Why Pickleball Players Should Wear Zebra Stripes + Net-Cord Drama | Ace Rodrigues w/ Pickleball Kingdom

We’re coming in hot with:
 🔹 Tumbler hoarding confessions and cold vs. dry pantry logistics
 🔹 The great debate: should you fake-apologize for net-cord winners?
 🔹 What it’s like to podcast with your day-job coworkers
 

Then we sit down with  Ace Rodrigues , the founder of Pickleball Kingdom, to talk court-building flops, franchise wins, and why passion is useless without execution.

🎧 Listen now before your HOA bans glitter, snacks, and striped outfits.

The Pretty Pickleball Company


Disclaimer: This post contains affiliate links. If you make a purchase, I may receive a commission at no extra cost to you.

Chapters

• 0:39 Sponsor Ad
• 2:27 Kitchen Talk - Hot takes, weird news, and what’s on our minds this week
• 7:47 Just The Tip - Pickleball Wisdom
• 9:02 Pickle Pals - Deep Dive with a Pickleball Court, Club or Influencer
• 30:22 Dink or Destroy- This-or-that debate: Love it or trash it?
• 34:35 News You Can Use
• 39:47 Wrap-Up & CTA - Final thoughts, shoutouts, and how to engage with us

Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00.524)
I'm on it. I'm telling you, all I train for is in net-Z.

Definitely not training for a marathon.

This is Big Dink Energy, the pickleball podcast that's half insight, half nonsense, and all entertainment. If you love pickleball, don't take yourself too seriously and think a little trash talk makes the game better. Welcome home. This is the place where life and pickleball intersect. We celebrate the chaos, call out the nonsense, and put the fun back in dysfunction. You're either in or you're out. And if you're still listening, you're in.

So let's go. Big Dink Energy starts now. Mm-hmm, dripping into your ears. Here we go. This episode of Big Dink Energy podcast is sponsored by Blue Balls, the only blue balls worth showing off. They're extreme, look at the ladies there. Lafortis are tournament quality outdoor balls designed to last longer, fly straighter and hold up when the rally gets rough. Machine welded, ultra durable and perfect for clubs, coaches and players who go through balls like coffee.

Need volume? Grab their 100-pack bulk deal for clinics, tournaments, or that HOA group that plays like it's nationals. And if you're ready to upgrade your hands, check out the Terminator paddle. I got mine, built with T300 carbon fiber and a 16-millimeter honeycomb core for control, pop, and put away power. Use code BIGDINKENERGY15 at blueballs.com. That's B-L-O-O-B-A-L-L-Z.com to save 15%.

Speaker 1 (01:34.222)
Treat your game and your balls with a little more respect. Put some respect on that.

These balls are

All right, dinkers and dinkerettes, today we're go behind. Hey, hey, I'm bringing the heat today. We're gonna go behind the scenes so that you get to know us a little bit more. First up is the paddle princess in the hot seat today. We're gonna do a little this or that with her. Yeah, in her day job, know the things she does that allows her to have the central heat and air that she's so fond of. She's the operational wizard at Gym Kicks, a master of member happiness and lucky for us, one of the brilliant voices right here.

I heard of that guy.

Speaker 4 (01:56.066)
Hey, here we go.

Speaker 1 (02:09.715)
at the Big Dink Energy podcast. When she isn't running the show at Gym Kicks or serving up spicy takes on the podcast, she's balancing family, faith, and maybe a few secret pickleball strategies. very. She's the queen of multitasking, the Sultan of sideline banter and swat. She's here to let us peek behind the curtain of her awesomeness. She's a Texas gal, mom of two, wife of one. That's the best way to do it.

Very

Speaker 1 (02:37.606)
She's a law enforcement wife. Shout out to you, David. She's leopard prince, monogrammed everything, a semi-pro travel tumbler collector, and wine enthusiast. She loves all things Texas, loves big country living, wants a mini cow of her own one day, and loves all things bling and glitter. So paddle princess. Yes, yes. It's almost like I know you. Yeah, so you're in the hot seat for this or that. I shouldn't say this, this or that.

is quite the introduction there.

Speaker 1 (03:05.74)
So our listeners can get to know you and then we're gonna do Stephanie and then we're gonna do me as well. So you all get to know us a little bit better. You've been listening for almost 25 fricking episodes. So you're gonna get to know us a little bit more, whether you want to or not. Maybe just skip this episode, I don't know. All right, so I'm gonna lead off with a little this or that and then you can just jump in with yours too. We'll kind of go back and forth maybe. First one, dogs or cats? Dogs. Yeah.

Yeah, this is 24.

Speaker 4 (03:31.406)
I'm allergic to cats, even though we have three. But definitely dogs.

Okay. Heels or crocs? Heels.

I do not own a pair of Crocs.

Alright, so your go-to pickleball move, dinking at the net or smashing from the baseline.

Dinking at the net. If I'm at the bass line, I'm gonna miss it.

Speaker 1 (03:51.044)
We've seen video of that.

How about road trip vibes or airport lounge queen?

Road trip. Road trip vibes.

Yeah, yeah, she brings the heat on the road trips too.

yeah, she has a cold pantry and a dry pantry. So she packs these bags and those like cheese and crackers and all sorts of stuff. love taking her on road trips. That was the first time I had ever heard wet, is it cold? Cold pantry dry pantry.

Speaker 4 (04:15.269)
I like everybody to have their snack.

Pantry, cold pantry and dry pantry.

They to stay cold and then the things that needed to stay dry so you couldn't put them in with the cold things.

She

She brought it full on. We were like, hey, do you have any stacks? And she said, I have cold pantry or dry pantry. What?

Speaker 1 (04:35.734)
And then you can use some of the cold pantry for your dry pantry stuff. It was great. Okay. Morning workouts or late night training sessions.

It was awesome.

Speaker 4 (04:42.55)
Morning. If I work out at night, I'm not going to sleep.

Yeah, I'm valid. Okay, how about mocktail or margarita?

Margarita. If it's some kind of cocktail, it's gotta have alcohol in it.

Yeah. We knew the answer.

Speaker 1 (04:56.002)
Coffee or energy drink?

Ooh, that for me depends on the weather and the time of day. Because early in the morning I want coffee, but if it's hot outside, I want a cold energy drink. Okay.

Okay, I got one more. Faith over fear or facts over feelings.

Mmm, this is getting deep now.

home.

Speaker 3 (05:17.41)
I don't know, can give you some doo-doo-doo-doo.

Faith over fear.

I like it. like it. Let me see. I had a couple on here. Following your heart or trusting your gut.

I like those are the same thing.

The heart don't lie. says that? Isn't that Reba? I think it's Reba.

Speaker 1 (05:35.054)
I think it might be Reba. Tell us in the comments.

know. can't pick on that one.

All right, we'll maybe come back to it. Sweet snacks or salty snacks? Salty. Texting or talking on the phone? Which comes more naturally to you, giving advice or asking for help?

prefer to talk on the phone.

Speaker 4 (05:54.38)
neither. Guess I would say giving advice if it's a subject that I'm confident on.

You give your opinion a lot. I do give opinion.

Giving opinion and giving advice, are those the same things?

Yeah, I would say so. would say so. Well, your opinion is your advice, right? You should take it. Yeah, you better. It's a good thing about advice. It's very balanced. Living in the moment or planning for the future?

Dang.

Speaker 4 (06:15.47)
That's hard. I think I do a lot of living in the moment.

And let's see, early bird or night owl. And winning a trick shot or winning with a steady wrap. you any more? All right, awesome, awesome.

Night owl.

Speaker 4 (06:26.815)
Steady Rally.

that was my last one. Good job!

Some of those got kind of deep.

Hey, people need to get to know you, paddle princess. What you're all about? What you're all about? You should see her Tumblr collection. It is to be amazed. Too many.

Too many.

Speaker 4 (06:44.75)
Yeah, it's an entire cabinet in my kitchen. And then the other day, my daughter came out and went through the cabinet and had like a whole bunch of tumblers in her arms. I'm like, what are you doing? And she goes, well, I'm taking mine to my room so that you don't use them anymore. It was absolutely insane.

Well that means then maybe you had one of hers that was a favorite and now you gotta go buy it.

No, no more.

No, I don't need to buy anymore. I'm No more.

seems like there's two or three just clunking out of your car every time you open your door.

Speaker 4 (07:12.206)
Absolutely, there are.

All right, tell us what you want to know about Paddle Princess. If we didn't hit something you want to know, let us know in the comments what you want to know about the Paddle Princess. And we got a fan mail shout out. This is Abigail from Texas. She says, y'all are too funny. I don't even play pickleball, but y'all make me want to. Abigail girl, get out there on the court. You want to send a shout out too? Send a text to the link at the top of the show notes. It's super easy, really helps us out. Let us know what you're hearing and what you want to say. And maybe we'll feature you on the podcast.

Maybe we won't though too, so don't worry about that.

Just the Tip is sponsored by the Dink and Dash app. Coming soon to iOS and Android. Ever forget what court you played at, who you played with, or that one moment that had everyone laughing? With Dink and Dash, you can save your player names, log matches in your Dink diary, track courts with your Pickle passport, and even get help from Dash, your built-in AI sidekick who's always ready with the rules, recaps, or the perfect clap back. It's the free app that inspires you to Dash to new courts.

and dink with new friends. Get on the waitlist at dinkand-app.com. That's dink the word and dash app dot com. That's so awesome.

Speaker 3 (08:27.092)
All right, so for just the tip we have keep your paddle up and out in front of you. Whether you're at the net or mid court, keeping your paddle in a ready position, which is about chest height than out in front of you, gives you a faster reaction time for volleys and dinks. This small habit helps you control the game and respond quickly to fast exchanges. And if you stay light on your feet and avoid backing up during kitchen play, it will help you as well. So step sideways instead.

Just

you

Speaker 1 (09:02.843)
It's time for Pickle Pound!

Speaker 1 (09:08.75)
Our guest today took one gusty frustrating afternoon on the court and flipped it into one of the fastest growing sports franchises in the country. He's a founder of Pickleball Kingdom, the man behind the paddle battle we're going to talk about. And he's got Big Dink Energy written all over him. Welcome to the Big Dink Energy podcast. Ace, thanks so much for being here with us.

Wow, my pleasure, guy. Excited to have a conversation. Love the name of your podcast, by the way.

I'm gonna ask you something at the end and so we're gonna we're gonna see if we can do a little collab But I'll wait till the end surprise and all that kind of stuff So okay here for our audience true or false you launched a pickleball empire because you were cold bored and annoyed with the wind true That's awesome tell us the tell us the origin story for the people that aren't initiated

So coming out of COVID, bunch of neighbors got into pickleball and that's kind of the beginning of everyone's Genesis story going into the sport ball. The thing was, guy, friends of mine, so let me start with that. Having said that, these weren't athletic guys, if you know I'm saying. And so I couldn't understand how did they kind of sort of start doing something to doing it four or five times a week?

didn't make sense to me. I felt like there was some inside joke that I was on the outside of. Thank goodness they kept inviting me. Tuesday night, January 9th, 2021, excuse me, that was when I got the idea for it. But I finally showed up and five minutes later, I literally raised the paddle and said, greatest sport ever. that point on, I started inviting other people, bought a bunch of just cheap paddles and would get guys to the courts. So,

Speaker 2 (10:49.696)
About the fourth time, I got about 20 guys together just to have a round robin tournament, know, play some music. That was January 9th, 2021. It was a Saturday. And having a great time, guys were starting to leave. That was a movie moment in my life, guys. Slow motion montage. We're on a crappy outdoor court, you know, two tennis courts that got converted. I'm on the back of the fence and I'm seeing

Two of the guys that came down are brothers. They have six sons between them. I'm looking at boys, six to 14 years old, time. Looking at the far court over there, know, five women doing some round robin of their own, great time. Three couples, great time. Family and their four kids, great time. These two courts, my guys, 20 to 50 something, great time. And I'm like, there's something about this. And I loved it. This was like the 10th time I had played pickleball.

But now I knew the downside. It's hot, it's cold, it's wet, dirty courts, can't reserve a court, all that stuff. And we're just talking, I'm like, you know, this would be better indoors. For sure. There's 10,000 other people that had that thought before I did. To me, the big idea wasn't the idea. The big idea is executing on the idea.

Yeah, so what did Pickleball kind of unlock for you that maybe other businesses didn't?

Yeah. So I've been a serial entrepreneur since I was 20, know, did a little bit of everything, had some successes. I've had some monumental failures in my life, like crash and failures. And the thing about pickleball, I've never been in a business in my life that I loved it so much, you know, that was so challenging in every way, but so rewarding. And I call it the joyous noise of an extreme

Speaker 1 (12:39.575)
I like that.

used to go down to our courts, you know, a couple of times a week just to hear the yelling and screaming, the laughing, the bouncing of the ball. It's just good for my soul, you know? just showing up to work, you know, with joggers, sweatpants, on.

Yeah, you know, but it's so you see, and you see so many news stories of where pickleball courts start up and the neighborhood or the gated communities, especially you see it in the news, they wanna shut it down right away. I'm like, well, people are getting outside, they're exercising, they're being healthy. You got kids and adults laughing together. You got every generation coming together. Maybe the problem is you sitting inside your house and not getting out there and enjoying all the fun.

Right, right. We got two different scenarios. People exercising, being communal, having friends, laughing, getting healthy, or, dog on it, I'm trying to watch the rerun of this show for the... And you're interrupting me with that noise. So, you know what, guy, we have a solution for the outdoor noise. Come play indoors. That's right. We don't bother anybody. Yeah, yeah.

Yeah, so now you're so you're building kingdoms. You're not, you know franchise. Yes, but you're building kingdom So how did you land on that as the overarching?

Speaker 2 (13:58.328)
I say this guy, January 9th, 2021, I wasn't looking for something, life was going good, God through this lightning bolt of an idea, my head landed in my heart. So standing on the court that day, when I'm saying, you know, this would be better endorsed, and guy, I said the words came out of my mouth, how hard could it be? Biggest understatement of my life, by far the hardest thing I've ever done, and again, by far the most rewarding.

But at that moment, as I just started spitballing and kind of bouncing a couple of ideas off other people and really to myself, instantly I knew this was a franchise play. If we build a brand right, there's no reason, not only do we go national, we go international. so, moment I started, I knew this was where we're gonna end up at.

Yeah, absolutely. You know, when you, when you illustrate it that way, I want to think maybe Noah said the same thing, like, Hey, God's like, Hey, I need you to build a boat. Yeah. How hard could it be? Yeah. It can't be that hard. So, you know, you go from one bad day on a court to a hundred million dollar idea. What's the, what's maybe the one thing that comes up continuously on your journey here that, you know, other serial entrepreneurs need to hear from you.

Clap some wood together, come on.

Speaker 2 (15:14.35)
I would say, if you have that big idea, there's an answer. Especially, and I'm gonna say more so early on, I came to what I felt like were global enders in my journey here, where if I can't figure this out and soon, it's over for me. It's that type of thing. Now we have problems every day, we're fixing them and stuff, but they're earth-shattering where it's just kind of...

bump the road. But if you know you're going in a certain direction, you believe in what you're doing, there's true value, not just, that's a big thing. And again, I've been an entrepreneur, been around a ton of entrepreneurs. I think the stake and focus so many people make is it's so meaningful to me. It's my thing, my pet project, my baby. But you know what? Sometimes your baby's not that cute to other people, you know? You have to make sure it brings value.

There's some legitimate value add a unique offering that it is other people. And if that's the case, you need to find a way to move that ball forward.

Yeah, you know, we get so as an entrepreneur, we get so wrapped around our vision, because a lot of times it comes to us because it's something we love. It's a passion of ours. But we quickly figure out when you're a good entrepreneur, you're not your avatar, right? And so I've got to change that vision almost 180 degrees so I can project it into the people that I'm trying to bring to this idea.

I would love to lean into that. And this might be one of the most valuable things any one of your listeners are gonna hear today from me from a business standpoint. I was very honored a handful of years ago to be asked to do the commencement address at my daughter's high school graduation ceremony. I started with this guy, know, hey, kids are graduating, right? So they're all excited, cap and gowns. And I said, right now, so many people are gonna tell you, follow your dream.

Speaker 1 (17:01.998)
Nice.

Speaker 2 (17:13.134)
Follow your passion, do what you love, and I'm here to tell you that's bad advice. And I said, let me explain, and that was the whole kind of point of my talk, but my talk was, you can be truly bad at something you love. That's called a hobby. That shouldn't turn into a career. So my point was, I'm all about passion, I'm all about emotion. Don't start with that. Start with, what am I good at?

No.

Speaker 2 (17:41.006)
Start out what you're good at, lay that on the table, then force rank that. What can I monetize? What can I, what am I great at? What can I make money from? All these things. Then when you get a handful of things, I think I can make a career out of these things. Now, which am I most passionate about? Passion's part of it. Just, that's not your first question. It's your second. First question is, what am I good at? Start with strengths, not passion.

us.

Speaker 1 (18:07.948)
Yeah, absolutely. That's a great, great way to look at things. And especially for, like you said, those kids getting ready to enter out into the world, know, lead with love and everything you do and passion is great. But you know, what value are you going to bring first? how many kingdoms are out there right now?

have, I believe, 15 right now that are opened, and we're opening one every two weeks. We'll be at 100 open this time next year, We have over 350, a little shy of 400, that have been bought, paid for in our building process, and that's just domestic. We're on the verge here of announcing a couple of pretty significant international deals, a whole different.

my gosh.

Speaker 1 (18:53.518)
That's so fantastic to hear. I'm gonna guess, and I'm not gonna, this is not a big leap. When someone decides to make this choice with you guys, you're in their pocket. You're walking side by side with them every step of the way. They're becoming almost a pseudo family with you at that point and getting all the help to be as successful as possible.

Yeah, actually, I would eliminate the word pseudo and just say they've become family with us. So no doubt about it. Their success is ours.

Yeah, and that's so great to hear because you hear so many horror stories of the franchise model, you know, out there with, know, yeah, we just, bought it and then it was like, hey, good luck, you know? And so that's, that's so good. And that's the way to keep it is keep it nice and close. You're our family. We want your success. We're not here to compete with you. We want you to wake up every day loving the thing that we love. So that's great.

That's definitely built into our DNA, but even from a business standpoint, it's baked into our system because for us as a franchisor and the fact that our business model is based on memberships. So if our franchisee isn't growing and building memberships, then they're not winning and neither are we. So we have an emotional tie to them, but the business tie is strong as well.

That's awesome. So you've got some under your belt now. I mean, some, I mean a lot. Any weird use requests for any of the franchises so far? Like they want to bring goats in or puppy pickleball or anything like that?

Speaker 2 (20:33.262)
The thing about entrepreneurs, it takes one to know one, and entrepreneurs, they see everything as a yes. So I'm not gonna go into details, but our franchisees want to do all this stuff. And what I feel like, Guy, we have had some success. A big part of that has been my ability to say no, to be intentional. Guy, we're not trying to be everything to everybody.

We're not trying to serve everybody. just, you can't, you gotta choose a lane and be world class in the lane. So a brand that I admire so much, Chick-fil-A. You know, I just love Christian chicken. And I have to believe more than once, some franchisees said to the, know, Fafy family, you know, that owns it, hey, if you allow me to sell hamburgers too, I guarantee you we'll double our revenue. We'll do that. And they're gonna say, you know, they said no.

No, I can show you the numbers. No, we believe you, but it's not what we do. It's not who we are. We do chicken. We don't do hamburgers. So I use that as sort of a guiding principle that we need to be pointed in a direction, be world class, and not try to do everything for it.

I mean, say niches are where the riches are, right? And Dan Cathy and the whole team over, that's a great book to read for any entrepreneur is just to see the turn all the way around. It's my pleasure. It's my pleasure to see that big turn. Man, the Lord's Chicken is doing really, really well. they don't, and there's only open six days a week and they're not going to change that model either. So.

They do more in six days than everyone else does in seven. And inspired by the my pleasure, you know, get the welcome to the kingdom and you come to Big Ball Kingdom.

Speaker 1 (22:16.898)
that. So I mean, we're obviously talking a ton of success, success, success, but what's what's a moment that sticks out as like a man, I really blew it on that one.

I would say our Chandler Club, which is our flagship, that's the first one that I opened. made a couple of huge mistakes. I don't come from the construction field. so talking to people and just accepting, okay, that sounds like you know what you're doing. The first type of fencing that we put in was just the outline of a fence with this web and netting. And the guy said, that's all you need. That's gonna be great, Ace. Horrible, horrible. So I had to take all of it out.

place all of it with Chainlink and talked to a guy there. He said, you want the softest gauge possible so people aren't gonna hurt themselves. It's good. Next thing I know, the fencing is bowed in 30 feet. Had to replace all of that. So very expensive lessons, but guy that was on my dime. So our franchisee, they get the answers to the test right up front. They didn't have to pay for that. They didn't go along those rides. And so we're always using, again, our Chandler Club is,

all at our test kitchen, our lab, that we're always pumping in different things and trying it and seeing what works to make the system better.

That's fantastic, always honing and honing and honing. What would you say is just one non-negotiable that protects the culture that you have?

Speaker 2 (23:43.854)
We're very big on the word community. You know, it's in our five value statements. And you you mentioned Dan, Kathy's book, you know, people shall also look at true at Kathy, his father who started it Chick-fil-A. But I read so many business books, biographies, autobiography, mission statements and value statements. Sometimes I can't help. I don't want to be skeptical, but sometimes it seems like it's their version of rewriting history. What should we say we were thinking about in the beginning?

You know, that thing. And so when I launched into building Pickleball Kingdom, again, I told you right up front, I've had some monumental failures in my life from a different standpoint. said, okay, what separated those from the few successes I've had? And one of them was being intentional. And so I said, we're going to be extremely intentional. What are we going to stand for? What's our guiding principles? And I wrote down five value statements. Number one, life is better with Pickleball. Again, smile on your face.

Yep.

Number two, competition is fun. know, we believe let's play guy and if you beat me, won. I did lose, doesn't mean I'm a loser, but I lost the game. We're keeping score and that's good and that's fun. Number three, pickleball is good for you physically, socially and spiritually, whatever that means to you, but we believe that. Number four, this is the one I wanna highlight. We believe our greatest asset is our community. And then number five, we respect our teammates and do our teammate from our employees to our

members, visitors, and everyone. But the word community is extremely important to us. Again, whether it's here, we call it the clubhouse, our corporate office, or among our members, our staff, our visitors. I've had three different adults guy tell me in private, and I'm not mentioning their names, so I'm not putting their story on the table, but three different adults tell me, Ace, I didn't really have friends.

Speaker 2 (25:40.942)
You know, to hear an adult is heart wrenching. now, one gal in particular, to see her, kind of like Norm from Cheers. You know, when Norm walked in, hey Norm, everyone knew his name. She walks into the club and I see people call out her name. Hey, you wanna join us here? She has her tribe guide. She has her Tuesday night group, her Wednesday morning gals that she plays with. It just warms my heart to see that. So, community, you know. If you're in a...

Pickleball Kingdom and you say you lost 20 pounds, you maybe get a high five, maybe not. Because so many people have gotten better because they're exercising, they're doing that. We have a guy in Chandler who's lost over 100 pounds. Wow. He was literally a bad day away from a heart attack. For sure. He took a human being off his body. He just looks physically different. Yeah. See that.

For sure.

Speaker 2 (26:37.27)
and to see the smile on his face, the energy he has today. He didn't have a year and a half ago, unbelievable.

And not to mention, obviously, the mental health aspects. I talk about that a ton on our podcast is the mental health aspects. I'm probably going to do something with that down the road because it is so, so overwhelming, you know, that sense of community and what it brings to you, all the endorphins it gives you inside.

Absolutely, you know, so it's, gotta double whammy in a good way. It's the physical exertion, the sweats, the adrenal glands, and then it's that dopamine from talking to other people, laughing, high-fiving, physical touch, you know, hitting a ball, doing all that.

Yeah. So let's say someone, someone brand new walks into a pickleball, a pickleball kingdom for the first time. What do you personally hope they walk out with as far as their feelings?

I want them to feel better about themselves. I want them to walk out with a smile on their face. And it's exciting when I hear our front desk employees talk about people walking out and they ask, Hey, how was your game today? And sometimes they say, this is the worst I've ever played. And they say, but I still had a phenomenal time. And they're laughing and smiling as they walk out. So I want people to come in a pickleball kingdom and don't get me wrong, guy.

Speaker 2 (27:55.778)
We got some serious players, high level players who are trying to do big things in that side of the pickleball world. And that's fantastic. I come from the competitive sports world, but what we ultimately want is people to just grow as people to have fun, get better, meet new people, have new friends and have a home away from home that they can come to enjoy themselves. And, and again, just be a part of someone else's life. Let them be a part of yours.

We're too shut in with technology. People come in and they have so much fun. Just like, and it's, I think, built into our human thinking. When I first found pickleball and had fun, I literally recruited all these other people to come play, because I wanted to play. So, hey guys, come on. And we have that same thing, that same dynamic, sort of the transitive property happening in our club. Someone comes, they have fun, they join.

Now they're bringing all their friends because they're saying, Bobby, you got to try this. Or I know we used to play outdoors. It's perfect conditions. never affects your ball. It's not hot. It's not cold. It's not, you know, dirty courts, all that type of things. So yes, there are best sales.

Yeah, absolutely. So on our podcast, we have a little segment called Dink or Destroy. Dink is something, yep, sounds pretty good. We'll send it over the net. Destroy is a thumbs down for us. So let's do a little rapid fire kind of Dink or Destroy on some ideas I had that, you know, feel free to steal shamelessly if you're going to dink them over the net. All right. Okay. So right off the bat, pickleball karaoke, but it's done while you're playing. Big Dink Energy Court at one of your facilities. Dink.

Alright, glow in the dark pickleball. Destroy. Trumpet fanfare button at the court side so you can push it whenever you score a point. Shock collar pickleball, like a dog shock collar but somebody else has the button.

Speaker 2 (29:47.425)
Yes.

Speaker 2 (29:53.294)
would say, think as long as I have the button and not the cup.

Yeah, it's always good when I do that when my wife is like, yes, I can if I can have the button, it's fine for me. Ace, thanks so much for being on the Big Dink Energy podcast. I love your energy. I love what you're doing. Man, I cannot tell enough people about you out there. Pickleball Kingdom. Just love you being on and taking the time with us today.

pleasure guy enjoy talking with you and best of luck to all your ventures.

Thanks so much, sir. Thank you.

Speaker 4 (30:28.942)
Tinker Destroy is brought to you by My Paddle, custom silicone bands that make your paddle unmistakably yours. No more mixed up at open play? Buy four or more and get 50 % off. Six or more gets you free US shipping, no code needed. Grab yours at MyPaddle.com, that's M-Y-P-A-D-L dot com and follow at MyPaddle underscore.

All right. So for Dink or Destroy today, I thought we would talk about apologizing for net core.

Now, Digger Destroy, that's where we thumbs up it. Yep, it's for us. Or we send it over. it over.

over the net

Destroy it.

Speaker 1 (31:07.278)
Or destroy it, not for us.

So I just kind of figured like, are we being polite or is this just performative guilt?

Mmm, net cord. So for the uninitiated who don't know, this is the cord that's at the top of the net.

Yes, and when the ball kind of just hits it and then just, and it just kind of rolls off and falls and there's just really no way of getting it. I mean, I'm sure really good players can, but it's very difficult. And I just feel like everyone says, I'm so sorry, but I don't, I say it too, but I'm really not. I'm thrilled. I'm thrilled I can get those points.

hits it.

Speaker 1 (31:39.47)
So it can go one of two ways though, right? It's a 50-50. can hit it and then fall back into your kitchen. Or it could roll over into their kitchen.

could but

Speaker 3 (31:49.43)
Yeah, but when it does happen and it just kind of falls and everyone's like, I'm so sorry, you know, because it's like, you know, it's not really.

No, no, for me, I'm like, if it hits it and it goes over, I'm like, I'm in point town.

I feel like it's a formality, just kind of like when the balls go into somebody else's court and you're like, I'm sorry. And everyone's just like, yeah, we know, we know.

I hate when my balls are in other people's court.

especially if they're blue balls. But what do you think?

Speaker 4 (32:16.072)
I'm kind of mixed on it because I feel like people are just saying it because they feel like they have to. It's something that's not done intentionally. It was, you just hit the ball and it happened.

Be for yourself, I'm really good at doing this.

Yeah, yeah,

I if it wasn't intentional and you're not trying to do it, then no, it's part of the game. Yeah. I don't...

No, me though, for me though, you know, cause I practice for that. I practice specifically for that shot. And so you've got to sell it. You've got to sell it when it goes over. got to sell it. Like this is what I've been practicing for. Uh, and not, and not acting like, you know, this two inch piece of nylon did all the heavy.

Speaker 3 (32:45.102)
Guys.

Speaker 3 (32:54.456)
think you have to train your partner, and your partner have to practice, like your partner needs to go like, you've been doing that, my gosh.

Yeah, yeah, really hyping me up. yeah.

You got this. But I also, sometimes like when it happens, like my sister and I, because we play a lot, we tap paddles, like hell yeah. And then I'm like, and I look at them and I'm like, I'm really sorry. But it's like, saw. That's exciting. You saw me already like get excited. Because we need as many points as we can get. Right. I don't care how I get.

Yeah, I don't know that you guys have been in a tournament where you got a total of 11 points the whole time.

No, we've never won. if that happens to me, if that happens to me, I, I am not sorry. I'm sorry. Not sorry. There you go.

Speaker 1 (33:38.284)
Yeah, I mean if it's you and I out there, I'm gonna be like, Netsy, Netsy, you got the Netsy? We've been training that. Yeah, you got it.

I've been training that. So I mean, I think I'm a dink for saying sorry, but you don't have to mean it.

No, no, I'm, I'm owning it. Like I'm owning it. Like this is all I practice. I practice Ernie's and net C's. I'm, yeah. I'm NC, NC. Yes. So I'm owning it. I'm a dink. I'm a dink on it. Cause listen,

No, you're not.

Speaker 3 (34:05.1)
You're a dink on saying sorry. No, no, no, no, Then you're a destroy. Because this is about saying sorry after.

I'mma destroy that.

I'm always a destroy on saying sorry.

How about you?

I don't think it's something to say sorry for.

Speaker 3 (34:19.943)
I'm gonna watch all the next time cuz you feel bad and you kind of just be like, sorry it happens

No, no, I'm on it. I'm telling you, all I train for is a net sea.

You're definitely not training for a marathon.

Hurtful.

Speaker 2 (34:36.59)
News can use.

Big news we hope you can use. This segment brought to you by Uplift Coffee Company. If your coffee isn't fueling your hustle, it's just hot bean water. Uplift Coffee was made for people who train hard, play hard, and refuse to drink trash coffee. Sound familiar, pickleballers? Use code BIGDINKENERGY10 at UpliftCoffeeCo.co. UpliftCoffeeCo.co for 10 % off your order. That's Uplift Coffee Co.co.

Speaker 1 (35:12.014)
Let's go with some news.

So I have some news you can use. I read this on...

And this is not, I just want to let y'all know out there, this is not pre-scripted. We don't even know what she's gonna say,

It's just weird and wild, but it's useful, I think. apparently zebra stripes don't just look cool. They confuse the crap out of bugs. So scientists found that the stripe pattern actually messes with the bugs' ability to land. The pattern disrupts their vision, making it hard for flies and mosquitoes to figure out where the body is. So basically, zebras said, like, get disoriented.

as well.

Speaker 3 (35:52.172)
And that's why there's not a whole lot of mosquitoes and bugs. So I feel like I'm wearing zebra print to the pickleball court.

And that's why.

Speaker 4 (36:00.11)
yeah i think i think our whole bodies and so

It's not a fashion statement. I'm just repelling insects. I guess so people are like painting their cows with stripes and stuff now on ranches. what? Like that's where I saw it. Like somebody had painted a cow with stripes. I don't know if it was a joke, but then I kind of deep dived into it and the black and white stripes are kind of like nature's offspray. It's just natural thing. So if you want to avoid bug bites outdoors, dress like...

A Foot Locker employee, I guess. I don't know. Put your referee shirt on.

I'd be throwing flags at everybody all day long.

That's what we should do.

Speaker 4 (36:40.48)
a lot of paint to paint account.

Yeah, I'm thinking about that now.

Not really, I mean, it's already brown, so you just need to paint the white. The stripes, not necessarily the black and white, I don't think.

So

Okay, use it at the water cooler. However, you will Stripes as a strategy. I have a little bit of news you can use as well. Okay. I thought this is very funny When I was doing some some scrolling did you know that KFC the Kentucky Fried Chicken the Colonel? If you will on Twitter or X, uh-huh only follows 11 people. Six random guys neighbor and the five spice girls

Speaker 3 (36:53.646)
Stripes are a strategy.

Speaker 3 (37:14.658)
Me guess who?

Speaker 1 (37:19.886)
for the 11 herbs and spices. And then it got me thinking about some of the other ones that are out there, fast food or not. Wendy's, yep, Wendy's is out there.

That's cute.

It's brilliant.

Speaker 3 (37:31.906)
It's Wendy's on Twitter, yeah. X, sorry, X.

On X, yeah, they roast people all the time like McDonald's on their frozen burgers. Yeah, I love it. Yeah, they're the Weeby beef and mix tape they put out, stuff like that. Moon Pie also has a good account if y'all want to go follow something. the Moon Pie? The old school? with the, what is it, marshmallow in the middle? I think so. Yeah, crust on the outside, marshmallow in the middle. They tweeted about their snack being the official snack of sitting near windows and brooding. I can see it.

The Moon Pie.

Speaker 1 (38:03.326)
Denny's they tweet as if the account is a person and not a chain and not the restaurant Yeah posting bizarre relatable content about pancakes or life's futility and stuff like that. They're posting as a person I that shrimp and then the other one I thought was funny was Charmin. They created viral hashtags like tweet from the seat Encouraging followers to share tasteful bathroom related posts and the hashtag Charmin asked which sparts engagement with silly questions Like whether it's okay to answer the phone while on the toilet

That's like a Dink and Destroy type thing. That was really cool. Yeah, I love when brands can be funny.

Yes.

That is a Dinker Destroy.

Yeah, I thought that was pretty cool too.

Speaker 2 (38:42.242)
Yeah, they're engaged.

They're engaging. They're not just putting out content.

They're not just putting out ads and stuff like that. Yeah, but

Wendy's is the most savage.

They are savage and I love it. But I saw something the other day also that said, hate when people don't get my sarcasm, because now I just sound mean. And I feel like that really hit home with me. yeah. Because sometimes my sarcasm is lost. I mean, but the thing is, is I'm not doing it to be mean. I'm doing it to be hurtful. Yeah. Hurtful? But you know what I'm saying? Like if you don't know people's humor, but I feel like these brands can get away with that.

Speaker 1 (39:04.395)
like run a marathon?

Speaker 2 (39:11.811)
Okay.

Speaker 3 (39:18.826)
and be savage and I just, absolutely love it. Cause I love savagery, sarcasm, and all of that. Like if you can make fun of yourself and others, then it's fine.

Yeah, I love it.

Speaker 1 (39:31.746)
No, that's not the song.

That's Considia Self. That was a good one. What was that, Oliver Twist? I don't know. I don't know.

Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

I don't know. You want to do your British accent again for everybody? Hello.

Goodbye.

Speaker 1 (39:46.062)
That's it for this episode, unless you've got something to say. Think we got it wrong? Have a better take? We want to hear it. Find us at bdepodcast.com or at bdepodcast on the socials. Drop us a message. We might just feature you in the next episode. If you had a good time, well, same z's. If not, maybe try again. We grow on people. So you know the deal. Follow the show, tell a friend, and leave us a review. Or just pretend this never happened. Until next time,

Keep the dink soft and the energy big.