Great commentary. I get members who say that they ALWAYS want to play with players better than them so they get better, and I've heard that they keep picking on my partner and I NEVER get to hit the ball. I don't like when people talk in ABSOLUTES: eg. ALWAYS / NEVER. Don't be a victim of circumstance. Make the best of the situation. Use the gap that gives you some wiggle room to work on the shots you want to practice and work on. But also work on "shrinking the court" so that you hedge towards/over the middle line and let the opponents "feel your presence." Rock on. Keep on Pickling.
Probably the most frustrating thing is playing with a weaker partner - many times I can count the times I hit the ball on one hand...... Another thing I observe is that many players don't know how to hit the ball properly and consequentially never get much better. Playing with better players is fine if the strokes are good....if not - you are simply entrenching bad habits. My advice - take some lessons and learn the mechanics...... then ease your way into better competition.
Thank you! I agree with your assessment on being the less skilled player on the court. My male partner is a more skilled player and consequently I play up most of the time. After a while I thought - Gee, I’m not a very good player- when in reality, my skills were getting stronger and more consistent, but it wasn’t overly apparent given the skill level I was playing. Balanced play improves self perspective.
I follow that mix for the most part. There are a group of us in PB club similar skills and we enjoy practice rec games. I find playing with someone lower level than me gives me a chance to try out newer shots or strategies; I like playing against people better than I am to assess how well I am coming along. As you mention there is merit to that mix up of levels to play against 😊
congrats having the opportunity to teach pb in Tokyo. I don't have specific restaurants but these are some foods I would try to eat: udon (I would try regular udon and also try curry udon), okonomiyaki (veg/pork pancake served on a grill at diners), tonkatsu (fried pork cutlet, I would probably order it like curry-katsu but I like Japanese curry and it is probably just as delish as plain tonkatsu)... if there are any train bentos available at a popular station (where subway criss crosses with train), I would probably try that as well ... also when you are pressed for time, I think their ready made foods at local convenience stores are pretty decent (it's their equivalent of our 7-11 but I think the ready made foods are made with a little more care, like onigiri - rice ball - is pretty safe but you could try others, ume is good but a little bit salty). I follow some channels for japanese diners but they are removed from Tokyo...
I agree with all of this. Too many content creators (and prob coaches), just say/show…so this xyz. But they don’t explain the thought process behind rational when it comes to things like this…I’m digging the tapestry of content perspective you lend. Keep it up… PS Jimmy says he isn’t sending you a Christmas present. I think that’s rude to need to say they specifically aren’t….😁
Can you explain how to approach a 4.0 person that isn’t in love with stacking…but still plays same level of aggressive on both sides…and when it’s to your disadvantage to not start stacking? If it’s a true disadvantage.
Tokyo is absolutely massive in what you can find, do and eat there. Long answer, short - it depends. You into anime, tech, nerdy stuff? Akibahara with like 11-story best buys and all sorts of themed cafes like maids, cats, dogs, etc. Sushi? Basically everywhere. Even at the 7/11. Very difficult to go wrong. Tsukiji Market in the Ginza prefecture has a bunch of sushi and street foods. Ramen? Similar situation. Hard to miss. There's a ramen shop at the Narita (i think?) airport that was amazing, but even with the ramen it depends on what you're looking for. More soupy, tonkotsu, shoyu, etc. Amusement? You could try going to Tokyo Disney Sea, but you'd be a mad lad if you did. Just look at like the instagram videos of the hordes of people waiting in line before the park even opens. I mean its cool, i guess... but is it like more crowded than disneyland cool? I would at least plan around the abundance of national japanese holidays if you're brave enough to go. It's rather.. different compared to here. A lot of people dress up (like in costumes) or couples wear matching outfits. More wholesome than anything else. There's also Shinjuku which is like the more partyish/fun district. There's the usual shops, street foods and such and also a bunch of bars and lounges and crawls for tourists to go together or even opportunities to hang with locals. If you want the ultimate tourist trap experience, robot restaurant. If you and your group don't know what it is, even better. Just show up without any idea or expectations. I think the... experience... is a little over an hour? Definitely an experience. And that's really just scratching the surface. If you don't end up looking up an itinerary or specific recs on like reddit (can't say I remember specific places as they were just in particular areas, and the restaurants were in japanese characters, so sorry lol), I would at least, assuming you look stuff up on like google, to look them up in japanese characters vs in english as you'll get a better search and probably the more local gems as well. Enjoy!
Great commentary. I get members who say that they ALWAYS want to play with players better than them so they get better, and I've heard that they keep picking on my partner and I NEVER get to hit the ball. I don't like when people talk in ABSOLUTES: eg. ALWAYS / NEVER. Don't be a victim of circumstance. Make the best of the situation. Use the gap that gives you some wiggle room to work on the shots you want to practice and work on. But also work on "shrinking the court" so that you hedge towards/over the middle line and let the opponents "feel your presence."
Rock on. Keep on Pickling.
Probably the most frustrating thing is playing with a weaker partner - many times I can count the times I hit the ball on one hand...... Another thing I observe is that many players don't know how to hit the ball properly and consequentially never get much better. Playing with better players is fine if the strokes are good....if not - you are simply entrenching bad habits. My advice - take some lessons and learn the mechanics...... then ease your way into better competition.
Thank you! I agree with your assessment on being the less skilled player on the court. My male partner is a more skilled player and consequently I play up most of the time. After a while I thought - Gee, I’m not a very good player- when in reality, my skills were getting stronger and more consistent, but it wasn’t overly apparent given the skill level I was playing. Balanced play improves self perspective.
I follow that mix for the most part. There are a group of us in PB club similar skills and we enjoy practice rec games. I find playing with someone lower level than me gives me a chance to try out newer shots or strategies; I like playing against people better than I am to assess how well I am coming along. As you mention there is merit to that mix up of levels to play against 😊
Great points as usual. 25-50-25. And less body movement
I’m going to start reading my practice notes before playing. Thanks
congrats having the opportunity to teach pb in Tokyo. I don't have specific restaurants but these are some foods I would try to eat: udon (I would try regular udon and also try curry udon), okonomiyaki (veg/pork pancake served on a grill at diners), tonkatsu (fried pork cutlet, I would probably order it like curry-katsu but I like Japanese curry and it is probably just as delish as plain tonkatsu)... if there are any train bentos available at a popular station (where subway criss crosses with train), I would probably try that as well ... also when you are pressed for time, I think their ready made foods at local convenience stores are pretty decent (it's their equivalent of our 7-11 but I think the ready made foods are made with a little more care, like onigiri - rice ball - is pretty safe but you could try others, ume is good but a little bit salty). I follow some channels for japanese diners but they are removed from Tokyo...
I agree with all of this.
Too many content creators (and prob coaches), just say/show…so this xyz. But they don’t explain the thought process behind rational when it comes to things like this…I’m digging the tapestry of content perspective you lend. Keep it up…
PS Jimmy says he isn’t sending you a Christmas present. I think that’s rude to need to say they specifically aren’t….😁
It’ll be awesome if you can have a clinic in SoCal near San Clemente
Please come to San Diego and do a clinic at the Hub Pickleball.
Big Poppa Jimmy!!!
Can you explain how to approach a 4.0 person that isn’t in love with stacking…but still plays same level of aggressive on both sides…and when it’s to your disadvantage to not start stacking? If it’s a true disadvantage.
Shoutout to CJ!!!
Fascinating quarter-zip discussion....... your pretty good at pickleball
Tokyo is absolutely massive in what you can find, do and eat there. Long answer, short - it depends.
You into anime, tech, nerdy stuff? Akibahara with like 11-story best buys and all sorts of themed cafes like maids, cats, dogs, etc.
Sushi? Basically everywhere. Even at the 7/11. Very difficult to go wrong. Tsukiji Market in the Ginza prefecture has a bunch of sushi and street foods.
Ramen? Similar situation. Hard to miss. There's a ramen shop at the Narita (i think?) airport that was amazing, but even with the ramen it depends on what you're looking for. More soupy, tonkotsu, shoyu, etc.
Amusement? You could try going to Tokyo Disney Sea, but you'd be a mad lad if you did. Just look at like the instagram videos of the hordes of people waiting in line before the park even opens. I mean its cool, i guess... but is it like more crowded than disneyland cool? I would at least plan around the abundance of national japanese holidays if you're brave enough to go. It's rather.. different compared to here. A lot of people dress up (like in costumes) or couples wear matching outfits. More wholesome than anything else.
There's also Shinjuku which is like the more partyish/fun district. There's the usual shops, street foods and such and also a bunch of bars and lounges and crawls for tourists to go together or even opportunities to hang with locals. If you want the ultimate tourist trap experience, robot restaurant. If you and your group don't know what it is, even better. Just show up without any idea or expectations. I think the... experience... is a little over an hour? Definitely an experience.
And that's really just scratching the surface. If you don't end up looking up an itinerary or specific recs on like reddit (can't say I remember specific places as they were just in particular areas, and the restaurants were in japanese characters, so sorry lol), I would at least, assuming you look stuff up on like google, to look them up in japanese characters vs in english as you'll get a better search and probably the more local gems as well. Enjoy!
Still don’t know who Josh is
the man behind the curtain
Josh is my idol and leader of this podcast