Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] Speaker A: Hey, everybody. Slieve senior Pickleball report is brought to you by TNC Network. Get ready for an exciting episode of people of Pickleball with me, Mike Slieva. We're about to dive deep into conversations with influential figures from the world of Pickleball.
So let's get it going.
Today in our people of Pickleball episode, we speak with Carleen Bassett Seguso. She was a top rated pro very young, went to the academy and had Nick Balateri, and had quite the tennis career playing in all the majors. Then life took some turns and ended up finding Pickleball later in life. She's about my age, in her mid fifties, and really changed her life completely. And so stick around for that conversation. But first, if you like this content, consider subscribing to the channel. Check out all our links in the descriptions for discounts. And hey, check out our newsletter. Keep up with what's going on in the pickle verse. All right, let's get to that interview with Carleen.
Welcome to the senior Pickleball Report, Carling. Nice to meet you.
[00:01:07] Speaker B: Nice to meet you, too, sleeves.
[00:01:09] Speaker A: So obviously, you know, you have a pretty significant background, pretty public. Obviously, people know who you are. People know some of your family members, husbands, so on and so forth. We'll get into some of that. But I always kind of start where, you know, this kind of goofy little wiffle ball game came into people's lives. And so walk me through how, you know, being a top tennis player in the world and then eventually taking up, you know, pickleball.
[00:01:38] Speaker B: Well, it's interesting you talk about that because, like, three years ago, I was playing tennis every day at the Delray tennis center with about 30 different men. And literally the pickleball was in my backyard, like, not even 100 yards away. And we all just pooh poohed it and made fun of it. The whiffle, the that. And I didn't even know really what it was then. And then I got kind of really sick. It's called anxiety death, really bad depression. I've been on medications for over 20 years, and they just kind of all went south. I had some personal trauma that came full, full front that never had. That happened when I was seven, and I just fell apart completely. I mean, I was like four different treatment centers. Anyway, long story short, I got off everything, and I.
I started microdosing with psilocybin mushrooms. I did ketamine treatments. I did 38 treatments of transcranial magnetic stimulation. All great, but not long term enough because the damage was like, it was really intense. I'm not going to lie. So once I got better, after about four months of that, it's like my eyes just opened up to all new things. It's like my brain was regrowing new neural brain cells, and it was amazing.
I remember, like, my girlfriend was just walking back, and I was like, I gotta check this out. I'm no joke. It was like an instant, like God or with the universe saying, this is, this is, this is gonna be for you. I loved it. And wasn't even just about the pickle. I hadn't even, like, played yet. It was just the camaraderie, the community, you know, the age differences, just, it was so much more relaxed, you know, I just, I knew it. And then I don't get obsessive about anything. So, of course, from that day forward, I started putting in, like, three, 4 hours a day and started getting stronger. My body, my brain. I was meeting so many new people. Like, all these opportunities were coming full forth. I was living life. And then I blew my whole leg out in the pro tournament in Delray a year ago. Like, no, February, like a year and a half ago. And so, you know, I've just been back, like, probably three, three and a half months, and, and it's even bigger now, like, in my, like, personal life than I could possibly ever imagine. I mean, I thought tennis, there was opportunities in tennis. This is, like, the only sport that, being over 50, I feel like you can, like, make a significant difference, you know, in any arena of your life. And that's what's the most amazing thing. And I just do love to share that with people. That's really my motive. And I've met so many incredible people. You know, I mean, I'm with the company prodrive, and I've been the paddle, and the only reason I say that is I've met so many. Yes, they're the. I'll tell you what. It's interesting because I first tested the paddle, you know, I didn't give it enough chance, and. But I loved working with Doug so much. I was, like, depressed. Like, like, I went back to my old paddle, and I was, like, so depressed, and, and I called Doug up and I said, you know what? I gotta give it a good two weeks, and fell in love with it. And just working with this company and the people behind it has just been magical. And it just. I get up every day just loving life, and I'm playing tournaments I'm going to this weekend. I'm off to Vegas the following weekend. I've got my kids into it. My son Ridley right now is at the PPA in Utah, and on top of that, it saved his life. He had severe mental issues about a couple years back. He's lost 40 pounds. He's playing at an extremely high level, and he's living a dream, too. And I hear these stories all the time. It's not just different things. Different. And that just really makes it a beautiful, universal thing. And I think that it's so much bigger than just pickleball now, you know? And you see it everywhere. I mean, every country. It's not just this, you know, this little old people sport. It is a sport, like. And people can make fun of it. Let me tell you, I train harder now for this than I ever did for my tennis. I mean, my whole day revolves around this because I was half crippled, you know, when I blew up my ACL into meniscus, it was like. And I have a fake hip. I got basically, I'm like, everything's fake, you know, recreational and, like, you know, breaking down, but, yeah, so it's good. I'm loving it.
[00:06:03] Speaker A: Wow. Yeah. I mean, obviously, you touched on a bunch of things.
When I first started playing in 2022, people would say that I would come across articles or people writing online in different forums and stuff, like in saying things like, pickleball saved my life. And I thought, oh, come on, really?
[00:06:20] Speaker B: I know, right?
[00:06:21] Speaker A: The more I get into this game and the people I meet, like yourself and obviously, people like Doug, and can go on and on and on, there's. You're right. You hit on it. There is something else going on here besides just hitting a whiffle ball around. There is a community level that is unprecedented that I've ever seen in sports.
[00:06:40] Speaker B: Well, that's the catch all right, there. Okay. I mean, I've never seen anything like this. And forget about pickleball. Like, anything like the explosion in every country. I mean, like colleges. I mean, like, my school. I'm trying to put a team together for, you know, my kids school, and it's just. It's a really. It's the greatest gift, like, that can happen to somebody because it's bringing back camaraderie. It's, you know, the whole thing with COVID it's. People really suffered, you know, dramatically. And pickleball, there's no filter. You could do whatever you want and take it wherever you want.
[00:07:18] Speaker A: Yeah. It's a very creative space. It's super creative because I just got back from Picklecon in Kansas City. The first ever pickleball, you know, giant conference. And that's where I met, you know, I met Doug, obviously, who's, you know, helping run pro drive and just meeting him and the, you can just tell the passion that just pours out of him. And then I meet other people that are doing the same thing, but they're working in the travel industry or they're working in, you know, some sort of retail selling t shirts or hats. Everybody is trying to kind of find their space, but at the same point, we're all in the time period where. So we're all trying to help each other rise up and get to a place where we can enjoy not only hanging out with each other, but enjoy making some money and having fun doing it.
[00:08:08] Speaker B: Well, and that's the key right there. You know, what I think Pickleball does is it gives you a purpose, too, because there's no real constricted guidelines of formalities yet what you have to follow. And I think it's a little like the digital bitcoin era right now. I think you're going to see a gazillion things in pickleball come up, but I think it's going to manifest into, like, the top ten of the paddles, the top ten tournaments, and then there's always, like, the leeway here and there. But it's great what, you know, the PPA is doing. What the app is doing isn't fantastic, too. They've got the whole next gen program for the juniors. They're starting. The fort opens in November.
I can't wait for that to happen. I talked to Ken periodically and he's all excited about it. But they're also opening an academy, which is fantastic for the juniors. They're just going to kill it there. And they make it accessible to the amateur level and the seniors, which is a beautiful thing because I have never in my life. I went and played at the app in New York, at the US Open, where they play the tennis. Yeah, like 2121 hundred adults. I mean, seriously, like crazy.
[00:09:15] Speaker A: It's crazy.
[00:09:16] Speaker B: It is different levels. 3035. Well, how great is that, though? I mean, you know, you get older and it's tougher and, you know, the bot. I mean, my whole philosophy in life is motion is lotion, and once we stop moving, things start happening and, you know, the mind gets into places that it shouldn't go to and then it becomes repetitive and it just keeps the whole well being alive.
[00:09:42] Speaker A: Absolutely. Yeah. I live on a property with about 13 other adults, and we have three people who are in their mid eighties, and they move more than anybody on this property. And it's, you know, it's not necessarily like playing pickleball, but they're gardening, they're digging trenches, they're putting in irrigation, they're repairing their house, they're hauling stuff to the dump. And it's a lesson that I've learned really quick. Being out here is like, boy, if you don't want to just sort of become this old crumpled person, you got to get up and move. And so I'm playing some pickleball, and I've noticed I've been a little too stationary for the years leading up to it. I was a distance runner, but that's just one motion. I haven't done any of this lateral stuff since I played beach volleyball 15 years ago.
So I've had to put a whole new regime just to keep my back from going out. And I'm experimenting there, and I'm doing calisthenics, I'm doing body weight stuff, I'm doing yoga. But it's all new things, and it's still fun.
[00:10:46] Speaker B: But you know what? How great is that? All these new things is?
You're doing it for you, the inner self, and you're exploring new venues, and that's what keeps the mind alive. Like, I'm a big Elon Musk fan. I just think that the more out there you are, the greater it is because you can kind of make it into reality. And that's the way that the world goes. It just keeps getting better and better. Better. Or we can sit around and do nothing and just go into that negative zone and just kind of not. And that's where pickleball in general, it's such a positive, like, arena. Like, I mean, you always have your couple of ones that are not great, but that's only a couple in sport. It's very, very isolating. And I have not felt any of that isolation whatsoever. In fact, I have. I talked to Jim Igonowicz, you know, his son James, and my son teaches the two youngest kids. I mean, we talk like 810, sometimes eight times a day just on, like, tournaments and this and that. And he lives in my neighborhood. And it's like. Like my daughter, my other daughter doesn't play as much. I'm actually playing with my son in law, Breck, who's a professional soccer player, playing with him this weekend in 4.5 mix. Actually, I'm at his house right now. I'm wearing his cap now. Breck Shay? Yeah, he's. Yeah, I have the really good looking dude who looks like he should be in, like, one of those marvel movies.
Yeah, he's taken it up and he's really good. And then I'm playing with my daughter in the four. I'm not allowed to play 4.0s anymore. Paddletap. Because I hit too many people. I play. I definitely.
Yeah, no, I'm not kidding. Well, that's the thing.
[00:12:19] Speaker A: You can rip it still.
[00:12:21] Speaker B: Yeah. That's the part I love the most about it. I mean, I have to do that stinking thing an hour and a day and practice all that, because as I get into the higher level, that's really the shot, the three shot and the fifth shot. But I have a tendency to get, like. Like, second amnesia when that third shot comes.
[00:12:37] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:12:37] Speaker B: I just go, right?
Yeah. My husband goes, oh, God, here she goes again. But no, but anyway, I love it because, I mean, I've taken two fingernails off. I threw my racket one time by mistake. It hit the. Hit the pole, hit the guy in the eye. Five stitches. I've had, like, broken blood vessels because I. I play with men, and most of these men are, like, former tennis players that are in their, like, early forties, and so it's not. They're not that pickleball level yet where there's a lot of dinking. So I get nailed all the time. Like, it's. And I love it. We all like to pee for the body bagging. It's great. But. Yeah, no, it's really, really exciting. I'm having a great fun.
Yeah, I'm going off to Vegas and playing in the 50, but for the young ones, you know, not the pro pro level, but, like, a year and a half ago, I was the NPL.
Yeah. I would love to play in the NPL if I was. I missed the draft. Yeah. I missed the draft last year. You know, I'm a big. I would really love to play for the Boca Picklers just because I'm here and, you know, my husband's not so thrilled about this traveling yet.
[00:13:46] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:13:46] Speaker B: No, I'm just kidding.
[00:13:47] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:13:48] Speaker B: But, you know, I have a really good junior, too, so. Teddy. And now my. My Lennon, she's on. She's playing on four soccer teams this year, but she loves it also, so we'll see. You know what? I'm just winging it. You know? I'm winging it. I'm good.
Yeah. I mean, I went to St. Clemente. I got two golds and a silver and. Yeah. So, I mean, I played, like, two and a half hours of singles this morning, and I'll play with my daughter this afternoon. And, yeah, I love it. And I go, I've been to the gym, did an hour in the gym already, yoga, you know, so my whole day, kind of like when the kids are in school, kind of revolves around that. And then I have to work a little bit. My husband lets me play all day, so it's great. I'm really lucky. He says, when you're in this type of, like, frame of mind, carling, it makes me so happy because we really had a rough go. I'm not gonna lie. For about a year and a half was really not good.
[00:14:37] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:14:38] Speaker B: I mean, so much so, I couldn't even live in the house, my kids, and it was like, oh, yeah. Oh, God. And it was all because of the medications. I have not been on any medication in two years. So it's been really good.
[00:14:50] Speaker A: Wow. Fantastic, obviously.
[00:14:54] Speaker B: Yeah, yeah.
[00:14:55] Speaker A: And it's brought some structure to your life, like your daily life.
[00:14:59] Speaker B: There you go. Yeah. You know what? Exactly. It's brought structure, because I was just, like, all over the place, and then I have five kids. My grandkids live right down the street. And there's nothing worse when you feel like you're. I literally couldn't go to the grocery store and remember where I was. That's how bad it was. I couldn't do anything. Rob couldn't leave the house. I mean, I was, like, attached to my daughter. I shook, I couldn't swallow. I felt like you're dying. It's like. Like the worst.
[00:15:27] Speaker A: Right, right.
[00:15:28] Speaker B: And there's, like, nothing matter with you other than. Other than your brain.
[00:15:32] Speaker A: Right. Yeah. Obviously, it's. This sport has impacted you probably more than you anticipated.
It certainly is impacted me more than I anticipated, but not quite on the level that what it's done for you and some levels, it's probably saved your life in some terms.
[00:15:54] Speaker B: Well, it sure did, because I haven't done the mushrooms probably in about a year and a quarter either. I haven't needed to. The only time I had to do the microdose, I've never had a.
The big trip, but was after.
[00:16:09] Speaker A: Heroic dose.
[00:16:10] Speaker B: Yeah. Macro dose. I haven't done the macro dose. Cause I didn't need to. I was just lightly in a state 24/7 we were doing them in the middle of the night. I was on a program with my doctor, and, I mean, the success was instantaneous. Like, everybody saw it. Like, my whole family was on board. I was like, mushrooms, what are no way that's like the sixties, and I'm gonna be flying in the planets.
I mean, it should be legal as a vitamin. I'm sorry, I mean, I have the lion's mane and I take mushrooms every day without the psilocybin tinctures. And I'm so pro, like that whole arena, even for cannabis, for pain, because I can't take painkillers either. So that's the only time I dose was after.
[00:16:54] Speaker A: I actually think pickleball has contributed a lot to some of those things becoming more mainstream, because as an aging community playing this sport, people don't want to just keep popping ibuprofens and so they can take a CBD or whatever it happens to be. And it's sort of made it a little more mainstream as these states start to adopt not only medical practices, but recreational practices as well. I try and use cannabis for pain because I just don't want to pop ibuprofen all the time.
[00:17:24] Speaker B: Well, there you go.
But think about it, it's so retarded because one's natural and one's not. Okay? So we have a biotech company, and we're playing around with one of the big psychedelics and try to synthesize it, which would stop addiction. I'm not going to get into it now, but it just makes sense. The problem is when you get the natural remedies, it's too bad we can't congregate it into some type of synthetic form to where it can be prescribed because that shit is so bad for you long term, for your stomach.
Lot of stuff. I had stomach issues. I had like intestinal stuff going on. I was always at the doctor from the medications. And then you finally just get to a point where you try to get off them and they're so bloody hard, I think, like alcohol. And that's easy to get off of compared to long term, like abuse with, you know, antidepressants, uppers, downers, all arounders, and all prescribed.
[00:18:25] Speaker A: Right, right.
[00:18:25] Speaker B: And I'm not saying they weren't good communal.
[00:18:29] Speaker A: There's a place, there are nice to have alternatives that have been around for a very, very long time. In fact, obviously millennial millennias, and people are finally getting reintroduced to them because we've been such a society that is so afraid of certain things. It's quite odd. We're all about alcohol, which is, I drink, but it's a poison on some levels compared to smoking some. Some flower.
[00:18:57] Speaker B: I know, I know. Well, I think the society is like sheep. We're followers instead of like, thinking outside of the box. And it's common sense to me, natural or not. I mean, so I, you know, into each his own. Whatever is good for that individual, I'm pro all for because, you know, life is hard. I mean, life is great, but it can be as great as you can make it, but it's all the state of where your mind is at. And, you know, I look at every situation in my life now, no matter how bad it might have been in the past, is a positive to what could can be. And that, to me, is probably the greatest gift that I've gotten from that and pickleball. And it just. It's. You can't not be social with this sport, so you're not in your own head all the time.
[00:19:41] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:19:41] Speaker B: And that's the beauty.
[00:19:42] Speaker A: You know, all those. All those things you. All those things you went through created the person that you are today anyway, and what you're doing now, so.
Which is a pretty cool person.
[00:19:55] Speaker B: Yeah. Well, thank you. I mean, I have fun. I have fun. I'm sometimes my husband puts me on the leash and is pulling me back. He's like, whoa. You know, but in general, you know, 90. I'm probably back to, like, 90% of the time I'm good. You know, before it was, like, only ten, so I had a cage rock around me full time. No, I'm just kidding.
Yeah. So, yeah, it's all good. I'm glad you're loving it, too. And I love the way you live. That's so cool that you live in a yacht. I sleep outside all the time, so I can totally identify with that.
I think that's really. Yeah.
[00:20:31] Speaker A: And that's what's changed about my life the most, is I just spend more time outside because living in a yurt, you don't spend a lot of time in it during the day because, you know, it's a small space, so my life is flipped. I was a high school teacher, and I was inside, like, 80% of my day, and now I'm outside, like, 80% of my day, which is. And I'm in nature. I'm not in some windowless, you know, classroom in the middle of a city. I'm up against a forest preserve, a wilderness area. That is awesome, by the way. It's unbelievable. So it's great for your mental health, obviously, as well, so.
[00:21:08] Speaker B: Well, nature is everything. I love it. Animals, nature.
[00:21:12] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:21:13] Speaker B: But.
[00:21:13] Speaker A: So where do you see pickleball going? It's kind of. We're kind of in the wild west, period. Everybody's flying different things.
[00:21:20] Speaker B: I just think it's going to be everywhere. Everywhere. I mean, I'm seeing it on bed sheets. I'm seeing it. I'm seeing it everywhere. I'm not even just seeing it in pickleball. Like, it's like all the commercials now. Like healthcare just, I mean, cruise lines, I just, I mean, airplanes, I'm seeing it on the airplanes, on their.
It's just, it's incredible. I mean, I don't think there's anything like this that ever has come out that has been so recreationally. Like the expansion of it can just go anywhere because it's not. It can be as serious as you want or not as serious. You know, there's no agenda. And that's what people need. People need a relief from agenda and programs and structure. They need that outlet. And, you know, men are playing with women. I'm playing. I played with a 90 year old. He's amazing. He was a former, like, top one, over the fifties, sixties, and tennis. And he's just turned 90 last year. And he's got a hand. Hands, great hands. And, like, where else can you do that?
[00:22:16] Speaker A: Right, right. Do you still play tennis?
[00:22:20] Speaker B: I'm actually playing in the 55 nationals in November for the state of Florida.
[00:22:24] Speaker A: Oh, fun.
[00:22:24] Speaker B: About seven women. So I played tennis for the first time. I kid you not. The racket felt like it was a hammer. It was so heavy. I'm like, holding. Here's my battle. Am I holding the grip up here?
I have my strings, like, strong at like 20 pounds, and I'm just doing this with the ball because anytime I was taking these backswings, it was like, oh, my God. It was like, I felt like I was playing baseball. It was fun, though.
[00:22:52] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:22:52] Speaker B: You know what? I had a good time. I'm glad that my sister in law, Karen, who's my doubles partner, senior pro partner, is. Made me do it because.
Yeah. And then I'm seeing all my, like, Toronto, my pickleball, my tennis cronies now because they're so like, oh, my God, I can't believe we lost you to that wiffle ball. I said you didn't lose me. I'm here. I mean, you could. You don't have to come along with my paddles and everything. No, they're. I'm telling you.
[00:23:19] Speaker A: Yeah, yeah.
[00:23:20] Speaker B: They're like the old school, like guys that are like 60 to 80. They are like, uh, uh, you know, they really have a bad taste about the game.
[00:23:32] Speaker A: Yeah, yeah. I have a neighbor, my closest neighbor to me, he's been, he's 85, he plays tennis. He doesn't hate pickleball, but he has no desire to try. He's like, listen, it took me 40 years to get good at tennis. I'm not playing a different sport at this point. I'm like, I get it. You know, I go, he'd probably have more fun because he's more of a, start playing.
[00:23:52] Speaker B: Yeah, I'm going to start playing them both, you know, but tennis isolates me because there's not a lot of people I can play with, you know. I mean, there's only about a group of like ten guys and my sister in law are like that level that I can really train with, you know, and that's the issue. Whereas I can make, get on the phone and call probably 15 people to train tomorrow. Because now I'm really isolating my training. Before I just go and play 3 hours with kind of like everybody. But now, you know, now I have to have a plan now. Now it's like I'm back, my legs are back that I got to start training. Like I was like, you know, about a year and a half, two years ago, so which is exciting. And I got a lot.
[00:24:34] Speaker A: Very exciting.
[00:24:36] Speaker B: Yeah, yeah. And I've had nothing but people trying to help me and, you know, and just really support me, give me wild cards and things like that and, you know, and it's all good.
[00:24:51] Speaker A: I mean, you've sort of been rediscovered buy another sport.
[00:24:55] Speaker B: Totally, you know, and I'm gonna be really honest with you.
I never loved tennis. Like, I was thrown into it, into a military environment. I love Nick volatile. He was amazing. But I was very young and so I had to earn my spot, like being good because I was like the rich kid coming into it. And so I worked my ass off, which I always do with anything that I go head in and on. But, but when I got really good, I, like, it was just my dad got cancer. He took me away from volataire and then that's when addiction started with me. So I've kind of lived in a fog for a lot of years. I mean, thankfully I had the discipline of like, we had the tennis academy. I was up, I was on that doing, but I still, I was never really fully enjoying what I was doing. Now I just, like, I get up and I can't wait. Like Rob has to pull me back. Like, I'll go, I'll go all day. Like, I mean, I'm like a battery that just, and now that my kids are into it and I'm trying really hard to make it fun. You know, it's very hard for me sometimes because, you know, I'm not that I'm hard on myself. It's just when I train, I train very intensely. And so I told we have to. We just have to bring somebody else in to do it. I don't even want to be part of it. You know, it's too much work.
[00:26:09] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:26:10] Speaker B: You know, I want to keep enjoying it, not bring it home.
[00:26:14] Speaker A: Absolutely. So, what does Rob think of it? What does he think of pickleball?
[00:26:19] Speaker B: Oh, well, after a few cocktails. Okay, let's just say. Let's just say, like, if I wasn't doing it and Teddy wasn't doing it, he'd definitely not be doing it. First of all, he doesn't understand how I can go to the Delaware tennis center and play with, like, everybody. He has to have things very set. I'll go for a private game, private court, you know, whatever. And. But he doesn't really have much of a choice right now because, you know, he said he's doing it. He's taking it to the level now way more seriously than he did probably four months ago. I mean, we have all the paddles. Thank you. Pro drive has been amazing. Anything that we need. He does all the weighting. He does all the grips. He's actually, like, coming to Vegas with me, which is a big thing for him.
[00:27:08] Speaker A: Yeah. Very cool.
[00:27:09] Speaker B: I'm playing with Vince Van Patten. I'm playing with my. The guy used to play mix.
[00:27:13] Speaker A: How fun is that?
[00:27:13] Speaker B: Like, a gazillion years ago. Yeah. Oh, we have a blast, Vinny and I. Oh, my God. Yeah. So, yeah, yeah, it's just starting to for me.
[00:27:24] Speaker A: Yeah. I mean, agassiz heavy into it. He just got signed by Yola yesterday.
[00:27:27] Speaker B: So I saw that Doug sent that to me last night. I saw that. Yeah. I thought he was Komodo paddle. Like, I thought he did a big deal with.
[00:27:35] Speaker A: I feel like he was part owner of that. But I think, obviously, you know, Yola comes along and, you know, they have some deep pockets and some bigger range where they could get him kind of doing some things for them, probably, and get his hand in a little more. Having more access, so to speak, maybe through Yola is my guess, but, yeah, it's cool.
[00:27:53] Speaker B: Well, it couldn't have been a better time for Eula, because you know how those three pad or whatever they came out with just got banned. The gen three, you know, so that's the best marketing play that Eula could have done. I mean. I mean, they could. They just really, you know, kudos to them. And Andre is such a fabulous individual inside and out. And Steffi.
[00:28:13] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:28:13] Speaker B: And so I. And I love. I actually. I actually text him enough that he wanted to play the mixed doubles with me in Vegas, but he said he couldn't, so, yeah, I tried. Yeah, I tried.
[00:28:25] Speaker A: Yeah. You know, it's funny. I hit. I hit the gen three paddle that Yola made. I think it's the Tyson McGuffin model. And then, obviously, I have the same paddle you have. Doug was kind enough to give me the pro drive in. I played them back to back games just to see the difference. And the power is about the same, actually.
[00:28:46] Speaker B: Try the encounter. Like, I'm at my son in law's house, so my son in law plays with the drive. The encounter is off the charts. Oh, my God.
[00:28:58] Speaker A: I think that's what. I think that's what I have, actually. I have both. I have the white one and I have the latest. And the thing I like about it is it not. It's super forgiving, and it's like, the whole thing's a sweet spot, but you can rip the ball with it, too. So it's the best combo panel I've ever seen as far as touch and power goes. And it's beautiful looking.
[00:29:19] Speaker B: So. Well, it's very sexy. Have you seen the new one with the diamonds of the mavericks coming out? Which I can't wait to try. I mean, the design on it is just extremely, like, organically sexy. I love it. Very millennial style. But the best feature I love about the encounter on top of the, like, the drive and precision is. It's not noisy. That's what I like it feel like. I feel like I can massage the ball and even whack it without feeling like I'm in a torpedo.
[00:29:47] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:29:50] Speaker B: Yes. Isn't that nice?
It's sweet. There's no doubt.
[00:29:53] Speaker A: It's very clean. It's very clean looking, and it's easy to. It's easy through the air. I love it. Yeah, it's my favorite paddle. So.
[00:30:01] Speaker B: And it's weighted perfectly. It's weighted at eight. Eight. Which I think is. Is great. We put the weight in by the handle. So the. So the top. What's more. So that's. And that's a good.
Which is very smart.
[00:30:14] Speaker A: Yes. So did you put. Did you put, like, lead down the side, or how did you do the handle inside the handle?
[00:30:20] Speaker B: Yeah. So what, they would go through the handle. And so. And then I originally. I now don't laugh. I used to have my paddles at 12oz. Okay. But coming from the tennis, I was like, yeah, twelve. And, you know, I was very hard headed about that. And now I'm down to eight. I love the eight. Eight is my perfect is, like, I still feel like it's too late, but it's not because my results are showing. It's not. So it's more of a mental hiccup for me rather than the reality of what is really happening, so.
[00:30:53] Speaker A: Right.
[00:30:55] Speaker B: Yeah. So. And it's so much fun because I really feel like I'm really part of this, this, you know, this company, and I'm trying to help out, bring some really big names on board and make it, like a family style where we can branch off and do other things, not just tournaments and clinics and, you know, just charity stuff. And, you know, really, really give this, you know, really give it a good go. You know, it's a boutique company, obviously. Um, yeah. But, you know, you just, you work hard and you have good people around and. And, you know, and good things happen to good people. I do believe that and enjoy.
[00:31:32] Speaker A: And it's a fantastic product. I mean, I'm not just piping it. I literally played that paper.
[00:31:38] Speaker B: I'm not playing with anything. I'm not playing with a paddle. I don't love. Like my husband said, like carling. I don't give a shit. You have to love the paddle.
[00:31:45] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:31:46] Speaker B: And I said, but I love Doug so much. Let me just. And he goes, no, you gotta give it two weeks. So I went right to New York to play, and I'd only had the paddle three days, so. And, you know, obviously, you know, I'm playing, you know, doubles and this and that, and that was my first big tournament app. And so I went back to my old paddle, and then when I came back, I just was so depressed because I told Doug, I gotta go. I can't use it. And then I said, you know what? I'm giving it two weeks. And after, like, the third day of playing, I just said, this is it. So I'm really happy.
[00:32:17] Speaker A: So I review. I review paddles. I have a ton of paddles. I play the different paddle every week, and I hit two shots with that paddle, and I gave it to my sister. I said, you got to hit this, because she gets all the paddles that I get. I just give them to her, and she plays with them. She's like, oh, my God.
[00:32:35] Speaker B: And I go, oh, my God.
[00:32:37] Speaker A: She walked up to Doug and she said, holy crap.
And you gave her one. Because we both play a ton of paddles and we've never hit anything like it. And I was like, this thing is, she goes, this is the battle that I've been looking for. It's got super touch and I got a ton of power. And I'm like, that is beautiful.
[00:32:56] Speaker B: And not only that, I mean, Henrik and Therese behind it, you know, I haven't met them yet, and I will probably quite soon. But apparently he's a master innovator with that and with the technology. And I love that, how they have the Kevlar. So there are no dead spots. Like, I mean, literally, they haven't had one recall. That's, that's amazing, too. They haven't had one recall on one of their paddles yet, which is unheard of and unheard of. Yeah, because the paddle company I was with before, I was constantly having to rotate them. And it's a great paddle, but it was just a little too bushy washy. And it's interesting because Doug was like, you got to put this one in your hand. And I never heard of Prodrive. I mean, I kind of hadn't heard of a lot of companies yet, but I kind of went with the big boys first.
[00:33:38] Speaker A: Right.
[00:33:39] Speaker B: And, yeah, so it's. And, you know, it's so nice to be, you know, my dad was a big entrepreneurial. Like, like, just don't, you know, buy a football team. My dad just start the whole league, a new league. So it's kind of fun to be part of the, you know, the growth also and just, yeah, it's exciting. You know, you're just not just one person of, like, 20 using it and have no say. And, you know, the company's, you know, got a board of directors and the whole thing and stuff like that. So, yeah, the pieces in the puzzle are fitting in nicely so far.
[00:34:12] Speaker A: Yeah. Well, I mean, it's great to meet you and talk with you. I'd love to talk with you maybe six months to a year from now and see what things have happened with you and where you are because it's been really fun just to meet you over the last few days via text and a couple calls here. And I'm excited to see what you can do because I can tell you're beaming right now.
[00:34:34] Speaker B: Yeah. Yeah. Well, I didn't know how active you were in it either, so that's. So it's good. So now we kind of, you know, we created this relationship and most definitely I will. For sure.
[00:34:44] Speaker A: Yeah, for sure. And hopefully cross paths sooner than later and meet in person. So that'd be nice.
[00:34:50] Speaker B: Yeah. Lovely. Definitely.
[00:34:53] Speaker A: Well, thank you for your time. Caroline and I will put everything in the description for if you want to find out a little bit more about her and prodrive. For sure. And thanks again for your time.
[00:35:05] Speaker B: Oh, well, thank you. Sleeves. This was great.
[00:35:09] Speaker A: Hope you enjoyed our interview with Carleen. All the links in the description, you want to find out a little bit about her and, of course, prodrive. Great paddle. I'll be reviewing shortly their latest, so check those things out. And at the end of the day, folks, hey, let's pickle.
[00:35:28] Speaker B: It's.
