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Welcome to PickleBenZen! My name is Ben Hong and while I tried to resist pickleball for a long time, like many others, I’ve succumbed to it and have been loving every moment since.
What did I play before pickleball?
I never played in any sport teams growing up, but I did play ping pong recreationally and dabbled in a little bit of tennis with my cousins. So while I wouldn't say that I'm new to racquet sports, I definitely don't have the coveted "Division 1 Tennis" background that many of the more "naturally gifted" pickleball players often have.
Why did I start this blog?
When I found myself unable to play pickleball, naturally I started watching pickleball videos and shorts. And while it's great to see so much instructional content on "how I can go from X to Y with this Z technique" or analysis on professional level play, I also wanted to hear more from regular players and the things they've learned along the way.
The issue I had with consuming so much top level analysis and technique breakdown is that it's often subject to the curse of knowledge bias, which is what happens when experts assumes their audience knows more than they do on a given topic. And this is particularly noticeable in sports advice since so many different mechanics come into play when "doing X technique the correct way."
For example, plenty of videos talk about how pointing the paddle downwards will fix people's dinking, but it assumes so many things about things like stance, weight transfer, how stiff someone's wrist is, etc. And so while these little tidbits of insight can be super helpful, it's easy to miss something basic that professionals due subconsciously that amateurs do not.
What you can expect
I wanted to share my journey as an amateur is who just getting into pickleball more seriously, but from a more raw and unfiltered perspective.
Some types of content you can expect include:
- Recordings of recreational games with occasional analysis
- Reviews of paddles and gear
- Things I learn about from lessons, clinics, etc.
And of course, you can expect random musings about the game and my journey along the way.
Am I ready to embark on this journey?
I wish, but this whole venture is about recording everything along the way, and the imperfections are arguably the most important part of it all. So what the heck, let's kick this journey off.
Here goes nothing! 0-0-2.