FROM THE USAPA
The Kitchen Sink 1-0-1
BY GREGORY N . KROLCZYK
So … football or baseball ? Which do you prefer ? Now right off the bat , you ’ d expect those drawn to slambam action to lean toward the football side of things , and those whose tastes lean to the genteel side to be drawn to baseball , right ?
What ’ s interesting here is that your average baseball game actually contains more action than your average football game . Think I ’ m crazy ? Well , probably , but it ’ s still a fact . The difference is that most of the action in baseball isn ’ t so much the 11-on-11 , wham-bam-thank-you-ma ’ am variety but is instead more the comparatively mundane 1-on-1 variety . However , where baseball excels is in the interstitial , with the cat-and-mouse interplay between the pitcher and the batter , something this one-time Baltimore boy noticed back in ’ 79 when the Orioles were playing the Pittsburgh Pirates in the World Series .
That same interstitial suspense happens in pickleball , too , thanks to that much maligned move , the dink . Yeah , the poor little dink ; the bangers despise it , and the beginners ( and many intermediates ) don ’ t even use it . But all things considered , it has to be the most beautiful , most useful , and the most exciting shot in all of pickleball . After all , a well-executed dink can be used defensively to prevent that banger from banging , and if you really know what you ’ re doing ( and especially if your opponent has limited skills and / or patience ), it ’ s the perfectly demoralizing offensive weapon . But perhaps the most sublime of all is when that little dink is used to tame a slam-bang rally and reset the point . Ooooooooohhhhhh , what bliss , what perfection . Now , we ’ ve turned that game of checkers into a chess match .
Speaking of rallies , what would you consider a good rally in a banger ’ s game ? 5 hits ? 6 ? 8 ? Let ’ s stretch it to 10 – how ’ s that ? I ( a 4.0 player on my best days ) was just involved in a rally where an onlooker counted 20 dinks in a row , all made waiting for that perfect chance to pounce ! And that was just the dinks . That doesn ’ t count those hopeful hits aiming for the win but deflected and ultimately brought back under control with ( yup ) a dink . And , that was but one rally , for one point , in an 11-9 game .
So , the wham-bam-thank-you-ma ’ am of football , or the intense suspense of baseball ? Why choose ? Bring the dink to your game and get the best of both worlds . •
THE ULTIMATE KIDS PICKLEBALL
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