Pickleball Peak Performance

06/15/2020

ANNOUNCING
10.10.20
IS
WORLD PICKLEBALL DAY
VISIT https://www.worldpickleballfederation.org
to find out more and to get involved.

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07/05/2018

It's been quite some time since I wrote a post on PPP. My life changed dramatically after I left the pickleball teaching program I started at College Park in Lincolnshire, IL. I've been told by many that we were the first to begin teaching pickleball at a private tennis club in the US. That was just 3 years ago, when there was a great deal of resistance from the tennis community. Most tennis professionals thought pickleball was just a fad, some wanted to squash pickleball in it's tracks and PPP was a real trail blazer. I introduced the importance of drills and group instruction by skill level which was brand new to pickleball in 2015.......& as they say we've come a long way baby!

I fell in love with this sport and thought I could better serve the pickleball community by teaching teachers rather than players and as a result IPTPA was born. Over the past few years, I've travel to just about every state in the Union as well as Israel, UK, Holland, South Korea, Japan, Taiwan, Hong Kong, China & Australia. I've either introduced our great game or certified instructors who can preach the IPTPA gospel to others. I'm back in good old Chi Town for a couple weeks to host a couple of our very popular Teach the Teacher Workshops, which leads to certification as a level I instructor. For those of you that not only love to play but love to help others we still have room at two workshops being held July 17,18 in Arlington Heights & July 19,20 in Chicago. Here's a flyer that provides a few more details. You can go to our website to sign up at iptpa.com

Hope to see some familiar faces there. best always
rif

10/23/2017

I'm about half way through my trip to Israel where I'm introducing pickleball to the country for the very first time. I've been to 3 cities thus far and the response has been fantastic. From children to adults pickleball love has now reached the middle east, who knows maybe we can solve the middle east crisis with pickleball love!! too optimistic.....ya probably so but we can dream right. Here's a few pics with some video footage to follow in a couple days. Thanks to Onix for generously donating nets, paddles and balls for me to leave behind so the facilities can continue to offer play upon my departure. Also a hearty thanks to Engage who donated paddles. Photo's are from Ramat Hasharon, Askelon and Haifa. Tomorrow I head to Jerusalem. It's been long days of driving, and introduction/demonstration to pickleball with play to follow. Good times

07/24/2017

Just returned from Kalamazoo and the Great Lakes Regional Tournament. Long time PPP member & dbls partner Chuck Feinstein helped carry me to a bronze in the 5.0 35+ category. Congratulations to Jim & Yvonne Hackenberg on running a great tournament even when participation doubled compared to last year. Jim H & Bart Ford took the silver & good friends Larry VanderRoest & Scott Smith captured the gold coming through the back draw, great job & an exciting final. Grats goes to PPP member Gene Smyth who captured the gold in mixed 4.5 with first time partner Mary Doten also from IL. On a side bar Chuck & I got a bit of redemption in beating good friends Dan McLaughlin & Pat Sinicki this yrs. US Open Champions who knocked us out at the open. Looking forwarded to the next rubber match boys 😉

07/14/2017

On Sunday, July 16 at 7:00 pm CDT, I'll do a pickleball forum facebook live presentation on the IPTPA Rating System followed by a Q&A. I've been inundated by questions & complements on our new system both by players and local clubs. Find out why our rating system is getting such rave reviews and why it's much more than a rating system. The program clearly defines the basic fundamentals, shots, stroke development and consistency required at each skill level which is an important characteristic governing bodies from other countries require to be recognized as an official sport. This becomes an important building block towards pickleball being accepted as a future Olympic sport.

06/28/2017

03/13/2017

Getting ready to head home after a week in Naples Fl. preparing for our upcoming IPTPA World Congress to be held in conjunction with the US Open Pickleball Championships next month. While there I was able to compete in the Southern Tropics Tournament. I had the privilege of partnering up with Joe DiMauro and we had a great battle in the finals but just came up short winning the silver in a hard fought 3 game final. Congratulations to Charlie Einsiedler - Rob Rowse who won the gold and Terry Morais - Bruce Reed who took home the bronze. Other PPP members who medaled were Gene Smyth - Corky King who took home the silver in the 4.5 age. Congratulations to all participants and to Jim Ludwig and Nancy Robertson tournament directors who organized and put on a fantastic event, as well as all the volunteers who help make the tournament run like clockwork.

02/24/2017

Our April 2nd Chicago Clinic for the 3.5 player is being cancelled. I've been informed that there is a park district tournament the same day and I don't want the players to have to choose between two events. I've always tried to support all the local park districts and forcing our local players to decide between one pickleball activity or another doesn't seem conducive to the local pickleball community. I apologize to the players who already payed for the clinic, your money will be refunded.

02/06/2017

Save this date if you're a 3.5 player whose interested in a clinic dedicated specifically to your skill level and want to work on the shots that will take you to the 4.0 level. PPP is putting together the 2nd IPTPA Endorsed Clinic just for you Sunday, April 2nd with a morning and afternoon session. You must be a USAPA ranked 3.5 player or been rated 3.5 by an IPTPA Certified Rating Specialist. In our continued efforts to create the best possible value for all of our participants we will not accept any self rated individuals that think they are a 3.5 player. Having like skilled players in our groups is a key factor to creating a great learning experience for all our clinic participants. If you want to attend our clinic but do not have a USAPA rating of 3.5 email Seymour at [email protected] to learn more about IPTPA's just released rating system for the non-tournament player.

02/05/2017

PPP was well represented at the recent Iowa State Games, as PPP members swept the 35 + open age group division. We had a great day of competition with our good friends John Lang & Josh Lancaster taking home the gold, Seymour Rifkind & Chuck Feinstein silver, and Ken Harris & Gene Smyth bronze. Chuck and I had two memorable come from behind match wins after being down 3-12, and 4-12 we came back to win 15-12, 15-12. It's never over till its over right! A great day of competition & comradery was had by all.

02/05/2017

So, I've got some catching up to do as I'm a little late providing thank yous to folks that have been supportive of PPP and my efforts with IPTPA. I want to send a big shout out to Pickleball Central, the premier on-line retailer for all things pickleball. They've been a past sponsor of both the clinics PPP has put on and they wrote two fantastic stories supporting me and IPTPA on the blog.
https://blog.pickleballcentral.com/category/growing-pickleball/
One article was published 1/31/17 and the other 1/10/17. Thanks for the great article on your continued support.

Posts about Growing Pickleball written by myklathrop, Glen Peterson, Laura, elizaled, and Anna

12/31/2016

After a full day clinic at the Ocean Reef Club with Kyle Y. & Simone J, the boys took me out for some big game fishing. What a blast, Rif caught a sail fish on the 1st try but more than anything else my extended pickleball family just keeps on growing thanks for the memories!