Murmurs from the Losers' Bracket: Top 10 Signs It’s Too Hot to Play Pickleball Outside

If you live in many parts of the country, playing pickleball outdoors is a grueling exercise this time of year, especially in the middle of the day.

Even so, you see pickleball addicts out there, no matter how hot it is, playing the game they love.

It can be dangerous. It pays to heed the signs to know when enough is enough.

So, as a public service, we here at Murmurs from the Losers’ Bracket offer you our Top-10 Signs that it’s Too Hot to Play Pickleball Outside

Number 10: Your willingness to chase lobs depends on the cloud cover.

Number 9: You’re less interested in whether your partner will share the middle than whether he or she will share the Gatorade.

Number 8: You start intentionally fanning overhead smashes in an attempt to cool off.

Number 7: It’s hard to hear the score over the noise of the paramedics on the next court.

Number 6: You start shouting “yours” to your partner before the other team hits the ball toward your court.

Number 5: Your heart rate is too accelerated to verbally demonstrate your knowledge of the rule book to the other players.

Number 4: It’s hard to make accurate line calls due to the little black dots popping up in your vision.

Number 3: You think you may have sprained an ankle, but you’re too afraid of getting second-degree burns on your rear end by sitting down on the court.

Number 2: The only other living things on the other courts are iguanas.

And the Number 1 Sign That’s It’s Too Hot to Play Pickleball Outside is …

You briefly consider playing indoors.

MURMURS FROM THE LOSERS' BRACKET

Read past editions of Murmurs from the Losers' Bracket, including:

• Coming In from the Heat
• The Ozempic Ad
• Ball On Court? Maybe Not
• The PPA, the APP and Monty Python
• Time to Get Help at Bangers Anonymous
• "It's an Injury Sport"
• A Pickleball Translation Guide
• What's Your Pickleball Nickname?
• Tennis the Menace
• Is There Such a Thing as "Pickleball Torture"?
• How to Be an Effective Pickleball Snob
• All You Need Is Glove
• The Lesson McDonald’s French Fries Have for Pickleball
• Tunes on the Court
• The Poetry of Empty Courts
• “Head Targeting” Rule Change Not a Brainy Idea
• Getting Beyond "Good Game"
• Why Are Pickleball Trophies Such a Big Deal?
• Stop Messing with the ATP
• When Discussions of Rules Turn Unruly
• A Former Pickleball Addict Speaks Out
• Separating the Drinkers from the Dinkers
• Turning Every Magazine into a Pickleball Magazine
• Zen and the Art of Pickleball Maintenance
• Spirited Pickleball Poetry
• Making Pickleball Less "Devastating" to Amateurs
• Finding Romance on the Pickleball Court: Top 10 Pickup Lines
• Sign of the Times: Pickleball License Plates
• Red Light, Green Light: Playing Traffic Cop on the Court
• The Pickler Limerick Challenge
• The Pickler Limerick Challenge Heats Up
• The Pickler Limerick Challenge Wraps Up
• Pickleball & the $100 Hamburger
• Before We Play, Partner, Please Sign This...
• Pickleball's Most Powerful Spoken Word
• It's Been a Hard Day's Night for Pickleball Skeptics
• Be Kind to Your Local "Paddle Sheriff"
• Is There Such a Thing as Too Many Paddles?
• Silence Is... Not My Style
• "Going Ham" Over Pickleball's Generational Divide
  
  

Frank Cerabino is a long-time columnist for the Palm Beach Post in Florida, a pickleball addict like the rest of us, and a newly published author. Check out Frank's newly released book, I Dink, Therefore I Am: Coming to Grips with My Pickleball Addiction (available on Amazon and a great read (or gift!) for any pickleball player), for pickleball tips and laughs!