FLIP + CHING

Pickleball Matchmaking

Posted on May 26, 2023 by Ching under Pickleball.

Tried my hand at pickleball matchmaking again and hooked two of my favorite guys up to play together for Mid-South Diamond Amateur Regional earlier this month. Michael Harris needed a men’s doubles partner and so I suggested Tanner Rice. After a bit of back and forth, they decided to play together and Tanner came up for a practice session. I got some breakfast out of it as my referral bonus. LOL.

If you’ve never had the junkyard dog burrito at Chicken N Pickle, I highly recommend it. That brisket is so good!

And, of course, the mimomas are a must.

Michael put together a great practice session for them with Dustin Herman and Chris Heck. Tanner posted a couple of their matches on his YouTube channel. Tanner has some great pickleball content — mostly match footage from practice sessions and tournaments and such — so if you’re not already a subscriber, you should do it right now.

Here are a few action shots from their practice session.

I hadn’t seen Tanner play in person since last year and it’s amazing to see how much progress he has made in just a few months. Since quitting his job, he has dove in full throttle with pickleball and he has been teaching pickleball a lot. They say “to teach is to learn twice” and all of his drilling and teaching I think is not only helping his clients but also improving his game tremendously.

Above is a video of one of their practice matches.

When Tanner came up, he brought me a set of Powerhands rings/bands — I don’t even know what to call these things. However, I have used it a few times and I think it actually works. Having suffered from tennis/pickleball elbow before, I’m really glad that I have something to help prevent it from recurring.

I asked my chiropractor friend his thoughts on it and here’s what he said:

It (Powerhands) is focusing on lateral epicondylitis (tennis elbow in layman’s terms). The muscles that extend your fingers attach to the outside of your elbow and the muscles that flex your fingers attach to the inside of your elbow; so extending your fingers, abducting your fingers, and flexing your fingers all provide support for your elbow. These motions can be achieved with various devices or at home with a towel or by grabbing handfuls of rice out of a bucket, but what is beneficial about these small bands is the portability they offer so you can take them with you on the go.

Anyway, I am super glad Tanner brought me a set and am looking forward to making it part of my regular routine. If you want to try and buy a set for yourself, you can get them at www.powerhands.com and if you use discount code CHING10, you get $10 OFF! ‘Til next time, GNG.

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Naples Pier with Mom and Dad

Posted on May 24, 2023 by Ching under Family, Travel.

It was a little chilly for a beach day but mom and dad wanted to check out the Naples Pier and so we went.

There were surprisingly quite a few people at the beach that day having cookouts and hanging out.

And then there was us.

We didn’t stay long. We just walked around and stayed long enough to get a few pics. We might have to build in a beach day on the schedule next year. And hopefully it will be warmer.

Until next time, GNG.

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US Open Recap – A Month Later

Posted on May 23, 2023 by Ching under Pickleball, Travel.

I didn’t get the results I was hoping for at the US Open this year so, understandably, I’ve been holding off on a recap. I played in five events and got zero medals. To say it was a disappointing venture would be an understatement. I’m not particularly emotional when it comes to playing. I approach failures more logically and just try to learn from every single experience.

I basically played every single day except for Wednesday. It was very ambitious and probably not the best decision but I honestly didn’t think I would be able to get all of the events I signed up for — that’s Murphy’s Law for you.

My friend Katie Merrill who I registered with for both of my women’s events ended up with an injury and could not play on Monday so I had to find someone else to replace her. I thought it would be much easier to find her replacement but I forgot to take account how crappy I look on paper. I think my ratings being ridiculously low was a huge turn off for potential partners. I was lucky that Alan Hans and Whitney Lichtenberg from Nebraska remembered me from the year before and convinced Alan’s mixed doubles partner Katie Fagan to play with me on Monday.

We arrived on Friday this year so we could attend the kick off events on Saturday — mainly the Joola Party in the Park and Simone Jardim’s seminar.

Mom and I got a pic with Parris Todd, a top female pro pickleball player.

Also with Tony Roig and CJ Johnson, from Betterpickleball.com.

I got to visit with Jonny Pickleball Andrews during the rain delay. I met him a few years ago when he did the Jonny Pickleball Show at the Chicken N Pickle in Wichita. That was also around the same time I met to female pro Lauren Stratman for the first time and I learned about Electrum paddles (the brand I play with today – I used to play with an Electrum Pro and I currently play with an Electrum Pro II).

This guy is the best. There isn’t much more I can say.

I just realized that there are no pictures of me from Sunday. That’s the day I was playing singles. I ended up being dehydrated and getting a massive headache but somehow managed to make it to the bronze medal match.

I played 3.5 40+ division but I have to say, some of the women did not look a day over 40. Some of them looked like they were mid-20s at best. I lost to Heidi Sung (above) in the main draw and found out she worked for Joola so I asked her for a ball cap, which I earned by taking a game off her. We went 6-11, 11-4, 7-11. I finished on the good side but just could not overcome the hole I hug myself on the bad side. Had I won that match, I would have been guaranteed a silver medal. Sadly, it was not to be. I got a free Joola hat, though. Well, technically Brian did because I gave it to him. He’s been super supportive and was livestreaming the entire time, it was the least I could do.

I ended up facing Katie Taylor, the official pickleball pro of the Pretty Picklers, in the bronze medal match and, of course, she smoked me. I was completely gassed at that point and had a massive headache. But, even at 100 percent, I didn’t stand a chance. Anyway, 4th at the US Open is not a bad finish.

On Monday I swapped one Katie for another when Katie Fagan took Katie Merrill’s place for women’s age 35+ division.

I was completely out of my depth but enjoyed the experience. Katie was super amazing and supportive and probably the best female player I have ever had the privilege of partnering with. And to top it off, she is a lefty! So grateful to Whitney and Alan (below) for hooking me up with a partner. Otherwise, I would have had to withdraw from the event.

Even though she couldn’t play, other Katie (Merrill) came to hang out on Monday. We unintentionally matched.

Monday was a long day because we stayed and watch Mike Wolf and Jim Secrest win their championship match. They are friends of some of our Kansas City friends. I think Mike owns Elite Tennis and Wellness in Overland Park.

It was totally worth it because they won. Tyson got it all on livestream.

Go to see the beautiful ChiChi at the Lucky in Love booth at Vendor Village.

Also got to see Kasandra Gehrke.

And Brendon Long. We actually got to see him on Saturday, the first day we went to the tournament, and mom got a picture with him then. I didn’t get this picture with him until a couple of days later.

Twinned with Tyson Steele.

Hung out with fellow Chicken N Pickle ambassadors.

Watched the guys compete (above: Kyle Rinck and Matt Gerber). Kyle couldn’t make it until Tuesday night so Parker Ward played with Matt for men’s doubles age 19+ division on Monday. Then on Wednesday, Parker played with a blind date from Facebook, Dominic Osborne, in men’s doubles 4.0 19+ division. They ended up winning silver. Not bad for a blind date!

Katie and I played women’s doubles 3.5 35+ on Thursday.

Got to see Jenna Hessert who I first met at Smash a year and a half ago and is now playing in pro events. She is amazing!

Also saw Angela Porto, who I first met at APP Delray Beach a couple of years ago. Her boyfriend Brent Huff was my blind date at that tournament.

Brian was there with me the entire time, making sure that matches got livestreamed. Not just my matches, but others’ matches as well when possible.

In the picture below, he and Parker are making sure that we had the optimum viewing angle for the livestream.

Anyway, that’s pretty much the US Open recap. It’s a “must play” tournament for me because there isn’t any other tournament quite like it. There’s live music every single day, beer samples during happy hour, and all sorts of fun things. The party atmosphere makes it feel like you’re at a music festival — but sporty. I can’t wait to do it all again next year. Until then, GNG.

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Last Meal in Naples

Posted on May 19, 2023 by Ching under Food and Drink, Travel.

Brian and I found an excellent Mediterranean restaurant close to the park and we had our last dinner there on our final day in Naples. I think it’s new because Brian and I love Mediterranean food and we don’t remember seeing it last year.

The place was pretty empty because it was more of a late lunch/early supper situation, before heading back to our Airbnb.

Kareem’s Lebanese Kitchen Menu

Brian perusing the menu.

I just love this man. He is adorable!

My $9 lemonade was expensive for a drink with no alcohol in it but so refreshing!

And now for the food pics…

The food was amazing. We will be looking to eat here again next year for sure. Until next time, GNG.

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LowBrow Pizza and Beer

Posted on May 18, 2023 by Ching under Life.

LowBrow was one of our favorite restaurants in Naples last year so we took the opportunity to take mom and dad there this year.

Their menu has changed a tad since our last visit but the pizza is still top notch. They also have an excellent selection of craft beers and ciders. I had the elderberry cider which was pretty good.