Let’s follow up on the Nude Pickleball article and talk about swapping. Better yet, let’s talk about how swapping partners can lead to dynamic and exciting new experiences. Easy now, I’m talking about pickleball doubles.
There are an intrepid few who play singles, but for most of us pickleball is a doubles sport. Players of similar ability congregate at the courts and divide into teams. After one team wins a game, players switch partners and play again. There’s nothing formal about the format, it just seems to make sense that everyone gets the opportunity to play with as many different partners as possible. The end result is that over time, players learn which partners they mesh with best. Every player has their own unique style, and divergent styles don’t always make a cohesive unit. Individual skills can’t always be combined to make a winning team no matter how accomplished the players are.
Dinah Zapatka and Amy Paderewski are avid pickleball players who have combined their talents to create a winning partnership. They downplay their talents, saying emphatically that they are not the best pickleball players at The Landings. While this is undoubtedly true, it is not a stretch to suggest, as a pickleball doubles team, few combinations rival their success. The question is why? Considering all the other partners they have played with, why are they so well matched?
Both Dinah and Amy have played tennis since they were children, but didn’t pick up pickleball until recently. Dinah started playing six years ago, while Amy took it up during the pandemic. According to Amy, “I’ve learned a lot from Dinah. She has really taught me how to play.” She also emphasized that while she learned from Dinah, she developed her own style of play, which Dinah never tried to change.
When speaking with the two, their love of the game is palpable, and they clearly enjoy each other’s company. It seems, from the way they answered my questions, they are in complete agreement as to why their partnership works. They readily acknowledge that Dinah is the more accomplished of the two when it comes to dinking, while Amy, who uses more power, is a stronger defensive player. Both players emphasize that they never apologize for bad shots, nor dwell on missed opportunities. As Dinah likes to say, “Remember, it’s a wiffle ball, how seriously can you take it!” That said, fun or not, they are extremely competitive.
So far, Dinah and Amy have played two tournaments together. They won last year’s Special Pops tournament, which was played at The Landings, and a Thanksgiving tournament at The Savannah Golf Club. They will team up again for the World Pickleball Tour in March.
There is much to be learned by watching Dinah, Amy and other elite picklers play. If you want to play better doubles, try swapping partners until you find an effective, winning combination.