May 16 2022
Harvard Ave Christian Church has a vibrant group of skilled players. With a group of 16+ on three indoor courts, they use rally scoring to 15 to move the games along and get players rotated into play. We are used to traditional scoring and playing to 11, so we got a quick refresher on rally scoring. There is no tolerance for mistakes in rally scoring because it advances the opponents score. Once you are down, it is harder to get back up.
All the Harvard players were skilled and gave us some really good play. As a couple, we enjoy playing other couples. We had an enjoyable time playing with Greg and Kim even though we lost both games we played with them.
One of the three courts at Harvard Ave Christian Church is a challenge court, and that is where Greg spent the majority of his time. Greg and Kim played well together and we would love another chance to play them. Not only are they great players, they are friendly and welcoming. It is likely that their faith plays a huge part in their friendliness and welcoming demeanor. They are a great couple that we would have loved to spend more time with.
Paddletek is our choice of paddle. We honed what skills we have using their paddles. With their headquarters within 30 minutes of where we live, it's almost a given that most of the players we play with also play with their paddles. The Tempest Wave is a favorite of many. As Paddletek Brand Ambassadors, we are always on the lookout for other players using Paddletek paddles. We were pleased to see a few players at Harvard Ave Christian using them.
If you are going to be purchasing a new paddle from the
Paddletek website, use the RODGERS10 code for a 10% discount.
The grey court surface here was great and there were not too many lines to make it confusing. The lighting was good, so we couldn't blame that for any of our losses. When you have a great group of players like they do here, you don't even focus on winning or losing, but having a good time. "It's only pickleball." We were welcomed in and were playing in no time at all. Pictured here are Bob, Kim, Robin and Robin. You can tell from the photo, that Robin and Robin were a fun team.
Pictured here are some of the players playing with Paddletek paddles.
Barb and I like to team up when playing, and that way we only have ourselves to blame if we make mistakes. When we go up against a couple guys like Eddie and Mike, I'm not worried. I know Barb can handle herself well even though it's not mixed doubles.
You can see by the expressions on Dana and Dot's faces that they are lots of fun. Great players having a good time. That is why we like open play. How many other sports can you show up and play with other players like you do with pickleball? That's one of the reasons we like traveling around the country, showing up and meeting new people.
Among the many friendly and welcoming players was Keenan. We didn't get a chance to be on the court with him, but he certainly made us feel welcome and helped us get on the courts just like we were locals. He's sporting an Abiding Harvest pickleball shirt. That is where we had originally planned to play, but when we found an earlier time at Harvard, we changed our plans.
There were two paddle holders for rotation. One was for the "winners" and the other for "future winners." That's the attitude we like here at Harvard Ave Christian.
Thanks Greater Tulsa Pickleball for helping us find places to play that fit our schedule. The next time we travel to Tulsa we will want to play in some of the other locations. Unfortunately, our schedule did not allow for that this time.
When we travel by van we like to take our bikes with us and do a little riding. We had a great time on the Riverparks East Bank Trail. It was long enough that we were able to get in a 20 mile ride. We liked the paved surface and the fact that the bike lanes were separate from the walking lanes. Maybe we will try the Riverparks West Bank Trail the next time we are in Tulsa OK.
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