Ros Lindsey (00:00)
It's crazy to think people haven't heard of I Pickleball because it's the most amazing sport in the world. I now understand what everybody's, how enthusiastic they are about the game. It's a different experience.
than any other sport that I've played. think when you're playing you're not thinking about I'm doing exercise. I don't. I never consider it as I think I'm just playing a game and I'm here with my friends. It keeps me fit, keeps me moving. I try and play five times a week if I can. I don't always. But it just keeps you sharp mentally, keeps you moving, keeps you active. It's, I can't imagine what I would do if I didn't have pickleball. Have you found an activity that you love to
do where you're moving your body and getting the exercise that you need. I'm here at Focus Academy in Redcliffe where we have the best pickleball courts in Queensland and I'm speaking to Australians that have found an activity that they love and that is pickleball. Thank you for tuning in to this move and thrive series where you can discover activities that you may not have thought of that just might help you to move your body and to become
healthier. Pickleball is so so good is due to its inclusivity anybody and everybody can play pickleball.
It doesn't matter your gender, your age, your physical ability, we can all play it. That is the beauty and what makes it so popular, it's so easy to do. It's hard to master eventually when you really want to get really good at it, but initially anybody can play. It doesn't matter your shape, your size, your fitness level, what you put in you can get out. We love it at Red Cliff because it's good for our community, it helps with your physical well-being as well as your mental well-being.
The social engagement that we get from our community is amazing and the community that people are building around themselves, unbelievable. It's just the best thing ever.
I absolutely agree. You are one of our addicts, Ross. I really am. I am and I'm proud to be. Tell us about the game itself. What does it look like? So the game is played on a badminton sized court. It looks almost like a mini tennis court. We have the tennis net, which is a little bit lower than a tennis net. You play with the paddle, which is probably about double the size of a table tennis paddle and the ball.
is a plastic wiffle ball with holes in. So it's almost, it's a little bit bigger than a tennis ball and it doesn't bounce as much as a tennis ball. And the object of the game, getting the ball back over the net, either as a volley or with one bounce. And just to have loads of fun while you're doing it. Keep the ball in the lines and get it over the net, as simple as that. And for people who might be considering giving it a go, what would the process be?
and
don't think anymore, just do it. Just do it. But the process would be find the nearest club near you. If you're living in Red Clip you have to come to Focus, but other than that, any club near you. Just go in and find out about it. Look it up on the internet. There apps out there called Open Sports, Meetup, or you go to the various governing bodies. Every state has a governing body. Pickleball Queensland, Pickleball Victoria, or you just go and look on Pickleball Australia and find the nearest
place that offers pickleball and go and do it. It's so much fun. It's really nice to be part of a community. I just moved here and I didn't know anybody so this is now my pickleball family which is really nice to have that sort of sense of belonging, sense of community. It's really good. We do feel that it's keeping us younger, absolutely, for sure it's keeping us younger. And when we tell people we play pickleball and all that and then when they find out our age they're like, whoa really? Absolutely playing fool.
four years now and I think at the beginning obviously we hadn't been playing any sport much because we've been working quite hard and I think when we first started it was like oh you know but I think it definitely has made a difference to our fitness. It's definitely an all-round sport it's not just getting your heart and lungs going you feel it in your muscles as you get older obviously but that's a good
You know what mean? It's not one of those vigorous sports where you're lifting weights and you're really burdening your body. I'd say it's a fun run around game, if anything. It's not like a, yeah, like I said, a full on punching weights type of fitness. But yeah, made a big difference. I know. Yeah, definitely made a difference. I'm the lightest I've ever been, I think. Desley is one of the fastest, hardest hitters on the court and she's 69 years old.
It is incredible to watch her speed and agility. And Desley not only plays pickleball, Desley tell us about what other sports you are playing. I'm playing croquet. I've been lucky enough to play in the Queensland team last year. I love that game as well. I still play competitive tennis. I played in the Queensland Seniors teams just recently in the Championships in Adelaide.
I play table tennis but I haven't got enough time to devote to that, it's very social.
And with pickleball, I'm finding I'm being drawn into wanting to play competitively now, which is something I didn't set out to do. So it's something that every age can play. That's probably a big key. Yes. Well, that's interesting because I met your parents when they came out to Australia and they play pickleball. In fact, there were four generations of people that were playing. So it's a strong pickleball family. It is. You've just mentioned about
that power of parental influence and even at that age they're you encouraging you to consider new things and as parents we have a real influence I guess and we can have an impact on our families. sure, yes. How has pickleball impacted your health? Well I've yeah lost probably five to seven kilos playing with my mental health it's really
Yeah, I helped with that, know, especially during COVID is when we started here. I mean, I suffer with osteoarthritis in my back and neck. And, you know, I do, I live with some pain every day, but, know, when you're on the court and moving, you know, it makes you forget about your pain and yeah, and you're worried.
So yeah, it's been just so good for me overall physically and mentally and socially. I have a whole new group of friends that I never had before. And almost every day you meet somebody new. And with what I have in my lower spine, the worst thing for me to do is to sit.
So, you know, this pickleball encourages me, you know, first thing in the morning, yeah, get out of bed and get in the car, drive three minutes here and do my stretching up and down the steps, run around. Yeah, that's just been. I would have never, never guessed that you were suffering with osteoarthritis actually. But it sounds like you are proactively managing that and that warming up before you play.
prevents further injury and cooling down afterwards. so important. It's never too late. It's a game. You've got to play within your means. It's no use trying to go out there and run like a rabbit and fall over or whatever. But it's a game. There's so many levels.
and anybody can play it really. Yeah, I think that's right. You've highlighted something that's really important when you are taking up a new sport and that is safety. So it's really important to take measures to prevent injury when you're on the court. Yeah, thank you for highlighting that. It keeps me fit, keeps me moving. I try and play five times a week if I can. I don't always, but it just keeps you sharp mentally, keeps you moving, keeps you active.
It's, yeah, I can't imagine what I would do if I didn't have pickleball. Yeah, yeah. So it's easy to get all the activity that you need, the exercise requirements, because you love it so much. That's you're five times a week. That's right. And you go home at sort of after nine o'clock and think, well, I've done my two hours of exercise for the day. It's wonderful. Then I can sit and eat and drink.
There is a fair bit of laughter out on the court. Yes. That's got to be good for your mental health. Absolutely. has that helped you personally? Look, I've never, I've been very lucky. I'm always a very positive, happy person, but it's really nice to be part of a community. I just moved here and I didn't know anybody. So these, and this is now my pickleball family, which is really nice to have that sort of sense of belonging, sense of community. It's really good. Yeah.
And would you recommend Pickleball for people with busy schedules? Absolutely, because you can play in the morning, you can play in the night, you can hire a court during the day, you can fit it in any time. It's, yeah, I would recommend it to anybody. Give it a go. Stop considering and go out and try. Just turn up once and I'm sure you'll love it. I haven't met anybody who's been to Pickleball and gone away and said, I'm not going to play that again, I don't like it. They all come away saying, I loved it.
I really want to play it more. So give it a go. Put the shoes on, get the paddle. It's all here, you don't even need to buy a paddle. You can get one for free here. For the first time you can hire them here. Come and play. It's a different experience than any other sport that I've played. I think when you're playing you're not thinking about I'm doing exercise. I don't. I never consider it as I think I'm just playing a game and I'm here with my friends.
What about for people though who, you know, they've been sitting on the couch, they're feeling heavy, you know, and they're thinking, my gosh, I know I've got to move, but I'm used to this couch. Could I get up off the couch and play pickleball? What would I need to consider? I would say that pickleball is quite a good level of thought all ages and all levels of fitness. So you don't have to be super thin and fit. The court isn't huge.
rules that kind of restrict the play area and it is a way of getting out and I don't know you get motivated by that little yellow ball as it comes over you want to go get that little yellow ball. The added bonus is you're getting the exercise you do need them I mean I'm not good at getting up in the morning and I do have to motivate myself to get up and think right I've got to go and play but once I'm here it's just worth it every time so I think if it is the motivation side of it that you need to get you going and once you're
and you try it for the first time and then you get into it. I think most people we find that are new that come and we go, how did you go? they're like, yeah it was great. So and I think that first few times you get, once you get into it and you've met everyone and that's the motivation you need. Yeah and I think it's getting out, meeting people. Don't worry about the different skill levels. There are different skill levels like there are in every sport but when it's at the beginner stage everybody's like a beginner. We all had to learn the game.
brand new to us. We'd never played anything like it. I'd definitely not played anything it. It's not a case of worrying about all I won't be good enough. It's a case of getting out there and finding out who are all the other people that think they're not good enough and then together you'll build your game up and then trust me you will be addicted. It's easy to get all the activity that you need, the exercise requirements, because you love it so much. That's right. So you're playing five times a week.
I mean obviously it's far more difficult when you're busy but you've got to make time for yourself. I mean what more than a perfect way of making time for yourself where you're meeting people, you're playing a sport, you're having fun and also there's so many different times that you can play. It's not just a certain time where I've got to be there at this time. There's sessions in the mornings, there's sessions in the afternoons and evenings and it's a sport you can just come and play yourself like just two of you if you want to. It doesn't have to be part
of a massive group. If you just want to spend an hour on the court after work, know, working off all that stress, then you can do that. Yeah, definitely. think if you can find a local centre, you'll find that they should have morning, day and evening sessions. So even if you are a busy person or a person that's doing shift work, then it's finding that two, two and a half hour window to come down and just let loose a bit and maybe just take it out on that little yellow ball. Yeah. Especially if you've had a bad day at work.
good stress reliever and I think if you've had a bad day or you've had a really busy day it gives you a chance I know it sounds silly that you're winding down playing sport but it is a wind down as well from something else so I think it would work. And the game is quite fast so you don't really have a lot of time to think about other things so I think you're focused yeah you are you're very focused on what's going on on the court and and I think that in itself is a way of breaking away from what you've had going on in your working life. Yes I would absolutely agree.
with that and so for me personally it's been a mental health saviour for me because I can come down I can hit that yellow ball very hard and I'm learning to hit it even harder and it is a great way to get rid of stress. yeah and they said you'd love it come on down I resisted for so long and eventually I said yeah righto and of course here I am still playing twice as much. I'd say come on down to the centre.
The people here will put you in your right group. There's obviously levels right from beginner all the way through. You can take it as far as you want to or you can just be a social player once a week, twice a week, whatever suits your needs. But it gets you outside, into the sun, gets you moving. It can't be a bad thing.
Yeah, it doesn't take much time really. mean, within a half an hour you can learn the game or less than that and then play a couple of matches and yeah, you can be finished in 45 minutes to an hour. yeah, or if you only have a half an hour on your way to work, pop in, have a hit and yeah, or after work. You every night there's something, somebody playing here. I now understand what everybody's, how enthusiastic they are about the game.
We're a friendly bunch, we don't bite.
