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Fitness coaches and sports therapists all sing the praises of warm-ups as a prelude to rigorous activity. We pickleballers benefit from all the usual methods of preparation, especially on those raw mid-winter days. Thankfully, those seem now distant as we are in the midst of summer in the Pass. Those of our club who played in recent tournaments at Four Seasons learned a fun drill that serves as a unique warm-up: Dingles. It's used in tennis and has been adapted to pickleball. Dingles works as follows: opponents are at the no-volley line and begin with two balls, hit diagonally cross- court. Each pair of players tries to make this dinking match last as long as possible. When the inevitable miss occurs, whoever notices first calls "dingles!" This means the cross-court action is over and the object is to play the remaining ball until a conventional point is scored, winning the Dingle. Our cordial hosts at Four Seasons added a competitive edge to the drill by awarding tickets to the winners for prize drawings. Even without such an extra incentive, Dingles can be used for a quick one-point exercise to determine service or to play to three points so as to get more benefit of a little on-court loosening up. Give it a try, it was a lot of fun. Club members have recently enjoyed some visits to the central coast and found pickleball in full bloom. Cambria has a fine facility on the grounds of the school district offices while Morro Bay's complex is at Del Mar Park. Skip Sorich, the coach, mentor and driving force behind the city's pickleball program was helpful to Sun Lakes visitors, offering tips and sharing his experience in shepherding the facility through city planning. Skip is heading to Europe for the Bainbridge Cup competition, one of the most prestigious global events in our sport. This year's Cup is in Essen Germany and features play between Team Europe vs. Team World. Look for results on YouTube! Our sport got a nice shout-out from AARP Magazine in its summer edition. They report that pickleball was showcased at the National Senior Games in June and rave about its growth: 3.3 million players, 7,000 courts with 85 being added every month. Our three courts are filled mornings and evenings as new members sign up. Official club times are Monday, Wednesday, and Saturday mornings from 8 to 10. Evening play is sweet this time of year and the lighted courts make for pleasant outings. So come on out and give pickle a try. See you on the courts. | SUN LAKES LIFESTYLES | AUGUST 2019 | 49 Pickleball Club