I am not certain if listening to an hour or so of the same floor exercise routine while playing pickleball rises to one of Dante's 9 Circles of Hell, but I will probably hear that tune in my sleep for the next couple of nights.  There was a gymnastic meet on the gym side of The Centre today.  The kids competing in today's level do floor exercise and are required to use the same piece of music.  Fortunately there were pauses while the judges did their scoring.  Ironic, pickleball players complaining about noise.  Ground control is telling Major Tom its time to take off and explore the Pickleverse.

1.  Dinking In the New Year 2026 - Congratulations to the 20+ players from the area that played in last weekend's DITNY 2026 Tournament and made a strong showing.  State College YMCA retained the Central Pennsylvania Pickleball Cup.  The Bernel Briners racked up 1 gold, 3 silver, and 5 bronze medals.  Below are some photos of Centre County players and if you would like to see more, including the medal winners check out this link:  DITNY 2026 Photos.  Kudos to Donna Reese of Pickleball Visions for running a great tournament.

2.  Westside Hockey Pickleball Tournament - Good luck the local players that crave even more tournament games as they head Johnstown in search of glory and precious metal.

3. New Holbrook Paddles - I have 2 new Holbrook Paddles, The Zone and The Mav.  The Zone is a Gen3 paddle and makes my Aero T feel like a lead weight.  Not sure yet if I will be switching.  The Mav is the newest iteration of the popular Mav Pro line with a few upgrades to the core to squeeze out a bit more pop and still have some nice control.  The Mav will retail for $99 and The Zone for $149, that's before my standard 15% discount.  Public sale starts on January 23rd.  Holbrook is giving ambassadors a 50% discount up until the public release.  I don't believe they are limiting me to just one paddle each so I may be able to get you a good deal if you want one. 

4. Over The Mountain - I had the opportunity to travel over Centre Hall Mountain to work with a great group of pickleballers at the Penns Valley YMCA in Spring Mills.  We ran a modified version of PIckleball 101.  The court did have some limitations.  The court was placed in an aerobics room and while the court dimensions were regulation, there was about 2 feet of space between the baselines and about 3 on each side.  Oh, and the ceiling was probably about 10 feet high.  The spacing made for some tricky shots and interesting points, especially when the house rule is the ceiling is in if the ball lands in the opponent's court.  So not the funkiest place I have ever played in but this another demonstration as to what players that love the game will endure to play.

5. Tip Of The Week - I was sitting with Kim R. watching some of the tournament games and noticed that one common trait that competitive teams had was the ability to keep the ball in play.  When they got pressed and had to play defensively they seldom tried for the low percentage winner.  Their retorts were usually dinks, drives up the middle, or lobs.  The concept was live to play the next shot, one that favored position and/or skill set.  The shot you take may be sent back as a winner but a lot of times just may give you a chance for the opponent to make a mistake.  Patience - Placement - Power.
   
   

I guess we need to think about bundling up a bit more early next week, I may even need to wear sweatpants to the facility.  Links for indoor play are below.  Have a great week.  Peace.

The Centre:  Indoor @ The Centre

C3 Sports:  Indoor @ C3 Sports

Randy S. Hoffman

Pickleball: The art of keeping your eye on the ball…mostly.