DUPR Registration and Helping Beginners

My 15th Day of Pickleball

DUPR Registration: Pickleball has quickly become one of my favorite activities to do, and today was no exception. On my 15th day of playing, I registered for DUPR, played with experienced players, and even helped some beginners understand the game better.

Registering for DUPR Event

DUPR, or Dynamic Universal Pickleball Rating, is the most accurate and only global rating system in Pickleball. It rates all players, regardless of their age, gender, location, or skill, on the same scale between 2.00-8.00 based on their match results. I pre-registered myself and AJ for the DUPR at Pelican Park on April 8th, which allows you to play a few matches and receive an estimation of your skill level. I am excited to see how I rank and what areas I need to improve in.

Playing with Experienced Players

After signing up for DUPR, I headed out to play with AJ at Pontiff. He had been playing for four hours already, despite going out partying until 4:30 a.m. last night. I played my first game with Patrick against Dev & Tim. They are all around a 3.0 to 4.0 level, far more experienced than me and much better players. While I didn’t have as much success as I did yesterday, I played pretty decently. I had a few really nice shots but we ended up losing the first game 8 to 11. The second game I played with John against Dev and Tim. I played about the same in this game, holding my own and having some very good shots. Unfortunately, we ended up losing 9 to 11. Despite not feeling much pain from the day before, I decided not to push it since there were other really good players that were starting to arrive so I decided to allow them to play.

Helping Beginners

As I watched the more experienced players’ matches, I saw three ladies arrive and start to play on the empty court. They looked like they were very inexperienced and didn’t understand the rules completely. One lady was even having to chase the balls because she was playing against two people. I decided to step in and assist so that she wouldn’t have to run on the entire court. They started asking me plenty of questions about the rules, positioning, technique, and the game in general. It felt very good being the teacher as opposed to being the student, and it also allowed me an opportunity to rehash and go over all of the things that I’ve learned in the last 2 weeks from AJ, videos, and other players. I ended up playing three games with these ladies, just basically dinking the ball back to them and taking it easy on them, but they were learning pretty well. I hope that I was able to assist them in actually learning from my mistakes and hopefully they have a better understanding of the game now.

Lessons Learned

Playing with more experienced players and helping beginners gave me a lot of insight into the game of pickleball. While I may not be the best player out there yet, I can still use my skills and knowledge to help others and continue to learn and improve my own game. I also realized the importance of taking breaks and not pushing myself too hard, especially when there are other skilled players around. It’s easy to get caught up in the competition and forget to listen to your body.

As I left the courts today, I feel grateful for the opportunity to play and learn from others, as well as to share my knowledge with those just starting out. I can’t wait to continue my journey with pickleball and see what other lessons it had in store for me.

My 15th day of pickleball was filled with both challenges and rewards. DUPR Registration: From registering for the DUPR to playing with experienced players and helping beginners, I learned a lot about myself and the game. I hope that my experience inspires others to pick up a paddle and give it a try, and to never be afraid to ask for help or offer it to others. Who knows, maybe one day you’ll find yourself helping beginners just like I did.