Smithfield’s Outdoor Pickleball Courts: The Peak of Outdoor Play
Warmer weather = more outdoor play!
While there are many places to play outside, sometimes you arrive and the conditions are just not going to work. There are no courts left, nothing to block the wind, and no lights for evening fun!
This is where Smithfield’s outdoor pickleball courts can help! Our state of the art outdoor courts can be reserved to ensure you have the court space you need to play with all of your friends!
-Tournament level court space
-Wind screens
-Lit with LED lights
-Perfect for Parties or a night out!
The convenience of outdoor courts in the summer has its perks, but even more convenient is outdoor courts you know are available, well-protected, and properly lit for you and your friends to play comfortably! You can even join outdoor Open Play sessions! Take the unknowns out of your outdoor session and bring the “play” back into pickleball!
Competitive Play: How do Rankings work in Pickleball and Tennis?
Basketball has the NBA, baseball has the MLB, and football has the NFL, tennis and pickleball have their own associations that help dictate rules, regulations, and player ratings. These organizations determine “best practice,” and dictate skill levels for players. Using those rules, other organizations can provide a recognized rank that helps judge the players’ skill level and make tournaments more competitive and equal for all!
USTA, USA Pickleball and UPA-A are national governing bodies for tennis and pickleball, respectively. Organizations like UTR, NTRP, UTR-P, and DUPR are widely recognized rating systems that rank players based on information like an opponent’s rating, competitiveness and prior recorded matches. Some events will use these to create their tournament line up to make sure players are playing others of a similar level. Exploring the websites for these organizations can help open up the world of competitive play to anyone who wants to join!
Want to increase your rating?
-Play in events that report scores
-Play frequently
-Increase your technique and skill to play higher rated individuals
For Pickleballers, Smithfield hosts DUPR events and can record scores to DUPR if requested! For Tennis fiends, join a USTA league in the area! Whether you are looking to play in some local competition leagues or wanting to play across the midwest, getting started at Smithfield is a great way to open the door to playing more!
“Here Comes the Sun:” Fueling your Body during Warm Weather Play
Getting the right nutrition for your playtime is important, especially with the weather heating up and longer days ahead! Smithfield wants to make sure you have the knowledge on how to fuel your body for the many games to come. This article will go over the major ways to give your body the fuel it needs when playing tennis and pickleball:
- The most obvious: drink enough water!!! You don’t want to drink so much that you feel like you are drowning on dry land, but increasing your water intake over time can make sure your body is prepared to sweat. Replenishing that supply can keep your energy up and dehydration away.
- Keep up your electrolytes. Too much water without electrolytes can disrupt the energy balance in your body and make your brain feel fuzzy and your muscles cramp. Refueling with Gatorade, Body Armor, energy chews, and protein bars are great ways to keep up your electrolytes and carbs during gameplay so your body stays balanced and charged.
- Bring on the carbs… But nothing too heavy! Eating carbs before you play can help sustain your body through the match. Avoid eating anything too heavy or fatty that could upset your stomach. Eating a full meal 3-4 hours before playing is a good rule of thumb and adding small snacks before, during, and after you play will help keep up your body’s energy levels through your play session.
Making sure you are fueling your body with the right foods and balancing how much of those you need, will help keep your body at peak play performance! Check out our new energy bar selection, now available in the pro-shop, to help you fuel your brain and body better! So remember to fill up your water bottle before you go out to play and grab a snack and drink in our pro-shop before, during, or after, so you can keep feeling your best out on court!
NEW 2025 Head Radical Racquets: Eliott’s Review
With a long legacy of excellence, the Head Radical enters 2025 with a striking new all orange cosmetic, Head’s Auxetic 2.0 feel, and that classic pop you’ve come to expect from the Radical family! If you’re looking for a racquet that offers excellent power in the sweet spot, comfortable impact, and firm response, then the new Head Radical should absolutely be on your list of racquets to try!
Unlike the earlier released Gravity racquets that we reviewed last time, the MP and Pro have very similar playing characteristics with the primary difference being in the weight between the models, so we’ll be treating this review as one single entity rather than getting into the differences between the two.
One of the more notable factors is the precise sweet-spot in the center of each frame, which results in very direct feedback to the player. While you may not find a lot of forgiveness in off-center hits, you will however find incredible rewards every time you strike the ball clean! Players with longer, modern swings will quickly fall in love with how the racquet plows through contact. Advanced players too will enjoy that more connected feel to the ball on contact, helping dial in your strokes just right to get the maximum desired effect on the ball.
With that extra connection comes extra responsibility: players will want to maintain good fundamentals and consistent contact points, as the racquet won’t do much for free. You’ll need to generate your own pace and spin to take full advantage of what the frame has to offer, and once you do you’ll realize just why this is one of Head’s longest running models!
