08 | The Other Side of the Pillow Transcript

 Morgan:  My guest today is one of the most successful, female, senior pro the game has ever seen. Capping off another fantastic year by winning the Senior Pro Singles and Doubles at the 2019 Nationals. She competed on the WTA Tour for 10 years. Has taught tennis and Pickleball for a number of years in California. Her technique is impeccable. She’s seemingly just floating around the court, I am jealous, just precision footwork. Her latest venture with her husband, Darren, is C&D Pickleball Nets, the official net sponsor of the PPA. We’re going to talk about that, we’re going to talk about downtime, backyard courts, her tennis career, maybe some beer, should be a good time. Please welcome Cammy MacGregor.

 

What’s Keeping You Busy? [1:10]

Morgan:  How are you, sweetie?

Cammy:  I’m doing well, Morgan. How are you?

Morgan:  I am as good as can be expected, I guess, in these times. We’re all surviving, right?

Cammy:  Absolutely. Difficult times for everyone, but hopefully pretty soon here we’ll get back on the court, back to some sort of whatever the new normalcy will be, right?

Morgan:  Yeah, I guess that’s the big question. What is the new normal going to look like?

Cammy:  Time will tell.

Morgan:  So how have you been keeping busy in this period?

Cammy:  Well, I haven’t really picked up Pickleball paddle in about seven weeks which feels very unusual. But what’s keeping me busy is we’re doing a backyard or actually a whole entire yard remodel.

Morgan:  Oh wow!

Cammy:  Yeah, so we’ve decided to put some extra parking in the front, and now that we have the C&D Pickleball Net trailer, we needed more parking for that. And the big, exciting news is eventually, there will be a Pickleball court at our backyard.

Morgan:  Oh my… Is there going to be a Cammy MacGregor Invitational Tournament? Would you like to invite me now?

Cammy:  (laughs…) We’ll see, it’s possible. The court might be the new destination for Pickleball tournaments, right?

Morgan:  Yeah, yeah definitely.

Cammy:  Actually going to be poured tomorrow and wait 30 days, then the court will be ready to go.

Morgan:  You have to wait 30 days? How are you going to do it just looking at the court? It seems impossible.

Cammy:  I’ve waited this long. It’s okay, I can wait 30 more days. It was funny though because my husband and I kept going back and forth – Pickleball court, no Pickleball court, Pickleball court. I kept saying I don’t want to come home to a Pickleball court. But in the long run, I kind of got to thinking like, “You know what? Parties, good time, why not? Let’s do it!” So we’re really excited about it.

Morgan:  That’s an incredible compromise there. Cammy MacGregor finally succumbs to actually having a Pickleball court. What has the world come to? Jeez!

Cammy:  I know. I have to make decisions on what color it’s going to be.

Morgan:  Oh yeah, so they just lay the foundations and then you guys could still have plenty of time to figure out your colors?

Cammy:  Yup. They’re going to pour tomorrow. Right now, they’re laying the rebar and tomorrow they’re going to pour, and then we have 30 days to make the big decision.

Morgan:  Well, are you thinking three-tone or two-tone?

Cammy:  That’s a good question. I might have to take a poll on this. I was thinking blue in the court, red kitchen, obviously white lines. But then I’m having a hard time on the border.

Morgan:  Oh yeah.

Cammy:  So I was thinking maybe a different type of blue on the border.

Morgan:  Like the Indian Wells sort of blue?

Cammy:  Yeah, exactly.

Morgan:  Almost like a deep purple?

Cammy:  Yeah, more of a blue, not so much purple.

Morgan:  Okay, alright.

Cammy:  And I’ve been looking at so many photos online, I just can’t make a decision. What do you think? Should I go two or three colors?

Morgan:  Honestly, I think you guys should take the C&D logo, look at the colors you’ve got there and incorporate them somehow into the court. That’s just good branding, come on, let’s think about this.

Cammy:  Oh, that’s a good idea. You know what those colors are, right?
Morgan:  There are some kind of yellow or like a light orange and maybe a blue? I’m drawing a bit of blank, I’ll be honest.

Cammy:  Do you know my favorite football team?

Morgan:  Do I know your favorite football team? That’s a firm no

Cammy:  Oh.

Morgan:  But I now know that you like football.

Cammy:  Oh I love football.

Morgan:  Good. And who’s your favorite team?

Cammy:  Pittsburgh Steelers, baby!

Morgan:  The Steelers, okay. How would I know that?
Cammy:  I guess you wouldn’t. my beautiful signature paddle that Selkirk just put out…

Morgan:  Oh yes…

Cammy:  Those colors are Steeler colors.

Morgan:  Well that’s all coming together now. Jeez, I never I’m going to learn so much out of these podcasts but I’m really getting it today. This is good.

Cammy:  Yeah, so the C&D colors and the same Steeler colors.

Morgan:  Now tell me, was it a long conversation when you and Darren decided to call it C&D and not D&C? You know D&C has a ring to it too.

Cammy:  It does. I guess C just comes before D. Honestly, he said C for Cammy, the CEO.

Morgan:  Oh okay.

Cammy:  And D for operations.

Morgan:  Okay. So it was an announcement to the world essentially that you are wearing the pants in that relationship. Is that a fair statement?

Cammy:  Absolutely!

Morgan:  It’s all good. No shame in that.

Cammy:  What wife or girlfriend isn’t, right?

Morgan:  It’s true. You guys are running the show.

Cammy:  You guys handle it well though.

Morgan:  The best thing every woman on the planet does is at least allowing men to live in the delusional world that we might have a say in anything really. It’s a brilliant system you guys have.

Cammy:  We’ve worked very hard at it. (laughs…)

Morgan:  (laughs…) He mastered it, I’d say.

Cammy:  We had to be trained and…

Morgan:  Definitely, definitely.

 

Pickleball Trivia [6:39]

 

Morgan:  Welcome back to Pickleball Trivia. We’ve got a couple of contestants on the line ready to go head to head. First of all, I’ve Nine Hun from South Carolina. How are you, Nina?

Nina:  I’m great! How are you, Morgan?

Morgan:  I am surviving in style. Your opponent today is Mr. Jordan Dayton from Utah.

Jordan, what’s up, my man?

Jordan:  Doing great here. Excited to see how I can try to keep up with Nina here.

Morgan:  So I hear you’re the man behind the Pickleball List. Tell us just a little bit about that.

Jordan:  Yeah, so as I got started with Pickleball, I had a tough time trying to find people to play with and things like that. And then I realized I have to join 100 Facebook groups to get connected with people. And so, it became overwhelming and daunting to find the information I needed, so I thought it would be nice to have a place outside of Facebook as well where people can coalesce and ask questions about Pickleball, and talk about Pickleball when they can’t be on the courts. So we just did a 19-day challenge where we have worked with a bunch of Pickleball pros, and each one of them is taking a day. We called it the COVID 19-Day Pickleball Fitness Challenge. So it’s been fun working out with some of the pros and we look forward to doing some other cool things in the near future as well.

Morgan:  Awesome! So it’s pickleballlist.com?

Jordan:  Yeah, just pickleballlist.com

Morgan:  Perfect. Alright, we’ll check it out. Good stuff.

Okay, contestant #1 will be Nina. She’s going to have the serve and will be asked a Pickleball-related question. Nina, if you get that right, you just keep going. If you manage to close out with five correct answers then unfortunately Jordan doesn’t get a look in. But if you get one wrong or you choose to pass, then it’ll go over to Jordan who will get the point and take the serve. First player to get to five points is the winner and the proud owner of elite bragging rights, I would say, as well as untold millions in Selkirk gift vouchers.

Nina:  Yes!

Morgan:  Certainly untold. Let’s be clear on that.

Okay, are you both ready to rock?

Jordan:  Absolutely!

Nina:  Yeah, let’s do it.

Morgan:  Alright. Starting with you, Nina.

Who is the executive director of the USAPA?

Nina:  It’s not Dan Santoria, right?

Morgan:  It is not. No.

Nina:  Okay.

Morgan:  Okay, well that was a valiant attempt. However, unfortunately incorrect, so that means your opponent, Jordan, any ideas?

Jordan:  I’m assuming we’re not allowed to Google this?

Morgan:  No, you’re not allowed. There’s an honest system here, come on?

Jordan:  Alright, just making sure it’s not who has the quickest fingers here.

Morgan:  No.

Jordan:  Yeah, I also don’t know the answer there. I can’t even attempt.

Morgan:  Alright, there’s honor in not attempting, I guess.

Jordan:  Yeah.

Morgan:  Okay, that means no points for either player. And Nina, by default, you manage to retain the serve, by the way. Moving on to the next question: The paddle manufacturer, Prince, is part of which other well-known paddle company?

Nina:  Come on, Morgan.

Morgan:  Come on, Nina.

Nina:  Aren’t we suppose to get any multiple choice?

Morgan:  No, not always. There’s going to be some multiple choice.

Nina:  Alright, I got to pass.

Morgan:  Okay, that’s a definitely pass. That means over to Jordan.

Jordan:  Oh my. Well I guess I can attempt. It doesn’t hurt to try, right? It might make me look more ignorant than I really am.

Morgan:  I agree. Come on, give it a go.

Jordan:  I was originally thinking like Head. But Head and Penn are together, right? But let’s just throw that out as maybe they own Prince too.

Morgan:  It was a nice idea. There was deliberation behind it and I’ll give you credit for that – credit, but no points. Unfortunately, neither player got that one.

Jordan:  Alright.

Nina:  Oh good!

Morgan:  So far, yes…

Jordan:  It’s a low-scoring game.

Morgan:  Yup, it’s just 0-0, yeah. Alright, I’m hopeful for this next one. Nina, you somehow manage to keep the serve twice now.

Nina:  Yup.

Morgan:  Back to you.

After the ref calls the score, how much time does the serve have to serve the ball?

Nina:  10 seconds.

Morgan:  10 seconds, Nina, you’re on the board. Well done! That’s impressive. So, I’ve learned that all I really need to do is ask much easier questions and you guys will be phenomenal.

Nina:  Yeah, we’re really great.

Jordan:  So I think Morgan’s over there with this list of questions he asks people normally, and then we’re down to the third level, the super easy column.

Nina:  We’re on Pickleball 101, yeah.

Morgan:  Well, I mixed it up a little bit this time. I typically color-code them a little bit and go from that. But this time I thought I’ll give them the benefit of the doubt and see where they’re at, and now I know, and we’ll move on from here.

Jordan:  You can see this is why I built an online community because I personally know very little about Pickleball but I love it. And if I can learn from other people, then I’ll be on a much better place.

Morgan:  Yeah, you’re right. It’s a good system, well done!

Okay, Nina, your next question: True or false? If asked, the referee can indicate to the receiving team if they are in the correct position?

Nina:  True.

Morgan:  Unfortunately, yeah, and this isn’t one of those, “Oh now Jordan gets a chance” because well, there’s only really two options here.

Jordan:  I’m going to go out on a limb here and say false.

Morgan:  You’ve nailed it. Nice work!

Jordan:  Oh wow! All that studying paid off.

Morgan:  And I’m throwing a point your way just to say thanks.

Jordan:  Sorry, Nina.

Morgan:  Jordan, you have the serve here and ready to continue your run. We’ll call it a run.

Jordan, which ball was to be used in the 2020 US Open? We need the make and the model.

Jordan:  The Franklin X-40.

Morgan:  Hey, congratulations!

Jordan:  Yes.

Morgan:  Alright, good man! Good man, well done!

Jordan:  I actually did know that one. That wasn’t just a point by default.

Nina:  I know that one too.

Morgan:  Okay, and Nina, the fact that you knew it as well, I’ll just throw five points your way, and you’re the winner.

Nina:  Yeah!

Morgan:  Okay, well done, Jordan, you have a 2-1 lead. Your next question, are you ready?

Jordan:  Yes sir!

Morgan:  Right now, there are two competing professional tours. What are they?

Jordan:  The APP Tour and the PPA Tour.

Morgan:  That’s it! Alright!

Jordan:  Okay!

Nina:  Good job!

Morgan:  Nice work. You’re just cooking with gas now. I’m recognizing I say that way too much.

Nina, do you think you can come back from this?

Nina:  I don’t know. You know what? Never give up, right? Never give up.

Morgan:  That’s a good attitude. This could happen.

Alright, Jordan, name two types of Pickleball machine.

Jordan:  Oh, there’s The Lobster and then there’s the green one that has those sides, the clear sides that come up. It’s like the court something… I can’t remember.

Morgan:  I can’t technically give you the green one. Alright, that means Nina, you got a chance to steal the point and the serve.

Nina:  Okay, I’m going to go with The Tutor.

Jordan:  The Tutor, that’s it.

Nina:  And The Lobster.

Morgan:  Yes, The Tutor and The Lobster. Well done, good job! Do you know any other ones just out of interest?

Nina:  The Playmate, is that one of them?

Morgan:  Yeah, yeah, The Playmate. I was looking at that one this morning. It looks pretty good.

Jordan:  Is it for kids or is that one for adults? I think my kids have some playmates stuff.

Morgan:  No, I think it’s firmly an adult thing. It looks like it can fire a ball every second which I think is the fastest feed rate. I’m not plugging them but I’ve always wanted one that actually gives a real kind of machine gun at you.

Jordan:  Which is what happens when you’re at the kitchen, right?
Morgan:  Yeah, exactly.

Alright, so Nina, you have two points, you are trailing by 1 but it’s not over.

Nina:  Okay, yeah, never give up. Let’s do it.

Morgan:  According to the 2020 USAPA Rulebook, there is no restriction to paddle thickness. True or false?

Nina:  True.

Morgan:  That’s correct. Well done! There’s no restrictions. You can have a 4-inch thick paddle if you want.

Alright, so Nina, you’ve tied the scores, 3 points each. You’ve got a real opportunity. I think if you get one or two more, that could be the ball game – well, definitely 2.

Which female pro has the nickname “Trinity”?

Nina:  Anna Leigh Waters?

Morgan:  That is incorrect, unfortunately. She has a lot of nicknames.

Nina:  Just because she has three names, that’s why I went with her.

Morgan:  A1 Steak Sauce, apparently is one of her nicknames, I’m not quite sure why. I guess she really loves it. But regardless, over to Jordan. Female pro named “Trinity”?

Jordan:  Who is Jessie Irvine?

Morgan:  Oh, and you’ve gone into a Jeopardy situation thing happening there, I like it, very good! Congratulations, Jessie Irvine is correct.

Jordan:  I actually didn’t know that was her nickname. I thought it might actually be her middle name or something because of all the times that I’ve seen it. But that’s good to know that it’s a nickname.

Morgan:  Yeah, I think she got it playing either paddle or tennis, I forget, but it carried with her. Yeah, it’s a cool name.

Jordan:  Yeah, it’s fun to hear all the stories behind everybody’s nicknames.

Morgan:  Oh you get a free point if you can tell me my middle name.

Nina:  Morgan!

Morgan:  Oh, well, I wasn’t asking you, Nina. You don’t have the serve yet.

Nina:  Oh I thought you were just throwing it out there.

Jordan:  Is it Morgan?

Morgan:  Yeah it is. It’s weird. I didn’t realize either. My parents told me when I was about 11. “By the way, your name isn’t actually Morgan. It’s” – yeah, anyway, food for thought. We’re getting very distracted here people. I am certainly not going to be taking Alex Trebek’s job any time soon.

Alright, so Jordan, you are 1 point away from the victory. Are you nervous? You’re nervous, aren’t you?

Jordan:  Pretty nervous, yeah.

Morgan:  No, you should be.

Nina:  Don’t choke.

Morgan:  Name three tennis brands that have entered into the Pickleball market.

Jordan:  So Prince, and then Head Penn, and Gamma.

Morgan:  Oh, that’s a tricky one. Gamma, they make strings, tennis strings. They don’t make rackets though. Because that one’s on the fence, I’m going to give one extra chance there if you could think of one more.

Jordan:  Oh man. Engage?

Morgan:  Very close but that is incorrect. Nina, you got a chance here. He’s done a lot of the hard work for you.

Nina:  Wilson?

Morgan:  Wilson, yeah. So Wilson is one of them. What were your other two?

Nina:  Prince and Head, right? He said Head?

Morgan:  He did. He helped you out there. he’s very nice. He’s a good man, Jordan.

Nina:  Yeah, we’re a team. We’d be a good team, Jordan.

Jordan:  Yeah, that’s right. I’ll play with you anytime, Nina.

Morgan:  Yeah, she’s 4-5 apparently, so that’s good.

Jordan:  Oh maybe she won’t play with me then.

Morgan:  Probably not but you seem nice. Okay so that means, Nina, you’ve got a chance for the victory.

Nina:  Okay.

Morgan:  I have complete faith in you.

If you play a volley from behind the kitchen, the ball hits your opponent and then your momentum brings you into the kitchen, who wins the point?

Nina:  My opponent would win the point. I would have a fault.

Morgan:  That is unfortunately incorrect.

Nina:  No, my momentum.

Morgan:  Yeah, no but the moment the ball hits your opponent, the ball is dead.

Nina:  Oh right. I did know that actually. I just read that.

Morgan:  The only good news is this is not one I can give over to Jordan.

Nina:  Yeah.

Jordan:  This isn’t a true or false passed on to me?

Morgan:  No, no, sorry, bud.

Jordan, for the win, here we go: What year was the first National Championship?

Jordan:  Oh I know it has to be after 1965.

Morgan:  Yeah, that’s a good call.

Jordan:  2007?

Morgan:  Really close, but no. Unfortunately, that’s incorrect. That means over to Nina. This is for the win. You’re both at 4 points, it’s anyone’s game, really. The tension!

Nina:  2009?

Morgan:  2009 is correct!

Nina:  Oh I pulled it out! Sweep it out.

Morgan:  Pulled it out, Nina!

Jordan:  Well-played, Nina. You caught me with that baseline shot, I couldn’t handle it.

Nina:  Clutch, clutch. (laughs…)

Morgan:  Jeez, this one’s going to go down in history.

Nina:  That was a nail-biter. We were awful!

Morgan:  Hey, awful is a strong word. Maybe – I feel like the quiz master really let you down there, throwing unnecessarily average questions at you thinking that you could certainly know but…

Nina:  Hey, we both have kids and we’ve been quarantined, so our brains are mush.

Jordan:  Yeah, yeah.

Morgan:  This is true.

Jordan:  Hey, you guys both brought a smile to my face and made me laugh, just like a good Pickleball match; win or lose, had a great time.

Morgan:  Yeah, that’s true. Maybe next time we’ll do a rematch but your kids are facing off against each other.

Jordan:  Oh there you go. I’ll bring my 3-year-old.

Nina:  Okay, I’ll bring my 6-year-old.

Morgan:  Oh, I’ll have to find some questions that are more suited to the 3-year-old age demographic.

Jordan:  Well, I’ve got four to chose from…

Nina:  Oh my goodness!

Morgan:  Four?

Jordan:  I’ve got a 3, a 5, a 7, and a 9, so…

Morgan:  Okay, alright well, Nina, is your 6-year-old turning 7?

Nina:  I hope eventually, yeah. He’ll be 7 in September. And I have an almost 9-year-old too.

Morgan:  Alright! Isn’t that funny how kids will never tell you how old they are. They always tell you how old they’re going to be.

Nina:  Yeah, or they’ll say…

Jordan:  Right.

Nina:  Mine are doing the half-year too, like they’re 6 and 1/2.

Morgan:  Oh yeah, that’s comical.

Jordan:  They’re ready for it.

Morgan:  I’m 38 and 1/5, thereabout.

Jordan:  There you go. You beat me by just a little, Morgan. I’ve got you by – I just turned 39, so whatever the difference is.

Nina:  Oh I got you both by a year.

Morgan:  Okay, alright, look at that.

Jordan:  Oh there we go!

Morgan:  Look at us, jeez! Three amigos.

Jordan:  That was great!

Morgan:  Okay, well, we certainly accomplished a lot today. This has been real, this has been fun – but not real fun, no.

Nina:  Right (laughs…)

Morgan:  It was great! I’m sure the Pickleball masses are going to appreciate your efforts today.

Jordan:  Or get a good laugh.

Morgan:  Well, yeah, that’s a sign of appreciation.

Nina:  I studied all the other stuff. This wasn’t on my study guide.

Morgan:  Okay, yeah.

Jordan:  We just created a new study guide today.

Morgan:  You changed the game, there’s no doubt about it really?

Alright, you two stay safe. Thanks again for coming on the show. Hopefully, I’ll meet you on the court one day.

Jordan:  Sounds great!

Nina:  Take care. Bye!

Jordan:  Talk to you later.

Morgan:  Cheers!

 

Back over to Cammy [22:54]

Morgan:  I’m not sure those two can pay me enough to keep this one off the air. That was some tough questions there; tough but fair. Hopefully, those two can forgive me for asking them. Let’s get back over to Cammy.

So C&D, the nets, obviously, this has been a massive project for you two for some time now. How did it come about?

Cammy:  C&D Pickleball, the idea started about four years ago where I teach tennis and Pickleball at Omni La Costa in Carlsbad. We had setup those nets out of the bag for – I don’t know, a year and a half. The members kept getting tired of every time putting them up, taking them down, putting back in the bag. And so my brilliant husband, Darren, started thinking about how can I build a net that has wheels on it, move it off to side of the court, easy to move and just simple, just a rollable Pickleball net system. So he just started putting ideas together, talking to our fabricator, and the next thing you know, built a net, made some changes to it. And in the last year and a half, we started C&D Pickleball Nets, traveling to tournaments. We’re the net sponsor for the PPA, very exciting. A lot of facilities are starting to purchase our nets. Really our net is ideal for multi-use courts. Obviously, if you can put in a permanent net post, that is the way to go but if you want a rollable, permanent system that plays like a permanent net, we use a net with a cable system. If you still have tennis court and Pickleball court, our net is perfect for the facility. Private homes that have basketball courts or homes that maybe don’t want to have a permanent net post and they want to have a net on their court, our net is great. The last year and a half, really have been excited about where our company is going and trying to get the word out.

Morgan:  Have you seen a relative kind of uptick in recent times given that public Pickleball is a difficult thing to come by these days? So I’m assuming there’s a lot of people that either have space and wants to set up a court for a while or for whatever reason are now thinking a private court is the way to go, like yourself. Has that transferred to you guys?

Cammy:  What’s funny is Darren and I were talking about this since the pandemic has been going on. We feel that we’ve gotten a lot more inquiries about our nets, and seems like people are maybe realizing that we can’t play open play, so maybe I’ll put in a Pickleball court. We thought things are going to be slowing down but actually they’ve kind of picked up during this time.

Morgan:  Silver linings, you got to look for them, right?

Cammy:  Absolutely! We’re always trying to make little changes to our net system. We have two nets. Bobby Riggs has our other net which is a trust net, and that basically sits more on the court. It does not have wheels. That trust net is for facilities that have asphalt courts. That net weighs 130 lbs. and our championship rollable net that you’ve played on, it weighs 230 lbs. A big difference.

Morgan:  Oh yeah, jeez! And Bobby Riggs is back open now. I heard that they’re reopening the gates.

Cammy:  Yeah, I got an email yesterday that Steve opened for singles and doubles.

Morgan:  That’s good stuff. We’ve been spoiled here in Riverside County. We’ve been up and running for about two or three weeks now.

Cammy:  Wow! Is that for private games?

Morgan:  No, it’s golf, tennis and Pickleball, they just reopened. People have to wear masks and the six feet thing is advised but that’s not an easy stipulation for a game like Pickleball. My club, Palm Desert Resort, has been – we’ve had anywhere from 50 to 100 or more people coming out on a daily basis.

Cammy:  Wow!

Morgan:  So I’ve been teaching again.

Cammy:  Do you have to play with your mask on?

Morgan:  That’s a definite maybe.

Cammy:  Yeah!

Morgan:  Well, the problem has come where we’ve had a real heat spell here, a couple of weeks have gotten up to 110 or so, which is not normal for this time of year. And we had lady who was wearing a mask and she had real trouble breathing, and fairly soon she passed out. I think she broke both of her wrist because she fell over from heat exhaustion or something like that.

Cammy:  Oh no!

Morgan:  Yeah, so right now, people are kind of like – a lot of them are just keeping it around their neck. Everybody is kind of aware of how other people’s comfort level is. If one person on the court is really adamant, then the others typically do it as well, and it’s the wild west of this pandemic, who knows?

Cammy:  Yeah, out there you probably have to start at 6 AM or midnight.

Morgan:  Let’s not go crazy! I think there really is only one 6 each day and that’s the PM variety.

Cammy:  I was just out in the desert playing some ball, so I know about that 109°.

Morgan:  You were golfing? You came out here? Why didn’t you say hi? I’m hurt.

Cammy:  Oh sorry.

Morgan:  We could have played golf.

Cammy:  I waived to you.

Morgan:  You waived to me?

Cammy:  Yeah.

Morgan:  Oh that was you! Okay, I could have played golf you. I love golf now.

Cammy:  Oh well, next time. I was out with two of my girlfriend and we played the Marriott Desert Springs course.

Morgan:  Nice! The Valley or the other one?

Cammy:  Palms.

Morgan:  Okay, what did you shoot?

Cammy:  Okay, so honestly, this was my fifth-time playing golf in 10 years.

Morgan:  Okay, okay.

Cammy:  So I shot a 90.

Morgan:  Well, that’s pretty good. Jeez, I thought you were going to say 140.

Cammy:  Well, probably my first round, yes. No, no – you know what? I take that back. My bad! No, I shot 90 the second day. I shot a 130 at the JW Marriott and I can’t remember. Not a good day.

Morgan:  130?

Cammy:  It was just a brutal day. They didn’t have any ladies tees out. So a lot of clubs, I was not able to use but I remember I was like – I don’t know, I think I was 25 over.

Morgan:  It’s a tough course. I mean some of those ones, they have pretty short, narrow fairways, a lot of angulation. It’s tricky.

 

We Probably Should Talk About Pickleball [28:54]

Luckily, you appear to be quite good at this whole Pickleball thing. Maybe we should – I think this is probably somewhat of a Pickleball podcast, we should probably talk about something Pickleball-related. What do you think?

Cammy:  That’s probably a good idea.

Sponsor: CoachME Pickleball

 

Morgan:  Okay, let’s head back to Cammy, see what’s happening…

[background music plays]

Morgan:  So you had another outstanding year last year, culminating in winning the National Senior title in singles and women’s, I believe.

Cammy:  That is true, yes.

Morgan:  That’s amazing! You always seem to play against your Pickleball bestie, Jen Dawson, in the final of singles. Is it getting tiring? Would you like someone else to come up and challenge?

Cammy:  No, not really. (laughs…)

Morgan:  (chuckles…) Oh…

Cammy:  They’re younger than me. Playing Jen in singles is always a battle, not only on the court just us being partners and best friends, and it’s difficult.

Morgan:  I can imagine. It always seems like you two – it never gets heated, it always seems to amicable, and it’s great for the sport in a lot of ways, I’d say. So hopefully, no one comes into knock one of you out of that top two positions anytime soon.

Cammy:  I hope not. Every year, new players are coming up, and you got to keep your skills up and be ready. But I really enjoy singles a lot.

Morgan:  I used to enjoy it. I enjoy watching it more now.

Cammy:  You’re not a bad coach for that young man you coached.

Morgan:  That young man, Mr. McGuffin. Hopefully, I can be of service to you someday. You never seem to need help, so maybe one day. What’s the head to head at the moment with you and Jen?

Cammy:  Oh, I was hoping you would have that.

Morgan:  Oh, I can’t be your statistician.

Cammy:  Honestly, I don’t know but we’re probably even. How things have been working out, maybe I might win Nationals and then she beats me at US Open last year, and then I might be there at TOC and then she beats me. So we kind of share.

Morgan:  Is there a Richard Williams that’s pulling the strings here for you two?

Cammy:  (laughs…) No.

Morgan:  (chuckles…) So you don’t think Darren is getting together with Steve and trying to figure out how to divide this truckload of medals you two have accumulated.

Cammy:  They might be… They might be drinking and beer and talking about, “Whose turn is it this tournament?”

Morgan:  Maybe, maybe. Good stuff.

Now, obviously, you come from a much more impressive tennis background the most, the WTA for 10 years. When did you retire?

Cammy:  I retired in 1994.

Morgan:  Crowning accomplishments in tennis, what do you feel like you look back on the biggest?

Cammy:  I would probably say making the quarterfinals with my sister in doubles at the Australian Open.

Morgan:  Oh wow!

Cammy:  And I would say the round was 16 in singles at the Australian Open. Australia was good to me.

Morgan:  Yeah, they’re a nice bunch, there’s no doubt about it.

Cammy:  I love that country.

Morgan:  It seems like your particular way of living suites Australia pretty well. You’re literally my kind of token Australian at every tournament I go to. If it hasn’t ended well, which it usually doesn’t in terms of gold or nothing, you’re always there – you or Darren are usually there with a beer to pick me back up, it’s fantastic!

Cammy:  We’re always there to help people, and some of these young kids don’t know how to travel and we make sure we provide all kinds of stuff to them.

Morgan:  That’s it, you’re looking after the entire community.

Cammy:  Absolutely!

Morgan:  We should start a Pickleball-wide GoFundMe account just to make sure there’s always enough IPAs to around at the end.

Cammy:  Absolutely! I think we just need a sponsor.

Morgan:  Oh that’s a good idea,

Cammy:  An IPA sponsor, you know? Maybe I should go to Stone Brewery which is right down the road from my house.

Morgan:  That’d be great! I like some of their stuff. Are you an IPA fan or are you more of a Lager, Pilsner? What do you like?

Cammy:  No, I’m an IPA girl.

Morgan:  Good, good, good.

Cammy:  Yeah, I mean after a Pickleball tournament, you’re hot and your sweaty and it’s great for an IPA. So it’s more like a Bud Light Lime, just a nice, refreshing, cold to cool you down, and then after a little relaxation, then there’s the IPA.

Morgan:  I wish I had that level of restraint. Everything takes like water after that last loss, so I just try to avoid the double IPAs, that’s usually where it goes wrong.

Cammy:  Yeah, not good.

Morgan:  Yeah, and then I start coaching people that aren’t even on Selkirk, it’s a trainwreck!

 

Hair Appointment [34:22]

Morgan:  So obviously , right now there is a hiatus. What was your next tournament planned?

Cammy:  We were going to go out to Phoenix.

Morgan:  Oh Phoenix, oh yes, PPA.

Cammy:  We’re their net sponsors, so we bring 10 to 12 nets out for them, for the pros to play on. So yeah, unfortunately, that did not happen and I’m not sure when the next tournament will be.

Morgan:  Perhaps TOC but there’s no guarantee, is there?

Cammy:  No.

Morgan:  In fact, that would be a little surprise. Who knows about Nationals. They’re talking about the US Open Tennis coming to Indian Wells which means I don’t think Nationals Pickleball would be there. So maybe we can host it in your new court and just have it really drawn out. Very, very socially responsible in terms of distancing.

Cammy:  Yeah, we might need a few more other courts though.

Morgan:  Two teams fly in from wherever, play one match then fly home, extend the season by about four years.

Cammy:  Four years is a long time.

Morgan:  Well, better than nothing, right? Jeez!

Cammy:  That’s true, that’s true. But yeah, if you want to be the director and organize something like that…

Morgan:  Oh, no, I have a hair appointment that weekend, actually. So yeah, can’t quite make it for that one but I can recommend someone perhaps. Steve Dawson maybe.

Cammy:  Speaking of hair just to digress, I need one.

Morgan:  You need?

Cammy:  A haircut.

Morgan:  You need a haircut? Oh yes, this seems like trouble. I’ve heard nothing but I need a haircut from my Jen for the last six weeks, and she’s been trying to cut her own hair and I haven’t had the heart to say it’s (bleep) – we’re going to edit that whole section out.

Cammy:  That’s a good idea. (chuckles…)

Morgan:  We can send you a guy though. Her guy’s name is [Gerado]. She’s been seeing religiously for 15 years or so. I think he does road trips, so we can send him out to you and we can cover the whole Encinitas and just the whole West Cost.

Cammy:  I love it. Can you pass along also a manicurist and pedicurist?

Morgan:  Mani-pedi, yup, for sure. I’ll just round them up in a little bus and just ship them out there.

Cammy:  Perfect.

Morgan:  Yeah, yeah it will be part of your Selkirk sponsorship really, to keep that hair looking good.

Cammy:  Oh I love that company. Thank you!

Morgan:  They know how to take care of their own for sure.

 

Cool Cammy [36:34]

Morgan:  Regarding your game, I’ve always watched your Pickleball game and felt like it almost looks a little too good to be true in terms of how smooth and – I was looking whenever anyone’s around, I’d say, “There’s Cammy again just cooler than the side of the pillow.” It always seems like you got nothing but time on your hands waiting for something you’ve known is about to happen for 45 minutes. And when it happens, I don’t quite understand how it works. Is that how you play tennis? Was it always just so graceful, I guess?

Cammy:  Well, thank you for those kind words.

Morgan:  That’s right. I’m obligated, really. I think Rob Barnes tell me to say these things.

Cammy:  Growing up in tennis, I had two coaches. I had a footwork coach who worked on obviously footwork, and serve and volley and movement. He was big about movement. And then, I had my other coach who was more into fundamentals.

So growing up, I had those two advantages in playing tennis or Pickleball. Just the movement, I was taught correctly. Maybe that’s what you’re seeing when I’m out there? I think movement is really, really important. You think I look smooth, I guess I have to thank my coach.

Morgan:  What was his name?

Cammy:  His name was Dell Little.

Morgan:  Dell Little.

Cammy:  Yup. Tracy Austin and Pete Sampras, we all went to Dell.

Morgan:  Well, Dell, if you’re listening, we need to get you on the podcast.

Cammy:  Yeah, he worked us. I remember doing split steps. He would make us do 10 split steps and then react to the ball.

Morgan:  Oh nice. It does seem like you could spot good tennis players and great tennis players from someone who’s never played a racket sport by their split steps. But it seems like the really good ones just have that perfect timing where it’s not a whole bunch of waster energy and just a hideous amount of bouncing around hoping one of those steps is landing at the right time which often was my strategy in tennis. I was like, “I don’t really know.” I’m constantly playing on either grass courts or clay courts. Back in Australia, we had a big kind of mix of courts to play on growing up.

Was the Aussie Open hard or grass when you played it?

Cammy:  My first year at the Australian Open was the last year at Kooyong on grass. And then, it moved to the Rebound Ace which was a horrible, horrible surface. Now, it’s changed so unfortunately, I had stopped playing so I didn’t get to play on the new surface.

Morgan:  No, I agree with the Rebound Ace. The Hopman Cup used to use it as well over in Perth, and trying to train on that stuff, that ball bounces way too high.

Cammy:  Like playing on chewing gum.

Morgan:  Yeah.

Cammy:  Your feet would get stuck and you’re unable to go left and right.

Morgan:  Yeah, poor planning for sure. Did you like playing on grass?

Cammy:  I loved it.

Morgan:  It’s so nice.

Cammy:  My game was always the attack game; serve and volley, get to the net because the less groundstrokes I can hit the better, and that was another Dell Little was focused on footwork and volleys and serve. So yeah, I loved the grass but always not well at Wimbledon.

Morgan:  The fact that you played Wimbledon, that’s more than impressive enough.

Cammy:  Yeah, looking back it’s pretty unbelievable to say I got to play Wimbledon. I don’t even know – seven times, eight times.

Morgan:  That’s amazing.

Cammy:  Getting the Wimbledon towels, I was actually even in the official Wimbledon book. They have days; they have Day One which might be at the time Martin and I were 12. Day Two, it’s John McEnroe. I think it was Day Five, there I am right in the front on Day Five, there I am serving at Wimbledon.

Morgan:  That’s awesome!

Cammy:  Yeah, it was pretty cool.

Morgan:  Wow, I’ve got to see that book. I’m going to stalk you somehow.

Cammy:  I will show it to you next time we hook up. I’m actually looking at the book right now. The Official Wimbledon Annual 1992 Book, and it’s got a picture, how funny is this, Stephanie and Andre.

Morgan:  Oh wow. There you go. And how does your hair look in ’92?

Cammy:  (laughs…) It was beautiful, it was lovely.

Morgan:  Oh good, congratulations!

Cammy:  I’ve always had short hair. So right now, if you saw my hair, you’ll be like, “Oh my god!”

Morgan:  You know you can cut if yourself.

Cammy:  Yeah, I thought about it but for some reason, I’m too scared.

Morgan:  Cammy MacGregor, fearless Cammy, aggressive tennis-playing Cammy afraid of a pair of scissors.

Cammy:  I watched a lady cutting her hair and she kept going and going. It did not turn out well.

Morgan:  Oh so you had a traumatizing experience and now you’re… Okay, I understand.

Cammy:  Yeah.

Morgan:  I actually use a little – it’s like a little buggy honestly. It has a razor blade on the back but has wheels on the front, and you strap it on your finger and I just drive this mobile razor over my head, and I make like “broom, broom” noises as well. It’s pretty good. It takes about five minutes in the shower and I could teach you. I don’t know if you want this level of shortness but maybe.

Cammy:  Yeah, I’ve seen your hair and…

Morgan:  Oh you have! Not many people have. There’s like six of them.

Cammy:  Yeah, I have a few more than you, so I think I appreciate the offer but I’m going to wait until Jen’s [Gerado] comes in.

Morgan:  Yeah, her appointment is at 3 o’clock this afternoon and I think it’s going to be the highlight of her month for sure. So I will report back if it was a complete win or if I just have to say it was a complete win.

 

Cammy’s Style [42:24]

Morgan: So now, we’re talking about your tennis and it sounded as if you played quite an aggressive game, serve and volley, attacking a lot, getting up there. In Pickleball, I’ve often watched your mixed and women’s doubles game in particular and thought that you typically are kind of airing more on the defensive side. Is that a conscious thing or is it just you playing your style?

Cammy:  I think it’s pretty much me playing my style. Even though in tennis I was always attacking, but when you’re playing up at the net, it’s a lot of more touch and feel especially in doubles and I think that’s why in Pickleball doubles, I’m trying to be patient, trying to wait for that right time to pull the trigger and just a little bit more – I think that’s more my style, the touch and feel. I don’t really think about it, it just sort of how I play.

Morgan:  If you wind forward the clock, say four or five years, more players are involved and the game I think is becoming more offensive faster, paddles are getting more powerful. Do you think something like that would inspire you to feel like, “Alright, I’m got to really take the gloves off now,” or would you stick to your guns?

Cammy:  We’ve all noticed how the game is amping up. A lot more tennis players and racquetball players are coming up and noticing how people are taking a few more chances, so I’m aware of that. A lot of people are going to two-handed backhands, so I’m kind of working on that too.

Morgan:  Oh, gamechanger.

Cammy:  Yeah, definitely trying to be aggressive obviously at the right time and still be able to soften up when I need to.

Morgan:  You’re thinking of going towards the two-handed backhand. Is that something you think you would use primarily as an initial attack or as a counter-punch, a little bit of everything? Because I feel like with you having the singlehanded backhand volley compared to the two-handed counterparts out there, there’s a real advantage in terms of the size of your comfort zone that you can effectively block at least, perhaps not fire back quite so easily. What do you think?

Cammy:  Yeah, the two-handed backhand is going to be more of a counterpunch because in tennis, I’m a onehanded backhand volleyer, and it’s just so natural to be out there in Pickleball when a hardball comes at me is to just hit that onehanded backhand. It’s when you get that hardball coming at you and going let’s counter that with another two-handed hardball back at you, and it’s just so unnatural for me to take a two-handed backhand volley. I never two-handed backhand volley in tennis so I was like, “This is weird. This doesn’t feel comfortable to do that,” so I’ve gotten better. Even Jen, my partner, she’s like, “Wow! Look at that two-handed backhand.” I’m like, “I know! Pretty lucky.”

So hopefully it’s not as ugly as it feels.

Morgan:  You make your own luck. I want to see it though. I want to be one of the first to really get a glimpse of this. Take some video and send it to me, I might be able to help.

Cammy:  Alright, only if you give me some pointers.

Morgan:  I will. That’s a fair deal. As long as you keep supplying beverages after my many losses, then I will literally stay in your corner, I will be your personal coach. Don’t tell Tyson.

Cammy:  Tyson doesn’t know. Sounds good!

Morgan:  Beautiful!

 

That’s A Wrap [46:16]

Morgan:  Well, Cammy, this has been so much fun. Thank you for spending time with me.

Cammy:  It’s been a lot of fun, Morgan. Thanks for having me!

Morgan:  You are welcome. Hopefully we’ll do it again soon, and we’ll get back on the courts soon. Come out to the desert and you can train here as much as you want.

Cammy:  Yeah, that sounds like a fantastic idea. Next time we come out for golf, I’m definitely going to hit you up.

Morgan:  Perfect! That sounds great!

There you go, ladies and gentlemen, the one and only Cammy McGregor.

Cammy:  Okay, thank, Morgan!

[background music plays]

Sponsor: Selkirk Sport