**Evan:** Welcome to the Good Get Podcast. I'm your host, Evan Tepper. Today, we are joined by one of my favorite pickleball pals, Cathy Seidenstricker. Cathy, welcome to the podcast and thank you for being here.

**Cathy:** Oh, this will be fun. Looking forward to talking with you.

**Evan:** Yeah, yeah, this is fantastic. So we have pickleball history, but we also have other history. And like, I want to get to that in a second. So just tell me about yourself, like where you live. You know, if you're working, how you spend your free time, and if you remember the story about how you and I connected over our shared acquaintance.

**Cathy:** Okay, yes, that sounds like a great idea. So I am from the Twin Cities. Well, I live in the Twin Cities. I'm from northern Minnesota. And somewhere sometime I was at a party and some of us girls were saying we should start to play pickleball, and so we thought, hey, this is good, let's four of us do it.

**Evan:** So we're all beginners, so we can start off for the people that are really, really good. We do not want to interfere with their game playing and so that's how I started. I've been playing for 3 1/2 years and just love it. It's a great socializing. It's great exercise. I maintain my weight. It is just fun, fun, fun. Yeah. What were you doing activity-wise and even just hobbies and so forth before you picked up pickleball?

**Cathy:** OK, I would go walking, I would go biking, I would go to the gym and do some classes there. But otherwise, that was about it.

**Evan:** Yeah, fantastic. OK, so you started with four other friends about three years ago. Are they still playing or do you... I mean, because now you're no longer the beginner. Right, advanced and so forth.

**Cathy:** Yes. So let me say they are not playing as much as I am. I do play a lot. I probably play too much. I do try to play every day. And I'm just so addicted to it. If I stay home, it's like, what can I do? And so this has been a great part of my life to know what I'm going to be doing every morning. Get up, get ready and go out the door and play with my friends and have fun.

**Evan:** Yeah, so that that's such an amazing lead into my next question, which is on a scale of one to 10, how addicted are you?

**Cathy:** Oh. A 10 Plus.

**Evan:** OK, but what is it about pickleball, right? Because like, you could have picked up badminton. I mean, badminton is kind of the same. Or you could have picked up a variety of other activities and hobbies. Why pickleball? What makes pickleball such a draw?

**Cathy:** I like the size of the court. It's not overwhelming. Everybody... well, you know, there's always one in every group, right? But almost everybody has been so friendly and so helpful. I like holding a racket, hitting a ball. It just fits with who I am with sports.

**Evan:** Yeah, yeah, yeah, I totally agree. There is something that's addictive about it and I personally struggle to articulate why I love it so much. But more interesting is that there's now, man, I was just in Las Vegas a couple of weeks ago and went to the pickleball courts there and there was a tournament with a couple hundred kids anywhere between nine years old and 17. So you have that age group picking up the sport, but then you also have different generations playing. For it to be something that like each of these generations has this passion for that's going to be unexplainable is really, really interesting.

**Cathy:** It is. And then when you get to be my age, it's like, okay, why do all of these young people have to come and take up the courts?

**Evan:** Yeah, but you end up kicking their ass, so it's okay.

**Cathy:** That's right. It's like, okay, you guys can move around the court a lot faster than I, but I don't do bad.

**Evan:** Yeah, you do fight for yourself. I've played with you many, many times. OK, so what is it though? What's that thing that you love about pickleball? I know you like having the racket, but is it the competition? Is it the improvement? Is it the people in the community? What is that one thing that draws you there every day?

**Cathy:** I think it's you always, if you have one bad hit, you want to do it again so you can get a better hit every single time. And I think that's one nice thing about playing pickleball. You always want to do a little bit better each time. I was playing yesterday and there was this one lady that used to live near me and she moved out to Colorado a year or so ago and she came back this past week. She says, "What keeps you coming here? Why are you playing?" And I said, "It's because of the people." You just kind of form your own group and it's so much fun seeing the same people every day saying good morning, knowing what's happening in their lives. You just start to know them so well because you see them every day.

**Evan:** Yeah, that's right. It tends to be a very warm, friendly, welcoming crowd. Very social.

**Cathy:** I mean, my phone has added so many new numbers to it since I started playing this sport. I always joke, the only time that I've added this many phone numbers to my Rolodex is the freshman year of college.

**Evan:** Oh, I bet.

**Cathy:** Other than that, I mean, when do you meet this many people? It's unbelievable. On my phone too, in the contacts, I have "pickleball" and then dot, dot, dot, and their first name. I don't know anybody's last name. It's just the first name and the pickleball list is long. People call me and text me, asking if I have the phone number of so and so, and yep, I usually do.

**Evan:** You are one of the most social people I've seen on the court. Everybody knows Cathy.

**Cathy:** Well, yeah.

**Evan:** Just in that vein though, do you have an anecdote about the people that you play with or that you've met that you want to share? You're very social and you often organize social activities, sometimes at your house in the summer. This isn't normal, I think, for a hobby that most people pick up.

**Cathy:** That is very true. Maybe there's a particular character you want to speak to or just the warm and friendly nature of the community.

**Evan:** Yeah, yeah.

**Cathy:** There's just so many awesome people that play and it's cool how you gravitate towards certain people. The group that I try to hang out with, let's say it's about 20 people. We all love to play, we all want to do better. Yes, it's fun, but you want to work hard at it because you want to get better and better. So I feel that the people must be a little similar to me. Otherwise, I wouldn't want them to come over in the summertime or go out for lunch or meet up for breakfast. It has changed my life for the better because it's just so fun seeing these people every day and they just embrace you for that.

**Evan:** Yeah, it seems like your life has been improved and enriched for the better because of pickleball. It's amazing. I think back about how I was prior to pickleball. It's so interesting how it's changed my life as to meeting all these new people. I think I didn't even know these people 3 1/2 years ago. Now they have come into my life and we just play hard and have fun.

**Evan:** So tell me about the courts where you normally play. What makes them unique? What's the vibe? What's the setup like?

**Cathy:** I usually play in the summertime at Lone Lake Park. It's a beautiful setting. You park down low and walk up to the courts and there are trees all around. There's a lake down below. It's just a beautiful setting. There are eight courts. When it's really nice, when all of the snowbirds come back, there's a lot of people. But then you just rotate your paddle in and that way you have time to see what's going on with other people until they are waiting to play. I play there mainly in the summertime.

**Evan:** Maybe that's what adds to the social aspect of pickleball. The games are short, right? A game maybe will go 15 minutes, but you could theoretically be partnered up with three new people for every single game you play throughout the course of the day.

**Cathy:** Yes, that's a very good point. Some people like to just come with a foursome. I really like rotating in because you are always learning how somebody else makes a move and you go, "Oh, that play is really good. I gotta remember that." Then you just get to know all of these people. That is really the name of the game.

**Evan:** 100%. Thinking back, maybe you didn't even have to, but what advice would you give to somebody who's brand new to pickleball or looking to pick up the sport? What advice would you give them that nobody else is willing to tell them or share with them?

**Cathy:** I would absolutely tell them to watch YouTube Pickleball because it

 shows you how to do your swing, how to stand, and the correct way to hold the paddle. You really can learn a lot. You have to put the time in to know how to hit the ball. I see so many people that just hit it from their side and they have their paddle down so low and I'm thinking, "Oh, you need to watch YouTube. Come on."

**Evan:** Right.

**Cathy:** So that is probably the number one thing to do, and you have to remember that this is fun. Don't make it too serious, just have fun, and you will just love it.

**Evan:** Well, you've brought that out in me and the groups that we play with for sure. I mean, everybody there is to have a good time and even though the competition is fun, it's always about the people and I agree with you. One last question, who is your favorite pickleball partner and why?

**Cathy:** Oh, you. No, I've had so many people that I've loved playing with because they make me better, you know? It's like they say, "Cathy, you know, don't be so close to the net, you know, take a step back." Everybody is just so kind and willing to help you. And that's probably another reason why I like pickleball because they want to see you do better and that is what is so nice. I will play with anybody and I know I will learn something from them.

**Evan:** And so Cathy, what's next for you in your pickleball journey? What are you looking forward to achieving or doing in the next few months or the next year?

**Cathy:** I'd like to improve my skills and maybe even try a tournament or two. I'm also looking forward to organizing more social events with my pickleball friends, maybe even planning a pickleball trip somewhere. The possibilities are endless, and I'm excited to see where this journey takes me.

**Evan:** That sounds amazing. Well, Cathy, it's been such a pleasure having you on the podcast today. Your enthusiasm for pickleball is infectious, and I'm sure our listeners will be inspired by your story. Thank you so much for joining us.

**Cathy:** Thank you, Evan. It was great talking with you. Let's get out on the court soon!

**Evan:** Absolutely. And to our listeners, thank you for tuning in to the Good Get Podcast. Until next time, keep playing, keep smiling, and keep enjoying the game.