Pickleball: Several gift ideas for your favorite player this holiday season

With the holiday season upon us, let's discuss some season gift ideas and social events. I covered these the last two years, but why don’t we circle back, review some good ideas, and add some new ones?

** Recently, a local player at Palm Desert Civic Center Park asked me if I had any extra pickleballs that I could donate to her for a neighborhood mailbox decorating contest.  I gave her about 30-40 hybrid balls that I do not use anymore.  She wrapped her mailbox in gift wrap and built a tree of Pickleballs on top of it.  Hope she wins.

** Many people are creating pickleball wreaths, so this is another use for broken balls or unused balls.  Give to your friends.

** Stocking stuffers:  Pickleball socks (Pickleball Central, Amazon), pickleball keychains, pickleball bumper stickers for your car or other surfaces, pickleball wristbands, grip tape, lead tape, paddle covers, pickleballs, wristbands, headbands, towels, cooling neck wraps. . .I could go on and on.  I have coffee mugs, wine glasses, hats, tote bags, shot glasses and water glasses with my PS Pickleball logo.  Reach out to me if you want to get any of these to give to a friend.

** Pickleball ornaments.  I have some pickle ornaments with Santa hats to give away at my next round robin.

** Gift certificate for Pickleball Central website.  Use ARMBARSALEAU code to get a 5% discount.

** Personalized ID band for your paddle.  Here is the website for Padl: https://mypadl.com/

** Action pictures of your friend executing a perfect shot.  People love to see themselves looking good on the court.  Make a nice print, frame it and make it a memorable gift.

** Purchase a gift pass to a private club or purchase a membership to a private club.

** Purchase a lesson for your friend.  Email me at Mgbarsaleau@gmail.com to purchase a voucher for a lesson.

** Host a holiday pickleball round robin social event.  Prizes for dressing up, prizes for winners, raffle prizes, holiday mugs or towels or t-shirts, or wine glasses for the winners.

** Host a social pickleball event and accept donations from your players for a local charity.  Boys and Girls club, food banks, animal shelters, Desert Arc, Feed America, Voices for Children, MAAD, etc.

** Host a holiday gift exchange party, with a pickleball theme.  Bring a wrapped gift under $25 and have your guests pick a number.  They will choose a gift, and they can keep it, or the next person might steal it.  Two steals and the gift is safe.

** Purchase a membership to USA Pickleball.  This supports the national governing body for our sport, and gives your friend a great resource, plus now they can enter sanctioned tournaments.  They will also get the monthly newsletter.  https://usapickleball.org

** Best gift of all . . . your time.  Find time to meet to play with your friends, even if they are not your skill level.  Time spent together with those you like/love is a precious gift.

Coach Mary's Tip of the Week

Zane Navratil discusses the benefit of holding your position at the NVZ in this video.

Zane makes a good point about amateur players at the NVZ/kitchen.

Some players are not comfortable taking the ball out of the air, (volley dink) and they back up to let it bounce, which gives them more time to react.  The problem with this is that if you continue to back up, your opponent will keep pushing you back, and it will be very difficult to continue to execute a good dink.  You will be stuck in no-man's land.

My beginners are learning to volley dink now right off the bat.  We do not want to back up, we want to be balanced, and we want to stay in the prime real estate location – the kitchen.

Last call for the Jingle Pickle at Demuth Park on Dec. 17.  We only have eight courts, so it will be a limited number.  Email Mary to register:  mgbarsaleau@gmail.com

This article originally appeared on Palm Springs Desert Sun: Pickleball: Several gift ideas for your favorite player this holiday season