SPEAKER_03: 0:00

Hi, I'm Shelly Mauer. And I'm Cher Emmerich. Welcome to Life Lessons from Pickleball. Where we engage with pickleball players from around the world about life on and off the court.

SPEAKER_02: 0:12

Thanks for joining us.

SPEAKER_03: 0:15

Before we get started, we have something really exciting to share. Our book, Life Lessons from Pickleball, is now available on Amazon, and a portion of every sale is donated to Operation Paddle Lift. Your purchase helps deliver paddles, nets, and resources to underserved communities around the world. Thank you for being a part of Growing the Game We All Love. Now let's jump into today's episode. Welcome everyone to Life Lessons from Pickleball. Oh, today we are absolutely thrilled to welcome Rachel Krug. Rachel, your journey through pickleball is nothing short of extraordinary, and yet what stands out most to us is the joy, creativity, and heart that you bring to the game.

SPEAKER_02: 0:59

You've been playing pickleball for 17 years, competing at the highest levels, winning national titles, medals around the world, and continuing to play at a 5.0 level as a senior pro. Wow. But you're also a teacher, a performer, a musician, and someone who sees pickleball as much more than a sport.

SPEAKER_03: 1:23

You teach body, mind, and spirit, and you create community through travel and performance, and you even invented an instrument out of a pickleball paddle, which we are excited to hear from. And that combination of elite athlete and creative storyteller is so rare.

SPEAKER_02: 1:43

Rachel, before we dive into all of that, we want to start at the heart. Your dad introduced you to pickleball when he was 79 and told you, I think you're gonna like it. Take us back to that moment. What was happening in your life then? And did you have any idea how a simple invitation could change everything?

SPEAKER_00: 2:05

No, I could never have anticipated the uh change, the course of my life changing at that moment. My dad uh and I had played uh mixed doubles tennis tournaments together, and I was all set to play another tournament with him. And he said, I can't play tennis anymore, but I found a new sport. And I said, You're 79. I'm thinking shuffleboard, bocce ball. And he said, No, it's called pickleball. And I went, okay. Um, and he said, No, no, I I think you're gonna like it. And I went down uh to Florida and we played, and of course, anytime I was with my dad, it was magical. And uh he uh he he just worked with me and you know I was hooked. I was hooked right away.

SPEAKER_03: 3:12

Why? Why were you hooked right away, apart from being with your papa? I just love that he was 79 and said, Hey, I found a new game.

SPEAKER_00: 3:22

Well, it it took um it I was able to parlay my my tennis skills, and I I was a four-sport athlete in high school, and so I like being scrappy, and I I love the quickness of the game, and I also love the strategy of the game. So um both of those really uh parlayed quite well to the skill sets that that I had. And you you know, when you're in the middle of the point and all four people are laughing, I thought, what other sport is this possible? And and the endorphin hits that you get not only from a good shot, but I don't even have to hit the shot. If my dad hit the shot, I was like, yeah, dad. Uh, or even my opponents, you know, they would hit a good ball and it was solid, and and uh, and I thought, ooh, I that that looked like it felt really good. I still got a little hit from it.

SPEAKER_02: 4:35

That's good. So when did you realize that this wasn't just a hobby, that it was a calling?

SPEAKER_00: 4:43

Yep. So I I competed. Um I I went back to Minnesota um and I Googled where can I play pickleball? And there was only one spot, and it happened to be a mile from my house. So I showed up, I didn't have a paddle, um, but you know, pickleball players, my pickle pals, uh, you know, they said, here's here's a paddle. And we were playing on a tennis court, and we had uh they had chalked the lines, and eventually I would bring windshield wiper fluid and a bungee cord, and we'd put it in the center of the net just to bring the net down. Um, because of course a tennis net's 36 and you want it 34 for pickleball. And uh we just had so much fun, and and I was playing, I was you know, 46 at the time, and I was playing with all these people that were retired, and um just not taking it too seriously, which of course I loved too, um, the whole social aspect. And and uh there were probably 20 of us playing in the in the whole state, and um and then a couple years later I entered nationals, and uh because I was a tennis player, I really played it a little bit more like a tennis player, and so singles uh uh I I did well in singles and ended up winning my first national title playing singles.

SPEAKER_03: 6:15

Whoa, whoa. So you were a college athlete as well, you mentioned four sports, and then you did you were also tennis was one of them, I assume, in college.

SPEAKER_00: 6:27

So I was a four-sport athlete in high school, and I went to college on a tennis scholarship at the University of Kentucky.

SPEAKER_03: 6:35

Oh my gosh, oh my gosh. So you've been a competitor for years.

SPEAKER_00: 6:40

You know, I was just thinking about my first athletic uh competitive experience, and I only know this because I have a black and white picture of my older brother David and I, and he had just put on uh my football pads and my jersey and my helmet to go compete with the neighborhood boys, and I was six years old. Tackle football, full equipment and pads. Let's go.

SPEAKER_03: 7:10

Wow, you were ready from the get-go. So now uh in pickleball, is your has that sense of competitiveness changed at all for you in your life?

SPEAKER_00: 7:27

Well, I still want to win.

SPEAKER_03: 7:30

Uh-huh.

SPEAKER_00: 7:31

Um, but now it's not so much about winning as it is, am I making good choices? Am I uh picking the right shot at the right time? Because sometimes, you know, you just come across an opponent and they're just they're just so good and they they force your hand. Um and you know, they they they're hitting great shots, and you know, you gotta give it to them. Um but for me, it's uh it's about am I am I playing loose? Am I being in the moment? Am I staying positive? Am I doing my paddle taps with my uh partner? Am I cracking jokes, which I always am? Um my my favorite story of of that is uh I was playing with a guy, great competitor. We were playing with the N at the NPL, the National Pickleball League. It was the first year, inaugural year, and this guy was he's a lot of fun and could smack the ball. And when it was in, it was in, it was beauty. But he it he was hitting some balls out, and I said, you know, just just go 70%. He goes, Yeah, yeah, 70%. And then he dialed it back, and it, you know, the ball was going in, and and then he's he's kind of feeling his oats, and then he's getting back to, you know, smacking the ball a little bit more. And I look at him and he goes, I know, I know, 70%. I didn't want to say anything more, and and then he dialed it in, but then he went back to you know what what you're used to, and uh finally I I just said I we took a time out and I said, you know what my favorite. I said, Do you like chocolate? And he goes, Yeah. I said, you know what my favorite chocolate is? And he said, no. I said, the one with 70% cacao. He got the message, and that was that was my last game match with the NPL. We were playing an undefeated team, and we won.

SPEAKER_03: 9:59

Oh my gosh, congratulations! What good advice!

SPEAKER_00: 10:04

Oh my gosh. And I afterwards he was sitting on the sidelines, and I just went up to him, and it just it just meant so much to me to go out with the W. And I I just fell into his arms and I started crying, and he started crying, big, big scrappy guy, and it it was a moment, you know.

SPEAKER_03: 10:25

I wanted to which is a wonderful segue into you using mind body spirit. I mean, that was so touching what you've just shared, and mind, body, spirit really gets us connected. So, how do you use mind body spirit?

SPEAKER_00: 10:39

Well, the the logo that I have designed is is a pickleball, um, which is a yin-yang, and it's it's it's two different colors, and uh mind, body, spirit, mind is our strategy, and and body is our skill set. What can we do? And so you have these two working together, and when they work together, um uh beautifully, effortlessly, and you are in the flow, then around it I have this this flow. And and spirit is spirit, you know, you you just you just bring your spirit to the game. Um, so I find in my teaching that people really respond well to that. And your uh life lessons in pickleball, I mean, the analogies are so ripe and they're so rich. Um so let's let's first of all keep it in perspective. It's a game called pickleball, played with a wiffle ball. Let's not get our undies in a bundle. So you put that in perspective and and you stay loose, and we do everything better when we're relaxed. So sometimes in life we we just grip on to something so tight that it's a good reminder just to let go, just to relax and always get back to our breath, which is there's a Greek word, spiritus, that literally means breath. So get back to your breath and relax and have fun.

SPEAKER_03: 12:38

Pickleball in a nutshell, yes, that's beautiful.

SPEAKER_02: 12:44

I love that. I'm trying to think about that all the time now. Get back to my breath, have fun. That's what it's all about. Yes, that's so true. So, is that what you feel actually holds most people back? Just not being able to get back to their breath, right?

SPEAKER_00: 13:05

Just and slow it down, yeah, slow the breath down so that you're relaxed and then your grip is relaxed. Yeah, and then we can play with more finesse, and that's really, I think, what's going to help you win more points because it's it's the hard game, it's the soft game. Both of them work together, but a lot of times that soft shot that lands in the kitchen or right at their feet, it's gonna force them to hit up on the ball so that you can hit down on the ball, and that's where you use your power. So when I teach, I've got a shirt that says patience, placement, power in that order, it'll serve you. And what I say to my students, I am here at your service to help you learn to discern what is serving you best in pickable and in life.

SPEAKER_03: 14:29

Ooh, and patience, placement, uh power.

SPEAKER_00: 14:35

And and with okay, patience in life. Um, placement. Where are you placing your energy? Where are you placing your time? Because we're all getting older, and time is so precious, and it we need to surround ourselves with the people that we love, and we need to tell them we love them. And so if we place our energy and our uh time with with those people, it's gonna feed us.

SPEAKER_03: 15:10

Yeah. I feel a song coming on. I mean, that just you could make a song out of that, my dear, as a musician that you are. And the the blending that you bring to pickleball, the mind, body, spirit, the consciousness, the community, it just all seems very appropriate that you would have then incorporated creating a musical instrument out of a pickleball paddle. So you have it right behind you, and you call it the piccolely. And for those of you who are watching on YouTube, you are seeing this remarkable instrument. Tell us about it and then play us a little tune.

SPEAKER_00: 15:58

Well, I was on the court one day, and you know, you have your pickleball paddle and or your tennis racket, and you start playing it like an instrument, and I thought, why not? What a what a crazy idea. Um, and I found after four strikes with different luthieres, I finally found one who was willing to give it a try. And um, so I didn't want to change the integrity of my paddle, and I am sponsored by um Engage, and so I had my engage paddle. Um, and I say the engaged paddles make the most beautiful music, um, and um, and I got a ukulele neck and we bolted it on there, and it's tuned like a ukulele, so I call it a piccolely, and I decided to add a little bling to it. Um, this is the first gold medal presented at the first US Open in uh Naples in 2016. Um my friend Cookie Drake, uh, great partner from Canada. Um she uh she won uh this medal, and um I actually happened to be on the same side of the net with her.

SPEAKER_03: 17:18

So you did too.

SPEAKER_00: 17:18

Yes, so we won women's doubles, and I took uh I took that ribbon and I made it part of my uh my strap here. We also won a silver that year, so I got fortunately had those two to put together, and this is a little little pickle pickle ball there. Well, that's a pickle. Can you see it? I do.

SPEAKER_03: 17:43

I see that and is that a beezer ball, the little pickle ball? Is that a beezer ball?

SPEAKER_00: 17:47

I don't know what a beezer ball is.

SPEAKER_03: 17:49

Beezer ball is a little ball that one of our guests invented.

SPEAKER_00: 17:54

Yeah, I what I think it is, is it's a little plastic golf ball.

SPEAKER_03: 17:59

Oh, maybe that's what it is. Oh, that's what it is.

SPEAKER_00: 18:02

This is my volume control.

SPEAKER_03: 18:04

Oh, come on.

SPEAKER_00: 18:05

Right, right. And then these are my electronics, because it's electric. Why not? Through the pickleball itself.

SPEAKER_03: 18:11

Oh my gosh. Okay, let's hear it.

SPEAKER_00: 18:36

So I had the pleasure of um performing uh this song. I'll just do a little bit of it for you, but they asked me to perform at Center Court uh right before the finals. Um, and uh I was completely wired up. So headset mic and and and this, and um I did an echo response song, and I wrote a song called Pocket Full of Sunshine because I thought, you know, when you have this pickleball and you have it in your pocket, it's just like it's a part of the sun, you know, you take it out and it just brings you so much happiness and warmth. I thought, I got a pocket full of sunshine, and so uh it's an echo response song. So I'm in the grandstand, center court, and I have all these people singing back to me. I got a pocket full of sunshine, I got a paddle in my head, I got my dream partner, and it's more than I have well. Gonna play all day. O M G means one more game. Since I'm

SPEAKER_03: 20:22

Oh my one of my oh my gosh, you are such an amazing human being that you have incorporated such uh joy into a brand new instrument, which by the way, I hope you've patented because people are gonna buy it if you have.

SPEAKER_00: 20:41

Yeah, I uh I looked into that. That is awesome. You go for it. Yeah. That just that just started my creative juices going, and I thought, wow, I so I'm a performer and I do cabaret shows. Why not come up with a pickleball cabaret show that's all pickleball? And so I do parodies of songs like uh hit me with your best shot, uh Don't Mean a Thing If It Ain't Got That Swing, um all the singles, ladies, and I dedicate it to all my lady friends, my warriors that play singles, um, and I bring them up on stage and we do the the whole um dance, the iconic dance, and oh gosh, it's it's so much fun.

SPEAKER_03: 21:36

So, where are you doing those shows?

SPEAKER_00: 21:38

I've done them all over um Huntsman World Games, um the US Open, Naples, uh they brought me down to Arkansas and uh for that uh tournament, and I was the entertainment, and uh it's it's fun, and you know, my whole thing is how can I just use the gifts that I've been given, and as we all try to do, and uh spread the pickleball love, get in with some comedy and fun because I'm a ventriloquist too. Um and of course you are, of course you are. Um I I say I have a very diversified portfolio, um, but then I get in there with some some heart stuff, and um because once the heart is open, then it's it's ready to receive and it feels safe um to receive some other maybe deeper meaning. Uh, and uh that's that's uh I I like to exist on you know a few different levels. And if uh if you're wanting to go to that deeper level, I'm right there with you.

SPEAKER_02: 22:57

Oh I love that. So with all your talents and everything that you have going on, it's incredible. What what are you currently most excited about?

SPEAKER_00: 23:08

Um, I'm honored to be on the Richmond Rocketeers. It's uh uh a team on the U.S. Legends, which is the newest pro senior league uh for 50 and up. And I know you're asking yourself, does she qualify?

SPEAKER_03: 23:26

Yes, we are asking that.

SPEAKER_00: 23:28

She's 50. Oh gosh. And uh we are in fifth place, and we are gonna be competing this uh Saturday and Sunday in New Jersey. Um and so that's gonna be a lot of fun, and then I get back um and a week later, leave for Thailand. I'm going to compete in the Thailand Open with an old friend of mine. We've we've been talking about playing for a long, long time, um, Alison Fulton. Uh so we'll uh I'll I'll play Thailand and then I'll hop over the border and and explore Vietnam, which I've I've heard wonderful things about. Yeah.

SPEAKER_03: 24:11

It is, it's wonderful. Now, have you been to Thailand before?

SPEAKER_00: 24:14

No.

SPEAKER_03: 24:15

Have you played overseas before?

SPEAKER_00: 24:18

I did a trip uh in to Spain. Oh, and um, that's another thing that I'm I'm with a tour company now, great tour company called Navigo, and they've been around forever, and they're uh now doing pickleball tours. And I had the privilege of um, we just finished one in Sonoma. We went to wine country and we we pickled in the morning, and I did some instruction, and then you know, we drank some wines. And uh so we've got a trip coming up to Costa Rica that's sold out um this month, and then we're hoping to do another one in April, and oh, they've got all kinds of trips. Uh, the Netherlands, where we're gonna actually compete in a tournament uh over there with the locals. That's gonna be super fun. We did that in Spain too with another company, but um you know, just playing with the locals and you don't know what's around the corner. And pickleball has opened up so many doors for me, and uh I've made so many connections uh with people, it's really amazing. Thanks, Dad. No kidding. I I actually have his paddle, his original paddle, and I have a picture of of my dad and myself on the paddle, and it is courtside with me when I compete. So he's he's always watching me, and he he was one of the kindest guys I know, which is why back home in Minnesota I I do kindness assemblies. I've been doing those in elementary schools for about 30 years. Um, and he was also very much into um giving back. So he had raised over$100,000 for different nonprofits through um his work uh with uh volunteerism. And so to follow in that put footstep, in his footsteps, and also my mother's um was uh just very giving woman. Um, I donate a percentage of my profits to give uh free lessons to underserved communities, and also I do a free free uh performance for seniors in senior centers. So we all, you know, we do what we do, and I think it's really, really important. Um uh, you know, to whom much is given, much is required, that we give back. And I love that the two of you have found a way to do that through your book and through these podcasts, just spreading the pick of all love.

SPEAKER_03: 27:13

Thank you. Well, wow, when you say we do what we do, you're doing enough for a hundred people. So thank you. You're carrying it for a hundred people or more. Oh my goodness, Rachel. It's I'm almost embarrassed to ask you this because you've already kind of shared so many life lessons in your what you've shared. But when you think about in particular, when you've been on the court, you've been teaching, you're singing to the people who are in the stadiums. Uh, what are some of the life lessons that you have gleaned from pickleball?

SPEAKER_00: 27:53

Well, I'll tell you one of the most touching things is um when I have witnessed um, I have a friend, and her name is Minnie, and I I call Minnie on her birthday every year, and she just turned a hundred. And Minnie plays pickleball. Minnie still plays pickleball. And her daughter, uh, you have actually interviewed, I believe, uh Yvonne Hackenberg. Yes, and so Minnie plays on the court with Yvonne, who is a dear friend of mine, Yvonne and Jim, both Hall of Famers.

SPEAKER_03: 28:33

Yeah, wonderful people.

SPEAKER_00: 28:35

Um and Yvonne's daughter, and Yvonne's daughter's daughter. So you have four generations playing. So what that says to me is that pickleball is the great equalizer. It doesn't matter who you are, what your credentials are, what you've done before, when you're out on the court, the playing field is even. And the camaraderie that exists, and that you can have a 13-year-old playing on the court with a hundred-year-old, and it's still fun. And I don't know any other sport where you're actually moving around, um, you know, making contact with a ball using some hand-eye coordination, um, that four generations can play, or three generations. Um it's uh it's it I had on my water bottle a long, long time ago, right when I got into pickleball, and I had it uh engraved, and it said pickleball, it's not a sport, it's a phenomenon. Um and I and I still hold to that that it's a phenomenon because we can always improve, we can always up the ante. I still feel like I haven't hit the ceiling yet, and that I think is part of what hooks people.

SPEAKER_03: 30:25

Who make me cry? That is so sweet, and it's so true. And at any age, my 70th is coming next week, I don't remember. Um, that that ceiling just keeps getting higher, you know, it's like you're saying, it we uh or it kind of moves to the side. Now I have a new ceiling. Maybe it doesn't keep going higher, but yeah, it's so much fun. It is amazing. And Rachel, honestly, when Shelly and I, when we were getting ready for this conversation with you, we were both saying, oh my gosh, we are so looking forward to this conversation. And how are we going to pack it all in to about 30 minutes? And uh we could talk with you for hours. The things that you have done with your gifts, your legacy from your parents, very touching. Um, thank you, mom, dad, and thank you for what you are doing to continue to spread the joy of this game, but the heart of this game and the way you teach it and the way you share the music and your ventriloquism and your performance and all your travel. And really, I mean, right, Shelly?

SPEAKER_01: 31:38

Yeah, it's incredible. You're just spreading the joy.

SPEAKER_03: 31:43

Just spreading the joy. We thank you so much. Now, people are gonna want to find you. So, what's the best way for them to find you online? How many options?

SPEAKER_00: 31:54

Well, I don't do a lot of social media, actually. Um, I do have a a Facebook page. Um, but you know, if you if you Google my name, uh, I have to Google myself every once in a while to find out what I've been up to. Oh god, I did that. Whoops.

SPEAKER_03: 32:16

I love that.

SPEAKER_00: 32:17

But um I guess uh you know, through uh email me or Facebook me.

SPEAKER_03: 32:26

Um Google you and your travel company again.

SPEAKER_00: 32:31

Navigo tours, navigours, navigo N-A-V-I-I-G-O, Navigo.

SPEAKER_03: 32:40

Navigo, Navago Tours. Awesome. Well, can't thank you enough. And Shannon helped us with the tech right before we got started. Thank you to Shannon, and thank you for taking the time out of your extraordinarily busy life to talk with us. Thank you and have fun in Thailand.

SPEAKER_00: 33:01

Such an honor, share Shelly. Thank you so much.

SPEAKER_03: 33:05

Thank you so much. Oh my gosh, and you all, how lucky are you to have caught this episode? How inspired must you be as we are? This is just an amazing human being, Rachel Krug. How lovely. Thank you all for tuning in. Thank you for all the subscriptions, the likes, and for sharing. Share this episode with everybody you know. Inspire them too. Thank you all, and we look forward to a new conversation next week. Bye-bye.

SPEAKER_02: 33:34

Bye-bye. If you love our podcast, we'd be so grateful if you'd take a few seconds to follow or subscribe to Life Lessons from Pickleball. This ensures you'll never miss an episode and helps us continue these wonderful conversations.

SPEAKER_03: 33:49

On Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen, go to the show page and tap the follow button in the top right corner. And on YouTube, click the subscribe button under any of the episodes. Thanks so much. Hope to see you on the court.