Pickleball can teach swimming a few lessons about friendship, wellness, coaching, and lifelong participation!

In Episode #120 of Heavy Or Not, The OG Swim Guide, Coach Mark Rauterkus welcomes Ken DeHart, a tennis and pickleball teaching professional from San Jose, California. Together they explore healthy aging, social connection, skill development, and playing well with others.

Ken explains why pickleball brings people together in public parks. Coach Mark connects those lessons to swimming, water polo, underwater hockey, and more social aquatic programs.

The message: Play more. Make friends. Stay active. Keep learning.

WATCH, LISTEN & LEARN

Watch Ken DeHart's full pickleball seminar and explore international coaching education at WAFSU.org:
https://wafsu.org/

International Swim Coaches Association:
https://swimisca.com/

MEET KEN DEHART

Ken discusses longevity research associated with racket sports; pickleball's welcoming culture; public park play; the kitchen and third shot drop; eye-hand coordination; warm-ups and injury prevention; and how coaching improves the coach.

EPISODE CHAPTERS

00:00 – Ken's opening on longevity
00:15 – Welcome to Heavy Or Not #120
00:33 – Ken DeHart and the swimming connection
00:55 – Tennis research and the 9.7-year finding
01:13 – Competition, coordination, and social play
02:11 – Pickleball's welcoming beginnings
03:23 – Skill levels and inclusion
04:22 – Park play and paddle rotation
05:14 – Making swimming more social
06:04 – Pickleball noise and neighborhood concerns
07:10 – Sharing tennis and pickleball courts
07:44 – Pool space and lane-line conflicts
08:16 – Warm-ups, balance, and injury prevention
09:11 – The kitchen and soft shots
09:45 – Third shot drops and ball control
10:55 – Paddle skills and eye-hand coordination
11:51 – Cooperative drills and rallies
12:19 – Dinking and touch
13:17 – Visual, auditory, and kinesthetic cues
14:26 – Coaching basics and certification
15:07 – Teaching improves playing skills
15:36 – Junior and second-career coaches
16:08 – Online coaching shortcuts
17:04 – Cross-training swimmers in Peoria
18:04 – Play, have fun, make friends
18:26 – Full seminar and coaching resources
19:03 – Mental Skills for Young Athletes

THE BIGGER LESSON FOR SWIMMING

Pickleball courts are gathering places. Players talk, rotate into games, and build relationships. Swimming brings major physical benefits, but lap swimming can be solitary.

Coach Mark encourages more relays, water polo, underwater hockey, SKWIM, and other group activities that make pools more social.

Sports are games of time, space, and relationships.

READ THE COMPANION ARTICLE

Explore pickleball, swimming, longevity, and social fitness:
https://wafsu.org/course/120-pickleball-meets-swimming-unlocking-longevity-and-social-fitness/

Coach Mark's Substack:
https://rauterkus.substack.com/

LISTEN TO HEAVY OR NOT

The OG Swim Guide features conversations about coaching, aquatics, wellness, sports culture, and community recreation.

Find podcast episodes at https://HeavyOrNot.com
Subscribe on YouTube for future episodes.

RESOURCES FOR COACHES

Mental Skills for Young Athletes by John M. Hogg, Ph.D., offers practical sports psychology lessons for developing athletes:
https://swimisca.com/

WAFSU seminars and certifications:
https://wafsu.org/

ISCA coaching education and books:
https://swimisca.org/

JOIN THE CONVERSATION

Share this episode with a coach, recreation director, swimmer, or pickleball player. Leave a comment about ways to make sport more social.

HOST, Coach Mark Rauterkus brings decades of experience in swimming, aquatic education, youth programs, publishing, and community recreation to Heavy Or Not, The OG Swim Guide.

#Pickleball #KenDeHart #HeavyOrNot #Swimming #SportsCoaching #HealthyAging #SwimISCA #WAFSU