A huge Congratulations to all the Sonoma County Pickleball Competitors who participated in the 2022 National Championships !
Here they are Eddie Brascia Jo Ann Cohn Reed Ferrick Steve Fujii Linda Hoffman Adam MacKinnon
Thanks to all of you for representing our community so well !
Congratulations to all the winners at the Pickleball For All Fall Classic this past weekend ! A fine time was had by All ! Click link below to see all the results !
More congratulations: Sonoma County winners at the NP West Coast Classic at Oakley ! Theo and Will MacKinnon 5.0 19+ MD Silver Kevin Bonner 4.0 19+ MD Bronze Jeff Muller/Tom Lynn 3.0 50+60+ MD Bronze Linda Hoffman 3.0 50+ MXD Silver Melissa & Kevin Bonner 3.5 19+35+ MXD Bronze Jo Anne Cohn/John Metras 3.5 60+ MXD Bronze
Great News ! Tournament in Santa Rosa in the Fall ! See below:
Congratulations to Reed Ferrick for Silver in MXD 4.0 65+ and Gold in MD 4.0 65+ at The Pacific Northwest Classic in Bend, Oregon !
Congratulations to all medal winners at the Consumer Cellular USA Pickleball Newport Beach Championships Eddie Brascia Silver MD 4.0 55+ Reed Ferrick Bronze MD 4.0 65+ Michael Finnie Bronze MS 3.5 55+ Linda Hoffman/Julie Clark Bronze WD 3.0 50+ Adam MacKinnon Bronze MXD 4.5 50+ Will MacKinnon Silver MD 4.5 19+
Way to go Juanita and Jade ! Gold in Women’s 5.0 Amateur Below 50 19+, 30+ !!! And Ryan and Dima Men’s 5.0 Gold Below 50 19+ 35+ at the APP So Cal Classic
Thank you Everyone for playing in the 9th Annual Sonoma Wine Country Games Pickleball tournament. Held this year in Rohnert Park, a wonderful time was had by all ! Follow link below to see all the winners
Kudos to all the medal winners yesterday at the first annual Monaco/Crum/Williams Alzheimer’s Tournament ! Mixed Doubles today 5/14 at Sunrise Park at 1 PM
Healdsburg is launching a petition for dedicated Pickleball courts ! Click this link to read and sign HBG
The week of March 20-27 had multiple winners in multiple locations ! Congratulations the players at The Southwest Diamond Regional in Mesa: Steve Fuji Silver Men’s Doubles 3.5 60+, PePe Luis Gold Men’s Doubles 4.0 65+, Michael Finnie, Gold Men’s Singles 3.5, 55+ and at the Paragon $5000 in Concord: Adam and Will MacKinnon Gold Men’s Doubles 4.5, Diana and Evan Lampi Silver Mixed 4.5, Jade Buhman/Juanita Magardie Gold Women’s 4.5
Congrats to Adam/Theo Gold, Ryan/Dima Silver and Juanita/Nathanael Bronze Great time had by All !
Save the date ! John Williams having big event Sunday February 27 at Finley !
4.5 Invitational Advance notice: the only remaining group of players that has not yet had their own local mini-tournament in this series are the strongest group of all, the 4.5+ players! They’re next, and this will be an invite-only event taking place next Sunday, February 27, 2022 - 10am-1pm - 4.5 level and above - at Finley. My thanks to Adam MacKinnon for helping with the planning on this one. A morning start has been set because of afternoon/evening work commitments from some of the potential participants, and because the more intense level of play, and longer rallies at this level, mean a greater chance of heat exhaustion (as we saw in the 4.0 event). Again, we are asking that other players give this group as much chance as possible to play the first tourney geared towards their level and instead, play other venues on that day. (Sunday was chosen as we know a large pool of recreational players go to Windsor on Sunday mornings.) Or, rather than play at this time, come out and watch and cheer them on: these are the highest-level players in the County, so you should see some excellent play! If Sunday morning Finley regulars still want to play at Finley, we will, of course, follow City of SR guidelines and rotate off, as needed. Depending upon our final line-up, we are likely to use 3-4 courts for the Round Robin from 10am to approximately 1pm (with warm-ups expected from 9 or 9:30am). It will be a round-robin of 6-8 teams, with every team playing each other in one game to 15 (win by 2, no time-limit), with a play-off Championship match of the top 2 teams (2/3 to 11). Also, we wanted to set the precedent that players who do well in our local mini-tournament events at one level are earning their chance to prove their chops at the next level up, so the finalists of the 4.0 tourney have all individually been invited to participate in this event too. (Some will be picking new partners, i.e. their regular partners, since the 4.0 event was random partner). So far, we have confirmations from Adam & Theo MacKinnon (our highest-rated local players and two-time National Champions, including at the 4.5 19+ level, and gold-medal winners together at a stunning 8 skill/age tournaments in a row for 2 years straight); Ryan Diaz & Dima Wert (silver medallists at 5.0 19+ in the regional West Coast Classic in Oakley last September; note, Dima is a former World Junior Racquetball Champion and hits the ball harder than anyone you've ever seen!); Nathanael & Juanita Magardie (Mixed Doubles gold medallists at 4.5 35+ at mutiple regional-level events including the Hawaii Open at 4.5 19+ and the Golden State Championships at 4.5 35+); newcomers 13-year-old Will MacKinnon & Jade Buhman (silver medallist at West Regionals in 4.0 19+ Womens Doubles); Eddie Brascia & Jim Passey (multiple medal-winning duo at 4.0 50+ in local and regional tournaments on the west coast, including the Golden State Championships, the Paso Robles Wine Country Classic, the Palm Desert Classic, etc.). Four other invited players are still deliberating their pairings, while the remaining finalist of our 4.0 event, Ron Langermann who played flawlessly that day, has humbly declined to participate against this younger generation of top players. Our other local pairing that has multiple gold medals at the 4.5 level but at older age groups (including National titles at 4.5 70+), Darlene and Steve Walker, have also been approached to see if they want to compete with the young guns! If you believe you are at the 4.5 level and have not yet been invited, please reach out to me and let’s talk! john Williams on Facebook, SCPB TOURNEYS page
Congrats to Sonoma County medal winners @ the PPA Foot Solutions Tourney in Mesa AZ ! ! They are: Jo Anne Cohn Silver in Mixed Doubles 4.0 , 70 + and Bronze in Singles 3.5, 70+ Reed Ferrick\Gayle Blake Silver Mixed 4.0, 65+ and Reed Ferrick\Malcom Davis Silver Mens Doubles 4.0, 65+ Congrats to the winners at the Monterey Bay Pickleball Challenger: They are: Steve Fujii/Chris Reif Bronze Mens Doubles 4.0, 50+,60+ Ricardo Cumberbatch/Kevin Bonner Gold Mens 3.5, 19+ Congrats to Nancy and Gail for playing ! Way to play everyone !
SAVE the Date ! Saturday April 23 ! Dance to raise funds for Windsor Courts. Music by Pickball Robin Rogers band Joyride Joyride performs a wide variety of vocal Americana music encompassing Folk, Jazz, Blues, and Rock styles. Joyride performs a wide variety of vocal Americana Joyride performs a wide variety of vocal
Fantastic Afternoon of Pickleball at Finley 1/28/22. Spencer Crum & John Williams sponsored a 4.0 and above 16-player tournament. Partners were determined by draw and played an 8-team double elimination. Congratulations to GOLD Ron Langerman/Gidon Relin SILVER Eddie Brascia/Jack Sayers BRONZE Pepe Luis/Michael Finnie
Another Tournament tomorrow Friday January 28 , 1 PM at Finley Park. 4.0 and above, 16 players blind draw. Come watch ! Sponsored by Spencer and John. Thanks Guys !
Another Winner ! Spencer Crum won Bronze in Mens Singles 3.5 at the In Shape tournament in Stockton. Way to go Spencer !
Another pair of Winners ! Pat Crabtree and Jo Anne Cohn picked up Gold 4.0 70+ at the Happy Trails Classic, Sunrise AZ
Congrats to John's second tourney winners ! See bracket below. Here's a link to Dave Thompson's video of the event.gopro.com/v/Xl3MDkb1O2n66 Thanks again to John for putting in the effort to producing these competitions !
Congrats to the winners of January 11th local tourney run by John Williams: David Whitehurst/Kathleen Tindle 1st, Carol McReynolds/John Daly 2nd and Linda Reed/John Gordon 3rd . Stay tuned for Part 2 on Friday January 14. Thanks John for organizing !
Thanks John for organizing this ! Tournament - 3.0 Level or below - TUES, JAN 11 @ 1:00pm Last month, I did a tournament at Finley and many other people asked to be included in the next one. Because of the amount of interest, I am dividing the tournaments into two broad categories: Those who have done regional tournaments and have a rating of 3.5 or above and those who haven't done tournaments and are rated at 3.0 or below. If we have enough interest, I will host a tournament at Finley on Tuesday, Jan 11th for players with a rating of 3.0 and below. This is ideal for players who have not participated in regional tournaments but want to elevate their game. I am capping the number of players at 16 and already have 5 or 6 already. Please send me a DM on Facebook Messenger if you would like to play. The format is doubles, random teams, playing 1 game to 15 and you must win by two. It will be double elimination. While we aren't charging for the tournament, Kathy Kerst and or Ken Kerst will be on-site to accept a donation of any amount. Even if you don't want to donate, you may still play. Money raised will go to Sonoma County Pickleball. Who is interested?
Direct message John Williams from Facebook to indicate your interest.
Goal Reached ! The nets are ordered and the City has scheduled the line striping after the holidays.
G o o d N e w s !
Santa Rosa has decided we can cross stripe Tennis courts 1 and 2 at Finley Park for Pickleball, and purchase 8 sturdy and safe temporary nets for the 8 multipurpose courts. The City will paint lines for 6 Pickleball courts once we have raised half of the funds needed. Donations in any amount are welcome, but $ 225.00 would buy 1/10th of the cost of a net, including shipping, tax and assembly. Donations qualify as a charitible donation per the IRS and are tax deductible.
Link to Finley Pickleball Nets fundraising site : bit.ly/3Hastx0
Here is the link to Zoom into the Santa Rosa Board of Community Services meeting, 4PM, Wednesday October 27. There will be a presentation in support of lining Courts 1 and 2 at Finley Park for Pickleball. You can Zoom in to watch and make public comment. SRCITY-ORG.ZOOM.US/J/85732326778
ACTION NEEDED ! ! PLEASE SEND EMAILS TO [email protected] IN SUPPORT OF STRIPING OF TEMPORAY COURTS AT FINLEY !
Congratulations to Reed and Jordan Ferrick for getting Bronze, Men’s Doubles 3.5 at the Kingsley Lee Pickleball Tournament and John Williams/Spencer Crum for Gold, Mens Doubles 3.0 50+ at the Paso Robles Wine Country Classic ! Way to roll, Sonoma County Pickleball !
Congratulations to the medal winners at the USA Pickleball West Regional in Fountain Valley September 13-19 !
Women’s Doubles: Linda Hoffman, Silver 3. 0 50+; Jade Buhman, Silver 4.0 19+ and to Howarth Crew Member Peter Shaw Bronze MXD 5.0 65+, Silver MD 4.5 65+ and Gold MS 3.5 65+ !
Great Job to all the Players at the NP West Coast Classic in Oakley, September 9th-12th !
Men’s Doubles: Kevin Cole/Larry Pack, Gold 3.5 35+; John Metras/Jim Gray, Gold 3.0 60+; Kevin Bonner/Giancarlo Tocchini, Siver 3.5 19+; Misha Posylkin/Mathew Kwang, Silver 4.0, 50+; Bill Griffin/Reed Ferrick, Gold 4.0 60+; Gideon Relin/Nathanael Magardie, Bronze 4.5 35+,50+,60+; Ryan Diaz/Gigachad Wert, Silver 50,4.5 19+ Men’s Singles: Kevin Cole, Gold, 35+; Ryan Diaz, Gold, 4.0 19+ Mixed Doubles: Linda Hoffman/Jondy Cohen, Bronze 3.0 50+; Jo Anne Cohn/John Metras, Silver 3.0 60+; Reed Ferrick/Gayle Blake, Gold, 3.5 60+; Macey Lampi/Ricardo Cumberbatch, Bronze 3.5 19+; Anna Hayman/Bill Griffin, Bronze 3.5 50+; Misha Posylkin/Cindy Polansky, Gold 4.0 50+
W o w ! ! W a y t o G o ! !
Congratulations to Adam MacKinnon and Rosa LeClerc for taking Gold in 4.5 Mixed Doubles at the Jigsaw Health Tournament of Champions in Brigham City, Utah, Friday August 20.
Belated congratulations to the Sonoma County medalists at the Pacific Northwest Classic and APP Tour presented by Beaver Coach Sales in Bend: Reed Ferrick/Gayle Blake Gold in mixed doubles 3.5 60+ and Steve Walker/Darlene Walker in mixed doubles 4.5 70+.
Hurray ! ! Petaluma has dedicated courts !! Lucchesi Park Re-do is finished. Congrats to long-suffering Petaluma Players !!
Registration opens for 2021 USA Pickleball West Regional Tournament (Sept 13-19) Sunday May 11Click for more information
Windsor Courts Fundraising
See below for USA Pickleball new UTPR Ratings rules regarding unsanctioned tournaments !!
Sanctioned Tournaments earning USA Pickleball Tournament Player Ratings (UTPR) Effective April 1, 2021
USA Pickleball, as part of the on-going improvements to align the sport for the continued and next wave of growth, is making updates to the earning of UTPR’s at various tournaments. If you are playing in a tournament scheduled after April 1, 2021 and it is not sanctioned you will no longer receive UTPR credit.
Effective April 1/2021, USA Pickleball Tournament Player Ratings (UTPR) will be earned as follows:
All Standard or Medal Match Plus (MMP) Tournaments will receive 100% UTPR credit
Standard Sanctioned Tournaments require referees for every match
MMP Sanctioned Tournaments will have referees for the Gold/Silver and Bronze medal matches, as well as the winner and consolation bracket finals
Non-Sanctioned Tournaments will change from 60% towards UTPR rating to 0% towards UTPR rating. This is in alignment with national sports governing bodies sanctioned events and effective for tournaments on / after April 1, 2021.
Note - All players must be USA Pickleball members to participate in a sanctioned event
There are significant benefits to the various sanctioned tournaments for both Tournament Directors and players to ensure a great success for all. We encourage you to visit https://usapickleball.org/tournaments/standard-sanctioning/ to learn more.
We appreciate your support to make pickleball one of the fastest growing sports in the U.S.!
Six beautiful courts just waiting for players! So happy for you Rohnert Park Pickleball Club ! Hmmm, maybe league play between Howarth and Rohnert Park ?
Congratulations to Rohnert Park Pickleball !!! Construction has started on Sunrise Park’s 6 Pickleball Courts ! Thanks to Bill Petrie for 4 years of hard work
Cancelled !It’s that time again ! Sign up for The 9th Annual Sonoma Wine Country Games Pickleball Tournament in Santa Rosa June 14, 15 and 16. Here is the link to the registration page: www.pickleballtournaments.com/tournamentinfo.pl?tid=4139
Thanks to everyone who bought some Sonoma County Pickleball swag! And Thanks to Dinktee.com for their donation !
Fantastic Comeback !! Nathanael and Juanita win 4.5 Mixed Gold at the Hawaiian Open !!
Buy a Tee Shirt or Sweatshirt and donate to building more Pickleball Courts !
Dinktee.com is donating the proceeds from the sale of the Sonoma County Pickleball shirts (below) to Sonoma County Pickleball Club Ltd for construction of MORE courts in Sonoma County. Click on the link to go there and BUY ! Click on “Store” to Check out all their products ! You NEED more than one shirt !
Thanks to ALL who contributed to the Gift drive organized by by Nancy
A Big Shout Out to local NorCal players who Medaled at Nationals !
Theo MacKinnon Bronze Junior Mixed Doubles Phil Walker Gold Mens Doubles 3.5 70+ Pat Crabtree & Steve Walker Gold Mens Doubles 4.0 65+ Adam & Theo MacKinnon Gold Mens Doubles 4.5 19+ Tom Kendrick Bronze Mens Doubles 4.5 65+ Darlene & Steve Walker Gold Mixed Doubles 4.5 70+ Juanita Magardie Silver Womens Doubles 4.0 35+ Darlene Walker Gold 4.5 70/75+
And congratulations to All who attended, participated, played : Eddie Brascia Steve Fujii Nathaneal Magardie George Silvas Jenny Witous T H A N K YOU F O R R E P R E S E N T I N G US !
Congratulations to Adam MacKinnon who has just been ranked 5.0 !!
Adam and Theo enjoyed great success in Utah at the Tournament of Champions ! Adam's note is below:
FYI: Theo and I just got back from the Tournament of Champions in Brigham City, UT, where we won Gold on Friday in the Mens Doubles 4.5 19+ event (see attached pic). We also both medalled in Saturday's Mixed 4.5 19+ (Theo and his partner Carla Walker took Silver, and my partner Victoria Charkouskaya and I took the Bronze).
Tournament in Ukiah September 22-23 ! You register through the City of Ukiah's website and it appears you need to create an account to register. Once you do that, click on the "Programs" menu item and then find "Sports." Under the sports programs you will find the "Jim Colling Memorial Pickleball Tournament" item with a "Register Now" button. https://ukiah.recdesk.com/Community/Program
We are excited to announce the launch of Sonoma County Pickleball Club Ltd. This organization is a registered California non-profit corporation with IRS 501 (c) (3) determination as a public charity. This means donations, gifts and bequests to Sonoma County Pickleball Club Ltd (SCPBLTD) are fully deductible from your federal income tax. SCPBLTD was formed for a specific purpose, one that we all see the need for: “to construct pickleball courts for the public use.” Compared to other municipalities in Northern California (think Concord, Auburn, Redding, Palo Alto, Pleasanton) our area is lagging behind in public court construction despite the long history of PB play in the area. In fairness, after much effort by local pickleballers, Windsor and Rohnert Park have committed to court construction sometime in the near future, Healdsburg has a very active club pushing for resources there and Petaluma has some momentum going for court conversion at Lucchesi Park. However, the exponential growth in the number of players and their increasingly complex needs (drop-in play, private group play, drilling, instruction, structured play by skill-set, leagues, ladders) require even further action for more courts. SCPBLTD believes we should take nothing for granted and move forward with fund-raising for additional courts.
There are multiple models for how to achieve court growth, what size and where. One idea is negotiation with the local municipalities to donate existing park space for court construction, choosing the most attractive offer. In turn, the finished courts would become public property and managed by the municipality. Another is to raise monies with Tennis groups to build additional public tennis courts, in exchange for the right to convert existing tennis courts at Finley or Howarth to pickleball. A larger complex of 10-16 courts would make varied concurrent play possible and allow Sonoma County to become a magnet for regional tournaments. Smaller facilities (4 courts) scattered throughout the county would facilitate spontaneous local play, reduce travel time and perhaps contribute to league play between localities. Anything is possible, but we want to get moving.
Fund-raising methods are being developed and some will be put in place soon. If you order from Amazon, you will be able to designate SCPBLTD as a charitable recipient of 0.5% of your order total. There will be a website so you can donate securely online. Entry fees from round-robins and tournaments can be another source of construction funds. We are investigating a “Go Fund Me/Kickstarter” site. There will probably even be bake sales and BBQ’s. We will keep you updated as things develop. In the interim, should you have a need to donate immediately, checks can be made out to: Sonoma County Pickleball Club Ltd, and mailed to:Sonoma County Pickleball Club Ltd, 4801 Grange Road, Santa Rosa CA 95404. We’ll send you a receipt with our tax ID for your records.
Thank You All for your support of Sonoma County Pickleball !
Board of Directors: Eddie , Beagle , Norm, Pat, Reed, Al, Dale, Mike, Anita, Kathy, Ken, Arlene, Jim
Some familiar faces far away at the Pickleball Zone Tournament in Bend.
Partial Results from Golden State Championships, Thursday July 25-Saturday July 27: Congratulations to all players with North Bay connections who won medals ! In the Senior Divisions: Eddie Brascia/Jim Passey - Gold Men’s 4.0 50-54 Jamie Love/George Silvas - Bronze Men’s 4.0 65+ Tom Kendrick/Peter Shaw - Gold Men’s 4.5 65+ Reed Ferrick/Gayle Blake - Gold Mixed 3.5 60+ Steve Fujii/Kim Danielson - Gold Mixed 4.0 60+ Jenny Witous/Batong Briones - Silver Mixed 4.5 55+ Tom Kendrick/Andrea Mayorga - Gold 4.5 65+ In the Open Divisions: Macey Lampi/Ken Ronk -Gold- Mixed 2.5 19+ Juanita Magardie/Nathanael Magardie - Gold Mixed 4.5 35+ Way to go, Howarth Group ! Stay tuned, more games Sunday ! Sunday Results: Dot Lampi/Diana Walker-Gold- Women’s 4.0 19+ 35+ [19] Jim Passey/Eddie Brascia Men’s -Gold- 4.0 19+ 35+ [19] Scott Parisi/James Moore -Bronze- Men’s 4.0 19+ 35+ [19] Great Showing for our Area !
Well Done ! To Adam and Theo who got Gold at the German Open, Men’s Doubles 4.5 10+ !!
A HUGE THANK YOU to Jim and Denise Passey and Eddie Brascia for contributing two benches to the Finley Park Pickleball Courts. They will be placed on the east side of Court 4 and will definitely help with player congestion next to Tennis Court 2 on Saturdays and “seats in the shade” on all days. Thank you All so much for this extremely generous donation !
Have Information you want to Share ? Email to [email protected] to be posted here
Way to go Eddie and Jim who won gold at the Paso Robles Wine Country Classic April 27-28. They played Men’s 4.0 50’s. Tom Kendrick also got a silver in Men’s 4.5 60+ but we don’t have a picture of him because the camera broke !
Congrats to the medal winners in the West Coast Classic in Santa Monica this past week April 12-14 ! George Silvas and Steve Fujii a silver in Men’s 4.0; Juanita and her partner silvered in Women’s 4.5 and Jenny Vitous took bronze;Steve Fujii silvered in Mixed 3.5; George Silvas got gold in Mixed 4.0; Juanita and Nathanael won bronze in Mixed 4.5. Way to everybody !!
Good Luck and Paddles Up ! to all our friends playing this weekend in Palm Desert at The Lakes Tournament: Reed Ferrick and Sandie Brodsky, Juanita and Nathanael Magardie, Tom Kendrick, Jenny Vitous. Link to tournament page: https://www.pickleballtournaments.com/welcome.pl?tid=2185
GREAT NEWS !!!! Windsor Town Council votes 5-0 to put construction of 4 Pickleball Courts into 5 year Master Plan
Sonoma Wine Country Games Pickleball June 7 Women’s Doubles, June 8 Mixed Doubles, June 9 Men’s Doubles. Sign up on Pickleball Tournaments dot com
Congrats to the Sonoma County area participants and medalists at the USAPA Western Regionals in Surprise, AZ
Breaking news from the Nationals (11/6/2018) ! Congratulations to Adam (Gold, Mixed 4.0 35+)and Theo MacKinnon (Gold, Men’s 4.0, 19+), Tom Kendrick (Gold, Men’s 4.0, 65+) and Marlene Barri (Bronze, Mixed, 65+, Bronze, Women’s 4.0 65+) and Audrey Sherfey (Gold, Mixed 4.5 70+) Hooray !
Tom Kendrick has joined PADDLETEK as Northern California Dealer/Rep. After consulting with other players and reps, he’s decided to carry three paddles:
Phoenix LTE (a lighter paddle, forgiving and easy to use) 50.00
Element (medium weight, broad-spectrum paddle used by 3.0 – 5.0 players) 65.00
Bantam EX-L (solid feel. More power) 85.00
Prices reflect a 15% discount off retail and include a 30-minute session with Tom. He’ll analyze your game and give you one important thing to work on.
Tom says there are a lot of paddles out there, and choosing one can be very confusing. Paddletek is made in the USA, used by more national champions than any other paddle, and they stand behind their product.
Best Wishes for success to all the area players/teams competing in the Engage Golden State Championships this weekend, July 27-29, 2018 ! Women’s Doubles 7/27: Sandie Brodsky/Jo Slovek ; Juanita Magardie/Andi Wolpert
Pickleball Central gave us a paddle to review. Here's Tricia's analysis:
First of all, I want to say that this Gamma Mirage Paddle is good looking! Love the graphics! Overall, the paddle has a great feel to it. It is a lighter paddle, but has excellent power as well as very good control. I believe that the textured surface gives it the precision control for spin shots as it grabs the ball better than some paddles that have smoother surfaces. When dinking, it provided a high level of control as well. The grip size seems to fit many different hand sizes pretty comfortably. I say this because I had a number of our Pickleball club members give it a try and got feedback regarding this issue from quite a few of them. We also liked the "stickiness" of the handle which made the grip more solid, especially when hitting hard shots. Some folks also remarked that they liked the "cushiness" of the grip. Also, I felt that even if you don’t hit the ball directly on the "sweet spot," you still could get the ball effectively over the net. I measured the size of the head of this paddle against several other paddles that I have and it has a slightly larger surface area, which I also liked. As far as the "sound" factor of the paddle hitting the ball, I particularly appreciate the fact that the "pop" was more muted than some other paddles. In some instances this could make a difference if the Pickleball courts are in close proximity to homes where the noise could be a factor. I feel that this Gamma Mirage paddle is an excellent choice for any Pickleball player who wants a good, solid paddle with both power and control. The company has incorporated the technology of the textured composite paddle face along with the Sensa Poly Core combined with the Honeycomb Cushion Grip very effectively to make it a most welcome addition to high quality Pickleball paddles. Learn more about the Gamma Mirage paddle and other Gamma Paddles on PickleballCentral! We’d like to thank Pickleball Central for providing us with this paddle for review, so if you’d like to learn more about the Gamma Mirage paddle or other Gamma paddles go to the Pickleball Central website… Pickleballcentral.com. By Tricia Hoffman, Sonoma County Pickleball Club 2/19/2018
Sonoma Wine Country Games Registration opens March 1st
Congratulations to George Silvas for being given the Volunteer of the Year award for the Cal. Parks and Rec. Society District 1 for his work in teaching Pickleball !!
Huge Congratulations to Jenny Witous who has just been rated 5.0 by the USAPA. Way to go, Jenny !