One sign that we are getting fatter as a country:

[haie]

Fucking pickleball.

The rules are shittier and less intuitive than tennis, the flow of the game is shittier than tennis, the ball isn't as fun to hit as a tennis ball. If you're at a beach or where there's wind the game turns shitty quickly.

The only conclusion I can come up with is that tennis is too much running for all these fat ass Americans. You actually have to have some semblance of athleticism to play it.

If you're old I can kind of get it although playing pretty much gets you your entire days worth of exercise done within an hour.

It's fucking weird how the pickleball to tennis court ratio is like 7:1 now.

40% growth and one of the most popular sports now and celebrities are all pimping it?

Cornhole trend is less pathetic than this. A slobby drunk with an arthritis brace throwing a sand bag is at least honest.

 

[1to392831weretaken]

You're getting this all backwards. It's not that Americans are too fat for tennis, it's that Americans are just way too fit and athletic for ping pong.

It's a dumb game half empty/dumb game half full question of perspective, and you need a walk on the beach.

 

[BleachedAnusDawg]

Pickleball was invented on Bainbridge Island.

 

[haie]

You're getting this all backwards. It's not that Americans are too fat for tennis, it's that Americans are just way too fit and athletic for ping pong.

It's a dumb game half empty/dumb game half full question of perspective, and you need a walk on the beach.

It's modeled after ping pong rules, but I don't consider ping pong a sport. That you can't really play doubles in it is a big disqualifier.

It's just pathetic how the same people that refuse to play tennis are now obsessed with pickleball. They aren't athletic enough to hit anything but a slow moving wiffleball.

The serve rules for pickleball are the pussiest old person shit I've ever seen. What's the point of even serving if you're doing it underhand.

 

[whlinder]

That shit is so annoying when trying to play REAL tennis. The sound is irritating.

Doubles tennis is barely exercise. There is no chance pickleball has health benefits beyond simply being outside and not sitting down, and I guess maintaining coordination and dexterity.

Thank real god for clay tennis courts which are free from pickleball bullshit.

 

[chuck]

That shit is so annoying when trying to play REAL tennis. The sound is irritating.

Doubles tennis is barely exercise. There is no chance pickleball has health benefits beyond simply being outside and not sitting down, and I guess maintaining coordination and dexterity.

Thank real god for clay tennis courts which are free from pickleball bullshit.

I've seen pretty damn decrepit old folks playing reasonable tennis, both doubles and singles. I wouldn't call the singles competitive as they usually just crack ground strokes back and forth to each other until one screws up. They can hit sweet shots with velocity though, and hitting hard, accurate shots is enjoyable in itself. Like @haie said it's satisfying to hit a tennis ball well similar to a baseball or golf ball.

I've seen some pretty rousing doubles matches among senior citizens though. The father of my best friend growing up was a HS teacher and the tennis coach. That was in the 80s and my friend moved away 25 years ago but I've become friends with the old man as an adult. He's long retired as a teacher but still coaches the HS team and has serious game in his upper 70s. He just sticks to doubles for competitive matches.

 

[YellowSnow]

That shit is so annoying when trying to play REAL tennis. The sound is irritating.

Doubles tennis is barely exercise. There is no chance pickleball has health benefits beyond simply being outside and not sitting down, and I guess maintaining coordination and dexterity.

Thank real god for clay tennis courts which are free from pickleball bullshit.

I wish I could play REAL tennis. But my rotator cuff is too fucked up from my horrific ski accident. @MrsSnow loves tennis and I need to find her some gals to play with.

I don't have a problem with Pickleball as a game like anything else, but it's definitely not exercise.

The pickleball fatties probably think some BS diet like keto or paleo will save them too. The number one predictor of a person's lifespan is VO2 max so me and @whlinder are saved.

 

[PurpleThrobber]

Young Throbber played on the junior tennis circuit as a young lad. But then had misguided dreams of an NBA career and gave up the sport.

About the only regret of my life.

 

[YellowSnow]

Young Throbber played on the junior tennis circuit as a young lad. But then had misguided dreams of an NBA career and gave up the sport.

About the only regret of my life.

Lil' piss 1.0 thinks he's gonna be an NFL QB. He's does have a cannon of an arm for a lanky ass 5'3" 9 year old.

 

[Fishpo31]

I played tennis for a long time (left-handed during beisbol season), but stopped at about age 35 due to Father Tim, and being on the other side of the net for two friends blowing Achillies out in a two week span...

I also played a shit-load of pickle ball, well before it was "IN", or anyone knew what it was. About 30 years ago at the school I was at, the corches played IM hoops, M-W-F. On Tuesday/Thursday, we were bored. One of the asst. ADs was spotted upstairs in the gym, with heavy-duty tape, making a court. Cut up an old volleyball net, and it was on. Coaches' league (with a few profs that we liked), ultra-competitive (to the point of thrown paddles, copious amounts of F-bombs, near-coming to blows, and a couple concussions from running into walls), and we fucking loved it...Fall, winter, spring leagues for the 9 years I was there, singles and doubles. We would go down on the weekends and play, just for something to do, and, it is like golf in that you can drink beer while playing, if you so choose...

I do scoff at it being the "newest craze", but IFL'ed it...

 

[Joey]

I told my wife Pickleball is big because we’re too lazy for tennis. She looked at me like I was crazy, that’s how I knew I was RIGHT.

 

[Fishpo31]

Young Throbber played on the junior tennis circuit as a young lad. But then had misguided dreams of an NBA career and gave up the sport.

About the only regret of my life.

Lil' piss 1.0 thinks he's gonna be an NFL QB. He's does have a cannon of an arm for a lanky ass 5'3" 9 year old.

Right or left handed? I know some guysm…

 

[dirtysouwfdawg]

Fucking pickleball.

The rules are shittier and less intuitive than tennis, the flow of the game is shittier than tennis, the ball isn't as fun to hit as a tennis ball. If you're at a beach or where there's wind the game turns shitty quickly.

The only conclusion I can come up with is that tennis is too much running for all these fat ass Americans. You actually have to have some semblance of athleticism to play it.

If you're old I can kind of get it although playing pretty much gets you your entire days worth of exercise done within an hour.

It's fucking weird how the pickleball to tennis court ratio is like 7:1 now.

40% growth and one of the most popular sports now and celebrities are all pimping it?

Cornhole trend is less pathetic than this. A slobby drunk with an arthritis brace throwing a sand bag is at least honest.

This.

I play tennis, kiddos play tennis. Bet you can’t guess which member of my family doesn’t play tennis…

 

[BleachedAnusDawg]

Tennis could very well be the worst sport for someone to pick up if they're fat. Sounds like an ACL waiting to happen.

 

[YellowSnow]

Young Throbber played on the junior tennis circuit as a young lad. But then had misguided dreams of an NBA career and gave up the sport.

About the only regret of my life.

Lil' piss 1.0 thinks he's gonna be an NFL QB. He's does have a cannon of an arm for a lanky ass 5'3" 9 year old.

Right or left handed? I know some guysm…

@Fishpo31 we did not tie his right arm behind his back at an early age.

Also - and I mean no disrespeck - Mrs Snow and I loathe the though of youth travel beisbol.

Probably, leaving millions of dollars on the table. We are terrible parents.

 

[chuck]

Young Throbber played on the junior tennis circuit as a young lad. But then had misguided dreams of an NBA career and gave up the sport.

About the only regret of my life.

Lil' piss 1.0 thinks he's gonna be an NFL QB. He's does have a cannon of an arm for a lanky ass 5'3" 9 year old.

Right or left handed? I know some guysm…

@Fishpo31 we did not tie his right arm behind his back at an early age.

Also - and I mean no disrespeck - Mrs Snow and I loathe the though of youth travel beisbol.

Probably, leaving millions of dollars on the table. We are terrible parents.

Travel ball burns most kids and families out. Play Little League, and if he's really good maybe a little tournament ball without dedicating whole summers to it.

There was a pretty big community split here when my son's age group hit 10-12. Most of the parents of the better players got tired of the Little League way and wanted to selectively pull the best players onto a couple of JBO teams. They wanted to pour all the resources into it while treating Little League as a repository for the lesser players. Rather than playing interleague with the bigger leagues in Vancouver they wanted to keep the lesser players home to only face each other in what would basically be pickup games. This way the uniform and equipment money could all go to the travel teams.

It decimated youth baseball around here. Most of us were appalled at what they wanted to do and their approach to it and wouldn't get involved. They managed to rob enough kids to form two travel teams but weren't able to lure all the good players. What really happened was that both sides sucked. The travel kids went and got embarrassed. The kids that stayed LL got frustrated and tired of being one of 2-3 good players on a team surrounded by daisy pickers. About 2/3 of the good players quit by the time they were 14 and by HS almost all of them had ditched baseball altogether. It was a real shame as there was a ton of talent in that age group.

I could rant about it all day. Travel ball pisses me off. It could be a great thing in the right dosage, but pulling kids out of local leagues and dragging them all around the region all summer rarely works out for the better.

 

[coronabruin]

3rd grade pickleball CHAMP. Come at me faggot!

 

[Fishpo31]

Young Throbber played on the junior tennis circuit as a young lad. But then had misguided dreams of an NBA career and gave up the sport.

About the only regret of my life.

Lil' piss 1.0 thinks he's gonna be an NFL QB. He's does have a cannon of an arm for a lanky ass 5'3" 9 year old.

Right or left handed? I know some guysm…

@Fishpo31 we did not tie his right arm behind his back at an early age.

Also - and I mean no disrespeck - Mrs Snow and I loathe the though of youth travel beisbol.

Probably, leaving millions of dollars on the table. We are terrible parents.

No disrespeck taken...I was mocking the state of Yute baseball in general. He should play whatever he wants to, for as long as he wants to, not because Dad and Mom dumped $5G into year-round training, and twice that for family "vacations" to play for endless "World Series" trophies, and ultimately the "FULL RIDE scholarship"...

#Showcaseparents
#Pocketfullofschollies

 

[Fishpo31]

Young Throbber played on the junior tennis circuit as a young lad. But then had misguided dreams of an NBA career and gave up the sport.

About the only regret of my life.

Lil' piss 1.0 thinks he's gonna be an NFL QB. He's does have a cannon of an arm for a lanky ass 5'3" 9 year old.

Right or left handed? I know some guysm…

@Fishpo31 we did not tie his right arm behind his back at an early age.

Also - and I mean no disrespeck - Mrs Snow and I loathe the though of youth travel beisbol.

Probably, leaving millions of dollars on the table. We are terrible parents.

Travel ball burns most kids and families out. Play Little League, and if he's really good maybe a little tournament ball without dedicating whole summers to it.

There was a pretty big community split here when my son's age group hit 10-12. Most of the parents of the better players got tired of the Little League way and wanted to selectively pull the best players onto a couple of JBO teams. They wanted to pour all the resources into it while treating Little League as a repository for the lesser players. Rather than playing interleague with the bigger leagues in Vancouver they wanted to keep the lesser players home to only face each other in what would basically be pickup games. This way the uniform and equipment money could all go to the travel teams.

It decimated youth baseball around here. Most of us were appalled at what they wanted to do and their approach to it and wouldn't get involved. They managed to rob enough kids to form two travel teams but weren't able to lure all the good players. What really happened was that both sides sucked. The travel kids went and got embarrassed. The kids that stayed LL got frustrated and tired of being one of 2-3 good players on a team surrounded by daisy pickers. About 2/3 of the good players quit by the time they were 14 and by HS almost all of them had ditched baseball altogether. It was a real shame as there was a ton of talent in that age group.

I could rant about it all day. Travel ball pisses me off. It could be a great thing in the right dosage, but pulling kids out of local leagues and dragging them all around the region all summer rarely works out for the better.

I couldn't agree more...As a kid, my area had some really good players, spread out in several nearby towns. Come together, and we would have been damn near unbeatable. Ask the kids, and all we wanted to do was kick their asses, with OUR guys.

Since my "retirement", I have attended exactly ONE youth game, a Legion game coached by a couple of long tim friends, baseball lifers. They have had one of the dominant Legion clubs in the state for decades, Pro guys, many D1 guys, HS state champ programs, and the level of play was appalling, to me, from where it had been previously. All of the "better" players were select-club poached..."Hawaii for 10 days, San Diego for 2 weeks"...it is such a fucking scam. Over the years, I have been offered as much as $50K to run one of these "programs"...I couldn't do it, ethically.

My favorite is that kids and parents roam around to "open tryouts" every August for all of these teams, 3-4-5 days a week. 100+ kids for 15 spots. Then, they add more teams to the program, and up the charge for the "JV squad" so they can recruit with schollies for the studs on "the Varsity"...

Talk to any college coach or pro scout, and they all say the same thing...multi-sport athletes are the best baseball players, not the guys who have been training in an indoor facility year-round since they were 9 or 10...

 

[YellowSnow]

Young Throbber played on the junior tennis circuit as a young lad. But then had misguided dreams of an NBA career and gave up the sport.

About the only regret of my life.

Lil' piss 1.0 thinks he's gonna be an NFL QB. He's does have a cannon of an arm for a lanky ass 5'3" 9 year old.

Right or left handed? I know some guysm…

@Fishpo31 we did not tie his right arm behind his back at an early age.

Also - and I mean no disrespeck - Mrs Snow and I loathe the though of youth travel beisbol.

Probably, leaving millions of dollars on the table. We are terrible parents.

Travel ball burns most kids and families out. Play Little League, and if he's really good maybe a little tournament ball without dedicating whole summers to it.

There was a pretty big community split here when my son's age group hit 10-12. Most of the parents of the better players got tired of the Little League way and wanted to selectively pull the best players onto a couple of JBO teams. They wanted to pour all the resources into it while treating Little League as a repository for the lesser players. Rather than playing interleague with the bigger leagues in Vancouver they wanted to keep the lesser players home to only face each other in what would basically be pickup games. This way the uniform and equipment money could all go to the travel teams.

It decimated youth baseball around here. Most of us were appalled at what they wanted to do and their approach to it and wouldn't get involved. They managed to rob enough kids to form two travel teams but weren't able to lure all the good players. What really happened was that both sides sucked. The travel kids went and got embarrassed. The kids that stayed LL got frustrated and tired of being one of 2-3 good players on a team surrounded by daisy pickers. About 2/3 of the good players quit by the time they were 14 and by HS almost all of them had ditched baseball altogether. It was a real shame as there was a ton of talent in that age group.

I could rant about it all day. Travel ball pisses me off. It could be a great thing in the right dosage, but pulling kids out of local leagues and dragging them all around the region all summer rarely works out for the better.

If I were Dictator of America I would ban all travel sports ball for kids under the age of 15. And from 15 and up it would only be available for kids that have an 81% chance of better of doing sports ball at the D I level.

#VoteYella2024