If so, contact Ben Lacy at benlacy1962@gmail.com for more details and to setup a training schedule.
Aiken Pickleball News
Please welcome Lynn Burkes, Allyson Haselman, Gail Flintom, Paula and Steve Brewer to Aiken Pickleball. The five of them just completed a New Players Clinic held at Odell Weeks Thursday by Mo and his trusted assistant Mariam. Just to remind, at 10am court 1 is designated the beginners court. See photo.
L-R - Mariam, Lynn, Allyson, Gail, Paula, Steve, Mo
Click here to view round robin details.
Registration closed.
March Gladness at Gregg
Mixed doubles round robin at Gregg Park on March 5.
Divisions for 3.0, 3.5, and 4.0.
Separate brackets for under 50 and 50 and up.
Women's 2.5 round robin scramble has been added.
Odell Weeks afternoon court time will end at 2:45pm through February, for set up for basketball. See calendar for adjusted schedule.
When storing the net bags in the closet please place them in the back right hand corner. Do not block the door on the left leading upstairs. This stairway is the main access for the maintenance crew to the equipment room, and their only exit incase of a fire. Thank you.
The minutes for the Leadership Team Meeting that was held Monday, Jan 6th, 2022 at 5:30pm at Odell Weeks, have been posted. Harve Mobley hosted the meeting. Topics that were discussed included player rep vacancies and a request for nominees; the OW New Players Clinics; new hours at Gregg Park; the upcoming Chili Social; our plans for 2022, and much more. Go to Forums or click here to see the full report.
The remaining Drills with Little Mo are now available for sign up. The drills start on Wednesday, January 5th, at Smith-Hazel. Click here to sign up.
As in the past, each week will have a different theme.
Jan 5 - Return of Serve, down the line.
Jan 12 - Dinks with a purpose; hitting your target spots
Jan 19 - Half Volley soft drop; Half Volley drives.
Jan 26 - (No drills - Big Mo not available)
Feb 2 - Overhead smash; Volley snap at the kitchen.
Feb 9 - 3rd Shot drop
Feb 16 - Drive topspin volley
Feb 23 - King/Queen of the court, (Doubles)
Mar 2 - Drop, Chip, Drive.
Mar 9 - Lobs
Mar 16 - Specialty shots (Various Big Mo Shot choices).
The card you use to access Odell Weeks will allow you entry into Smith-Hazel.
Your calendar for next week’s pickleball match shows that 2022 is on the horizon. Another year has passed with many cracked pickleballs. But you’ve finally gotten the 2021 rules solidly under your belt, right?
What you may not know is that the end of the calendar also means the USPA Rules Committee is close to finalizing the 2022 rule changes…YAY!!! …but what are the changes?
To help you prepare for the 2022 rules, Coach Ben Lacy (also our resident Head Referee) has put together a summary of the changes. Along with the summary, Coach Ben also provided a companion video and organized the changes by recreational play and tournament play.
So please follow the links and get updated on the USAP rule changes so you are not caught short in the kitchen.
You can also get your own pdf copy of the DRAFT 2022 rules here:
https://usapickleball.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/2022-Draft-Rulebook.pdf
Saturday morning local pickleballers awoke anticipating their team’s win in the first annual City Challenge. Four local pickleball communities Aiken, Augusta, Lake Hartwell and Lexington and their ardent fans filled their travel mugs, grabbed a quick breakfast and drove to Gregg Park Civic Center in Graniteville confident in their team.With just a thirty-minute window before the first bracket... Click here to read full article
I had been walking past the 3 empty Toys for Tots boxes in the hallway at Valmet for a couple of weeks when an idea came to me….. I decided to host a Pickleball Social here in Aiken in hopes that we could fill these 3 boxes. (see flyer I made). I can’t begin to tell you how full my heart was last night to see the incredible outpouring of people that came to support such a wonderful cause. We even had Pickleballers make the trek from Augusta to join our efforts to collect Toys for Tots. These toys will be picked up today at our Valmet Aiken location by the Marine Corp., and I can’t tell you how proud I am to represent Valmet and the Aiken/Augusta Pickleball Community.
I hope this story spreads a bit of joy into your Holiday Season ~ I know it has completely made mine!
Thanks to everyone who came out tonight! Y’all were so generous, my entire Jeep is packed full of toys and my heart is so full of joy! I will share a pic tomorrow morning before the Marine Corp picks up the toys Tanya Hoffman\
