Pickleball Magazine 2-2 Courtesy of Pickleball Central | Page 51

THE
MAGIC BULLET
AND THE
SLIPPERY SLOPE
FINDING NEW LIFE AFTER RETIREMENT
BY DIANE REYNOLDS
Y
ou are 65. You have retired recently from 40 years of
working long and hard. Sure, you have some hobbies
and want to travel. Time with the grandkids sounds good.
Fitness is important but walking is boring and those
weight rooms stink of sweat. So you hit the senior center
on a Monday morning and stumble into some kind of
game with a flimsy-looking net and a ball riddled with
holes.
An old man hands you a wooden paddle. You learn a few
rules and cover a few skills. You play a game and get caught
trespassing in the kitchen. It is fun! Wow!
MAG-IC BULL-ET
Quick and simple solution to a
difficult problem
The definition of Magic Bullet becomes reality. In a few
short weeks you become “addicted” to pickleball, purchase
a state-of-the-art paddle and your entire view of the
retirement world goes into overdrive. In a few short years
you medal at the Huntsman World Senior Games and
achieve fame at your senior center — a genuine hero to the
old man who taught you the basics.
SLIP-PER-Y SLOPE
A situation in which events readily
progress from one to the next
Pickleball was invented over 50 years ago, but has
exponentially exploded in the last 10, primarily in the
60+ population. Thousands of seniors have learned of this
“Magic Bullet” and acknowledge its power when “events”
progress on the Slippery Slope.
Age 60 morphs to 70 in one lightning bolt. Pain stabbing
at a knee becomes a joint replacement. A few more
medications join the daily regimen. Then there’s stronger
reading glasses, a hearing aid, a cane, etc. Walk to the
courts with the damn cane, lay it down, and commence
play. Indeed.
It is 8:00 a.m. at Pimlico, one of the myriad venues for
pickleball in The Villages, a huge retirement community in
Florida. The eight courts are filled with smiling picklers,
kidding and ribbing each other. John sports not one
but two artificial knees plus a fake hip. Steve is back
after recovering from lung surgery for cancer. Sue has a
heart problem and sits out frequently. The smell of horse
liniment permeates the humid air. A kaleidoscope of
physical abilities and disabilities combine in the amazing
dance of older participants doing the best they can to find
traction on the Slippery Slope. And, they are having a
blast!
Pickleball is not merely a game with a crazy name. It is a
revolution. The Villages boasts over 160 courts and is only
one of many communities offering the sport. There are
several thousand places to play in the USA, not to mention
Canada, Mexico and countries across the oceans.
No matter how steep and greased each person finds the
inevitability of the Slippery Slope, the sport of pickleball
has become the Magic Bullet for countless legions of
senior players who “rage, rage against the dying of the
light” (Dylan Thomas). It gives people a reason to rehab,
recover and hit those courts one more time.
Mary Oliver writes in her poem “Summer Day”: “Tell
me, what is it you will do with your one wild and precious
life?” I say, “Play pickleball of course!” •
MARCH/APRIL 2017 |
MAGAZINE
49