Wazzzzzaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaap.

Sorry, I’m trying new things and caffeine addiction is one of them. I’ll take it down a notch.

What’s up, folks (better?)? Welcome to Picklewho, your pickleball news confidant. Here’s the tea we have for you today:

• Wanna guess which billionaire is really into pickleball?

• Volunteering is cool. Now imagine it includes pickleball…in Hawaii!

• You gotta learn to take care of yourself if you wanna keep playing

Is pickleball the new billionaires’ sport?

Probably not…yet. But ask Bill Gates and he might say it’s one of his favorite sports among tennis and chess, though that last one is flexing.

Truth is Gates loves our game and, in fact, he’s an ol’ timer! You see, Gates has known the sport his whole life because his father was friends with is Gods-Founders Joel Pritchard, Barney McCallum and Bill Bell. If he hadn’t gone for computers, Gates could have devoted his life to a more noble and interesting path.

However, it’s never too late to get yourself back on track and that’s why Gates posted a video explaining the rules of pickleball on YouTube and calling himself a "pickler."

That’s gotta be the nicest anyone has called him since the invention of Twitter.

Volunteer with pickleball and save Hawaii!

Was that too dramatic? Well, dramatic times yearn for dramatic headlines. And right now, Hawaiian kids need saving from boredom and lack of camaraderie.

Ok, maybe not that dramatic, though Maui Tennis and Pickleball Association believes teaching kids the sport is a cool initiative. The Kīhei Elementary School will pair volunteer instructors with 20 kids. They will also provide paddles, nets, balls, court lines and every accessory they might need, including duct tape. Yes, I said “duct tape”, ‘cause you never know.

The association hopes to expand the free program to more students, so right now it’s looking for volunteer instructors. If you are interested, give ‘em a hello.

Here’s how you avoid injuries

As my Great Great Grand-step-uncle once said: “Exercise, just like forgiving your dad, matters.”

The older you grow, the more it holds true. With the continued rise of pickleball, we’ve seen a lot of sedentary people in their 50s and 60s become overnight players. And that’s fantastic! But, if done wrong, it does have its consequences. Don’t know them? Try mindless meditation. If your shoulders, knees and ankles scream when you focus on them…there’s your answer.

So, what can you do? Most would say stretching beforehand, sports medicine Dr. Eric Warren suggests something else: a dynamic warm up which raises your heart rate and moving joints.

Then, you play, and then you stretch. Just like abandoning your family, after-game stretching is phenomenal for flexibility!

I need to heal.