It’s not a blog about pizza. Sorry….

Yep. It’s that time of year. You know... when you or others sit down and tell you all the absolute best books, or movies, or maybe the best meals of the past twelve months. Okay, the meal recaps are frankly too much for me (and my waistline), so I'm sticking to a two-part re-cap of 2025. The first one is a deep dive into the shimmering, plastic-wiffle-ball-filled world of pickleball. If you're not interested—or, heaven forbid, you actively hate the sport—then put your electronic device down, tell your foot to stop tapping, and wait for the full, proper, non-pickle-focused re-cap coming in the next few days. Now that we've cleared the court, let's get writing. If you have read any of my previous blog posts, you'll know that I started to play pickleball... a lot.

Let's just be honest: Tennis is much, much, much harder than pickleball. There is no 1-to-1 comparison. I’ve played at a "decent" level of tennis (#1 in ranking 2010 Ontario Senior Tennis in my age group), and I now play at a "decent" level of pickleball, and I'm sorry, but tennis is the varsity sport. Think about it. The court is so much bigger, you have a larger racket (with actual strings!), and you have to run and run a lot more. You basically need the lung capacity of a marathon runner and the precision of a Swiss watchmaker.

But to you tennis players out there who smugly snub your nose at the sight and sound of that plastic wiffle ball, you don’t get it either. There are lots of reasons why pickleball is exploding—besides the fact that it sounds like a weird food item you might find at a roadside diner. I did a mental inventory recently, and by my estimation, there are as many indoor pickleball clubs open or on the books to open as there are indoor tennis clubs. And let’s not forget that Padel is starting to happen here with more courts opening. It's a big tent—you tennis players—so stop sulking in your pristine whites and realize it's just good that people are out there getting exercise.

Pickleball is much easier to learn and have fun with, minus the long, soul-crushing learning curve of tennis. I see so many people playing pickleball who frankly would probably not have great success at tennis but are running around and enjoying 5-8 ball rallies in pickle. Meanwhile, in tennis, the same people would likely find that the rally would be over in 1-2 shots—followed by an awkward walk of shame to retrieve the ball—and then, oh wait, they have to go pick up the other ball, too.

So, is there good pickleball? For sure there is. As I’ve progressed through the game, I get to play with a lot of very good players, many of them former tennis players who hit the ball hard and move fast around the court. It’s a different game with different rules and quirks about it, and 'til you master those quirks, you won’t quite get it. If you're wondering, no, you don't actually serve pickles. That's a different, much weirder sport.

If you recall, I sort of fell into the game. After having shoulder surgery (rotator cuff, naturally—the tennis player's badge of honour) and getting bored of sitting around, I thought I might try pickleball. I mean... how tough could it be? (Spoiler: The answer is 'tough enough to cause other injuries later on'). It was pretty easy to get to a certain level, but to advance to the higher echelons has taken time and patience, and I’m still a long way away.

I made the fateful decision to start playing tournaments in 2025, and so this blog is sort of a recap of that. Pickle has a rating system they use called DUPR, which sounds like something you’d find on a car license plate, and the club I play at was going to introduce this rating system into its organized play to ensure the "appropriate" level of play. Yeah... appropriate level of play is quite a problem, as some people just have no idea of their level (and by "some people," I mean mostly former tennis players who think their tennis game translates directly). When you play tournaments, you will get a DUPR rating (it’s numerical), and it goes up or down based on wins and losses and who you play. It’s complicated, and honestly, a little too much like high-stakes gambling for a plastic ball sport. I thought it might be fun to test the waters outside the comfort zone of the club and at the same time see if I can get a proper rating.

I won’t bore you with every excruciating detail but will try to give you an overview from 30,000 feet. I ended up playing 18 tournaments (29 events) and managing to garnish three gold, three silvers, two bronze, and unfortunately, seven 4th place finishes (sigh—the noble 4th place, where you get all the exhaustion and none of the medals). And one of the gold was the Ontario Provincials (yay)!

There were some highs and some lows. The first few months of this journey proved to be bumpy, as I was still trying to figure out how to play. In difficult situations, I often found myself thinking I was still on a tennis court and would hit the ball way too hard. Remember I said pickle has a few quirks about it, and one of them is: don’t try to hit the ball so hard, and learn to have patience and wait for the right moments. Not easy for a lifelong tennis player. I’m still trying to unlearn 60 years of aggressive baseline hitting—it’s like trying to get my dog to stop barking at other dogs.

The other challenge is finding the right partner. I have written in past posts how I was a basic idiot on the court for many of my games (I truly apologize to my past partners, I promise I’m mostly house-trained now) and I have only recently learned to relax and smile when my partner misses a shot instead of channeling my inner John McEnroe.

I had fun playing with a rotation of partners, including: MD (pickleball princess, who since removed me off her speed dial), CM (taco belle, because she's a bit spicy), JC (younger version of Brad Pitt...LOL, he knows it, too), LE (can’t play on Fridays, which is inconveniently when all the good tournaments are), ED (we won the Provincials, but I should apologize to), PB (lefty, which is both a blessing and a curse), SJ (hit hard and harder, dink? What's that?), CC (every ball is coming back, like a terrifying boomerang and JH (it’s not badminton out there.). I would be remiss if I didn’t mention SA or SM (the same person - the Queen B of organizing) - tries to include the old man when she can.

I’m pretty confident that some of the partners have left me behind—it's kind of like a dating app. Swipe and swipe, until you’re left with the anyone who will put up with you.

I managed to get a DUPR rating, and that’s been interesting. Up, down, and sideways. Of course, I think I’m better than my rating, but isn't everyone? I maintain my rating is simply misunderstood.

I have a few pickleball homes to play at, and two of them are very good. My home club is the Jar, and my secondary club is Pickleplex Downsview. Both are good facilities but with very different membership structures. It would seem that better players are a little bit transient and tend to move around, so unfortunately, the group at the Jar has dwindled down. Maybe they heard I was looking for a partner. The Plex is still new and trying to find its way with the usual growing pains of proper level play—it's still in the awkward teenage phase of club existence. But the head honcho Manni W is truly a good guy and this place will succeed.

Finally, I’m back on the injury reserve list, and at the time of this writing, I’m sitting on my you know what. I have a bad case of plantar fasciitis—which is basically your foot protesting years of running after tennis balls and then suddenly having to do quick, tiny movements like a caffeinated crab. I’ve promised the medical team (yeah, I have a team, mostly consisting of me yelling at my foot) that I would take 5-6 weeks off. I’m now into the 4th week, and unfortunately, it's not getting any better. I can walk, but I'm not sure about standing for hours and hours—like when I have to decide which bottle of red wine I should open. I’m trying to stay positive but... sigh. My foot has become a very expensive, very painful indoor ornament.

And what about tennis? Well, I gave up the tennis club membership earlier, and it’s been a few months since I’ve hit a tennis ball. Not saying never again, but time is ticking away, and frankly, my foot is currently in charge of the schedule. That’s it for now. See you on the other side of 2025.