LT: A lot of us have significant others, spouses, that we play with so it’s always interesting to know!
AA: I like playing on her side because we are connected and that’s how you start to really understand what your partner is like and what you can and can’t do and to start morphing into their game. It’s cool to be on the same side of the net and that way you won’t feel guilty body bagging her! I mean, she has a few shots that are unique and then there are other things that don’t translate so well. She wants to play everything pretty traditionally. She’s always expressed her energy and her blood pressure through physical output so she was like a racehorse on the tennis court, but for me, my energy was always shot making when I was on the tennis court. It was about taking the ball and doing something with it.
So some things translate a lot easier when playing pickleball, but it’s fun watching her get past that first part and then seeing her get into her stride in this game. She just started playing singles after starting with doubles and you know, there’s one thing I don’t know how this sport works with someone who struggles with their knees. So she’s being careful and she has a cyst in her knee so once that thing gets drained and her knee feels good, she wants to play singles.
LT: Andre, just so you know, that was also a singles challenge right there for Bahram to play Steffani in singles. Are your kids approaching you to play pickleball or are you approaching them?
AA: Well, my kids – my son is a senior at USC and our daughter, thank God still lives with us at home as education and school wasn’t her thing. She’s artistic and does her own thing, she’ll get out there and play. My son plays baseball so when he hits something, he’s not thinking about it staying within a certain perimeter.
LT: He likes to be out there with the foul balls!
Bahram, how did you and Andre meet and what makes you excited to bringing Andre on board as the Chair for Raquet and Paddle Sports here at Life Time?
BA: We started working together 15 years ago and we continued to grow as really close friends. I have all the love and admiration for his intelligence and athleticism. I have always loved Andre and I have always hoped that when the right time came, that we would be able to partner together and to do something good that would be for the greater good. Life Time is the largest provider of pickleball and we wanted to be able to continue to deliver and offer tennis and pickleball and there was no better person that I could imagine to be the chair of our tennis and pickleball board. With his vision, his insight and I called him and asked what he thought about this. When he told me about his vision and how it would utilize our platform, it was a no-brainer for me.
LT: Andre, we are approaching the 30th Anniversary of you winning your very first US Open. What kind of memories does that bring back for you?
AA: Well, I had hair.
LT: Where were we then? Was it touching your shirt?
AA: The hair was going past the shirt!
You know, it’s such a profound place in my professional journey as well as in my personal journey. You guys not only watched me grow up, you helped me grow up. You really did. I was 18 years old playing Jimmy Connors at night giving him the beating that he deserved! Someone yelled out, “Jimmy, he’s a bum, you’re a legend!” and I remember thinking that I got the legend part, but what? Then fast forward and I got into something that I had done my whole life in front of those people and then down the road after my journey, saying goodbye when I finally retired.
LT: Well I mean, we have an exhibition coming up shortly today!
AA: Yeah, I was told about that! I’m ready!
LT: On that note, let’s bring in our 4 JOOLA Pros, Anna Bright, Collin Johns, Ben Johns, and JOOLA newcomer, Tyson McGuffin! Come on down here! So we’re going to ask our pros a few questions right now so that we can get to know them a little better and then we will head down to the Life Time Pickleball courts as we have a a whole stadium court set up. I wonder if you thought about that this morning Andre?
AA: Ok, I’ m nervous enough!
LT: I mean, it’s almost like a US Open crowd!
So starting off with Anna since you have a microphone in your hand, what excites you the most about pickleball?
ANNA BRIGHT: I think you know, it’s so cool that everybody is here to experience the joy of pickleball and to see us and to watch it! What I love most is the growth of it and not knowing where the sport is going to take us! When I first started playing 2 and a half years ago, I never thought that I would be here in NYC to play a tournament here to meet people and to talk about this game! There’s on way to really know how this game will look in a year or 2 years especially since you have the Pro level and I feel like we’re always kind of being pulled around on a chain by the powers that be, but it’s crazy to see the growth of the amateur game and I hope that we will be back here next year and will need more seating! I’m kind of excited and I don’t even know for what specifically, but I can’t wait to see where it goes in the next few years.
LT: Bright future, Anna Bright! Hopefully we will need more seating and have more people in here next year.
Tyson, I’ve watched you drill on the courts and a 2 hour session turns into a 3 hour session and I think that your T-shirts were more wet than is humanly possible. What are you working on to improve your pickleball game? More specifically, to beat these 3 people around you actually and to beat up on Mr. Agassi today?
TYSON MCGUFFIN: Yeah I think that for me, I have lost some top matches this year. So I think that walking in and raising the level mentally and being a little tougher in those moments. I think that at the highest level, we are all really talented and it’s just about that when the going gets tough and your back is against the wall, you just have to mentally lock in and dial in. I want to say thank you New York and let’s go New York Knicks!
LT: Collin, you’re a professional pickleball player. There was a time when you were not a professional pickleball player.
What advice would you give to somebody that is trying to be a professional pickleball player or what's one thing that was really integral in your path as you went Pro?
COLLIN JOHNS: Um, being Ben’s brother probably is a good start. The tennis journey, I did that for many years and then coming over to pickleball, I think that that just let me witness that I was playing a different sport. There are certain things that are going to help you as background significantly, but there are other things that you have to learn how to change. If you look at the players that have had the most success, especially relatively rapidly – they are very open to learning the game and that was really good for me. It was certainly a credit to the guy on my left that helped me along the way. But, the event today and one I did yesterday, it’s just amazing to see where the sport has grown since I started playing. I’m very excited about being here today.
LT: Speaking of the guy to your left, Ben, you’re the middle of 7 children! What was it like growing up? Was it constant sports and competition of those 7 kids? Who was the most competitive?
BEN JOHNS: Yeah, I grew up as 1 of 7 kids, but also 1 of the 2 boys as we have 5 sisters so it was primarily just sports with this guy. Pickleball is the only thing that I ever won. So, I’m really just taking my sweet time with it! He is 6 years older and it was very competitive. So when you have someone that much older than you, you just get used to losing at everything! But it was a great upbringing and I wouldn’t do it over in any other way. I was very grateful and it all led me here!
IG @bahram.akradi
@lifetime.life
@agassi
@annabright.pb
@benjohns_pb
@collinjohns_pb
@tysonmcguffin
PHOTOGRAPHY COURTESY | Life Time
