is he gonna get the ball? You know what I mean?

I mean, it is different. Again, we're different. Men and women are different. It's just the same court, but I just really believe there's different roles. And that's probably not what most people want to hear, but I think the game gets rewarded with contrast and not sameness. So I think that that's why pickleball stands out so much because it is. We're leading the way in co-ed professional style sport.

speaker-1 (05:12.684)
Yeah, so you played yesterday.

It was built that way. It was literally built with co-ed, where most things had like kind of added it on or,

So you played yesterday, you did all women. How did that feel compared to like an open play where you like you and I play?

It was all women.

speaker-0 (05:29.058)
Well, I mean, for me, I don't really care. I just like to play. And I'm not really good enough to have an opinion, if that makes sense, as far as professional sporting goes. I'm not really trying to give advice or feedback. I'm just kind of describing the setup of mixed doubles and how it kind of exists. I do like playing with women because I feel like, you know, there's less ego.

Yeah, for sure. And again, this is the difference in men and women. I'm not saying women don't have egos, but I think men lead with theirs where later on women allow theirs to show up.

Do you feel when you show up and it's mixed doubles and you're playing with somebody you haven't played with before, do you feel like when it's a dude, like you've got to step up, like try to get up to his levels?

That's a good question. I have noticed something when I play with men. That sounded...

The way you put your wedding ring in your pocket.

speaker-0 (06:24.238)
Yes, wedding ring away. No, I don't like to say when I play with men, that, I mean, when I play with men, I notice that like, if I haven't played with them before, the first thing I do is like make an excuse for my level of play. I've just noticed that I'm like, I'm just letting you know, I'm not that great. I'm like a two five. Where with women, it's just like, hey, what's your name? Okay, let's play. You know, so I don't know if-

but no.

speaker-1 (06:53.304)
Now we sync our cycles.

I don't know if that's, you know, just, I don't know why. mean, I guess in retrospect, I realized I did that because you asked the question. I guess I just didn't realize it before. But, and I also feel like they do bull hog. But I just think that's just.

Is that the protective nature of men?

That's what I'm saying. Just say, sweetheart. Yeah, I've got you, I got that. You know, I don't know. I'm not here or there. I'm not taking it.

It's a protective nature. feel like it's more of a, I'm gonna take over.

speaker-1 (07:25.346)
Okay, well.

So yeah, so I'm not taking a stance on like all men are taking over. In general, I just think we are different and there's different roles and those roles are really exposed when a man and a woman are playing together. When two men play together, it looks normal. When two women play together, it looks normal. When a man and a woman play together.

and a woman had a little baby.

I was on a freaking track. When a man and a woman play together, I think more stuff is exposed. I don't know how this is even sounding.

So

speaker-1 (08:02.7)
This is the Dr. Ruth podcast. What do you think, paddle princess?

don't really have an opinion on it. I've experienced both with both genders. I've experienced women who are snobby and witchy and just like, like, why are you here? But I've also experienced women who are like, hey, like, this is awesome. You're great. Like, don't worry about your level. Just come play with us. I'll teach you. I'll show you. I'll guide you. But I've also experienced that with men too. Like when we went to the open play and the guy was like,

in front of me and he just took every single ball like never gave me a chance to even try to hit the ball because he knew that he knew he was better than me but he didn't want to even give me the opportunity to get better because of his ego.

So are we just generalizing like all men are like this and I disagree with that because I've played with some great guys too I'm just saying in general if a man if two men are playing and one Takes over half the space and takes all the balls. I don't think anyone's saying anything. Does that make sense? Yeah, but because it's a man and a woman playing against each other then there's just more argument because it's it's something that's different and it's something we're not used to seeing in sports

But I think I think though that pickleball does it really well for the most part, you know I haven't been out there with anybody where I was like, well, I didn't want to play with you. Sorry

speaker-0 (09:23.626)
I think so too.

speaker-0 (09:30.222)
Well, I'm just saying, I don't know enough about professional pickleball and in all honesty, I think I've only seen clips. I've never even watched professional pickleball. well, I mean, when we worked the MLP game, I watched professional and I just saw greatness in general. Man, woman, I don't care. They were just phenomenal players. That's just how I feel.

There you go.

I think that it's good that both genders can come together and play a sport together, whereas there's not females in the NFL. know what I mean? I think it's great.

Right.

think that game would be longer. Yeah. Did you see what he was wearing? Oh my God. Get up in our DMs, tell us what you think.

speaker-0 (10:07.618)
they'd be talking.

speaker-1 (10:20.704)
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podcast.com, leave us a text to review feedback or send us some love. No nudes, please.

speaker-3 (10:58.744)
Just

Just the tip, quick pickleball wisdom in and out before you know it. This is more of an etiquette tip. On windy days or when there's bad lighting, you should offer to change sides after one team hits six points. If it's not either of those two things, don't do it because it's just doing too much.

Love it, stop doing too much.

Just the two

speaker-1 (11:25.96)
It's time for Pickle Pal!

speaker-1 (11:31.692)
Well, this is one I'm interested in for sure. Today's guest says his life purpose is peacemaking. He spent years bridging religious and political divides through the Muslim Public Affairs Council, MPAC, and One America movement. He's run ultra-marathons, we'll get into that, and how somehow 85 miles is a failure. He's a yoga instructor, Liverpool FC super fan, don't hate him on that. He lives by Gandhi's words, the world has enough for everyone's needs, but not for everyone's greed, and I love that.

Somewhere along the way he looked at the Arizona desert. I've been out there and thought, what if we could build community through pickleball, golf, hiking, paddleboarding, camping, cold plunges, know, basically everything. And that's how the Enchil House was born. So from Phoenix, Arizona, I'm proud to have on here Wadon Khan. Thank you so much for being on the Big Dig Energy podcast, my brother.

Thank you so much for having me brother. Appreciate you.

Yeah, this is going to be great. obviously, I got to go first question, right? We talked about this a little bit earlier on before I hit record. You've spent years bringing Muslims and Christians together across political divides. So it's kind of is starting a pickleball community in the in-house. that harder or easier than that?

That's more aligned with my values. I think it's the same mission, different medium. But what I realized is I was doing a lot of going to the churches, pastors, and I was just preaching to the choir basically. There was no social impact we were making. then once I started seeing the connection that was made on the courts, just the beauty of pickleball and how it doesn't matter if you're a black, white, gay, transgender, whatever you are, it doesn't matter. If you're on a pickleball court, you all won.

speaker-3 (13:04.552)
And you're playing and that kind of to me was like, whoa, like what?

Yeah, and today's world, I mean, that's so important. I think there's so many forces that would love us to be all divided and all in our own little silos. So yeah, I absolutely, I love seeing the pickleball as the great uniter. But you know, and in Chill House, right, it's not just pickleball, it's pickle and chill, golf and chill, hike and chill, paddle and chill, camp and chill, volley and chill, all the chills, right? So walk us through the vision on that and what it means to you.

Absolutely. So, Piccadilly and Chill was basically born, you know, there was a phenomenon called Netflix and Chill. my buddy and me were talking about and we kind of came up with the name, my buddy Brock and I, and I just, in that moment, I was like, yeah, that's actually turning something negative into something positive.

I have some great brothers there that was doing Scottsdale Hiking Club, that was also doing Nanny Rung Club. And I had this vision and I joined them and it super reciprocating. we kind of, I was big in the rung clubs, invited everybody in. And then once the Pickle and Chill started blowing up and I started seeing the connection, I felt a sense of responsibility to not be complacent. And I was like, okay, this is working. Where do we take it? Then I tried Volu and Chill. Everybody showed up.

different kind of connection, different audience. I started golfing chill. Everybody showed up. Then my buddy Barrett was already doing, know, Julian is like, you should see this guy. This guy's on the trail. There's hundreds of people walking behind him. It's almost like Jesus on the trail or something. Like in the fiction, like, you know, the movies are. But then there's our brother, Julian. He takes the people, connects them to the river, River tubing, paddle boarding. He has the paddle board club.

speaker-3 (14:49.358)
So then you're like, hey, you know, I have this Enchill brand and I just want to do everything Enchill. And so basically still partnering with them and their unique abilities and then kind of finding community and amazing people within the community. Like I've had suggestions, hey, I want to do cooking and chill. I want to do dancing and chill. I want to do board games and chill. So now it's like become a...

Yes, I put limited, eight of those nine brands are mine. Like I'm trying to actively run and finding leaders for it. then on the background of hiking and camping and paddling, we just did snow and chill. Marlee is such a great woman. I gave her the model and she ran with those 15 people and went from Phoenix to go snowboarding. yeah, sky's the limit. I just, I just believed turning that Netflix and chill concept to where it was more of a concept of people dating and then.

kind of hey, we're on Netflix and chill, but then that kind of like more creepy thing. Taking that like, okay, like how do we turn that and turn that into something positive and same energy, same energy, but in a way more healthier in a social way.

Yeah, less couches and sweaty hands involved in all your in-chill stuff for sure.

it's good walk out of here

speaker-1 (15:57.462)
So you moved to Arizona listed as one of your target audiences for sure. I mean, I mean, I've been to Arizona is loneliness, the real epidemic you're trying to solve for here.

Yes. So one of the biggest problem, I want to also turn my pain into purpose. So one of the biggest thing, I as an immigrant 10 years ago came here and I just could not connect. I just, was going to these gyms, I was doing the job and I was going to de facto bars. Like my neighbors, I just picked up the worst people in my life and ended up, which I don't complain about in that sense. I think every lesson was to prepare me to save the future generation. yeah, so.

It just was, how can I do that? And once I started doing that, have my friend Herschel messaged me one of these days like, bro, I see you on the courts. I see you shaking hands in such a dark time when people, where there's a loneliness and fitness epidemic, you're doing this work. And that message really, like, you never know what one message can do for someone. And that message really kind of became my anchor. And that was like, okay, I'm going to keep showing up at the courts.

There was times I'll just take a speaker on my shoulder and didn't know, you know, that I was going to, anybody was going to show up. And there was time where I would be like, Holy shit, like what was the city going to say? Like I got 15 people coming. stuff like that, which never, it's never that many, but it's all that stuff.

Yeah, I mean, the not knowing sometimes, right? That's the real work for creators and entrepreneurs that people don't see. If you've never been that, if you've only been a worker bee, you don't know the fear that comes with the not knowing and putting yourself out there. Being on camera and showing up is sometimes the scariest thing or hurdle to jump over. And so that leads me into my next question, which I think is so great with MPACs, the Mustard Sea Project, bringing Muslims and Christians together, having meals, building relationships,

speaker-1 (17:48.896)
You've consulted with One America Movement, fighting the toxic polarization out there, and then obviously now the Pickleball Meetups is, this seems kind of like the same work, but almost in a different wrapper.

Absolutely, I think it's all tied together, right? I strongly believe anywhere, anything you're doing in life is preparing for what you've asked for God, what you truly, in your heart of hearts have asked for God, and where your heart is and how you manage your thoughts and what you envision yourself to be, right? So everything, the universe is working for you, not against you. And I strongly believe it. So opportunities, like I had corporate job, I never had fulfillment.

I found my purpose. I went to an impact meetup at a church and I saw a Christian and Muslim, was like, oh, this is the work I want to do. I met Salam and I said, hey, this is my calling. And he kind of made me the ambassador for Phoenix. And from there, I just kind of put together events. I was like, whoa, I had a full-time job. And I was like, oh, putting together events is easy. It came very natural to me. Then one America came in and they needed somebody for the election year. That's such an amazing mission. Andrew is an amazing CEO and what a team he has put together.

But they give you tools to basically not polarize and how to be sitting in the same room with people that don't agree with you and still be able to have a conversation, communication. That to me is like such a good exercise. that moment, it didn't feel like, oh, where it's going. I just remember Andrew asking, what does Wadon want? And I didn't have an answer. And I was just floating through the One America Conference and everybody loved me and I loved everybody. And I know like I was, I'm the peacemaker and.

I knew in my heart of heart, like it didn't matter like where the Muslim table was, where the Christian table was, where the Jew table was. Like I was the one talking to everyone. And then yeah, pickleball. Pickleball just literally, I played two times before Pickle & Chill. Wow. Yeah, before I literally, had played once in Colorado Springs where the idea came in 2008. It was 2020. Then I came in 2024. I actually was looking for pickleball chords with my friend Hannah and I went to Horizon. She showed me the rules and then I saw Barrett playing.

speaker-3 (19:48.408)
That's when I started playing and I was like, Hey, I have this idea and whatnot. just saw the support. that's what a lot of people don't understand is I saw the support, not from a consumption standpoint, from an impact standpoint.

That's fantastic. I think there's so much there because, you know, I've said it so many times on our podcast that pickleball is the great uniter, but it's the chemicals, right? It's the chemicals that's going on in your body that tell you, hey, I'm having a good time. It's the dopamine, it's the cortisol, it's all that that are going on and saying, man, this is fantastic. And it makes you connect to people even at a different level when you're sharing all those same happiness and joy and...

Friendliness chemicals, so I love that. And then speaking of chemicals then, you do ultramarathons. So somehow running only 85 miles is a failure, obviously, because you're trying to do 100, but I can't run to my mailbox, you know what I'm saying? So let's talk about mile 84 and 85.

Um, I think before I do that, just put this out there, right? And I say this all and success is not how you do compared to other people. Success is how you do compared to your own ability. And that's really it, right? Like I can, you can bet you can get the same amount of benefit running to your mailbox that I can't get out of 100 miles. It's just where you add to your life and what thought that you came in, what that's you're reprogramming and how much you're pushing yourself, right? Running, I was born to be that, mile 85, 86.

You know, I came out of that. first, to give you context, I, for lack of a word, literally raw dog that matter. If you look at my Strava stats, I was building so much community that New Year's Eve, everybody was partying and I was so much dedicated to my mission that I went to observe a pickleball tournament just to kind of observe it. And all the clubs that I've created, all the people that I met because, you know, the place that we've created, we're all partying. I went there for five minutes left.

speaker-3 (21:43.95)
started checking out the pickleball scene. And then at 12 a.m. I was sitting down there and I signed up for the 100 month And believe it or not, I did not have the $500 sign up for the race. So I signed up for the charity bit. And I was like, okay, so was like, this is too big. Like this was extra. was like, okay, I don't want to spend $500 on this race. How do I still run this race, right? And the easier I was, okay, $0 charity bit. And I was like, okay, there's two marathons here.

I want to get out of my comfort zone and ask for money. I've never done that. Raise money for a cause to do. It's like, okay, it's a hundred mile. And then I didn't get to it till August is when I actually got to do is, okay, I need to train. only have like 60 days left to raise. And that's when I started raising money. So the most, and then the beauty of it is most of the money that I raised, again, it's funny. I raised 85 % of the money goal and I ran 85 % of the race. Awesome. It's just funny.

And that's all.

But I learned some amazing things. Mile 85 and 86, I can point fingers and I can do a lot of things. I've sort of finished. But there's several things that I learned out there. Number one, who you surround yourself with is really important. And in that moment, I needed somebody to get me to go. I didn't need somebody to... So you get pacers on miles 60 to 80 and 80 to 90 because you're hallucinating and you're in your dark spot and you need somebody to push you through.

So taking first responsibility, I thought the race cutoff time was 32 hours, but no, was 30 hours. So at mile, like a third lap in mile 60, I'm like, shit. Now I have to readjust the whole plan. I was wasting time on the station and stuff. I was absolutely, I say raw dog, I mean it. I didn't have sleep the night before. I, my training was very under par. My nutrition was very under par. And I was just out there trying to show people like, if I can raw dog this, what can you do with yourself? You do healthy bodies.

speaker-1 (23:39.893)
like the David Goggins thing, man.

Yeah. So it was, it was bad. then, and then mile 85, I just had a lot of realizations. I understood the power of, you know, the environment, like having different friends for different reasons. And, know, some people push the best out of you. Some people would just be there and, know, there's nothing, nothing wrong with that. They're a good company, but they're not the ones that motivate or can push you. Right. So it's just.

You just need different people in different phases of your life. That's one thing I learned. Number two, I learned is if I would have come prepared that I would have been independent on someone else. Right. So that's where the lesson was like, yeah, Roddy is great, but you know, training is better. So that's why I'm doing another challenge right now. It's one mile a day for a hundred days and a hundred pushups for a hundred days challenge because I want to set a small goal, but I want to train on consistency because that's something I've never done. And I did one last thing that why did I stop?

That's awesome.

One of the biggest reason why I stopped that race is as I was in my dark spot, as I was not having a great time, you know, having to manage my pacer instead of them managing me, it was a moment where I was like, why am I doing this? And every time the why that came to me was what would people say? I want to show them something. So was really to show people, for people, it wasn't as much about, you know, internally I had the realization it was like,

speaker-3 (24:59.422)
It's not as much about me or God. It's really about people. And then I was like, do I care what people think? Sure. Yeah. I was like, no, I was like, I don't care what people No. And that moment I was like, okay, I'm going to stop. I mean, knowing me, I don't give up. And I would have kept going if I didn't want to prove myself a point that I don't care what people think. I can stop this right now and still justify or do whatever. So that was a different kind of exercise. I learned so much more from not completing it.

Yeah, mean, definitely I can hear that in the story. And you brought in a couple of different things there. So, you know, like you said, the different people for different seasons, that's, know, that's why we prune things, right? We prune to get the bad out so we can have good growth. So sometimes those people in our lives, they were good for a season, but we got to prune them sometimes so we can get other people in our lives that need to be in our lives. And obviously with all the illustration of what came out of that 85 miles, that's...

We're kind of tongue-in-cheek with that's a failure. That's not a failure at all. mean, there's so many lessons and good things that came out of that. Man, that's fantastic and the things that you prove to yourself. I love it. I love it. I hope people challenge themselves in things like that.

I just think it's a long run for coca-dona. I just did a long run for something bigger than I wanted to do. I don't think any Pakistanis ever done coca-dona, so I don't know what's gonna happen.

Ha ha

speaker-1 (26:19.15)
So obviously, you self-described as a Liverpool FC fan. And you know, the kind of the anthem for that community is never walk alone. So is that why you're kind of building what you're building?

Liverpool saved my life. I followed Liverpool in college. Most of the English that I know came from reading articles about Liverpool because I just was ADHD in that sense. I never could sit down and read things. I was like, okay, what do I enjoy and how can I read something? And then I went, had the worst mental crisis in 2018, worst manic episodes and stuff like that and lost everything. And in that dull moment, in that dark moment, Liverpool was watching a game was really kind of what used to be the...

like what kind of brought me to the moment and I was actually competitive and looking and everything. so Liverpool saved my life. it's the fact that you'll never walk alone and it's insane. Love it. And I also feel when Liverpool is doing great, I'm doing great because you know, we were at winning season last year, Pickle and Chill. had all, everything was clicking and Liverpool did lose a game.

Yeah, I mean they were on top. Do you have any like weird must-haves like don't wash this jersey the whole season or any of those superstitions?

I don't have that many jerseys anymore. I moved a lot from Pakistan. I've left a lot of the stuff. It's my heart. It's in my heart and it's in my prayers. I just believe in the... I believe in Liverpool. One of my friends connected me and when I followed Liverpool, Liverpool was the underdog and I always liked the underdog. But there's a slogan with Liverpool. says, form is temporary, class is permanent.

speaker-1 (27:49.484)
Yeah, yep, that's right. That's right.

So like yeah, they're classy.

They are. they're not like Real Madrid for sure. you're, mean, Pickle and Chill's got 8,000 followers on Insta, right? So obviously you're resonating. What do you think is like something the pickleball community could steal from that or learn from that?

I strongly believe most people in the pickleball game are in it to make money. think if you serve community and tap into the power of the sport, that you would set yourself for success. Cause I just can't tell you like in my heart of hearts, I believe I'm going to be the biggest thing in pickleball within five years. Strongly believe because nobody's doing what I'm doing, why I'm doing it. Like, and there's no way anybody can see the way I see.

I've had some very high level farfetchers. They're amazing. They're incredible. They care about the sports. They want to grow. They care about the city and the state and everything. But nobody goes to a court not getting paid just to go make sure that there's somebody saying hello to other people on the court. And there's somebody that's making sure that the paddle and that my community knows that. Even if I'm not there, the people help each other out. So it's insane.

speaker-3 (29:02.978)
I think that's the biggest thing. If somebody in big boss space wants to go like, hey, don't do it for the money, do it for the people.

Yeah, that's one of the biggest things, It's just people are nervous showing up first time. I've got my wooden paddle from Walmart. What am I going to experience? And a lot of times you'll bring someone with you. But man, if I step out there to an open play and someone just extends their hand right away and sees that I'm a new person and welcomes me into their community, that's so huge because I've I'm already nervous. I'm already looking for reasons maybe to leave and not be there. So that I love that that part of it. That's that's so fantastic that you're being that great ambassador like that.

I appreciate it. One thing I would say is I'm sure Sal, we launched Mirage, Pickle and Chill, and Spaniel. So there's a massive meet in Arizona where Spanish community that don't speak English, they see us playing at the resorts, they see our content, and they feel intimidated. So I was so blessed to have a partner named Adrian and he's Spanish and he started doing it. He started coming to the meetups and then I saw his interest and he kind of blew up some on TikTok and I was like, hey...

Let's create potentials around all. And we just launched it this Saturday and it's going to be, we're going to tap into the Hispanic market and we're going to take pickleball everywhere. we're going to, I don't care if we're going to learn Spanish. Yeah. Thank you. So that's, that's what we're going

I mean, that's fantastic. Obviously you're tapping into the soccer or what you would call football. Obviously that's not what we call football. I'm just messing with you. So yeah, I love that. think crossing the, so to speak, crossing the borders like that and making sure that everybody feels inclusive. I mean, obviously that's what you do with the impact and all that. So it just translates so well, pun intended. So where is in chill five years from now? What's on the horizon? Where are you sitting? How's it look?

speaker-3 (30:42.338)
Five years down the road, I'm just making pictures to investors and donors on why they should be investing in my nonprofit, which will be pumping money into social wellness scene. I want to empower, like I still do, right? The impact of I personally made through Sweat Pals and community building and people already do things that I do and I do for free. The other people are charging $5,000 charging my course. I'm going to build a course, the same course, and I'm sure that for free. So five years from now,

I see myself as facilitating other leaders in areas that I have experienced such amazing growth. And like one year ago, nobody knew this brown guy in the corner. Right? Like now everybody is like, who is this brown guy? And that's, that's what I want to not waste it. And I just want to hopefully build on it and take this feeling and be able to give it to other people that are feeling lonely or that, that want the community service that don't know how to build it. want to do that. want to program that would show brands.

and businesses, how to build community. So community building will be the essence of everything. And I think there's so much opportunity. I also strongly believe a lot of people want to build community. They don't know how to build community because community takes heart. It takes putting your knees on the back burner. It takes, I cannot tell you how many people that have through this process that have wronged me and never got an apology. And I had to go there and shake their hand and apologize for my piece of it and never received an apology.

I have to apologize for my reaction to what they have done. And just to keep the peace, because I believe if I cannot make peace at home or within the city, within the area, then how am I supposed to do it in the world? Making peace does not mean you're not going to have disagreements. That's the whole point. You're going to have disagreements. You're going to have lash outs. You're going to have situations, you know, but yeah, that's basically why.

Yeah, you can't have your own piece, right?

speaker-1 (32:36.664)
So where are people finding you? What's all the socials that people need to go to and like and subscribe and do all the things? Yeah, absolutely.

I just repurposed my Instagram account, is what Don K, W-A-D-A-N-N-N-K. If you follow me there, my mission there is to inspire people to run, build community, find God, learn golf. Those are like four main missions, everything else. And then I'm building in Chill House and all this other stuff that we're building. So if you will follow my journey, I can be a controversial figure, but it's all to spark, you know, creative juices in you. That's right. And then...

Pickle and Chill, of course, if you follow Enchil Haas, we go to the website www.enchilhaas.com. You should be able to see what you like that we have to offer and then plug into that Instagram community. DMS will reach out, we'll plug you into the community. We'll have a meetup that you can come and enjoy the sport and meet people. Don't sleep on Pickle and Chill.

Awesome. Well, Don, thank you so much for being on today on the Big Dink Energy podcast. Love it. We are obviously following your journey. We want to be involved every step of the way, any way we can. So whatever we can do to help you and you all out there listening, please go find them, the Inchill brand, and get involved in everything that they're doing. And don't forget to have Big Dink Energy when you do it.

Let's go.

speaker-1 (33:58.35)
I love that intro music. Listen, Pick Six is where we take one question, we each bring two answers, and immediately regret agreeing to this segment, just like most of the other segments. Pick Six tonight is Pickleball Problems That Don't Exist in Any Other Sport.

My first one was calling your own line calls at tournaments. Never ever have I been in any sport or creative art that I judged my own dance routine or my own gymnastics routine.

My karate kata was awesome.

is the banger versus dinker. No other sport has it where it's like, well, should you play soft or should you just play aggressive?

gotcha.

speaker-0 (34:39.969)
like, that's

I like that. Mine is the one that always gets me and it's the paddle tap shuffle at the end. There's four paddles. Why are there 16 different taps? I miss somebody then I got to come back or I got you then I got you again.

And then somebody doesn't want to paddle top, they got to do the end of it.

yeah, it's a whole thing. It's like the Knuckles

I would say apologizing for playing well. Like I see that a lot in pickleball. People will be like, I'm sorry. You it's like you're apologizing for being. Yeah, or just just apologizing for doing a good job. Like you don't see that. You see celebration normally. Someone gets a touchdown. They don't turn around and say, I'm sorry I did that.

speaker-2 (35:12.974)
like when they get a line cord.

speaker-1 (35:24.696)
Sorry, I scored on you. Yeah, I like that one.

is going to be the court rotation drama with paddle stacking. What other sport has an issue with

If you don't put your quarters on the table at pool.

Yeah, video game, quarters on the video game. I'm up next for Ms. Pac-Man. Air hockey. Got my cigarettes rolled up in my sleeve. My last one was the mid-game switch. So after six points, I'm switching sides. gotcha. I mean, yeah, we switch end zones in halftime at the... Yeah, but it's so like, okay, six switch. You know, we just hit six, we gotta switch. Or we just hit seven, we gotta switch.

You're gonna say doesn't football do that?

speaker-0 (36:02.232)
But like just the tip says don't do that unless it's related to the weather. It's unnecessary. For my profession. Professional pickleball opinion.

No, we do that in tournaments too. That's what they do in tournaments. My pick six are yours.

I pick my side of the court. This is where I choose to die. Right. Tell us what you think.

speaker-0 (36:26.478)
News you can use.

this just in? I don't know, I probably just cussed in a mortise coat.

Do do do do do do do

Duh duh duh duh duh.

speaker-0 (36:37.646)
All right. Well, humans have been hitting balls over nets for centuries. But the 2020s kicked off a new boom. Pickleball and Padel, or paddle, I don't know how to really say it, both exploded long after their invention dates. Now there's a new sport. This is just launched in 2026. It's called TipT.

I'm glad you led with nets on the end of the...

speaker-1 (36:57.242)
gosh.

speaker-0 (37:01.474)
TYPTI. It's played on a pickleball court with a shortened tennis-style racket and a foam ball. Here's the twist. If you hit the ball into the net on your side, the point isn't over. You can still win it by striking the ball after the bounce with anything except the strings, hand, foot, or handle in close.

now, okay, okay, now you got my attention.

This is created by Steve Bellamy, not part of the Bellamy brothers, it's backed by investors like Drew Brees. So Tipti is a little too new to judge, but it's definitely interesting to watch. I really want to...

Yeah, this is kind of like keepy-uppy.

I want to play this so bad. So I'm trying to find a place where they have it so I can

speaker-1 (37:51.142)
Heights Athletic Club, let's go. Let's get some.

had to do a foam ball to keep the noise complaints down.

I'm gonna, yeah, this is all born out of HOAs, I bet.

If I don't know, I just know that you get to hit it with other shit, I'm in. I think it sounds fun.

Well, there are the ones that do anything but a paddle. Right.

speaker-0 (38:10.478)
I haven't done that yet and I really want to.

Yeah, yeah, those sound fun. But I think it'd be fun. Tipti like, okay, you can't use your racket again,

I

speaker-0 (38:18.862)
I know, I think it'll be fun. Like kickball at mid time, know, like mid game.

I like that. Get up in our DMs, Tipti,

You can be a big TipT energy.

speaker-0 (38:34.624)
We're so high on gold meds.

That's it for this episode, unless you've got something to say. Think we got it wrong?

Have a better take? We want to hear it. 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.

speaker-2 (39:13.334)
You said- We're done. We're done.

did you say? Tip, do you have tips? What did you say?


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