I just want to share my experience with you about US Open Pickleball Championships 2023 Naples, FL.
I really enjoyed the atmosphere, and the way things were organized. I have played Pickleball for over a year and it was my first competition ever. I started to play Pickleball at Lifetime fitness( indoor) and most of our plays were “open play” (we didn’t even play any small brackets tournaments) Anyway, I’m so happy that I had a chance to play at this event, it was an amazing experience. It’s the largest Pickleball event in World, and the fact that its right at the beach- it makes even more attractive. We all need a vacation so you may as well hit the Pickleball court and then beach- that’s what we did with my friend. All the people at the event were friendly and it was interesting to talk to them, all of them came from different cities, states, and countries. I’m glad that we came a day prior the official event starts because I had an opportunity to get familiar with the park, courts etc and also at least I played a few games because once the tournament started all courts were occupied and you have no place to warm up or practice. Two most challenging things for me at the tournament were extremely hot weather, 88-92F (I play mostly indoors at my hometown) and lack of time for warming up before the official games start (we only had like 5-7 min before the first official game start). I know we all were in the same shoes and dealt with that.
In regards weather, I think my only suggestion for organizers, I know they need to make sure that all 3000 players will play on their schedule( the record was set this year) but Im sure many player don’t mind to play earlier or later to avoid the heat. I was in the bracket 30+ skill level 3.5 and our games were scheduled to start at 1:30pm in the middle of the day when the sun is up and heat is in full force, I felt how my snickers were melting on the court. Anyway, instead we can play games from 7am and finish them by 12pm, have a break for lunch or watch a Pro Players games since they play inside huge tent, and then return to play after 4pm and play until 9-10pm when there is no sun and heat.(or this event can be moved to March when it’s not that hot, it’s just a thought) Life-hack for first time comers, especially, if you’re coming from coldest states/countries or from indoors plays, make sure you will drink a lot liquid before games, during and after games, wear hat, and what help me the most, I grabbed the hotel towel and made it wet before each game and I rubbed my neck and head with it- at every breaks I had in games, its definitely refreshed me, kept me moving thru all games and saved me from heatstroke.
In regards warming up before the first official game. As I mentioned before, it’s better if you can come the day before the official games start, because you can get familiar with the park and at least play a few games. Usually there are plenty of players in the park the day before you can find a partner easily for a game or two. I played a few games with the guy from NY, he was 4.0 skill level and he won our games but that’s a practice I needed it. By the way, for those who play mostly indoors, you need also adjust your game for wind. It took me a few games to do that. I hit the ball harder if the wind was blowing to my face, if opposite way then you need hit the ball softer, same thing apply to side wind, you just need to make sure you will consider that. I had a few shots in the games when they were going out but because of the wind they landed on the court. If the organizers take our feedback into consideration, I suggest they let the players have at least 20-30 minutes on the court before the first official game. Because most of the players this year played their first game and did not fully warm up. I hit maybe 20 shots before we started the first officially game(like 7 minutes for warming up). The only thing I did before the game I took my paddle and was imitate the shots by swinging in the air, at least I warmed up my muscles but didn’t get a good feeling of the ball at all.
At the end I got a silver medal and I think it was a greatest experience in my life. As I mentioned before I had never played any Pickleball tournaments before and I think at this point everything was a challenge for me. I lost the golden match and I didn’t have any chance at all against this player. He was better in every aspect: technique, accuracy and I think he was a higher Pickleball skill level than me. Anyway, I’m happy with my result and now I want to practice more and play in doubles and maybe win some medals in doubles.
Let me know if you want to know more about my experience in US Open Pickleball Championships 2023 Naples, FL or if you want to share with me your experience.
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