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Hola San Carlos Pickleballers,
Welcome to the latest edition of our newsletter! As we embrace the hot summer days here in San Carlos, we are thrilled to see our vibrant pickleball community in full swing even in these hot and humid days. Our Tuesday Round Robins continue to be a huge success, with nearly 50 participants joining us each week for some fun and competitive play.

We also want to extend our warmest wishes to all our snowbird friends up north. We hope you are having a fantastic summer, and we can’t wait to welcome you back to our sunny courts soon.

See you on the courts! San Carlos Pickleball Club

San Carlos Pickleball Updates from the Board – Recognizing our valued Court Sponsors

We want to recognize the unwavering support of our Court Sponsors, especially our real estate agency partners: Seaside Realty, Vive Real Estate, RE/MAX First Choice Realty and Coldwell Banker Encantado Realty, who have been with us from the beginning. Their contributions have been vital in helping us grow and thrive as a club.

We will be dedicating a special space in our newsletter to appreciate our amazing Court Sponsors. These businesses have supported us from the beginning, and we are thrilled to give them the recognition they deserve.

Each month, we will feature a different sponsor, highlighting the valuable services they provide. Be sure to check out this section and consider using their services as a way to give back to those who continuously support our pickleball community.

Thank you to all our sponsors for your ongoing commitment and support to San Carlos Pickleball Club. Together, we are building a stronger, more vibrant pickleball community!

Sincerely, San Carlos Pickleball Club

Update on Tournaments & Events 2024 – 2025

Exciting News: LATAM Games & Sombrero Showdown Tournament in February!

We are thrilled to announce that we finally have a date for our much-anticipated LATAM Games tournament, now scheduled for February. That’s right, get ready for an exciting week of pickleball and fun in San Carlos!

LATAM Games and the Sombrero Showdown Tournament will be part of an action-packed week, 5 days of pickleball competition and celebration, featuring two exciting tournaments:

  • Sombrero Showdown Tournament – February 5 – 6: Men’s / Women’s doubles and Mixed doubles.
  • Celebration Day (or Day off for those who don’t like to party) – February 7.
  • LATAM Games – February 8 – 9: A thrilling team-play tournament.

Gather your friends, mark your calendars, and get ready to participate in this fun and amazing Tournament Week. Winter in San Carlos is the perfect time to enjoy great weather, good company and fantastic pickleball action.

Don’t miss out on this incredible pickleball extravaganza! Join us in San Carlos for an unforgettable week.

Member Spotlight: Donald Gray

I’m Don. I have lived in San Carlos for 30 years. I was born and raised near Boston and went to college in the area, spending all my summers on Cape Cod. Before moving to San Carlos in 1994, I lived in Tucson for 23 years.

My favorite activity in Pickleball is open play and I often consider doing drills or taking lessons, but there are so many other activities I enjoy, like kite surfing (you can see a video of me here). I try to improve all aspects of my game during play by having a plan and thinking strategically about my actions on the court.

Another AED Training for our Board Members

As part of our ongoing efforts to enhance our emergency preparedness at the San Carlos Pickleball Club, we had another AED (Automated External Defibrillator) training for our board members. Our recent workshop, held at Rescate San Carlos, was a great success. We deeply appreciate the dedication and effort of everyone involved, and we especially thank Rescate San Carlos for making this workshop possible.

The importance of AED training cannot be overstated. In critical situations, the ability to effectively use an AED can be the difference between life and death. Ensuring that our board members are well-trained in AED usage is crucial for the safety and well-being of our pickleball community.

We are planning another AED workshop, tentatively scheduled for October. We will keep you posted for our next training session.

Unlocking Pickleball Mastery: The Secret to True Improvement
By Kevin Duff – Club Pro at SCPC

What are you currently working on? The depth of your serve and return? Your shot selection and patience at the kitchen line? Your movement and positioning? There’s always something to improve, and no player, not even Ben Johns, is perfect! We can all improve our shots, refine our technique, and develop new strategies. So what should you focus on to become a better player? Surprisingly, the specific skills you practice may not be as crucial as how you practice them and your overall approach to learning and acquiring new skills. If you want to take your game to the next level, then consider developing a plan of action with the following in mind.

Assessment: In order to improve you first need to know what to work on. This is sometimes easier said than done, especially if you’re new to the game or even if you’re a veteran and your improvement has plateaued. It might be time to request feedback from your drilling/playing partners. You may even want to consider taking a lesson or getting an assessment from a seasoned instructor. A sure way to stop improving is by interpreting constructive feedback as criticism.

Prioritization: Oftentimes the issue isn’t knowing what needs to be improved but knowing what to work on first. I personally like to consider how hard the skill is to learn and how much the skill will improve my game. Generally speaking, skills related to shot selection, movement, and positioning are low-hanging fruit that should be mastered first. Later on, shot technique, hitting with spin, and advanced strategy are the cherry on top that have the potential to take your game to the next level.

Focus: Even though you may have several skills to work on, it’s very important to narrow your focus to just one, or at most, two priority skills for any one session. Keeping a narrow focus allows you to be proactive with your learning (“I will do X”) instead of retroactive (“I should have done X”). Even when we’re only focusing on one or two skills, it’s easy to lose focus as the mind wanders. Having an internal mantra you repeat before every serve can be useful to keep you on track (e.g. “hit with arc”, “don’t attack low balls”). This form of training is often referred to as “intentional/deliberate practice” or “playing with a purpose”.

Consolidation: One of the biggest reasons preventing players from improving is that they don’t invest enough time and effort to master a skill. You need to achieve a certain degree of mastery to consolidate the skill into your game; otherwise it’s unlikely your improvement will stick. You’ll notice that with time, the skill will become easier and will require less attention. Once the skill becomes an automatic habit, your attention will be freed up to focus on your next area of improvement. Depending on the skill, this might take a day, a week, a month, or even longer.

Assessment, prioritization, focus, and consolidation don’t sound “sexy”, but they’re important elements of an effective pickleball action plan. The more you play with a purpose and drill deliberately, the faster you’ll be able to consolidate skills and continue to improve.

Summer Specials for our Pickleball Lessons

Improve your pickleball skills this season with instruction from our very own pickleball teaching pro, Kevin Duff. For the summer, lessons will be discounted. Check out the new Summer Prices below:

  • Private (one person) 1,200 $1,000 pesos/hour
  • Semi-private (two people) 800 $700 pesos/person/hour
  • Semi-private (three people) 600 $500 pesos/person/hour
  • Group (four to eight people) 500 $400 pesos/person/hour

For more information about those lessons, please send a WhatsApp message to Kevin at +52 622-147-2979.

Visit our Pro Shop at SCPC

Tuesday Deals at Our Pro Shop!

Every Tuesday during the Summer months, enjoy Exclusive Discounts at our Pro Shop! We’re offering 20% off on sportswear and 15% off on paddles, sunshades, and electrolytes for all our members and participants of our Tuesday Round Robins.

Don’t miss out on our Summer Sale!

Court Schedule and Activities

Check out our weekly Event Calendar packed with organized play, open play and social round robins at the San Carlos Pickleball Club.

For your comfort and safety, group play is early morning or after sunset. Please contact those groups if you want more information about the play times.

  • Open Play every morning – you can choose between Challenge Court or Paddle Stacking | Free to members.
  • Tactica Tuesday (skill-based Round Robin) – 6:30pm | 100 pesos for members and 150 pesos for non-members.
  • Fiesta Fridays – Fridays from 6:30pm | Free to members.
  • Sorteo Sundays – Sundays at 7:30am (be there by 7:15am) | Free to members.
  • Anytime a court isn’t reserved for scheduled play, it can be reserved for private play using Court Reserve.

NOTE: For Paddle Stacking, Fiesta Friday and Sorteo Sunday, you do NOT need to register. For all other events, please visit Court Reserve for registration and/or pricing.

Plan your week and join in on the action!