With Fall Championships around the corner, I sat down with Area 3’s pickleball coach Lloyd Raupp to learn more about the sport. Lloyd has been involved with Special Olympics Virginia for about 32 years and recently became the head coach for his son’s pickleball team. My hope for you reading this interview is that you will become fascinated with this new sport and may want to try it out for yourself.
For those unfamiliar with pickleball, Raupp explains that its only similarity to tennis is that it’s a racket sport. “Pretty much everything else is different,” he says. “The ball is different. It’s like a wiffle ball as opposed to a tennis ball. The paddle is that of a hard wood composite.” Because it doesn’t have strings like a tennis racket, the ball doesn’t bounce off, so one has to use more force. And then there is the court.
“Pickleball is on a court much smaller than a tennis court,” he says. “The court has lines, and you must keep the ball in the lines. There aren’t a lot of rules to pickleball, but you just must learn the few rules, and then you can get out there and play if you have the coordination to do it. It’s probably easier for most of our athletes to play than tennis because you don’t have to move as much or cover as much ground.”
As for training, “It’s a matter of getting out there and hitting the ball,” Raupp says, rather than a lot of physical training and exercising. “The ball can move a lot faster than you might be used to in tennis,” he says. “It’s in a smaller area so the ball can get on you quick, meaning you have to be ready for it. You must have your paddle ready and not be afraid of it coming at you.”
Despite the small court, Raupp says it’s a good idea to do some stretches and exercises, especially since injuries are surprising common in pickleball. He recommends stretching legs as well as arms, focusing on tendons and muscles that you could pull in making quick movements.
“There are a lot of injuries that come with the pickleball craze and particularly with the older community that has taken to pickleball,” he says. “Physical therapists and the doctors say they see more people coming in with pickleball injuries than any other sport. And you wouldn’t think so, because it’s like a pretty mild sport, but there are quick movements, and those quick movements put an extra stress of the muscles. So, the stretching is key.”
To stay fit for pickleball, he recommends being as loose as possible to avoid pulled muscles, and “you definitely want to be hydrated, because it can be a fast-moving sport.”
“You can get into a rally where it’s back and forth, and so on, until a point is scored,” he says. “And when that point is over, you might suddenly realize, ‘Wow, I’m tired, I got to take a rest.’ And it’s OK to be able to take a rest. You don’t want to collapse.”
Raupp’s son learned to play pickleball before his dad. “He’s easily as good as I am, and he’s going to be playing with his good friend John Fried at SOVA’s Fall Champs,” Raupp says. “The two of them have played tennis at USA Games and won gold medals. They’re really good at it!”
“Whenever I speak about Special Olympics, I say Special Olympics is a program that gives athletes an opportunity to compete, to win, and to lose, and that’s a part of life … that’s what I love about Special Olympics.”
