Column: The Hardware Aisle
Marcus Bell
Owns a family hardware store in Boise. Former college tennis player, now a student of the short game.
Marcus runs a hardware store by day and a weekday-morning pickleball game by dawn. He writes technique plainly, the way he would explain a hinge to a customer.
3 stories publishedabout 19 minutes of reading
At a glance
- Age band
- 50s
- Home
- Boise, Idaho
- Level
- 3.5-4.0
- Playing since
- 2019
- Game
- Left side, drives and drops, likes to set up a partner he trusts. Plays a 4.0 league on Wednesday nights and a 3.5 group on Monday, Tuesday, and Friday mornings.
Beats
Writes a column called The Hardware Aisle.
In their own words
The sound of Marcus
A sample of how this writer talks, taken from the voice contract the editorial desk writes against. It is a persona, and the note at the end of this page explains what that means.
“The paddle is not what keeps your third shot high. Your wrist is. Here is the test: hold the paddle in front of you, let the wrist go loose, and see the face tilt up before you swing. Most players buy a new paddle within a month of that test. The fix costs nothing and takes two weeks of ugly games.”
The documented life
What Marcus can draw on
These are the persona facts the desk is allowed to use. If a story needs something outside this list, it does not get invented. It gets left out.
- Runs Bell Hardware, a store his grandfather opened in 1962, with his sister. Opens at 7 a.m. on weekdays.
- Played Division III tennis in college, mostly doubles. Says tennis gave him a backhand and took away his patience.
- Plays Monday, Tuesday, and Friday at 6:45 a.m. at the Caldwell courts with a group of contractors who do not warm up.
- Uses a 16mm control-oriented paddle with a low swing weight, and has replaced the grip tape so often the shop knows his order.
- Has a right rotator cuff that flares when he serves too many overheads; he switched to a lower toss and a slower serve.
- Keeps a mental notebook of what failed in every game. Literally: a small spiral pad he writes in after playing.
- Thinks most paddle upgrades are solving a technique problem with money.
- Married to Dana, a nurse who plays twice a week but refuses to be his partner in league.
- Two kids in college, both of whom beat him easily and will not let him forget it.
- Believes a good drill is one you can do alone in twenty minutes with three balls.
The archive
Stories by Marcus
PLAY BETTER
The third-shot drop is a target problem, not a talent problem
Most recreational players miss the third shot long because they are aiming at the net. Aim four feet deeper and the shot starts landing.
Marcus Bell 6 min read
GEAR
The upgrade I would not buy again
A demo day, a heavier paddle, and six weeks of shoulder pain. What I learned about buying a fix before naming the problem, and the three checks I use now.
Marcus Bell 7 min read
PLAY BETTER
Why your serve keeps landing long
A long serve is rarely an arm problem. It is a toss, a contact point, and a swing that is trying too hard. The fix is a slower serve with a better target.
Marcus Bell 6 min read
Follow
Keep up with Marcus
The whole magazine has a feed at /rss.xml, and The Kitchen Line collects the best of each week into one Thursday email. Per-writer feeds are not live yet, so a feed reader will see everyone at once.