Try @ TXST

Giselle Kowalski:
Hi everyone. My name is Giselle Kowalski and I'm the digital content producer here at Texas State University. You're listening to Try At Texas State, and today we're talking about pickleball. Unless you've been living under a rock, you've probably noticed that pickleball has exploded in popularity lately. It's popping up everywhere on tennis courts, in parks, and even made its way to our campus with the Texas State Pickleballers Club. And if a friend hasn't already invited you to play a few rounds, consider this your sign to give it a shot. It's seriously so fun, super easy to pick up, and a great way to get moving without needing to be a pro athlete. I got to visit the courts and chat with the president of the club, Camaren Gell.

Camaren Gell:
That's a hard shot. You're good.

Giselle Kowalski:
So please introduce yourself. Tell us your name, what year you are, and what you do with the Texas State Pickleballers.

Camaren Gell:
I'm Camaren. I'm a sophomore. I'm the president of the Texas State Pickleballers. I do a lot of the communicating with the club and other organizations when we do tournaments.

Giselle Kowalski:
So when we met last, I am trying to remember if you told me if you had a tennis background or not. Do you?

Camaren Gell:
I don't.

Giselle Kowalski:
You don't? OK. So that was my whole thing with pickleball. It's like, it feels super similar to tennis, but if you could explain it to someone who's never heard about pickleball before, how would you explain it?

Camaren Gell:
The easiest way probably is very similar to tennis, but it's like a smaller version I guess. It's quicker movements and tennis is more longer rallies.

Giselle Kowalski:
Before we get into pickleball, I want to know a little bit more about you. How did you even find the Pickleball Club? Are you a sporty guy? What drew you to this sport to begin with?

Camaren Gell:
Definitely a sporty guy. I did baseball my entire life. Well, I guess the first time I played was the summer before my freshman year. So my friend, he has a tennis background and he was getting me into it. He asked to play, so we went out to our local courts and hit around a little bit and I thought it was a lot of fun. Didn't know if I'd do much with it, but I mean I did. When I got to Texas State, I was just looking around on the organization page and I saw the Pickleball Club. When I first joined, it was the second... I think the second year they were doing it. So it was a lot of newer people that didn't... We were kind of just all meeting each other there and it was a lot of fun.

Giselle Kowalski:
Yeah. What was your first impression of the people there? Because I feel like pickleball is super social. Walk me through the first time you showed up to the Rio Vista Courts and got to meet everybody.

Camaren Gell:
It was definitely a little weird at first. I mean, not knowing anyone, but like you said, everyone's super social, everyone loves talking. As soon as I got there, these three guys that I'm now good friends with came up to me and asked me about things and we were all talking and got a couple of games together. They were showing me more of how to play and I guess the strategy behind it.

Giselle Kowalski:
When we came with Tyson for our Try at Texas State video, we were all a little bit nervous just because Tyson comes from a basketball background, and so tennis... I've tried playing tennis and I always like to say I try playing tennis because I'm not very good at it, but pickleball seems way more approachable and he had such a great time.

Tyson:
I would actually join.

Camaren Gell:
You should. This is fun.

Tyson:
This is a lot of fun. Yeah. Great people.

Camaren Gell:
All right. What's up, Tyson?

Tyson:
I'm a new timer. Beginner to this. Take it easy.

Camaren Gell:
He's been doing good.

Tyson:
Bro, keep-

Giselle Kowalski:
What do you think it is about pickleball that makes it way more fun than tennis?

Camaren Gell:
I think is exactly what you said. It's a lot more accessible. It's a lot easier to pick up on. I guess the biggest thing is that just the ball doesn't go as far. I mean, it's not like a tennis ball where it's springy and super bouncy. It's a waffle ball, so it kind of dies a little bit, but that just makes it a lot easier to get into. The court is smaller, so not as much running the kitchen to what we were going over last time we met.

Giselle Kowalski:
Yeah. So you mentioned the kitchen and there was another word that you said that made me laugh, that was dinking. Can you walk us through what is dinking and what is the kitchen? It's also pickleball. All these names are being thrown around. We don't understand them.

Camaren Gell:
Yeah, there's a lot of weird terminology that goes into it. I guess the best place to start would be the kitchen. Right next to the net, I think it's seven feet on each side. There's a line that goes across the whole court and inside that line, closer the net, that's called the kitchen. I think called the no rally zone or no volley zone. But what that means is you can't hit the ball out of the air if you're in the kitchen. And that's where dinking comes in.

Giselle Kowalski:
That's where dinking comes in?

Camaren Gell:
Yeah.

Giselle Kowalski:
OK.

Camaren Gell:
Well, the biggest strategy, I guess, in pickleball is to get up to the kitchen line, hit the ball right over the net. Right where you can't reach it on the other side of the kitchen line, because if you step in and hit the ball out of the air, it's the other team's point. Dinking is where you just hit it right over the net where they punch you out of the air.

Tyson:
See, this is when you start getting the baseline. That's when we start dinking.

Camaren Gell:
OK. OK. You start coming up into it.

Tyson:
Yep, I see it. I see.

Camaren Gell:
This is where you want to be right here.

Tyson:
OK. All right. All right.

Camaren Gell:
It slows down the game a lot. Instead of, like I said, tennis is more of a lot of bigger hits. This is a lot of strategy and pushing the ball, keeping people away from slamming the ball.

Giselle Kowalski:
Do you know why it's called pickleball?

Camaren Gell:
I really have no idea.

Giselle Kowalski:
OK.

Camaren Gell:
I actually tried looking it up and I couldn't find much.

Giselle Kowalski:
Yeah, well, it's OK. I'll do some research. We'll insert me trying to find why it's called pickleball. But...
The name actually comes from a rowing term, pickleboat, which refers to a crew made up of leftover rowers. Basically the benched team. Joan Pritchard, wife of one of the game's creators, thought the mix of sports like badminton, ping-pong and tennis felt kind of similar to pickleboat, hence the fun name. You'll probably see a very popular version involving the family dog, Pickles, chasing stray balls. But that story is more a myth than fact.
So as of late, I feel like pickleball before Gen Z and our millennial friends all got into it, it was definitely like an older folks situation. So what do you think makes the younger generation right now, especially, I feel like it's growing in popularity so much. What do you think that is? What is that phenomenon?

Camaren Gell:
I really, I'm not sure. Yeah, my grandpa, he would always call it old man's tennis. I guess I think it goes back to the accessibility and just how easy it is to get better at it, I guess. And with pickleball it's a lot easier to get into it. You see people that have never played be able to keep up with someone that might have a little more experience. And then-

Giselle Kowalski:
I was going to ask you too about before we started recording, you brought up that you were going to leave for a tournament tomorrow. So it's way bigger. I'm seeing TikToks now. I'm seeing Reels all the time of people playing pickleball and getting super heated into it. So now it's on a collegiate level. Tell me a little bit about that.

Camaren Gell:
We got invited to a collegiate tournament. After nationals-

Giselle Kowalski:
The nationals are in New Jersey.

Camaren Gell:
I think that's where, I could be wrong. His name is Mark. He's a senior pro and he helps us out with the club and getting us in some tournaments. But he is a friend at Baylor and he was telling us about the collegiate tournament and that we should join. Just kind of see where we're at. We call it Duper days, and it goes... Duper is like this app that gives you a rating based on who you play and how well you play. And it'll rank you based on... We have our own club, like the Texas State Pickleball Club. So rank you against all our members and we-

Giselle Kowalski:
Where do you rank amongst your pickleball league?

Camaren Gell:
I think last time I checked I was two.

Giselle Kowalski:
OK. How did you climb up in the ranks from not knowing tennis?

Camaren Gell:
I guess just playing so much. I had a lot of people helping me out with strategy and how to play. When I first got in there, I was playing two times a week with the club and I started getting friends that were going around other times of the week playing. I mean, now I average probably four times a week, I'm out there.

Giselle Kowalski:
What's your favorite pickleball memory thus far? I know that there's definitely been volleys that you've probably thought back on and you're like, wow, that was such an awesome score that I just made. But is there anything that stands out to you from your time in pickleball?

Camaren Gell:
There's two very different things that stand out to me. The one that I think you're asking about, it's my favorite shot to hit. It's called an ATP. It's around the pole. So basically what happens is when you're dinking, you'll go across court a lot, which will push the ball really wide. And if they push the ball too wide, it'll be where an angle where you can hit the ball around the net onto the court. You don't have to go over it, you can go around it.

Giselle Kowalski:
Oh.

Camaren Gell:
It's a really hard shot to defend, I guess. So if you get the opportunity, it's a really cool shot to hit. So those are always my favorite if I get the chance.

Giselle Kowalski:
Yeah, yeah. Yeah. Legendary.

Camaren Gell:
Yeah. My favorite memory, most memorable, probably doesn't even have to do with a game I guess. I have some really good friends and sometimes when we play, it's just the most fun thing ever. Talking trash is... It gets heated sometimes. And it's so funny. We're all just joking, so we're saying things that are-

Giselle Kowalski:
Outlandish.

Camaren Gell:
Yeah, crazy. But it always leads to the funniest memories. And I think that's really what got me into it. Just how nice and... Well, I say nice and trash talking, those don't go together

Giselle Kowalski:
In the same sentence, but I know what you mean. It's like the friendly rivalry.

Camaren Gell:
Yeah, exactly. Makes you keep wanting to come back.

Giselle Kowalski:
Exactly. No, I remember when we were playing with Tyson or we weren't playing, it just felt like we were playing because we were watching him. And I was like, "Come on." I was getting so into it. It made me want to play too. There's something about pickleball that because anybody can join, it's so diverse. It makes you so excited. I feel like I could play with my dad, my older brother, and then my friend's kid or something like that. And everyone can actually enjoy it. It's not based on age or anything like that. But you were talking about your memory. I'm sorry, I don't know if I cut you off or anything.

Camaren Gell:
I was just saying, speaking about the age range, I got my Meme into it, and now she has neighborhood courts and she has a group of friends that goes out a few times a week and they're just playing. And then I got my sister into it, my family.

Giselle Kowalski:
You're an influencer.

Camaren Gell:
I guess.

Giselle Kowalski:
Yeah. You're an influencer. No. The other thing I was going to ask you is that I know with tennis there's a lot of injuries, and with pickleball there have definitely been a lot of pickleball related injuries. How are you in particular, since you have so many hours every week, what are you doing to prevent injuries from pickleball? Are you stretching?

Camaren Gell:
Oh, not as much as I should.

Giselle Kowalski:
Not as much as you should. That's youth. That's youth.

Camaren Gell:
I will be tomorrow.

Giselle Kowalski:
OK, cool.

Camaren Gell:
But yeah, I guess a lot of people do light stretches, I guess. And we call them warm-ups, but it's what we're doing with you with Tyson, just kind of hitting the ball around a little bit, getting loose. But right now we don't do much. Not enough as what we should.

Giselle Kowalski:
It's OK. It's OK. But maybe that's something y'all instill within these next couple of weeks.

Camaren Gell:
I know we should.

Giselle Kowalski:
Yeah, no, maybe do it before your tournament so that you're all nice and warmed up, but one of the last questions I was going to ask you is you were telling me that there have been people in the club that have given you ideas on strategy or advice on what to do during pickleball. You gave Tyson a lot of great tips, but if there's someone who's like, dude, I'm really nervous to try and come out here, what would you tell them?

Camaren Gell:
If someone's nervous to come out, I would definitely lead with just how easy it is to get into and just how nice everyone is. I mean, when I first joined, I was nervous. Biggest thing for me is everyone is so willing to help other people out and start. There's not groups that like, oh, I'm too good for you, or I don't want to play with you because you're not good enough or whatever. Everyone's just like, you just queue up with random people and you just have a good time. Everyone's super welcoming. They're always going to help you out. They're never going to get mad at you for something. If anything, they'll give you a couple of tips, but everyone's just super nice and super welcoming.

Giselle Kowalski:
Yeah, that's awesome. That's how it felt too whenever we pulled up to the courts too, it was like, everyone looks so happy. So it just makes you want to play. But I really hope you guys have a great tournament and I had a great time talking to you. It makes me want to go play pickleball. Can anyone join?

Camaren Gell:
Yeah, definitely.

Giselle Kowalski:
Like anybody?

Camaren Gell:
Yeah, you can join.

Giselle Kowalski:
OK. OK. OK. I might take you up on that.

Camaren Gell:
Next Tuesday, 6:30.

Giselle Kowalski:
Oh yeah, when do y'all meet for if somebody wants to come and join y'all?

Camaren Gell:
Yeah, we meet Tuesdays and Thursdays from 6:30 to about 8:30. But like I was saying, we stay until forever and we have our competitive days on Saturday whoever would be interested in that at 12:00.

Giselle Kowalski:
Nice, nice. And y'all aren't at the Texas State tennis courts. Y'all are at the San Marcos Rio Vista Park?

Camaren Gell:
Yes.

Giselle Kowalski:
Awesome.

Camaren Gell:
Yeah, the Rio Vista, I think they're still called Rio Vista Tennis Courts.

Giselle Kowalski:
Tennis courts, OK. Yeah. But y'all dominate. Y'all take up so much space.

Camaren Gell:
Yeah, I feel a little bad sometimes because we'll overflow onto the tennis courts and there'll be people playing.

Giselle Kowalski:
Dang.

Camaren Gell:
Yeah.

Giselle Kowalski:
Hey, it's OK. That's what community's for.

Camaren Gell:
Exactly. Yeah. Public courts.

Giselle Kowalski:
Public courts are public for a reason, but yeah. Well, thanks Camaren. I had a great time talking to you.
So I also reached out to see how Camaren and the whole team did at Baylor whenever they went for their tournament. And turns out they placed fifth out of 12 teams, beating some really big schools. Way to go, y'all. And thank you so much, Camaren, for coming on the podcast and teaching us the lingo and a little bit more about the game. And thank you for listening to this episode of the Try At Texas State Podcast. Make sure to tune in next time to learn more about something else you can try on campus at Texas State. And also remember to follow us on our social media at TXST. This podcast is a production of the Division of Marketing and Communications at Texas State University. Podcasts appearing on the Texas State University Network represents the views of the hosts and guests, not of Texas State University. Again, I'm your host, Giselle Kowalski, and I'll see you next time. Bye y'all.