Book News And Giving Back

SPEAKER_00 0:00

Hi, I'm Shelly Bauer. 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_01 0:12

Thanks for joining us.

Meet Lydia Hurt

SPEAKER_00 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 PaddleLift. 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. Today we are super excited to welcome Lydia Hurt, a New York-based pickleball community builder and marketer who has helped grow the sport in creative and meaningful ways.

SPEAKER_01 0:54

Lydia is known for bringing together community, style, business, and fun in the pickleball world. Public profiles connect her with major roles at City Pickle and Lifetime Pickleball, and she's become a visible voice for growing the game, especially for women and urban players.

SPEAKER_00 1:14

Before pickleball, Lydia worked in publishing, and her journey into the sport seems to have opened the door to an entirely new chapter in her life and career.

SPEAKER_01 1:24

Lydia, take us back. How did pickleball first come into your life?

Pandemic Discovery And NYC Courts

SPEAKER_02 1:28

Well, first of all, Shelly Cher, so happy to be here. Thank you so much for having me. I discovered pickleball in winter 2021. It was deep pandemic times, if you all remember that. And I had convinced my parents and my sister to go down to Florida. This is in this is in winter, it was February. So, you know, New York and the Midwest, where my parents were at the time, was pretty desolate. But in Florida, we could be outside. So we went down to Florida as our little pod, rented a cute little bungalow. And my cousin down there was a competitive tennis player. And she got us in to pickleball. There was a community court down in Tampa that I would go to with my pod, and the four of us were able to have a really great time. It would be me and my sister against our parents. We hadn't, it turns out, you know, we had no idea what we were doing. We would do it staggered, you know, staggered doubles, like um like tennis doubles, but we had a great time. And my dad and I notably got really addicted. So when I moved back to New York City a little bit later that spring, when the vaccines had come out, I was determined to kind of keep up my love of the sport. But at that time, pickleball was pretty underground in New York. There were zero official courts in all of New York City. So it was really hard to figure out how to get involved and really how to keep up this obsession. Um, so it took a lot of diving. And once you were in the community, you know, there were these third-party apps, notably at the time, Team Reach, that I had never even been aware of before. And once you discovered them, you realize there is a really robust community coming to play, pop-up games in the park. Um, they they organize events. There really is a warm group of people who already love pickleball. There was just a lack of infrastructure around it and really no discoverability. So when I learned that, and as kind of a committed community organizer in general and a professional marketer, it really just seemed like an opportunity to help grow the sport in New York. So I did that by starting my Instagram. You can all find me on lydia.pickleball. I was a USA pickleball ambassador. So I did a ton of community events, and through that involvement, I actually transitioned my career, which had been in marketing and book publishing for a very long time at Penguin Random House, the world's biggest publisher, where I first went to City Pickle as CMO and then most recently to Lifetime, um, that has more than 800 pickleball courts across the country. And now I have the privilege of consulting for pickleball companies, some sports and wellness, and also some thought leaders. So pickleball really changed the trajectory of my entire life.

SPEAKER_00 4:12

Wow. And you changed the trajectory for New York and across the country. So thank you, thank you, thank you for that.

SPEAKER_02 4:18

That's so generous. Thank you. I did what I could, and I think pickleball makes it pretty easy to, you know, give people access so that they can also fall in love.

SPEAKER_00 4:27

So, why did you fall in love? What hooked you about this game?

Finding Friends Through Pickleball

SPEAKER_02 4:31

Uh you know, I played tennis in high school, but very mediocre. And by the way, I remain a solid intermediate pickleball player as well. So that is consistent. But in that time, you know, that gap of a decade, over a decade, I was no longer, I didn't think of myself as an athlete. I was active in that I loved to be outside. But honestly, at that time, um, I think I thought of brunching in New York as a sport. Um, and then I discovered pickleball, and it had all those elements of sports, but also the teamwork and really notably the community. At that time in 2021, a lot of my longtime New York City friends had left the city. Um, so I was kind of in that moment of flux personally where I was like, okay, I kind of needed to find new friends, a new social scene. And I didn't want my life to revolve around going to the bars and the restaurants in New York City. And then pickleball really gave this outlet for activity energy. It gives you a purpose. You know, one of the big communities here in New York, the big grassroots communities, started here in the West Village. Um, Catherine Hedden, who is one of the OG pickleball folks, she is still to this day a USA pickleball ambassador. She has what was considered the 3.5 advanced group on Sunday mornings in the park. You know, so you come in and you start paddle stacking at 8:30 a.m. So it would be a Saturday night out, and I would be like, all right, guys, I gotta go. I gotta go play pickleball with all my, you know, friends who are two or three decades older than me at 8:30 in the morning, but I can't be the one who's not keeping up my end of the bargain, you know, for my partner. So I think pickleball just gave me a social community outlet. And then when I got more involved with the discoverability and the infrastructure and bringing in more people, I then met friends through pickleball, and well, people who became friends, I guess I could say, through pickleball, who now we travel together, we're the best of friends, whether we're on a court together or not.

SPEAKER_01 6:34

Don't you just love that about pickleball?

SPEAKER_02 6:37

I do. I really think the power of pickleball is is really unique. And actually, thinking of these kind of grassroots parks days, so these courts were not permanent. There were no nets. So we had to either, you know, kind of chalk out our own lines. There were some scrappy people, like there were some painted lines over time, but we would have to show up with our transportable nets. And I'm, you know, I'm like, I can still remember the weight of these nets, right? And in this time, I met a group of friends. Um, one of them, her name is Mickey, and we met this other guy in the park. His name is Joey. And the reason we all loved Joey was not only because he was a fun guy to play with, but because whenever we texted him to come play in the park, Joey would bring us a net. You know, he's like his grand guy, and that meant we didn't have to schlup this net, you know, and four years later now, Mickey and Joey have been friends all that time. And now they fell in love actually at my birthday party in Las Vegas last year, where we all went as friends, and we all met in a park, in a public park, in an unofficial pickleball court, you know, and now we're traveling together, and Mickey and Joey are, you know, in love in a committed relationship and live together.

SPEAKER_01 7:49

Oh, that's so cool.

SPEAKER_02 7:52

It really is the best story. And they're amazing people and amazing friends. And thank goodness, you know, we had Joey to bring us the net to play pickleball that set them on this trajectory.

Women, Equity, And Visibility

SPEAKER_01 8:02

Isn't that a sweet story? I love that. Why have uh women's connection and community become such a big part of your message?

SPEAKER_02 8:11

Great question, Shelly. I supporting women has always been a pillar of everything I've done, whether that was in book publishing and helping female authors be represented or now in pickleball. And I even look at it as the wider sports and the pickleball lifestyle landscape. And I just think women are incredible. We are still not always given our due in society and sometimes I think overlooked, especially in the sports world. And something I love about pickleball is that women often can keep up with men, whether that's in mixed doubles or the fact that precision really does help in pickleball. It's not always power. So I think both on the court is really important that women feel equitable. And I love that at a professional level, pickleball is equal prize money for males and females in that space. But I also really try try to highlight as best as I possibly can what women are doing for the broader pickleball landscape and whether that is the business of pickleball. So those individuals who are growing the sport through their actual opening up of facilities or more access, or, you know, somebody like Laura Gaynor, who has been involved in the business of pickleball for years, you know, but also down those professional female players to even make sure that they are being highlighted and hopefully have access to a similar level of sponsorship, but also down to the pickleball creators in the space, you know, those other people that are making really great high-quality content that really embrace that wider pickleball lifestyle and everything pickleball stands for. Pickleball Nikki is a female in the space who also lives here in New York, and she has really also been highlighting the women in pickleball through a different lens. And she actually put out an Instagram video recently that was a call to action for all the male pickleball content creators to put forth more effort to engage with the women in this space because those women can sometimes, you know, we always appreciate that that respect, that acknowledgement, and that lift from those male counterparts that maybe are reaching a slightly different audience. And I fully believe high tides raise all ships.

Style, Skorts, And Confidence

SPEAKER_00 10:22

Amen. And you bring a whole new kind of fun flair and style to everything you do. Where's that come from?

SPEAKER_02 10:31

Oh, Cher, thank you. That is um, I I'm really trying to carve out that lane a little more clearly as it relates to the pickleball lifestyle. Because I think pickleball, it's it can be a hobby, it can be a sport, it can be your career. It really can kind of take on any format that you want it to. And with that, I think it can really become a part of your personality, really readily, actually. By the way, I've been engaging on threads, that social platform more, and it's really become a fun place to have conversations. And I see so many people say, Oh, I just played pickleball for the first time. I think I'm gonna try to play it every week. And my response is always like, let me know. I'm gonna check in with you in four weeks to see if that remains one time a week, or are you up to three times a week, four times a week? You know, and through that lens, I think there are other aspects that you can bring into pickleball personally to make it more your own. For me, that's often the fashion of what are the skirts, dresses, shoes, socks combo that you can bring to pickleball to make it feel personal. Um, I tend to go for color on the court. And I always say, you know, whether I sign up for a tournament or if I'm just there for open play, I'm not likely to make it to the podium for skills, but I will often award myself or my friends with the partners I'm playing with, you know, the gold medal for style.

SPEAKER_00 11:57

Fashionista on the court.

SPEAKER_02 12:00

Exactly. And, you know, I play with my friend Pickle M quite a bit. She's also somebody I met through pickleball and is now a very good friend. And we have so many matching outfits, whether that's planned or not. And often, if we're even just playing a planned for some game in the morning, Emily and I will show up in the same outfit or in a different color version of the same outfit. Um, and that's just it's just always really fun. I think it's yet another way to connect with other players.

SPEAKER_01 12:28

That's one thing I love about pickleball, is there's no pretension to what we wear on the court, right? We can just bring our own personality, our own flair, whether it's shorts or leggings or skirts or dresses or we're all showing our own personality like that. I just love that.

SPEAKER_02 12:45

Exactly. And I love those pickleball outfits that take me from the court to running errands, to brunch, whatever that may be. And I even find myself, especially when it's nice weather, like I almost don't know what else to wear if I'm not dressing for pickleball, if it's casual. So I often will, you know, throw on something that I also wear for pickleball just for those daily, you know, to run errands, to go out and grab something, to walk my dog. And I do want to give my friend Katrina a shout out. She started this brand called 11 nil. Um, you might have seen it. I think her designs are really recognizable, where they often have really form fitting tops with bubble skirts. I can send you the link after this if you want, and really bright colors, and they look good on everybody. And they're very unique and it's women-started. She's based in Southern California. She does dress a lot of the pros, but she also works with players of all levels. And I think, like, I like to think her outfits give women confidence on the court while also, you know, they're really functional, right? They're secure. You, I mean, I don't know if it's TMI, but like I personally don't need to wear a sports bra under it. It's really comfortable. It has like the built-in shorts. You can have a ball like up like under your skirt. I love them. And I also just love that she is a female supporting other women in the space.

SPEAKER_00 14:04

That is so cool. 11-0. So pickled. That's a pickled game. If it's exactly the same, oh 11-0.

SPEAKER_01 14:12

Oh, yeah, 11-0. Oh, I get it now. Okay.

SPEAKER_00 14:17

We recently went with uh 14 of our friends down to Costa Rica for a week for um pickleball clinic and fun. And one of our friends brought matching outfits to Shelly and me because we had coordinated it. And it's the first time I'd worn a skirt in a hundred years. And it was really fun. I actually should.

SPEAKER_02 14:35

And Sarah, how do you are you now? Are you converted? Are you going to Yeah?

SPEAKER_00 14:38

I I really like this idea of uh looking good and feeling good on the court. But I still go for my leggings. They're the most comfy.

SPEAKER_02 14:48

Skirts, like all the skirts with shorts under them, they're just so functional. You know, growing up when I was a kid, my mom has told me I was always allowed to dress myself for better or worse. So you see some of these pictures, and you're like, she should not have been lit out of the house and those, you know, mixing patterns. And I've always been a rainbow person, but I would always wear skirts or I would always wear shorts under my skirts or dresses growing up, because apparently I told my mom, like, you never know when you're gonna want to do a cartwheel at recess. So I feel like scores for pickleball really bring back that childlike nostalgia for play. And ultimately, I kind of think that's what like pickleball gives all of us, at least when you're playing at like a fun level, where you know, if you're not depending on personally, I I don't mind when I lose either. Um, but you know, if you can have fun with it, it really does make you kind of I feel like it makes you feel like a child again with that sense of discovery and and play.

SPEAKER_00 15:42

Yeah, we think of pickleball is just recess for adults. I mean, yeah, exactly. Now we have our skorts to wear as well. For yeah, love it.

SPEAKER_02 15:51

I need to see a picture of you in this squirt. I'm sure you look great.

SPEAKER_00 15:55

Have to get one. Actually, I'll check out 11 nil, get some new ones.

SPEAKER_02 16:01

Please do. Um, they're wonderful. Her her specialty is dresses. Um, she also came off the sweatsuit this uh this winter, which is amazing.

SPEAKER_01 16:09

I feel like in my mind, it's funny, like you said, like I'm a solid intermediate player. You know, the like the goal is someday I want to be a 4.0 so bad. And it kind of in my mind, I can't wear that dress on the court at my age unless I'm like a 4.0. So I'm gonna keep striving. Somebody get ready to wear that dress.

Growing The Sport And Staying Safe

SPEAKER_02 16:27

Wear the dress. And you know, it's funny to say that. I broke 4.0 very briefly, um, like in the last year, and like I love duper. I know I understand why duper is necessary. I think they're doing a great job, but I also it's a it's a challenging thing to rank play, right? I was so I hated being a 4.0. I think I got up to a 4.2 where I would rather surprise and delight my partners than than disappoint. And for me personally, like having that 4.2 on my duper was just too much. Like I actually played in tournaments that I know would bring my duper down because I really, and now I'm thinking I'm like a 3.85, and I'm like, that's perfect. Because I feel like, you know, I I have the ability to play up, but that is more of a like, oh my gosh, great, she's better than I would have thought at a 3.8. Um, than like a wow, I can't believe that girl's a 4-2.

SPEAKER_00 17:25

That's funny. That's a great way to use duper.

SPEAKER_01 17:29

You just need to go out there with a dress, girl.

SPEAKER_02 17:32

Exactly. You know what? And Shelly, I I, you know, I think I I dress like a 7-0. I dress like I I dress, I like to think I dress better than some of the pros on tour. I would love to have some of those pros dress.

SPEAKER_00 17:42

So when when you are promoting in your marketing world and all just all of this, what are your biggest challenges?

SPEAKER_02 17:50

I mean, great question. It's I think pickleball is such an interesting space where there are tens of millions of players, and we know that from the data in the US alone and growing internationally. And I don't think there is one system or one vehicle that that talks to all those players. You know, I'm I'm familiar with some of the biggest pickleball court systems, right? But and even within those, we're we're not reaching all the parks players. So I think it will continue to be interesting of how we can, and I say we from kind of like the pickleball business perspective, of how we can invite and bring in more and more of those rec-minded players into the pickleball funnel in whatever way they're comfortable with. And does that mean helping them find their level through Duper or giving more official play through pickleball facilities, whether that's a Pickler or a Lifetime or a Pickleball Kingdom or any of the independent clubs that are popping up nationwide? Um, and I also am interested to see what's going to happen with professional pickleball and to see how that infrastructure will grow the sport. I don't think we've yet cracked the code on how to make pickleball a spectator sport, but I am really excited about that and think that is coming. Um, so overall, I think, you know, we're still just a little, we're still just figuring out more of the infrastructure and the systems in place to aggregate pickleball together as one kind of like bigger unifying sport.

SPEAKER_01 19:25

So what surprises you most about the crazy growth of pickleball right now?

SPEAKER_02 19:30

Nothing surprises me about the crazy growth because I actually I think pickleball, I I think we're still at our infancy. You know, I think pickleball is still growing. I think there's still so much capacity to grow um both domestically and internationally. Something that does surprise me, and and maybe I should have seen this coming because I also am a consumer and a shopper in general, um, are the imitation paddles, the counterfeit paddles that are breaking out, where that was not something that I fully saw coming, right? Where now on Timu, for example, you can buy a fake YOLA. And it's not truthfully a great fake. Like I've seen them in person and been like, does this does this person know that it's called like the Ben John Scorpius? Which, if you're in the world of pickleball, it's an Anna Bright Scorpius, you know, this is a totally fake paddle. And that does worry me a little bit, not only for the brands who are putting a lot of money and effort into building their experience, but also just because those paddles can become delaminated, they can have too much power. Um, so that does kind of worry me a little bit. And I know brands are hard at work at trying to kind of figure that out. And another thing that I that I personally am very passionate about, and actually I am a contributing writer to pick a ball magazine, and one of my first stories that I'm working on now is about eyewear and pickleball because eyewear and pickleball is something that I personally am very passionate about. And I'm still sometimes surprised to see the number of people that don't wear protective eyewear. Um, and I think I would hope we're on a relatively kind of quick trajectory that eyewear and pickleball will become like helmets and skiing, where we look back and are like, how are we not doing that? Um you know, for me, it's a it's a mental and emotional thing where I actually have a really hard time. If if I'm somewhere and like somebody gives me a pat on they're like, oh, can you hop in and play? And I don't have protective glasses or sunglasses with me, it really like it really messes with my head. Um, because that does just seem like a risk, honestly, that I don't want to take. Um, so if it were up to me, it would be kind of and that these are just these are small things in the in the scale of pickleball, but I do hope that just for like the sanctity and like the safety of the game, that we can figure out legitimate paddles and that also eyewear, protective eyewear becomes more and more common.

SPEAKER_00 21:59

I Agree with you big time. I hadn't realized that there were all these counterfeit paddles coming up. No, I was completely unaware of that. That's interesting to learn that. And the eyewear, I'm amazed that so many pros, un unless they're wearing sunglasses, they don't wear eyewear if they don't need sunglasses. And if that became standard required, that would help shift the whole community in the pickleball world of wearing eyewear. And so many people have horrible eye injuries. And now, especially because the paddles are so much stronger, the balls are coming so much harder and faster. That yeah, it that eyewear is essential. So in all these adventures, my dear, my gosh, I just love your background also in publishing and marketing, and then you spin it into this amazing, silly game with a silly name, and it's so much fun and it's so important. Um, what are some of the life lessons that you've gleaned?

SPEAKER_02 22:58

I I think my biggest one um is something that has carried me through publishing and now into pickleball, that the publishing version is never judge a book by its cover, and the pickleball version is never judge a player by their appearance. You know, it's funny, my my husband and I have played, we play pickleball with my dad whenever quite regularly. My parents are in Philadelphia now. So whenever we visit one another, which we try to do consistently, we go out and play pickleball. My dad is 71 and a half years old, and nice. We're always like, okay, like let's let's take it easy on Joe and inevitably, share and Shelly. My dad has beat us. I wish we had been keeping track for our entire duration of our competitions. I think my dad and his peers have beat us more times than I would like to count. And I love that. I respect it. I love that my dad and I get to get out on the court together and play. But I and I think that lesson is transferable to everybody on the pickleball court. Um, I have friends who have competed at that uh minor league pickleball official event down in Dallas, and they were in a really high duper bracket, and they lost their final match to a group of 12-year-olds, you know, and it was just they weren't expecting it. They're all in their 30s, 40s, live in New York City, you know, full-grown adults at their, you know, relative competitive peak. Um, and they lost two preteens. And that's but also, you know, also it's a good reminder. And something I do say on threads regularly, if people say, like, oh my gosh, this old person in the park just beat me. And I said, you are not a true pickleball player until you have lost to somebody that has multiple knee or hip replacements. I so say that is just part of the sport and part of the charm of pickleball is that you really can't judge somebody. And I also hope that applies to myself and my peers, even, and and you know, both of you, when women show up on the pickleball court, whether they're wearing like a bright pink outfit, you never actually know how good they're going to be. And even though I'm a solid intermediate player, I have beat plenty of men in my days that I think underestimated the fact that I do have a pretty good drop. And I am a relatively consistent player, even if I'm not going to beat you on power alone.

SPEAKER_00 25:21

So you mentioned the how people can find you on Instagram, lydia.pickleball.

unknown 25:26

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 25:26

And where else are you online?

SPEAKER_02 25:29

So I have my Instagram, you know, I'm trying to get on TikTok. I feel a little old for it, but we'll see. I feel like, you know, pickleball, pickleball is for everyone. I'm on threads, and I also have a pickleball newsletter, love at first dink, all about the pickleball lifestyle over on Substack.

SPEAKER_00 25:44

Love at first dink on Substack. That's very cool. Great too. Wow, I I'm just feel so grateful to you. Shelly, were you gonna say something?

SPEAKER_01 25:54

No, I just I loved the name. Cute. Yeah, I said it was cute, too. Thank you so much.

SPEAKER_00 25:58

Dink. And we we totally understand that we met as friends the very first day we were on the pickleball court taking our very first lesson, hadn't met each other before, and yeah, became friends and started this fun podcast and wrote a book. Yeah, so yeah, very fun, very fun. That's amazing. So, what do you tell people when you find out that they are kind of hesitant to try pickleball?

SPEAKER_02 26:25

They hear about it, but I always say the people that hate on pickleball, it just means they haven't tried it yet. So go out, pick up a paddle, and be ready to surprise yourself. Um, that that's really that's my mantra of just be prepared to let pickleball change your life.

SPEAKER_00 26:43

That's a good headline. Good for tea. That could go on an 11-nil t-shirt or something. Exactly. Well, thank you so much. Thanks for making such a difference, starting in New York and then all across the country, and for bringing the flair, fashion, and fun into the game and your focus on women and our empowerment. Yeah, it just uh very inspiring. Thank you, Lydia.

SPEAKER_02 27:13

Well, I really appreciate that. And I think what you both are doing, bringing the community together and giving everybody a platform to tell their stories and how pickleball did, in fact, change our lives and these life lessons is also really powerful. So, Shelly, share it. Thank you so much, and I hope we talk again soon.

SPEAKER_00 27:30

Thank you. I do too. Thank you. And we hope you all are joining us soon. And please share this episode. Oh my gosh, such great ideas and 11 nil. Didn't know. Now we do, and start looking really fancy dancy on that court. Thank you all, and we look forward to a new conversation next week. Bye-bye.

SPEAKER_01 27:50

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_00 28:05

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.