Welcome to Playmaker Pickleball

Hi, everyone, and welcome to Playmaker Pickleball!

I'm Colin, and I thought I'd say hello by telling you a bit about my history and how I became a huge pickleball fan.

I do have a football background — I played college football until injuries drove me out. Working at my local health club in 2022, my manager approached me with an opportunity I never saw coming: be the pickleball coach and coordinator. I had barely even picked up a paddle at the time, but if I was going to coach it, I suppose I should play it. Needless to say she was pretty desperate for somebody to take on this role. 

I jumped right in. My first tournament was 3.0 with my buddy Tanner, who also worked at the club. We lost all the matches — and somehow, I was hooked. I started scheduling group play on Mondays and Fridays to get more people to hit with, sharpen my game, and develop the local pickleball following.

Slowly but surely, it was worth it. I progressed to medaling at 3.5, and soon thereafter I found a coach who helped to get me up to the 4.5–5.0 level.

More recently, I suffered a setback — a slipped disc in my back — and I'm presently taking time off from competition at least until September. But even though I'm on the sidelines as far as playing goes, I'm staying fully engaged with the game:

Coaching players through strategies and thought processes

Watching high-level play during tournaments

Keeping up with the evolving pickleball equipment, court architecture, and sporting development.

Playmaker Pickleball is how I share all that I discover — from equipment reviews to coaching tips, from where to play to the politics of our sport. If it's happening in the pickleball cosmos, you'll find it here.

Thanks for being on the journey with us. Let's continue to get better together — on and off the court.


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