[00:00:05] Hello and welcome to Pickleball Therapy, the podcast dedicated to your pickleball improvement. My name is Tony Roig, your host of the weekly podcast. This week I have a special treat for you. We're going to be reading a section out of the book Pickleball Therapy. I think you're going to like it. It has to do with our place within pickleball. Part four of the book, our place within pickleball. I think you'll find the framing really interesting. It's a way to maintain a healthier perspective with the sport of pickleball. So we're going to read that. If you haven't picked up a copy of the book yet, you find it anywhere. Amazon, Walmart, Barnes and Noble.
[00:00:35] Probably some used versions on thrift books too. Whatever. Just get yourself a copy of the book. If you have Kindle, I think it's called Kindle Unlimited. The book's included in that. So, you know, welcome to read it included in your membership. So I'm going to dive right into this week's podcast with the reading. And I'm reading from the literal book. I like holding the book in my hand. So again, part four, our place within pickleball. Next, we turn to our place inside the broadest sport we play.
[00:01:02] This part is different from our relationship with pickleball. Our relationship is just between us and pickleball. Our place recognizes that there are other actors who form part of our pickleball play. Here we look at our place inside that play and also explore the role of the other actors. Play Copernican pickleball. As humans, we suffer from a limited perspective horizon. We are designed to focus primarily on us and what is happening to us.
[00:01:32] And in one way makes sense. We are at the center of our own story. We can't understand how before Copernicus humans believed the earth was at the center of the universe. Then Copernicus came along and said, not so fast, paraphrasing here, and explained that we are not in fact at the center. Even Copernicus could only see so far though, placing the sun at the center of the universe. And it made sense. At the time, it was as far as we could see.
[00:02:00] Since Copernicus discovery, we have learned enough to know that not only are we not at the center of the universe, our planet is a fairly small speck of rock floating amongst a mind numbing number of other celestial objects. Despite knowing that we are not at the center of the universe, we are wired to live our lives as though the universe revolves, literally, around us. This perspective serves us well in some respects. Navigating through traffic, for instance, is all about what is happening in front and around us.
[00:02:26] The fact that we are hurtling through space at 1,000 miles per hour is not relevant to our decision making in the moment. And this is just the earth's rotation. Start adding at orbital speed around the sun, around the galaxy, and galactic motion through the universe, and our brains can no longer process motion information in any intelligible manner. Putting ourselves at the center of everything also has its downsides. To avoid them, we will need to use our outsized brains, they are pretty powerful, to go beyond our instinctual ego-driven nature.
[00:02:55] To understand the limitations of an overly egotistical approach, think of a small child's behavior. A small child has a hard time thinking of anyone or anything other than themselves. Part of the maturation process is to understand that there are other people on the planet. We cannot just do what we want all the time without considering the impact our actions have on others. Our focus in this part will be to continue to mature in our approach to pickleball. We will move away from the trap of thinking that everything that happens on the pickleball court is on account of us,
[00:03:24] both the good and the bad. And we will better understand and appreciate the other persons around us. As you will see, there are many times when we, perhaps inadvertently, do not take those around us into account. And in doing so, we diminish their role and can cause them harm, often unwittingly. The better we get at seeing the bigger picture of the game, the better we get at elevating our friends on the court and on avoiding damage to them. We will also enjoy a healthier relationship with pickleball. The Downsides to an Ego Approach
[00:03:54] Below we explore two scenarios that commonly play out on the courts. Each scenario illustrates the downside, even harm, that can be caused by an egocentric approach to pickleball. In the first, we explore its impact on us and in the second, on our friends. Scenario 1. The Missed Volley You are at the non-volley zone line. Your partner is returning serve. Next, your opponent is driving the third shot right at you. Hard. You try to volley the ball, but it ends up in the net.
[00:04:23] The reaction by most players is, it was their fault. My paddle wasn't ready. I need to get my paddle ready. The error must be something that we did wrong. We do this because we reduce everything that happens on the pickleball court to our decisions or shots. I do not say this to be critical. It is simply a recognition about how our oversized ego believes that whatever happens anywhere in our vicinity must somehow be about us.
[00:04:50] Let's rewind the rally and see if the missed shot really was your fault. The shot right before the drive was a short return of serve. Where did the return of serve land? In our scenario, it was a short return of serve, but let's be more specific. The return of serve landed not even halfway to the baseline. It was closer to the non-volley zone line than the baseline. Because of this, your opponent was able to move in and drive the ball at you from close range.
[00:05:17] Given these conditions, was that missed shot really your fault? The correct answer is no. If you want to find a cause for the loss of the rally, it was a short return of serve, which was hit by your partner. It was not a, you did not have a paddle ready position problem. It was a stop returning short because I'm getting killed up here problem. Now we're not looking to assign blame to your partner here. That is not the point.
[00:05:43] The point is that it is not always your error that caused a loss rally, even when we were the last player to touch the ball. When we place ourselves at the center of the pickleball universe, everything becomes our responsibility. If we miss a shot, there must have been something we could have done better. There's a lot of weight to carry around during a pickleball game. Whenever a rally ends on our paddle, it is always our fault. For many players, a game involves thinking that each time the rally is lost by their team, it was their fault.
[00:06:12] Or there certainly must have been something they could have done better. While there are certainly times when we could have played the rally better, it is unreasonable to always think a miss is our fault. A self-centered, egotistical view prevents us from diagnosing the real cause of the error. The short return of serve, for example. It also creates an inordinate amount of pressure on us. We do not have to accept this outcome, though. There is a better way.
[00:06:40] And then scenario two in the book is the comeback kids. That has to do with how you deal with your opponents, the other players on the court. You know, this idea of our place within the sport, you know, we're critical to the sport, right? To our experience in the sport, certainly. But there are other actors, both on our side of the net and the other side of the net, who are involved in what's happening.
[00:07:04] And the better able that we are to place ourselves within that construct constructively, the better we're going to be able to treat them and to treat ourselves. So if you have a moment to or have time to read the book, I highly recommend it to you. These concepts about framing yourself, you know, first with you, then with the sport. So the book is basically you, part one, then the sport, part two, and then you within the sport, part three, your relationship with the sport.
[00:07:33] And then part four is the part that I just read the first part of there, which is your place within the sport of pickleball. So, you know, it builds on the pieces, and I think you'll really enjoy the process of thinking through that. And this book is a perspective book. That's the idea of it, is to help you with your perspective within the sport of pickleball, which is just a way to have a healthier relationship and also play much better than you can without a good perspective.
[00:08:01] So, again, if you have a chance to get a copy of the book, if you've already read the book and have a minute to review it and give it some rating on either Amazon or Amazon or Barnes and Noble or Walmart, really appreciate you doing that. We live in an information society, attention society, so those things really help. So I hope you enjoyed this week's podcast. We'll be back next week with another regular episode of Pickleball Therapy.
[00:08:31] In the meantime, be well.