Pickleball is a fast-growing sport among all age ranges. Leagues and tournaments are popping up in every community, and indoor gyms have to make room for one more sectioned off court. Cutting through the markings of countless sports isn’t easy, but Pro Tapes fluorescent colors create an unmistakable and long-lasting court that catches the eye of any player. Read our interview with Pickleball518 creator, Cathleen Denbeaux, about when she discovered how Pro Tapes performs on the court.
Do you have a website or any social media sites you’d like to share with our audience?
Yes!
https://www.facebook.com/pickleball518
https://www.instagram.com/pickleballmaven
Subscribe to my newsletter: https://www.pickleball518.com/subscribe
Tell us a bit about yourself! How did you get into Pickleball?
I discovered Pickleball a decade ago during a winter trip to Naples to visit my Mom. I thought “Wow, this is a fun sport” but I assumed it was only played in Florida. It turns out there was a very active pickleball community already happening in the Albany, N.Y., area. I just didn’t know about it. In 2019, I heard there was a pickleball club on Great Lake Sacandaga in the Adirondacks where I spend time during the summer. I drove around until I found Pickle in the Park in Northville, N.Y., and introduced myself to the owner. He told me they were having a club tournament the next Saturday and needed women. “Would I like to play?” Of course I would. I was paired with an experienced partner who gently coached me to a second place finish. I was hooked.
What would you say to someone who’s curious about Pickleball but hasn’t taken the plunge yet? Any tips or advice to help them get started and enjoy the game?
Pickleball is easy to learn. The ball is much easier to control than tennis so you can be hitting the ball back and forth in 10 minutes. It is as fun and social as everyone says. Once you know the basics, you realize there are more tactics and strategies that keep the game interesting for years.
The most common injuries in pickleball are ruptured achilles and injuries from falls, particularly falls from backpedaling. First, I would recommend a good pair of court shoes. Do not wear running shoes, which are not meant for moving side to side. Second, I would suggest starting slow. Don’t reach for balls until you get a sense of what is reachable. It takes time to adjust to the shorter paddle used in pickleball. Also, listen to your body. A ball that was reachable for you 20 years ago may not be reachable today – at least until you get into pickleball form. Stretching for balls just out of your reach is how many achilles tendons have ruptured. Third, don’t backpedal to reach balls over your head. Let them go or turn sideways and run. Backpedaling is a sure way to fall and get hurt.
Stay safe and have fun. This game is full of joy and rushes of adrenaline. Give it a try!
What inspired you to start Pickleball518, and how has the newsletter evolved since its inception?
I was a newspaper reporter for 25 years and specialized in data journalism for the last 10 years. I left the newspaper business around the time I discovered pickleball. As I thought about my next career move, I wondered whether it could include pickleball. Unfortunately, a career as a pro pickleball player was not in the cards. But my newspaper skills fit well with a pickleball newsletter, which requires writing, photography, headline writing, social media, SEO and marketing. I launched the newsletter and began running some pickleball events, which led to running tournaments. My experience in data journalism helped me learn the leading pickleball tournament software Pickleball Brackets. The newsletter has not changed significantly. It is a professionally produced newsletter that informs my local pickleball community about pickleball leagues, clinics, lessons and tournaments.
What is evolving is the direction of my business endeavors. I love writing about the process of running a pickleball tournament and issues that affect pickleball organizers like player skill rating systems, balancing social play with competitive play in groups that have players with different goals and the best apps to use to communicate with your pickleball friends. I am looking to create a newsletter aimed at other pickleball organizers like me and to train other people to run pickleball tournaments.
How do you see the Pickleball community growing in Albany, NY, and the Greater Capital Region?
The sport is still growing here. Four new indoor facilities with dedicated pickleball courts just opened. I think we will see more opportunities to play and compete and new people will continue to try the sport.
How did you discover Pro Artist Tape in fluorescent green, and what made you decide to use it for this event?
Taping temporary pickleball courts is a challenge for every tournament director. I was running a charity pickleball tournament with 16 temporary pickleball courts at a college field house that had low lighting and a synthetic court surface with many, MANY, pre-existing lines. One of the areas had lines for basketball, volleyball, badminton, indoor tennis and indoor soccer; I needed a bright tape that would cut through that madness. I realized green was the only color not represented among the lines. I tried a light green tape and some dark green tapes but they did not stand out.
My search for neon green tape led me to Pro Artist Tape. I wasn’t sure if Artist Tape would work for pickleball lines, so I ordered a roll and created a court in the field house. The tape’s non-sticky side is a flat paper. It was thin and flush to the floor. Perfect. The tacky side was stickier than traditional painter’s tape but much less tacky than duct tape. It was easy to tape down the lines – the tape flowed smoothly off the roll – and more importantly, the tape came off the floor beautifully in long strips and left no residue and caused no damage to the floor.
I needed a longer test. I left a strip of tape in a high-traffic area for two weeks. When my test was complete, I removed the tape easily with no damage to the floor. Above all, the neon tape visually POPPED on the gym floor. I knew it was the best tape for my tournament.
How did the tape perform compared to other tapes used for marking courts?
Pro Artist Tape performed great during the tournament. It withstood 300 players and 670 games. I did not have to repair a single strip of tape over the three-day tournament. It was easier to put down than many rubbery tapes that require a lot of force to get off the roll, and it came off the floor in long, full strips. The college maintenance staff cleaned the floor on each night of the tournament using a ride-on mop machine. I didn’t realize they would be wet mopping the courts and I probably would have asked them not to because I think most tapes would get pulled up when wet. But the Artist Tape handled the moppings without any problem. It was an A+ performance.
Do you plan to continue using Pro Artist tape for future Pickleball events? Why or why not?
Absolutely. We will be holding the same charity tournament at the same venue next year and I will definitely use the neon green Artist Tape from Pro Tapes. I know Artist Tape works great on synthetic gym floors and now I would like to test the Artist Tape on other surfaces like wood floors, tennis courts and outdoor asphalt venues.
Anything we haven’t asked that you’d like to share about the tape or your experience using it for pickleball?
I’m thrilled to discover that Pro Artist Tape works well for pickleball lines. The color selections available in your artist tapes greatly expands the options available for pickleball tournament directors: white, blue, black, orange, yellow, pink, red, fluorescent orange, fluorescent green, fluorescent pink and fluorescent yellow tape. I hope it works as well on wood floors and tennis surfaces as it does on synthetic gym floors!
