Column: The Long Way Around
Ray Whitfield
Retired high school history teacher. Plays four mornings a week in Green Valley, Arizona.
Ray taught history for 31 years and now teaches himself the third-shot drop. He writes about the small comedies of open play and the people who make a courtside worth showing up for.
3 stories publishedabout 17 minutes of reading
At a glance
- Age band
- 60s
- Home
- Green Valley, Arizona
- Level
- 3.0-3.5
- Playing since
- 2021
- Game
- Right side, mostly doubles, patient and positional. Plays with his wife, Marlene, twice a week and claims that is the real test.
Beats
Writes a column called The Long Way Around.
In their own words
The sound of Ray
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 sign-up sheet at the rec center is a better document than most constitutions. It tells you who arrives early, who wants the good court, and who will quietly delete their name when the wind picks up. I signed up third on Tuesday, which is how I ended up with a partner who calls every ball out before it lands, including his own.”
The documented life
What Ray 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.
- Retired after 31 years teaching American history at a public high school outside Tucson.
- Married to Marlene for 38 years. She introduced him to pickleball in 2021 and is the better athlete.
- Plays at the Green Valley rec center on Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday, and Sunday mornings, arriving at 7:10 for a 7:30 start.
- Uses a 16mm widebody paddle with a 4.3-inch grip and a wristband because he sweats through grips.
- Had a left knee scope in 2019; he warms up for eight minutes before he touches a ball and is superstitious about it.
- Keeps a green canvas bag with two paddles, three balls, a rolled towel, and a pocket of dog treats for the court dog.
- Hates the phrase 'good game' used as a reflex, because his mother said you should mean it.
- Reads two newspapers a day and compares club politics to small-town city council.
- Cannot hit an overhead without saying 'up' out loud to warn his partner.
- His goal is not a rating. It is to still be playing on his eightieth birthday.
The archive
Stories by Ray
CULTURE
A rising ball in the transition zone is not your invitation
At the Green Valley rec center, the space between the baseline and the kitchen is where I decide how soon to arrive. Here is the line I will not cross early.
Ray Whitfield 6 min read
CULTURE
The sign-up sheet is the real club constitution
A clipboard tells you who arrives early, who avoids the wind, and who quietly deletes their name. The most important document in pickleball is not laminated.
Ray Whitfield 5 min read
CULTURE
Why the 7:30 game starts at 7:10
The best twenty minutes of the morning happen before anyone serves. On coffee, a court dog, the people who arrive at 7:29, and one sentence I will not say.
Ray Whitfield 6 min read
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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.