Dale Guess (Photo by Jay Paul)
Here’s your first lesson in pickleball: The sport has nothing to do with cucumbers, vinegar or cloves.
Instead, a pickleball recipe requires a dash of hand-eye coordination, a splash of paddle skills and a generous dose of willpower.
Few stir those ingredients, and brew them just so, more adeptly than Dale Guess. The 61-year-old Chesterfield County resident is not only a standout on local courts but also has emerged as a headliner on the national pickleball circuit. Yes, that’s a thing.
He and his wife, Laura, also an accomplished player, are regulars at the leafy, lighted eight-court facility at Rockwood Park on Courthouse Road, home to the Pickleball Club of Chesterfield. “We must have close to 1,000 members; we’ve got it rock ’n’ rolling [at Rockwood],” Guess says. He credits local interest to Linda Scott, who, along with her husband, Dave, have become “Mom & Pop Pickle.”
Guess gained national prominence in 2016 when he and a doubles partner won a gold medal at the U.S. Open Pickleball Championships in Naples, Florida. The next year, he was part of winning mixed double pairs at the Huntsman World Senior Games in Utah and the National Senior Games in Birmingham, Alabama.
For Guess, interest in the sport began with a trip to visit a childhood friend in Florida. While there, he was introduced to a game he’d barely heard of, with a funny-sounding name. He was 51 at the time.
Pickleball enthusiasts tend to be 50 and older; septuagenarians don’t feel at all out of place. No one is checking body fat, vertical leap or 40-yard dash times, and certainly not birthdates. Still, athletic ability prevails as competition stiffens. The lean, 6-foot-1, 185-pound Guess played basketball and baseball at Huguenot High School, earning all-district honors as a right-handed pitcher.
As a pickleball player, Guess is just warming up. He and Prince Edward County resident Kathleen Wilcox have their sights set on winning the next Senior Games pickleball title when the competition is held in 2021 in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.
He also wants to attract more young athletes to the sport. “Pickleball started out West, where it’s played in the schools,” he says. “One of my goals is to get younger people playing. We need the kids to keep it going.”
In a Pickle
What: Pickleball is a paddle and ball sport that combines elements of tennis, pingpong, badminton and racquetball.
The gear: The ball is perforated. Paddles made of a composite wood or graphite, are larger than pingpong paddles but smaller than tennis rackets.
About that name: Legend has it that a Washington state politician in the 1960s, Joel Pritchard, was setting up a badminton net for a game in his yard for his children, but he couldn't find the other gear, the racquets and the shuttlecocks. Instead, a perforated plastic ball and plywood paddles were used. When the ball was knocked out of reach, the family dog hustled to retrieve it. The dog’s name? Pickles.
The sound of a ball hitting the paddle: There’s no “whack” or “crack” as you experience in tennis; it’s more of a "poof," like a deflating air mattress.
Try it: There are numerous courts at local parks and facilities across the area. Check your locality’s parks and recreation website. The Pickleball Club of Chesterfield can be reached at chesterfieldpickleball.club. Other resources include the YMCA of Greater Richmond, Central Virginia Pickleball (find them on Facebook) and the Richmond Pickleball Network page at globalpickleballnetworks.com.
