Hudef Sport

  By   Matthew Schwartz ( Pickleball in Paradise players at Sandals South Coast, Jamaica ) You’re addicted to pickleball and have a wonderful, romantic getaway planned with your significant other. But as the vacation approaches, you’re in a panic. You break out in a cold sweat every time you think about your itinerary because of a glaring omission.   No pickleball! What am I going to do without it? How am I going to survive the week? How can I go two straight days without playing?  Heck, one day without? Thanks to savvy travel agents and entrepreneurs, you can go on a wonderful, romantic vacation while fulfilling your pickleball Jones and play every day if you wish. Numerous travel agencies looking to take advantage of the pickleball craze are offering pickleball themed vacations to five-star resorts in exotic locations. The vacations are another example of pickleball’s explosion in popularity. “During the pandemic, I fell in love with pickleball,” Barb Strait says. ...

  By   Matthew Schwartz  Coach Mo (2nd from left) after winning the silver medal in men’s 35+ in 2010 at the USAPA Nationals in Buckeye, AZ - Richard Movsessian was twice as old as most of his opponents in the 35+ men’s doubles tournament at the 2010 USAPA Nationals in Arizona. He and his partner, then the top-ranked player Phil Bagley, were among 32 teams competing. Their opponents consistently picked on the senior citizen. “Since Phil was 42 and I was 70 with grey hair, they saw me as the guy to hit to,” Movsessian told me.  Movsessian’s team won silver. “I kept every ball to their toes,” Movsessian said. “I hit high percentage shots: 80% down the middle to backhand, made very few unforced errors, and waited patiently for our opponents to accidentally hit a ball high to Phil. I gave our opponents a chance to lose. I knew if I didn't lose the point, we would win it,” Movsessian said. “A team is only as strong as its weaker player.” That all sounds like tips you’d ge...

By  Matthew Schwartz   The company for which I write this weekly blog has never asked me to promote its products. Hudef Sport gives me complete autonomy. Its staff doesn’t know what my pieces are about when I send them in to be posted.  As someone who spent 40 years as a television news reporter (the last 20 years as an investigative reporter), I can tell you this type of independence and trust are rare. When Hudef offered me this job out of nowhere in late 2023, I didn’t want to work even part-time. I turned 70 last October and was happy playing pickleball and enjoying other hobbies. I told the company I’d love to write a column if it could be about any pickleball related topic of  my choosing.  This would combine my passions for writing and pickleball. I didn’t and don’t want to write the same pickleball articles found in countless other websites, about injury prevention, which shoes or protective glasses to wear, pickleball rules, etc. Don’t get me wrong, th...