Alice Tym
Played all the tennis majors. Ranked #13 in world, Florida Gator
Intercollegiate Hall of Fame, U Florida Hall of Fame, USPTA Coach of the Year
Coached U of TN at Chattanooga women to two national titles
Coached Yale women to top 20 and Ivy Championship
Taught geology and geography for 40 years at UT Chattanooga

Won NSGA badminton singles and table tennis singles and doubles
Won pickleball titles including Huntsman and USAPA Nationals and SSIPA Worlds Founder and board member of SSIPA
IFP board member and originator of the Bainbridge Cup

Most importantly: 3 great kids and 7 great grandkids

The Indian Wells Tennis Garden welcomed the USAPA's Margaritaville National Pickleball Championships this November and over 2,000 players competed. But, the 49 pickleball courts will be converted back into tennis courts now that the tournament is over. The exciting news is that the USTA National Campus in Orlando, Florida now has 4 blended pickleball courts in its Family Zone and 7 of its staff of 39 teaching pros have become certified by the IPTPA as certified pickleball instructors.

Kurt Kamperman, Chief Executive of the 100 tennis court campus is optimistic about bringing more players into tennis and paddle sports. Based on how this initial experiment goes, the USTA Campus may consider adding dedicated pickleball courts and possibly padel courts. "The competition tennis faces is not other sports. It is getting people off their digital devices and couches. We are experimenting with pickleball to see if it can be a pathway into tennis just has tennis has been a pathway into pickleball. Getting more people active and enjoying hitting a ball with a racket or a paddle seems like an opportunity to grow tennis," Kurt explained.

The National Campus is doing a good job of that with 1,200 locals in weekly programs, 125 events per year, and 400 unique college teams visiting. All courts offer live streaming and 26 of the courts are PlaySight Smart courts that have 4 high definition cameras, one in each corner of each court, which relay information to an on-court court kiosk. Players can immediately learn how fast they are serving, the number of steps they take to get to the ball, and the height they are hitting the ball over the net. It is charting in real time.

Imagine if this could be available to pickleball players! This could be a real breakthrough for pickleball training. With two new pro tours on the horizon, a training facility of this quality would be a real advantage.

Perhaps the USTA facility should be used as a template for a sorely-needed national pickleball facility. Pickleball officials need to look at the success of the USTA National Campus, but the good news is that this Orlando facility is looking at pickleball!

In addition to his work with Team Witsken, which also offers pickleball programs for all ages and levels, Rick is the head coach of the Zionsville girls and Carmel boys and girls middle school teams.

Rick still loves to compete – he’s ranked No. 1 in the U.S. in 40-and-over singles and doubles and has competed multiple times for Team USA. He’s also a Top 10 player in the U.S. in pickleball singles and doubles.

Rick's latest endeavor is the Association of Pickleball Professionals (APP) Tour. He partnered with Ken Herrmann, owner of E Town Tennis and the Herrmann Tennis Academy in Libertyville, Illinois, and created a prize money tour of ten pickleball tournaments and a season-ending tournament called APP Masters. (See the interview with Ken Herrmann under APP Tour in this month's tournament.)

QUESTIONS FOR RICK WITSKEN

TCB: How old were you when you started to play tennis and who got you into it?
RW: I was seven and it was my former coach and current partner PA Nilhagen who introduced me to the sport.

TCB: Did you play High School and College tennis?
RW: Yes. And I became a two-time All-American for the University of Alabama.

TCB: When did you start Team Wisken?
RW: I started it in 1998 in honor of my brother Todd who passed away the same year.

TCB: Do you work out of a tennis club?
RW: We lease a 2-court facility in Zionsville, Indiana. We offer tennis programs all over Indianapolis and for the last 25 years we also run summer programs in town.

TCB: When did you start playing pickleball and how did that come about?
RW: One of my part time employees told me about pickleball in 2013. I tried it and loved it.

TCB: And now you're nationally top ten?
RW: Yes. I was able to beat most of the top pickleball players. I won the US Open Pickleball Championships 3 years in a row in my age bracket. And this year I also won the new Chicago Open.

TCB: Which is part of the new APP Tour. How did you become a partner in that?
RW: Ken Herrmann knew of my pickleball work here in Indianapolis and he came to me and asked if I wanted to be part of the new tour.

TCB: Thank you, Rick.

Barbara Wintroub
For the last eleven years, Barbara has played competitive tournaments, taught and coached Pickleball. Barbara has written a fitness blog for the last six years in the USAPA newsletter and was the first to offer a fitness article in the new Pickleball Magazine.

She introduced Pickleball at Rancho La Puerta, Tecate, Mexico. The oldest spa resort saw the value of having Pickleball permanently installed at this destination resort.

Barbara is a certified USPTA tennis teaching professional, so the transition to teaching Pickleball was not difficult. She teaches all over the Coachella Valley.

Barbara is also an active aging expert degreed in Kinesiology; a First Tier Pilates instructor certified by the PMA; Medical Exercise Specialist certified by AAHFRP; faculty with ACE; UCLA extension Personal Training Dept.; Balanced Body University; Educational Director Retrofit School of Pilates and speaker with American Bone Health.

Barbara's Pilates website

At the last two tournaments both Huntsman and the USAPA Nationals, I tried to"cure" several older injured Pickleball players. If someone limps by, I'll stop to ask questions. Many times players will stop me with a shoulder, back, hip or some body part in pain. I will always do a body analysis first to evaluate what might cause the issue. Do you have high or low arches? How about forward shoulders and head? Maybe a titled pelvis.

Why is all of this important? Well, would you build a house or building without using a plumb line or carpenters level? Would you buy new tires for your car without having them aligned? Absolutely not. Then why are you not fixing your feet with orthotics , wearing a backpack to help you stand up straight, or stretching muscles after you play Pickleball? Honor your body parts instead of hurting them.

Take a picture of yourself standing in front of a pole that holds up a Pickleball fence. Do you stand as straight as the pole? I love it when someone walks by me and suddenly stands up tall. I elicit that response, posture policing. It's really easy to correct your posture and it's free. No shots, pills or surgeries if you can change your posture before your parts wear out.
Even when you get new parts, you need to understand that you have old muscles that still need work.

So start today, your arms hang from your back and your chest enters the room first. Sit and stand, tall good posture becomes you.