Pickleball Is Changing Us: What the Game Reveals About Who We’re Becoming

Lauren, what do Mardi Gras and pickleball have in common? Balls. Yes, but also strangers screaming at you. Accurate. Or running after things you probably shouldn't be chasing. Also accurate. And waking up the next day and wondering, how did I lose track of the score? Or my dignity. Welcome to episode 37 of Dinks on Tap, where we're chasing floats, chasing lobs, and trying to remember if it's 432 or 751. Spoiler, it's never what you think it is. Never is. Cheers. Cheers. Welcome to Dinks on Tap, where the pickleball meets the margarita. Or martini, because we enjoy a bit of both. We're your hosts, Casey and Lauren. And each week, we explore what makes pickleball so darn fun. Not to mention the community and the connection that's built along with it. Casey, you came over not too long ago to record this episode and you brought a present. I did. It was a box and it said fragile and I love boxes that say fragile. So I got very excited and we weren't 100% sure what it was, but it was delivered to Dinks on Tap. And we definitely opened it. And what was inside? To our delight, it was a beautiful bottle of Reposado tequila from Point Blank Tequila. Oh, my gosh. Cheers. Cheers. First of all, guys, point blank tequila. Who knew? They were so cool. They sent over a bottle, which is beautiful, by the way. It's a gorgeous bottle. And this tequila is really, really smooth. Yeah. Like, you know, it's I love to sip on, you know, Reposado tequilas, but some of them are just they sting the back of your throat. This is just really smooth. It's easygoing. I love it. Yeah. And it's from Lisko, right? Mexico. Yep. 100% additive free. You don't have any of the sugars, sweeteners, no colors, no flavors. It's just straight up pure Jalisco. Reposado. It's delicious. Golly, I'm so impressed. Like, I love it. I really, we're drinking it, guys, over the rocks with a squeeze of lime and it's tasting real fine. It's delicious. Cheers. Okay, love. So, Lauren, in honor of Fat Tuesday, let's talk about what we did this past weekend. Yes, I believe that a few of us traveled to New Orleans, Louisiana. What a weekend. And celebrated. We celebrated Mardi Gras in style. So much fun. Lauren took me and two of our other pickleball buddies to visit her family and experience Mardi Gras the Vosbean way. And I mean, it was a party. Oh, yes. It was a rock and good time. What we remember of it. What we remember. Actually, we were responsible adults, or at least that's what we're telling people. Shh, don't tell. We definitely were, for sure. It was so much fun. It was. It was a great way to experience the Mardi Gras scene with, I mean, seriously, balls, parades. Mardi Gras balls. Lots of beads. Parades. Beads. It was incredible. Crazy folk. Lots of wigs and what have you. Dress up, costumes. Yes, there was wig day. It was wig day. There's always a wig day with us. I mean, Case, I'm curious, you know, having come off of this kind of Mardi Gras experience fresh off the heels as an adult, you know, what might you think Mardi Gras has in common with pickleball? You know, I just know we were chatting a little bit about this and the, I mean, the big takeaway is that everybody is your friend at Mardi Gras. I mean, you make a lot of friends, a lot of stranger friends. Yes. I mean, you make eye contact with somebody at Mardi Gras and you are best friends. Fair. It's just. I mean, it's someone on the float or it's someone across the way that you're talking, you know, footballs at. Footballs or basketballs or what have you. Yes, it's. You get a bond. Yes, you bond over the party. Yeah. Everybody is there for the same reason. A good time. Le bon de roulet. Let's go. That's like pickleball, right? Like for the most part, people are there to have a good time. They're bonding. It's a social sport. Yes, you make friends almost instantly in pickleball. It's very true. You know, think about pickleball. If you're waiting for a court, you're already in the group chat. I mean, you make friends. You have a Rolodex of people within a couple of days of playing that share that interest. So, yeah, I think everybody's your friend. Everybody's your friend at Mardi Gras and potentially at Pickleball. I just think that both Mardi Gras and Pickleball, they break down the social walls really, really quickly. True. So that's easy to make friends. Easy to make friends. Number one takeaway for me. Okay. With the similarities. I like it. I like it. What else you got on this list? how else is mardi gras like pickleball well this ought to be good maybe the um the second biggest takeaway is you certainly run more at mardi gras than you okay guys had originally planned um and i'll i think i know where you're headed here so i don't know if anybody who's been to mardi gras or has been with a local but there is a term that we locals use sometimes called chasing afloat chasing down afloat and really what that effectively means is that you know somebody on a float and maybe they didn't see you initially as they passed you by on the street or maybe they did but they couldn't get their throws to you fast enough or what have you. So really you've got to go chasing down that float and you've got to get the right spot, the right time to catch them so that they see you and bomb you effectively with all their throws. It's so much fun. It's totally a thing. And I may have introduced Casey and my friends to this concept at Mardi Gras. We had some other pickleballers on one of the floats and man, they missed us up front so we had to chase them down. We had no idea what we were getting into. We, I mean, Lauren had mentioned something about chasing, chasing a float and chasing our friends on this float the night before. And none of us could really understand or comprehend what she was talking about because we would look down at the street and there were all of these barricades everywhere. And stands. And we just thought, OK, we'll just go from we thought that's, you know, 25 yards from there to there. How on earth are we going to chase that? We'll run into the barricade. We start over here on the left. You run into the barricade on the right, you know, 25 yards down the road. What is this chasing business? It just didn't I could not comprehend what this chase would look like. And guys, here's the real truth. You don't really explain it. You know, it's got to be lived. It's got to be experienced. So really, it was all about, you know what, I'm going to let you guys figure this out on your own together. We experienced it and we ran and ran and ran and we caught up with them. We got in front of them. We had so many throws from them. And I think we calculated at the end of the experience, we ran about a mile. About a mile. It was like nine or ten blocks. It was hilarious. And I mean, we were we were darting in and out behind stands and we we'd squeeze in, you know, to some people and just kind of step up on the barricade and we'd yell at them again. and be like, here we are. And little did we know that they were having as much fun because their friends were like, and by the way, we're all in electric blue wigs, gold pants, white shirts. We've got a, you know, pounds and pounds of beads around our necks and we're hauling ass, you know, through the crowds and around the bend here and there to and from. And we're stepping up on these barricades. There was one point I got up on somebody's ladder and I'm like, here we are. And they're like, who are your friends in the blue, in the blue wigs? Chasing us down. They're Like, you just. These are our friends. These are our friends. They're good people. And, I mean, we ran and ran and caught so much fun stuff from them. It was a blast. It was a blast. So we learned really quickly that is what chasing down a float means. It's not only chasing a lob. Pickleball. There might be more running at Mardi Gras than there is at Pickleball. I don't know. It's comparable. You know. If you're chasing down a float. So Mardi Gras cardio, pickleball cardio, same, same. Same, same. I love it. Okay. What else you got on this list? Anything? You know, I would say the third thing is all walks of life. It's like all levels. Everybody is welcome. I mean, we met CEOs, we met bartenders, college kids, grandmothers, tourists, all I mean, everybody was in it to win it. Yeah. And, you know, it's the same with pickleball. It's everyone is welcome. And it's all levels. Again, D1 athletes, you know, you have people that have never picked up a paddle. Again, retirees, you have the 23 year old phenom or, you know, 14 year old phenom for that matter. It was just all walks of life. Everybody's welcome. Seemed like there's no barrier to entry at all. Yeah, it's pretty true. Everybody can play. Everybody can play. Mardi Gras kind of has something for everyone. Every walk of life, every generation. It's a pretty cool gathering hub like pickleball. It's just multi-generational, multi-different skill levels. Yeah, it is. And even the people that are just, you know, really spectators, right? They bring their chairs, they bring their snacks and their drinks. And, you know, they're just hanging out, you know, and they're just sort of in it for the beads or whatever. And so everybody's just in it together. Yeah. So it was very, very cool. It was a great experience and how fun to get to equate it to your favorite sport. So it was a blast. It's such a great time. Definitely. Here's to Mardi Gras and pickleball being just the same. Exactly the same. Forget that bourbon street business. Moving right along. Well, Case, we have got a couple of topics today to cover that are just different and interesting. And something that's kind of a little bit more closer to the heart, right? It's this notion of pickleball is changing us. And I think it's fun to consider this because we talk to people all the time across, again, the landscape who play this sport. And most everyone will credit, especially adults, people that have, you know, perhaps maybe call it 30s, 40s, 50s, 60s, right? Those decades who maybe haven't played sports in a while, but maybe did when they were really young, like teens and 20s and high school and college, etc. Those folks, these adult colleagues and friends of ours, really credit Pickleball with having an impact on their lives. Mostly a positive impact. And one that they can say has helped shape or change them as of late. And I find this just a really cool, heartwarming topic because it's certainly something that you and I have experienced. But I feel like your story is a bit more big, impactful. I want you to share with our listeners how pickleball has changed you. Our listeners have heard me say it many, many times and that pickleball has changed my life. And I mean, that's not a new story to most people that play the sport, because you're right. There's so many positive experiences that are built around this sport. And I don't think I've heard a single person say, boy, I discovered pickleball and it was the worst thing that ever happened to me. I've never heard anybody say that. For me, the crux of it happened in November of 2022 when I really was faced with an identity crisis, truly. And that was a result of getting laid off from my job. I had spent 20 plus years building concepting owning my own restaurants and I had taken a leap about three years prior to a corporate hospitality group and was laid off in November of 22 and really just kind of hit this low point of what am I going to do now Yeah So much of your career had been built around this restauranteering and that world And now you kind of at a crossroads Like, do I stay here? It was, you know, I sort of had this idea that I would go right back to it because it was all I knew. And I was good at it and thought, well, this is what I know. And I've known it for so long. And so I had started looking for other opportunities in the same industry. And simultaneously, of course, a lot of things were happening. One being that I fell into what I'm doing now, which is business development and consulting. But of course, I could have never known that it would be life changing was I met my pickleball team. and that was just a fluke situation. I'd gone to see my nephew play tennis and we were all up at a tennis slash pickleball facility and a friend of my sister said, my sister's looking for, you know, a teammate on her pickleball team. And I had just been playing very recreationally. Yeah, with your time off, right? You were playing with your folks in the gym. Even prior to getting laid off, I'd played a little bit, you know, for the past six months or so and maybe maybe even a year but very very casually like not I mean to where like you're playing and you're not really you don't really understand the rules and you're just out there hitting the ball around just for fun and so it wasn't anything serious or really competitive but I knew as during that time period of being laid off I knew that I was starting to really love it and and fall in love with the sport and realize that I was you know a decent player and when this friend of my sister's asked, you know, if I'd be interested in joining our sister's team, I remember thinking, absolutely not, because she described it as a semi-pro team. You've heard this story. And I thought, how is that going to work? I'm not even close to, like, I play at my parents' church, like, three times a week. That's it. Yeah. You know, so that's really what the introduction into, you know, taking the sport seriously. Yeah. And that's, of course, when I met you and the rest of our team at the time. And all of a sudden, it felt like just things shifted for me as far as pretty quickly as far as what I wanted to do career wise. I still had one foot in one foot out on that idea of maybe going back to hospitality. But slowly but surely, the more I played with the team and the more that, you know, became, you know, or I started getting better at sport, I was like, oh my gosh, this is so much fun. And I started realizing that if I went back full throttle into a restaurant type scenario that like I had been involved with many, many years before, there was not going to, you know, I was not going to see the light of day on pickleball. Yeah. So you get laid off, you're playing more and more with your folks, and then you get turned onto a team in a league and you meet the dinking buddies, right? And we all meet you and you start playing with us. We are practicing two or three times a week. We're playing competitively on Fridays. And that is a consistency that you didn't have time for should you have gone back to a restaurant job. And so I'm hearing you say you were just simultaneously at a crossroads of your career, but noticing that all of this joy and fun you were having allocating a lot of your energy in this game direction, this sport direction. So going back to something that was going to be really taxing and demanding in a 24-hour kind of seven way that hospitality can be was not as appealing initially as it once was. In that moment of not knowing what I was going to do next, you kind of go through this little spiral of just almost, I mean, I just felt untethered. It was like I felt rudderless. It was like, what am I going to do? And within a three-month time period, two to three month time period, I started feeling connection. I started feeling, talk about all of a sudden feeling tethered to something and talk about finding joy. It was like these people that I connected with and was forging friendships with that brought so much joy and so much fun. And, you know, and then of course, fast forward a few months, even from then, and we're playing competitively in the, you know, PCD league. And like you said, we're competing on Fridays. And you and I talk about this a lot on the podcast, but there's this childlike play that has ignited, at least for me. And I really think and know that I speak for a lot of people. It's like you discover this sport and it brings back, or maybe it brings back permission to be playful again. And I think we, I don't know, somewhere along the way in our adult years, It's like maybe we get too serious or we're not allowed or we're supposed to this or that. And it's like pickleball. You know, it's this absurd game with a wiffle ball and you get to go out and be silly and and just play with your friends. And I started feeling that and knowing that there was no going back and that this was something that I wanted in my life for years to come. And then, of course, to see my parents enjoying it at their age and to know, oh, this is something that you can truly be tethered to for years and years to come. And so I knew there was no going back at that point. Yeah. And not to mention, you had said this just ancillarily, but, you know, instead of being indoors all the time, you're outdoors a lot. And you get that vitamin D, you know, injection and you're running around. I mean, you get to, you know, get exercise that ordinarily you wouldn't necessarily get. And it's those are ancillary benefits that really help the body and the mind kind of work together and feel more elation, more dopamine, more serotonin. There were health benefits beyond just true what you can literally see on your body. But that's something that I haven't really shied away from. I went to the doctor. I went to my primary care physician. And when I was laid off because I was having trouble sleeping and there was a lot of anxiety around that. As I mentioned, it was like you start to feel laced and you're stressed. And it's like, what am I going to do next? It's like, where's my next paycheck coming from? And I went to the doctor and they prescribed like, I think, something for anxiety, you know, something to just kind of help me sleep at night or whatnot. Fast forward all this, you know, all these great things happen throughout the course of the next year. I go back for my primary care visit. She's like, what are you doing? You've lost 14 pounds. I'm playing pickleball. she was like keep playing pickleball i was almost like i couldn't believe it yeah because again i didn't get on the scale every day i just was just going on throughout my life and i went back and i looked at my chart and and she had coded that visit the first one the first one as a mental health checkup and i was like mental health what and like you know people stigmatize that as, you know, if it's a, as if it's a bad word or, oh my gosh, like mental health. And I thought, well, gosh, yeah, I did have some, you know, some things going on, you know, a year ago. And so you're right about ancillary benefits. It's like not just weight loss, not just, you know, mental clarity, but, you know, just, you talk about just the presence of mind, you know, you and I've talked about that a lot, but just being present for life and my friends and my family, nephews, just it almost felt like my world expanded in so many ways. Yeah. That I just, when you're in it, sometimes you just don't realize it until you're out of it. Yeah, you don't realize, especially something that's all consuming, like a hospitality job, right? I mean, you know, I worked in hotels, you worked in restaurants. These are industries that never sleep. And so when you're a part of those ecosystems, especially if you own them, or if you are, you know, high up in management in there, you know, it is it is a almost 24 hour seven day a week situation, which to your point, sometimes you can't see that maybe your health might be suffering in that capacity sometimes. And it isn't until it breaks or you're out of that loop that you really get any perspective on lifestyle and how maybe you could have a different one that is maybe more healthy and more joyful. Yeah. And that's the thing. Unfortunately, it runs rampant in the restaurant business is there's a lot of, well, I mean, there's a lot of eating and drinking and success sometimes, you know, getting off late and you think, well, I'm just going to have a drink and then all your friends get off. And even when I owned my own restaurant, I love to be a part of the team and enjoy the after shift meals sometimes or bonding. It's bonding, right? You know, it shows you care about your team. And yeah, it's a beautiful thing. It's community in that world. Some unhealthy, you know, things that go along with that. It's like you're eating late, you're drinking late, you're drinking probably too much. And, you know, that was an unhealthy habit that. Right. And so, so in a way, pickleball helped me break it without me even thinking about it. It's just sad. I didn't. You were showing up and we played early in the morning and, you know, meaning it's really not as fun to go out the night before because you got to perform the next day. Or if you've got practice and you want to show up for your teammates and you want to actually be able to, you know, compete and these sort of things, we just naturally make different decisions. I totally get that. It's an easy, fun way to naturally shift lifestyle choices. Yeah, it was. It became. Yeah, that's a great way to put it. It's it's a natural thing that you don't necessarily obsess over. Like it just because it was so fun. Well, because you kept wanting to do it. Yeah. Right. And showing up and just let's do it again. And then people ask you to play some more. And, you know, we all know is pickleball obsessed folk. It's so hard to turn down a game. Right. Even if it's rec, even if it's the team, it's, you know, well, way better than you or a team that's not as good as you. It's still fun to be asked to show up to play. So to make decisions and choices that allow for that feels natural when you enter this sport, when you enter this environment. Absolutely. It can. It can change us. It can change us for the better. And it's not to suggest that what we had before wasn't good. It's just this gets to be pretty great. I feel like when I lost my job, it was probably one of the best things that could have happened to me because I lost a version of myself that wasn't truly alive. And what's crazy to say about that is that I think people that knew me before pickleball or knew me before this demarcation in my journey would say, man, you always seemed alive to me because I've always been full of life and joy. Absolutely. Absolutely. It's just that, again, you go back to that true childlike joy that you get to experience with the sport that was somewhat dormant and gets to, I mean, seriously just caught on fire like I could have never imagined. Yeah Well I for one am very happy that you did lose your job and that you did join the Jinking Buddies for sure But you know it begs the question here which I think is a little bit deeper and perhaps something that not talked about as often which is as pickleball changes us if it does change us and our lifestyle choices it might mean that some people get left behind It might mean that some people don't get as much of our attention anymore or, for lack of more polished terminology, are traded in for other people that are in this sport that are equally, let's say, jokingly obsessed, that are equally attracted to this inner child that is playing, that is competing, that is getting to be out with friends and on teams and with buddies. buddies at all hours of the day, early or late. And when you're in this environment, this ecosystem, you get it. You get the attraction to it. You're part of that club that understands why it's so much fun. And those folks get to just start to be a part of your world more consistently. But it does mean there is less room in terms of time and capacity for maybe some folks that aren't in it as much and don't get the same accessibility right to you anymore for nothing other than the sake of time and energy or maybe it is just this version of changing right as we evolve so does our environment and who we hang out with well i think and there's an inner circle and those that may be listening to this you know who you are that are close to me Some who play pickleball, some who don't. They're never going anywhere. And that will be friends for life. However, there's people maybe in that second layer that I found that I might or may have less energy for because our energy levels just don't match anymore. To your point, it's like I crave this lifestyle. and well there's so much that goes into it right i mean for example you're getting up in the morning early and going to hit the courts before work you are working out so that you can get a little stronger so that maybe you can work your form maybe you're doing some training with some coaches maybe drills right this is important because you've decided to join a team and you've decided to show up for your team as your best version at this sport as much as you can do you know maybe you have to travel with the team in order to play. Maybe you have to travel outside of your close vicinity to get some good games in that meets your level, right? That all takes time and energy. And therefore, that time and energy that might have been allocated to other endeavors prior to this lifestyle just don't get that time from you just by nature, right? And it becomes self-fulfilling. it becomes a bit of a snowball. We get addicted to how good we feel. These are healthy choices, you know, getting up early and working out in the morning. I mean, shoot, that's a great reason to get up and work out. But it also makes you feel good, right? And then you start to look good, and then you start to perform better. And all those things roll into wanting to do them more. Right. And then you notice some people that just aren't on that level or aren't interested in that. And maybe you just have less time for them. Yeah. And I have a friend, she asked me recently if she had done anything. Like noticed that you hadn't spent a lot of time together. Yeah, I had spent a lot of time together, right? And asked, you know, have I done something? You know, I just feel like, you know, maybe something's been off. And said, no, absolutely not. You've not done a thing. You know, and we're still, you know, we're still friends. What I explained to her and is, you know, the quote from the Taylor Swift interview that I'll never forget, where she says, you know, your energy is not for free. Stop acting like your energy is for free. And that really hit home for me because I think I lived or have been guilty of living in a way that sometimes I feel like I have to say yes to everything. Oh, yes, I'll do that. Yes, I'll be there. Yes, I'll do this. Yes. And I had to learn how to say no. Yeah. And sometimes that saying no to um to a friend you know that is still a friend or that like brunch with a friend or drinks out yeah yeah and um and so that was kind of a eye-opener that you know to to some people that are curious enough to ask that no it's not that anybody has done anything it's just a different it's just a different life different chapter yeah it doesn't mean that any of that goes away It's just, yeah, I want to spend my time a little differently. I like to think of this as chapters. You know, I always go on and on about seasons and how everyone's got personal seasons. And they might not totally coincide with the seasons of the year, but rather just their personal chapters, right? And how, you know, maybe you're in a pickleball season and it's just that. It's a season. Maybe it lasts for many decades. Maybe it just lasts for a couple years. You know, just everyone's kind of different with that. And so you are going to ebb and flow. Your lifestyle is going to ebb and flow. The people that are in your life are going to ebb and flow. And then, of course, there are some constants that will just be there forever. Of course. And your dear family and things of that nature, too. And I love this concept of pickleball is changing us. I love that there is this sport that is so attractive and garnering so much magnetism across generations and across, you know, countries that it could have a profound effect on a more macro scale. It's kind of fun to think of it that way. And maybe that effect is positive, right? Maybe that's more of a positive effect as opposed to a negative effect, right? who knows there's going to be a little bit of both and everything but it's kind of neat to consider that pickleball is changing us and maybe it's changing us for the better i think so and i think that it's infectious too i think that you know we always joke or i joke with friends and family that i've quote converted into our cult our pickleball cult you know that um but truly when you're living your life a certain way and you're experiencing so much joy and you have health benefits and you have, you know, all of this energy, you know, for life and love and family and friends and people, people are like, I'll have what she's having. I've noticed it. And we, and you know, you and I have a mutual friend that's been a little reluctant and now she's in it. Well, you know, I would venture to say that the U.S. at least, I only speak for the country that I know very well. There's a bit of a loneliness epidemic happening in our country. And I would, I would venture to say that it has a little something to do with the advent of all of our technology on screens and how separating and isolating that that can be. And it's a sort of subtle erosion of our togetherness. And so I love, I'll say that I believe pickleball as a sport, for all the reasons that we've said many times on this pod, but one of which is that it's so social. I believe pickleball is absolutely one of those great anecdotes to loneliness. And so I often encourage friends who, like me, maybe have moved to a new city or like me, have found themselves in adulthood where they are working from home and they have less interaction with other folks on a regular basis. or those that are just feeling like maybe they need more friends or they want more friends and their friends have moved or they've, you know, have made life choices that cause more natural separation, go play pickleball. It's so easy to pick up a racket and, you know, kind of adjust to this game. And it's also so easy to find other people doing the same thing. So yes, our mutual friend being an awesome example of this, where recently we suggested going to play and she's gotten really pumped about it and actually picked it up reluctantly and yet has despite herself found it to be quite a lot of fun right and something that she can meet other people doing not to suggest that she was one of those people that felt really lonely but certainly was aware of how her lifestyle late made her less available to natural interaction with others. So I just think that, again, in this great potential loneliness epidemic, there is this anecdote that looks and feels like a game, like a sport, and a way to come together very easily and naturally at any age. It's very, very cool. Let's talk about something we don't talk about enough. Grown-up pajamas. Not the boxy flannels from a holiday set. I'm talking about Cozy Earth's bamboo Liscos pajama set. It's soft like a secret, cool like a February breeze, and drapes like it was designed by someone who actually knows what a human body looks like. Since I started wearing mine, I fall asleep faster, I stay comfy longer, and yes, I now strut to bed like I'm walking a red carpet making it up dreams. It's the kind of small luxury that makes your whole week better. Visit CozyEarth.com and use our code DINKS for up to 20% off. And if they ask how you found them, tell them Dinks on Tap sent you. Celebrate the little moments and maybe finally retire those gym shorts from 1999. I want to toot our own horn for a little bit. We have a blog now on DinksOnTap.com. We do. We certainly do. We just wanted to put some more content out into the world. And you wrote such a cool blog article the other day that I think is fascinating. And it's something I think all pickleball players can relate to. And it's all about why the hell we forget the score in pickleball. After a long rally. After a long rally. Yes. I mean, it doesn't even have to be after a long rally. I mean, it could be like someone's dumps their serve into the net. And it's like, what's the score again? I know. I know. So I think it's a relatable topic. And I would love for you to just share with the listeners a little bit more about that. First of all, go read the blog. But the blog's fine. We've got some fun topics up there. Mostly what we cover here. But yeah, it's um, why the heck do we forget the score? Okay, should I talk about why we forget? Yeah, tell us why. Tell us all the whys. Okay, okay, okay. This stuff is fascinating, guys. I remember going through this PS multiple times. I looked at Casey one time and I was like, enough. I am going to research how this happens. Like I'm going to use all of my training because I feel like I know kind of what's it's a brain thing. Like it's a brain thing. It's not an us thing. You geeked out on that. I did. She did. She was like, I'm researching this. I'm going home. Next thing I know, there's a blog article. I was like, by the way, we're starting a blog. So, yeah, it's very interesting. So I'll say this. I'll say, OK, here's the science, guys. So during a long, like, effort-heavy rally where our brain basically shifts into what neuroscientists call a task-dominated state, right? OK, so that translation is that your brain decides that winning the point matters more than bookkeeping, right? It matters more than remembering the score. So basically in this state, the prefrontal cortex, right? The front of your brain the part of the brain that responsible for your memory your sequencing things like holding facts like the score and who serving it partially kind of hands control over to the faster, deeper systems, right? The ones that are basically specializing in movement and timing and pattern recognition. This is called the basal ganglia and the cerebellum, right? Those two things are the ones that are in charge of that sort of specialized movement, the pattern recognition, the automatic execution, right? It's kind of a deeper system of reaction, reaction mode. So they basically are optimizing for action under pressure, right? So your brain is saying, we're in it now, stop counting, start surviving, right? At the same time, this is the part that's interesting. So at the same time, your nervous system begins to ramp up, right? Your heart rate increases, the breathing quickens, your cortisol nudges you into alert mode, stress hormones enhance performance memory, but impair declarative memory. So all those things, all those are stress hormones. So those are rising. So they enhance your performance. We want to be reactionary. We want to be able to strategize where to hit. We want to know how to deflect a banger shot. We want to know how to like an instant go ahead and lob instead of a baseline hit. All the strategic things you're trying to think of are your processes. Yeah. You're sort of just reacting. You're kind of, yes. So you like the part of your brain that's responsible for remembering stuff and sequencing and bookkeeping, like they say, is starting to shut down. So the stress hormones enhance performance memory, but impair what they call declarative memory. So in performance memory, it's how we move, react, read the ball, read your opponent and execute the shot, right? But declarative memory is facts and numbers like the score and the server order. So when the rally ends, your brain has a vivid highlight reel of the point and no reliable record of the score. This is what happens to all, like to many, if not all of us during especially a long rally. So this is not because you forgot the score, but because it was just never prioritized, right? It just, it kind of became secondary. So this is one more layer to this whole deal. So basically you're not forgetting the score, but it's not prioritized. And then at the end of the rally, this is my favorite part, how like we all ask each other what the score is. Like no one can remember specifically. So, of course, we turn to our partner. And if our partner doesn't know, we actually ask the other side of the net, like, what's the score? Who served? You know, we're all kind of relying on someone else to get it, to provide that information. That part's hilarious. But the thing about that is that humans naturally outsource memory to the group under load. So when your own recall feels shaky, your brain assumes someone else must have it. This is called transactive memory. So this is actually a thing. There's a term for it. It's a real thing. So the translation here is that everyone assumes someone else remembers until it becomes clear no one does. Yeah, there's that moment always where I'm like, sort of hope someone calls out the score real quick. So I like calls it first before I actually have to say it. Exactly. And so that's a common reflex, basically. And it's a communal deal. So really cool. Transactive memory. That's what that's called. Here's the piece that's interesting in the way that we can kind of address this. And it's hard. Okay, by the way, this is hard. Like I've tried it a lot. My success rate is like 50. So this is the answer. Well, this is a way to remember and recall the score and verbalize the score. So the forgetting, like the part that wasn't prioritized, again, it doesn't disappear instantly. It happens, like the fact that we forget it or we can't recall the score, this actually happens after our attention shifts away from the point. So, you know, at the end of the game, like end of a long rally, maybe you win the point and you're so pumped about it that you totally celebrate with your partners. Right. Or maybe you lose the point and you're bummed and like you just are disappointed. Right. And that's that next emotion. You're celebrating or you're disappointed. Right. After a long rally, you put in a lot of effort. It was maybe like 10 different shots and one team won. So there's a moment, there's like a beat where you react. In that beat, the score is actually available. like the score and the server who served is it is readily available for our taking like we can actually recall it in that moment before we celebrate before we get the celebration or before the let down or yes so once you know once someone turns away celebrates jokes or mentally replays the point the prefrontal cortex fully disengages and the score disappears it's like in that moment In that split second, really? Right. Yeah. It was when it really disappeared. So what do we do? The thing that can help is it's not about remembering harder. It's about bookmarking the score before your brain sort of closes the file, before it decides to shift into celebratory mode. So I came up with point, pause, parrot. So what that means is, like, the point ends, you pause a moment, and then you say the score. all before you jump up and down and celebrate with your partner this crushed it it's really hard it's gotta i mean but if you say it even under your voice under your breath you know or you say it like you know just right after the point ends you win the point it's like you might even just be like yes want it four three two okay four three two right this and then you go over to your partner and then you you know high five and then you jump up and down or you know the point ends, the other side of the net wins the point, and you kind of hang your head, you say, 4-3-2. And then you go to your partner and you're like, okay, what did we learn about that? Let's do it differently next time. Does this mean you have to be emotionally controlled or you can still, I mean, what's the... It means habit is what it means. There really isn't, it's because there's such a small window where all of this data is actually available, that it becomes, if we really want to get better at this and we want to be the person on the court that doesn't forget the steel trap, the person that's going to be always recalling it because you've got to be sharp, especially for tournaments, because, man, if you don't remember the point and you let the other side of the net just come up with it and you acquiesce, which happens a lot, then you might just cheat yourself out of a couple of points or a point here and there. It could be really important. So maybe it just becomes a focus where you're like, you know what? Okay, I know the science. The science kind of sucks. It's hard. However, it's real. It's not my fault. I'm not, you know, intentionally forgetting it. I'm not forgetful per se, but now you know that there is a moment where you can start to practice recalling the point. So it's just a split second. It's like the point ends 5-3-1. The point ends, you know, 10-9-2. Like it just, you just make it a point to say the score to yourself, then celebrate, and you'll be able to recall it right after the celebration. So I have a question, science teacher. Yeah. If someone is constantly forgetting the score, am I hearing you right to say that it's not really a skill that they're lacking? It's just their brain has gone on hiatus or something. Pretty much. I mean, I'm talking about when you've had a fairly long rally. Okay. So let's be clear. There's a spectrum here of people and their, you know, memory capabilities. So I'm not going to make any judgment about that per se. but I'm talking about when there's been at least four more you know hits and you've really worked a point maybe you're on you know hit number nine or hit number ten and you're you know now there's a lob and now you gotta drop it to the kitchen to get back to the kitchen and then they're there and you're dinking a little bit more and then somebody hits it down the baseline all of a sudden you're volleying and you know it's a intense point where everybody's involved and they're working really hard to earn the win. After that kind of play, where you're just in it and you're in that reactionary gear, you do not have availability at a high level to your prefrontal, which is the part of your brain that is responsible for that bookkeeping piece. However, it is available to you at the end of the point. It's available for the taking. It doesn't quite disappear until your attention shifts. When your attention shifts to full-blown celebration or full-blown disappointment, it's like forget about it. You just, you got no chance in getting that score back. It's going to be a real retrace. Okay, who started, what side were you on, and that whole mystery deliberation business that we all get to do every now and then. So to avoid that, I recommend trying to make this point pause parrot kind of thing a practice a sort of committed dedication a habit I love it it's not easy guys I'm definitely blog people it's um cool okay so I have a couple of fun questions for you yeah about this is it rude to ask the score more than twice ask the score to whom to the opponents the opponents uh rude to ask the score more than twice to your opponents i'm not sure the rude would be the word i feel like everybody gets two if you do it more than twice you're kind of building a reputation of someone who doesn't keep track yeah okay yeah it's funny actually there's people like that'll be like she never knows the score i know i think that like during a game like if you and your partner can't work it out and you have to ask the other side of the net. More than twice, I think you start building a reputation that, yeah, you can't keep the score in check. Now, as my doubles partner, do you believe that you are the scorekeeper or the score asker? Which one are you more? I feel like we're kind of even on this, dude. What? Yeah. I don't know about that. Oh, you think you know it more? I don't know, but I think we should institute a rule. Oh, what's the rule? It's going to be three strikes, you buy drinks rule. I'm in for that. I like it. So if you forget this score, I can't believe you think that you ask me the score less. That's true. I know. It's the side thing. It's the side thing because you are always on the odd side. I'm always on the even side. Yet, you will call an even score when you are on the odd side. That's true. That's true. I'll do that sometimes. Yes, a lot. And you will often... Correct you. You will often ask, instead of saying the score, you will often say it with an inflection as a question mark to the other side of the net. Often. And after you've asked me and I've told you the score, and then you'll ask the other side of the net. I think you're wrong. Oh, my God. You heard it here first, guys. There's no trust. There's no real trust. No, there is all kinds of trust. Well, listen, this has been a really fun episode. It has done. I hope you all enjoyed it. Enjoyed it. Pickleball is basically Mardi Gras with paddles. Strangers become friends. You chase things you shouldn't. You forget the score, and somehow you find yourself. And for the love of beads, people, remember the score. Let's think responsibly. cheers cheers my friend and that's a wrap on this episode of dinks on tap thanks for listening and if you like the pod leave us a review and share it with your favorite dinking buddy after all pickleball is more fun with friends both on and off the court