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"With a smaller court, the focus is on placement and strategy to move players on the court and create an opportunity for the win," Hotchkiss says. "Lots of continuous movements and fast and slow rallies." "It is easier to play than tennis, and the former tennis players that are discovering the game are loving it because a lot of the skills are transferable," Williams puts in. "Until you get to the 'soft game,' which is one of the things that sets it apart. A slow, short game at the no-volley zone, commonly called 'the kitchen,' is where many points are won. Unlike tennis, where they seem to bang it, bang it, bang it, in pickleball, the pace of the game, especially at the professional level, changes many times in a rally." "It can be easier to learn pickleball for some people who have never played a paddle sport than a tennis player," adds Sanabria. "For example, tennis players take a full swing on their groundstrokes. Pickleball is about minimizing your errors, and it's best to have a short backswing to reduce your errors. This could be easier for a non- tennis player to learn than for a tennis player to un-learn a skill they've been practicing for years." Also, Sanabria notes, "pickleball is a 'thinking' sport. It can be like playing chess on a court. Understanding where your team should be positioned on the court, choosing the right shot to hit and having a strategic game plan can definitely improve your chances of winning. So even though paddle skills are important, someone with lesser paddle skills can compete effectively if they 'think' better than their opponents." Where to play Williams — and Hotchkiss, a former corporate-level finance officer in for- profit health care who is now also a USAPA Ambassador — want to talk about their sport for a laundry list of reasons, many of them enumerated JULY 21-27, 2019 WHAT'S UP! 37 FEATURE See Pickleball Page 38 NWA Democrat-Gazette/ANDY SHUPE Jeff Hedges laughs while playing pickleball at the Rogers Adult Wellness Center. NWA Democrat-Gazette/ANDY SHUPE Jim Garbison returns a shot at the Rogers Adult Wellness Center. Pickleball Continued From Page 9