What Are You Secretly Good At? + Cathy Bawden | The Pickleball Passport

I don't know. I'm so good at so many things, as you all know. Stuttering is one of them.

Um podcasting. Stuttering.

Shut up. This is Big Dink Energy, the pickleball podcast that's half insight, half nonsense, and all entertainment. If you love pickleball, don't take your stuff 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. Fo's I'm tipping. Wood grain. I'm gripping. Catch me. Lane switching with the paint dripping into the BDE Big Dink Energy Podcast. Coming to you without our grills in.

I literally thought it was Paul Wall.

I knew you did. I am the silver fox. Listen up, paddle people paddle people! This week's

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episode is sponsored by Onyx Pickleball. And apparently, their whole thing right now is foam for all, which I appreciate because foam paddles have somehow become another thing in pickleball. I'm supposed to understand. I don't. I promise. Their theory is solid foam paddle for $99. You can't beat that. You could get beat with it, but you can't beat that. So you don't have to spend $300 to find out what everybody's talking about. And yes, they've got plenty of other paddles, balls, bags, grips, and all the other things we keep convincing ourselves we need. You do get them in your bag. Check them out at onyxpickleball at onyxo-n-i-xpickleball.com. Onyxpickleball foam for all. All right. So what I think we should talk about this week, which uh I don't know. It this this I'm I'm

Kitchen Talk - Hot takes, weird news, and what’s on our minds this week

so good at so many things, as you all know. Stuttering is one of them. Yeah.

Um it's not podcasting. Stuttering.

Shut up. The uh humility I have is immense. I will tell you all about it. That's how much I have. Your head can fit through anywhere. What do you think you're secretly better at than most people? Not I'm not talking about like something you're trained in, like uh martial arts or something like that.

Good, because I was gonna go with that.

The arts, the arts of martial, but something you think you're pretty good at this, uh, I'm really good at this. Something for you.

Well, I think we should do ourselves and then we should do what we think of the other person. Oh, okay. So I would say I'm if I'm sitting around and I would say to myself, I'm definitely better at Would you say hey self? I'd say hey self. You're definitely better at systems and operations and finding things to make things more efficient.

I like that. That's something I'm better at than most. I I agree with you. I don't know if we're if you're here for agreement, but I will concur as they say. I don't know who they are.

But I just I just have a a knack for it. I can look at things, I can go into businesses, I can pick out everything and say, we can do this, this, this, this, and this, you know, within 20 seconds.

You're great at breaking down businesses and people.

Mm-hmm. I'm not talking about people.

You're good at telling people where they're wrong. Mostly me.

Okay.

How about you, Paddle Princess?

Um, something that I'm secretly that I think I'm secretly better at than most. Um, I am really good at finding deals. Oh my gosh.

Yes. Yes.

I know how to find out.

You have a superpower.

She you she can do coupon on top of coupon on top of coupon to get paid back.

Yeah, she gets money from the retailer.

I do. You are good at that. That is great. That's a good one.

Yeah, that's great. For me, uh, this is probably easy to say. I hate to say it because I am I am trained in it, but driving.

Yeah, you're a really good driver.

I am a great driver. The faster the better.

I would agree. Well, that's fun. And especially like if you reverse and then open the door and I wrap my hand, J hook, hang out the side.

Yes. Like, remember when we did that? Yes. We were getting away from those guys dressed in all black and they had driving black SUVs and they had machine guns.

Yes, and I was hanging out the side with the biggest.

I believe we were in Italy at that time. I the cobblestone streets.

Yeah, it was good times. I do remember when you backed into Stephanie's sister's van, though.

Okay. Okay. You know, I've got a lot of systems going on in my car.

In all fairness, her van is almost like Wonder Woman's helicopter. You can't see it all the time.

Uh, number one, it's a jet, uh, not a helicopter. Whatever. Yeah, and it was in my blind spot directly behind me.

I would say something that I think Paddle Princess is really good at is celebrating. Yeah. Like she's a good celebrator. She notices people's wins and celebrate. And she's always the first one to congratulate and be proud. And I love that about her. And hair and makeup. Thank you. And hair and makeup.

Yeah, yeah, hair and makeup for sure. Thank you.

If I don't have any makeup on today, it's a whole story.

After you yelled at that kid.

I didn't yell at any child.

Yeah, so she's really good at that. And she has her own TikTok, and it's sit with Steph, and she does hair and makeup and um stuff like that. Just the fun things that I enjoy. Yeah. Yeah. It's fun.

That's great. Um, another one for me I really pride myself on is packing.

Oh, yeah.

Packing luggage and packing a car for travel. I am the Tetris king when it comes to packing a car. And I and I put and I put it all where it's easily accessible. I know what needs to be easily accessible, and I put it in an easily accessible way. Snacks up front. You're right. Yeah. So yeah, I I think I'm pretty good at packing.

Yeah. Okay. So I think that Steph, you're really good on, and this is it's gonna sound kind of harsh, but it's actually a really great thing. Oh, okay. You're really good on calling people on the bottom.

I can't get a compliment coming, people.

No, it has helped me so much, but you're really good on calling people on their bullshit. Valid when somebody's going through something and they're either making excuses or they think that what they're saying is valid, you see between the lines and you're like, no, you're actually doing this and you need to stop doing this. And it has changed my life many, many, many times, and it's changed a lot in me. So um, you're really good at seeing the the whole picture and narrowing down the truth and figuring out what actually needs to get fixed and weeding out all the bullshit.

Yeah, she's a great root cause analyzizer. She's a root cause analysis. She's very much so analyst. She she is great.

We've had many conversations where she's like, you don't want to hear this, but no, she yeah, she does that to me.

She's really good at calling me out on everything. Uh thing listen, uh, in in our over 3,000 square foot house, I will know if I left something on the counter uh or I've left something out for too long, which is apparently two minutes, um, and it needs to be put away. She's so good at it. Your tools places so good at that. I'm so good at that. You are so wonderful.

I can find all the stuff on the counter. Oh gosh.

I know I am so thankful that you show me all my flaws. You're welcome. It's amazing. Thank you.

Notice how neither one of us has said anything about you.

No, I don't give a shit.

It's my turn. I wasn't done yet.

I don't care what either one of you.

I would say, guy, you're really good at lightning the mood, and you're good at making inappropriate jokes and comments just to make people laugh. Like it there can be like tension in the room, and you'll just come in and say something off the cuff that is just hilarious, and then nobody can have tension anymore because what you said was so freaking stupid that we all have to laugh at you.

I'll take that. I'll take that.

And I would say, guy, that you are real you are a really good public speaker. Oh, a fantastic. Like you're engaged. You're engaging. But that's work-related.

I didn't want to say work-related.

But you're very engaging and you do fun activities and Funtivities. Funtivities, yes. You are very gregarious. Gregious and charismatic. I'll have to look that one up. Handsome. Oh, thank you. Sexy. Lord. Okay, I'm leaving. Stop, stop, keep going. Paddle princess out.

Keep going. I mean, yeah, you are.

You're you're you're good at you're a good orator.

Oh, yes, I am, ladies. Stupid. Watch me put my tongue into the shape of a triangle. Oh my god. Um I like reading people. Yeah. I've done it for years and years and years. And I've just I I know what people are gonna do. I know what they're what they're thinking, I know what they're gonna do for the most part.

I think I'm pretty good at that. I can judge people's character pretty easily, like early on. Yeah. Does that make sense? I'm not very good at this. And I'm not talking about like judging the way they look, but I can just after speaking with them a little bit, I can kind of feel out like You are. You're very intuitive. I'm like, mm, yeah. That's for me to do that. I think you're like that with most people though. Yeah. But I mean, I've met a lot of people where I'm like, oh, I definitely this person is a good person. I can feel it, you know? Yeah. Women's intuition, I guess.

You are great, I think personally, at coaching. Not not pickleball. No, you're you're great at taking coaching from pickleball. Well, you should take more. Uh, but you're great at coaching people, like Paddle Princess says, you get to the root cause pretty easy. And even with our kids, you're great at coaching them through their struggles.

I agree.

Uh, our daughter had a struggle last night with macaroni and cheese. Like is her that's her signature dish. But I knew when she called you out to the kitchen, can you come here, please? Oh, God. I knew something had gone wrong with it. Oh no. And you coached her, she's 13, so she needs to be curl uh living somewhere else, as far as I'm concerned. Yeah.

Um it was like the end of the world. I've spent all this money and I've done this. And I'm like, okay, well, let's do it.

No, you are very good at coaching people, coaching people through business, coaching people through life.

Not pickleball.

No. Not pickleball. No.

Maybe it's just pointing out flaws. You're good at pointing out flaws.

There we go. But she's also very good at solutions to the problem.

Yeah. And Paddle Prince, I'll say you, from my perspective, you have really grown into, and it's a skill, it's not a job, but grown into customer service. And not I'm not saying like, oh, you can stand behind a cash register. No, I'm saying in serving people. That's really what I mean.

And that is one of the hardest jobs.

It is. You you will find the way to serve someone. If you feel they're having a down day or they're not getting something the way they should get it, you really uh spend the time and you have the care and the love for that person to take the time and coach them through whatever they're going through and really serve them. You're you're a great servant. Absolutely. I agree.

Thank you.

Servant's heart for sure.

To the point to where I greeted people that walked into the coffee shop today. That is if they were walking into my work.

What they order, what they order. You take the order.

She it was so funny. We're gonna have a macchiato. The lady walked in the door and Paddle Princess said, Oh, hi. And the lady just looked at her like, oh hi to you too, I guess.

Why are you saying hi? It was just a force of habit. I have my laptop in front of me. I'm working, and somebody walks in the door. I have to greet them. Like, oh gosh, it was so embarrassing.

We were laughing so hard. We were like, You know her? And she's all no, I don't know. I just am used to greeting people when they walk in. That's funny.

That's awesome.

I think it's very important that you learn to find things about yourself that you are good at. And so I have a really hard time with that.

Like I could list all the things I'm bad at, but trying to think of things that I was good at was difficult today.

That's why I think this this was a good kitchen talk because I think people out there also listening are probably like, right now, I'm hoping that they're going, Well, what am I good at?

Yeah, right.

You know, and I think we really need to focus on that because the things, you know, the things you focus on are the things that actually come um to light. So I I think it's important. So while you are sitting in your car or folding your laundry, start thinking about the things you are good at because everyone has those special gifts. Yeah.

And ask your friends. See what your friends have to say. Don't ask a teenager. Don't ask them because the things that come out of their mouths is hilarious.

They will just be rude as hell.

Yeah, yeah, very rude. Like I hit a pothole today, and she was like, You're good at driving. My bad. Um, but ask your friends, get some feedback.

Yeah. Tell us what you're good at, what you think you're secretly good at. Tell me more about myself if you'd like to. Uh only positive comments will be read on the air and looked at. Everything else will be deleted. Bdepodcast.com.

Fan Mail (Shout Outs, Comments, Love)

I'll tell you what, I'm glad I got this bigger mailbag. These are just starting to flow in. And another one that I just Tim, hey, good on you, buddy. Tim V. Brown says he, meaning guy, is the reason they will create a 1.5 duper. You got that right, Tim. I hear uh if you're out there duper and you're listening, I'm waiting for you. I'm a 1.5 category. I'm your brand ambassador for that. Thank you, Tim. Thanks for getting it all up in our mailbag. You all can get up in our mailbag too. Find us on our socials, connect with us, connect with us on the podcast. You know how to do it. You've been doing it for a while, so go do it. Just

Just The Tip - Pickleball Wisdom

the tip.

Just the tip. Quick pickleball wisdom in and out before you know it. You miss three balls and suddenly you're changing your grip, your stance, your paddle position, your swing, your religion. Look, pick one thing. If you're working on keeping the paddle up, work on that. If you're working on getting to the kitchen, then do that. You cannot consciously fix six things during one recreational pickleball game.

Pickle Pals - Deep Dive with a Pickleball Court, Club or Influencer

It's time for pickleback. Back again with another guest. Today's guest spent 33 years as a police officer, rose to inspector. We'll get into that, ran a diversity and inclusion unit, broke through gender barriers that would have stopped most people, and mentored a generation of women in one of the toughest professions there is. I can say yes to that. Now, she's channeling every bit of that into pickleball, building mental toughness, empowering women, and creating what she calls a kind community in a sport that doesn't always have one. She splits her life between Collingwood, Ontario, and Florida. Kathy Baden, thanks so much for being on the Big Dink Energy Podcast.

Oh, thank you so much. It's a pleasure to be here. And congratulations to all of you at the Big Dink Energy. It's been fantastic seeing you show up.

Oh, gosh, thank you so much. It's mostly me. I just want to point that out to all our listeners. The other two, I mean, we don't really need them. Uh it's all me, me, me. I couldn't do anything without Paddle Princess and Stephanie. It's it's so fantastic over here to be uplifted by them. Now I've got to ask, because uh Ontario, how much of what you do every day is fueled by poutine?

Okay, well, that's I think a little overrated. And if I was fueled by poutine, I think I would be a lot heavier as well. But definitely, uh definitely known for poutine here in Canada.

Oh gosh. I absolutely you know, I grew up in that area, uh Niagara Falls area for a little while. Absolutely, you know, love poutine whenever I can get it. We don't do it too well here in Texas, so anytime I get up in that area, definitely got it. I turn my kids on to it too, and they absolutely love it. But yeah, I don't think you could maybe there's a poutine match where you like eat a big serving of poutine and then go try to play a match and see how that goes.

Oh, I think that'd be a bit tough. That'd be a bit tough.

Yeah. Yeah. So 33 years in policing, um, you know, I know a little bit about that. Um, and now you're all in on pickleball. But tell us about the law enforcement career. You know, there's a obviously the highs and the lows. And 33 years, I mean, gosh, just uh just hanging up the belt, so to speak, after that. How did how did that feel coming to the end of that road?

Yeah, that's that's yeah, it's a lot. It was it was a big career and many different facets of that career I've spent uh specializing as well. So rated the end, the last six, seven years, I was promoted to inspector. And at the time, you know, I say this, but at the time I was out of 50 years, only the fifth woman to ever get to that rank within our police service. Yeah. So it was it was definitely having to break down some of those barriers and you know, really try and learn ways how to get other women to follow, you know, and it was more of that mindset at the time. You know, if the table is only this big and there's only so many chairs, and my philosophy was let's build a new table and we can have we can we can add more and more chairs, you know. Let's build that table so we can, you know, get more women around this and we don't have to uh think that there's only one, two or three spots available, right? So Yeah.

Yeah, and I've and I found in my career, you know, you I think you have I don't know if there's a middle ground. I think you have two different types of cops uh on the male side, anyhow. You have the ones who love women in law enforcement and the ones who hate women in law enforcement. Maybe there's a middle ground where, yeah, it doesn't matter. We're do we're all doing the same job. But I I found it such a blessing a lot of times to have a female officer show up, especially when you're dealing with another female. They can kind of bring the temperature down. They can, you know, there's a lot of different tools that you all bring to the table and and and bring to bear in difficult situations. And so, you know, I'm one of those ones who are like, yep, let's do it. Thumbs up, we need more.

Yeah, absolutely. I mean, men are from Mars, women for Venus, and this is a real and true fact, isn't it? So having, you know, having that availability to sort of bounce things off and see things a little differently. We we absolutely do see things differently. So blending our different mindsets is just only going to help the community grow and get better and and try and get messages across that we need.

Yeah, our, you know, we've we've failed somewhat along the line or along the way of of meeting our customers' needs in some respects. And that that's another, you know, the diversity of our customer. It should be the diversity of who is serving the customer as well. And as we're learning more and more about that and and realizing you can't just punch someone in the face and get them to do what you want to anymore, I think that's such a a special blend in the law enforcement world, especially to be able to resolve situations a a little bit easier when we recognize there are, you know, there is such a diversity in the customer we serve.

Well, absolutely. And and the one thing that I recognize, and you know, once I sort of retired from pickleball, or sorry, pickleball from policing, I recognize that, you know, I can, I mean, I get involved in pickleball and then I recognize that that I can transfer these skills into the pickleball community, not just into the aspect of my play, but more so is you know, how can I use what I've had, you know, these skills in the last 33 years, how can I use them and transfer them into the community? And I've I've found some really unique ways to be able to do that. So it's it's been super fun.

Oh, I bet. I bet. Now, you talk a lot about on your Instagrams, you talk a lot about mental toughness and how important that is. And so, you know, you got real world credibility on on that side of things, but how how do you translate that, you know, chasing down a ball versus chasing down a criminal, right? How do you translate the mental toughness to the court and then uh what you bring to the community?

Yeah, so so that's a great question. And I'm gonna tell you a a little bit of a vulnerable story, but um, I didn't actually understand how to do that when I first started with pickleball, to be honest. It was a coach of mine that sort of said, you know, we've got to work on this piece, but he's you know, he at the time was saying, you know, all this mental toughness you had in policing, yeah, how can we translate that, you know? And so after a little while, I started recognizing ways to be able to translate that. And and one of the things that I want, you know, to do a bit, a bit of a shout out, if you don't mind, is the pickleball mindset. I don't know if uh you followed Dane Greenwich and Jill Martin on the pickleball mindset. You know, if if viewers aren't aren't following them, you need to go give them a quick follow because they're doing unbelievable work, unbelievable work, right? So so they have been able to help me so much. And you know what? The accessibility to them has just been fantastic. You know, you make a comment, you message them behind the scenes, and and they're there answering. So they've been so supportive, they have been a huge help to me. So here's the funny story. When I first started playing pickleball, you know, when I get body bagged, it was like shots fired. I was having this real mental reaction, you know.

Yeah, yeah. Why are you angry at me?

Yeah. And so I just didn't understand that concept back then. And this is going back in 2021. So shots fired. I'm standing there like I've just been, you know, quite startled and surprised. And I had to learn how to get body bagged and be able to handle that mentally, you know. I mean, we do all that we can when we're out on the road not to get harmed in any way, you know. So try and tell my brain that when I was playing pickleball, you know. And so one of the things my coach would do is actually, you know, if my paddle was down, he'd hit me. He'd hit me with the ball and got me, got me used to you. Yeah. Got me used to it, you know. So that was a huge, huge piece for me to figure out. But yeah, mindset's been a big thing for me.

Yeah, you're very sporty and athletic. So I can only imagine the first one. My vision is you just leaping over the net and then choking that person. Yeah.

You know, my husband will tell you every now and then the inspector will come out.

Yeah, there you go. Be ready.

Be ready.

I love that. So, you know, you broke through gender barriers and policing and then spent years mentoring women uh coming up behind you. Now you're doing it in pickleball. What do you think women specifically need to hear when they're stepping out on the court?

Well, one of the biggest aspects for women is trying to understand where does friendships, you know, sit, uh, making friends, making good friendships, and where does competition sit? You know, are we competing? Because as, you know, that line, as you start getting better or as you start competing more and you kind of get that hunger for the competition, you know, there there has to be that training, that mindset training on where does this all sit? And how are we going to work with this? You know, so that's where, you know, I decided I was gonna go get trained. I got went out and got my um NCCP, which is my national coaching certification uh certificate. I went and got my level one and level two. And then from there, I created my own pathway, pickleball pathway to excellence. And so when I'm coaching athletes or I'm coaching women who are wanting to get a little bit more competitive, if you will, I'm helping them with a pathway and I've created a booklet to help them, you know, understand what are the things that you're trying to do out here on the pickleball court. But it's not only on the court, it's off the court, you know.

And yeah, for sure.

Are these friendships we want to nurture? Are these just pickleball friendships, which are lovely? But, you know, at what point do we, you know, kind of start looking at the competitive aspect and how do we work that into our game and our on and off the court uh activities?

Yeah, that's right. Yeah, could you I you could, you know, a lot of people jump in with both feet. I know we did when we first were introduced to it, you know, first was wooden paddles and then, of course, $200 paddles after that. And both feet, going, you know, multiple nights a week, going taking lessons and all that. And then, you know, if you've never had anything like a community like that around you, no, law enforcement is a is a is a pretty good community for by and large, we're getting better. We wrap our arms around each other, especially in times of crisis. And I think the pickleball community is somewhat like that as well. They'll wrap their arms around you, but you have to kind of figure out and navigate uh what is important to you and who the people you're surrounding yourself are as well. You know, I think that's important.

Yeah, that's actually been one of the biggest pieces of me as I've been, you know, making my own pathway in this sport as well. When I left policing, it was probably uh one of the most sort of loneliest times, if you will, because you have this brotherhood and sisterhood. You know, they say it's the biggest organized legal gang in the world. Yes. And it truly is. And there's a real brotherhood and sisterhood that comes with that. And when you leave, it's gone.

There's only button, you're just out on an island all by yourself.

You really are. You really are. You there's only but a handful of, you know, folks that you stay in touch with and and you know, continue your your relationship with. But when I found the pickleball world, I realized that that was, you know, something that was missing. But when I retired, not only was that happening, but hey, I went through menopause at the same time. And let's say like all my kids left the nest as well. So I was just sitting there going, Who am I? What yeah, what do I want to do? What's gonna happen in my life next, you know?

Yeah, I can imagine that. Yeah, that could be a very, very lonely time. There's a lot of mental health benefits to pickleball, you know, all the obviously all the good chemicals, good feeling chemicals that we get from it. And uh, again, the community just putting their arms around you. So yeah, fantastic that you had that coming in behind, you know, getting out of the law enforcement. Now, you are very famous for creating a kind community in pickleball, and I absolutely love that because the sport does sometimes have a reputation for court drama and ego, especially as your your duper score increases and that. Tell us uh tell me a little bit more, tell our listeners a little bit more about what you're trying to build with the kind community um and why it matters to you.

Yeah, so one of the things that I'm starting to do is is look at clubs and you know how it's one thing to build a gorgeous facility. It's another thing to have a sense of belonging in that facility.

Yes.

If you don't have a sense of b true authentic belonging in the facility, your gorgeous club is going to starve. It really is. And we're going to see clubs close. And you know, it's not checking the boxes. It used to be in diversity with diversity, equity, and inclusion in the police world. You know, sometimes I'd hate to say we would just check boxes. Were we authentically implementing the things that we believed in? And, you know, I know I did, I know I certainly did, but you know, were leaders doing that authentically. So it's the same in pickleball uh facilities. Are we truly cultivating a sensible longing? So that matters to me. There are lots, you know, from from young, you know, we're seeing the youngins start honestly at the age of sometimes five, six years old.

Oh, yes.

Oh, yeah.

I can get beat by a five-year-old for sure.

Yeah. And they're right up to 80, 90 years old. You know, I was at the US Open and here we I'm watching some of the 90-year-olds play in mixed doubles and hey, singles as well.

Yeah. Oh yeah.

Unbelievable. You know, so like that matters to me in the sense of, you know, we have to be able to take off the hat and say, you know, how can we appeal to the to the six-year-old and how can we appeal to the the hundred-year-old? You know, I agree. Yeah. So I'm helping clubs implement strategies unique to each club. And it's not a, you know, it's just not one size fits all program. There's a lot of work and a lot of training that I've been through to be able to help people do that.

That's fantastic. So speaking of that, where can what's all the socials? I know you got two big Instagrams going on. Where are all the socials? How can people connect with you and get more information?

Yeah, so I'm just gonna say the pickleball passport is my Instagram social that is my main source of sort of getting out there. And secondly, I am on TikTok as well as the Pickleball Passport. So, you know, folks can come find me there. And one of the things that I've been doing over the last, you know, three years since retirement is I've been traveling the world one port at a time. I show up at clubs, I help support clubs and that sense of you know community and and play, just just play with so much heart.

That's awesome. Well, Kathy, thank you so much for being on the Big Dink Energy Podcast. You're an inspiration in the community. I love what you're doing with the kindness and pickleball. And of course, thank you for your service all those years. Everybody go follow her, get up all up in her Instagrams and show her some love. Thank you so much for being on.

Uh, thank you so much. It was a pleasure.

It's time for pick six. Pick six, where we

Pick 6 ( 1 question and 6 answers)

take one question and we each bring two answers and immediately regret to agreeing to this segment. Tonight's pick six is this things you absolutely do not want to hear someone say before they start. Things you absolutely do not want to hear someone say before they start. Like uh you never want to hear your pilot say, Well, that's weird, before they start the flight.

Well, you never want to hear your accountant say, That's one way to do it.

Okay. You never want to hear a redneck say, Hey, y'all, watch this.

Or hold my beer.

Or hold my beer.

Yeah. You never want your proctologist to say, okay, big guy, let's see what we're working with.

You never want your dog sitter to say, are they normally this sleepy?

Oh gosh. You never want to hear your child say, Hey, mom, I have something to tell you.

You never want your skydiving instructor to say, that looks weird.

Valid.

Tell us what you got. Get all up in our funny with us. Find your funny bone and get up in our comments. If your shoulder just pop, get with us. Bdepodcast.com. Shoulderpopping.com. News you can use.

News You Can Use

And that's where they put the gorilla. Now over to you, Stephanie.

Apparently, October needed six more pickleball paddles. I'm not sure, but at what point have we reached enough paddle? Because I have six paddles and I still miss the same ball. But the dink just highlighted six notable new paddle releases for October alone, including Yola's first full foam paddle and bread and butter and Selkirk's collaboration. But I just want to know, are we really? I feel like we're becoming sneaker people now.

Oh, okay. I like it. Sneakerheads.

Yes, because the paddle is like new model, new material, new grit, new limited collaboration. Yeah. I'm just, I'm not sure. I mean, none of them are helping me.

Are the paddle companies doing planned obsolescence? Meaning they're building them only to last long enough. I've heard people say, oh, the the the grit is wearing off. How would you? I mean, I wouldn't know.

I wouldn't know.

We don't play at that level. No. I don't even know if mine started with grit.

Yeah, no. No.

I just don't know if we're just like, ooh, now we got to get this one. Ooh, now we got to get this one. This is a collab, and this is a collab, and this is a collab.

This one's filled with feathers. What's next?

And that's good enough. Yeah, so there's six new paddles out this month.

We got we got the honeycomb core, we got the T5000.

And there was a couple, I don't remember who it was, but who didn't do any advertising. I know RPM was one of them. They didn't do any advertising. No, they didn't send any paddles to any reviewers or anything, and they still did extremely well. So that's crazy.

Yeah, I don't. I mean, what what's the next evolution look like? You know what I mean?

I don't know. I I just are other sports like this? I would I don't know. The football is still the football.

Yeah. Like they're not coming out with the NFL plays with the Duke football.

Yeah, but there's not football manufacturers coming out with six new footballs in October.

No, and and what are we trying to do? Are we trying to get faster? Are we trying to get lighter?

Or are they just becoming like a collectible, like cool things to have? Because they're, you know, they have different colors and I mean I do get that. And I think that's a good thing.

Like a pretty pickleball company.

Yeah, and I do like I like having a variety. And when I change my paddle out, it's not for any type of skill or anything. It's just like, oh, I think I'll play with this one today.

Yeah. So me too. I have one.

I mean, it's just I I don't I don't know enough skill-wise or paddle-wise to well, if you're a paddle company, uh let us know why you keep putting out new stuff. Money.

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