Moore’s 2-day clinic raises pickleball level in CNMI

Nine-time national pickleball champion Daniel Moore gestures as he conducts a clinic last Wednesday at the American Memorial Park pickleball courts.(MARK RABAGO)

Nine-time national pickleball champion Daniel Moore is impressed with how quickly pickleball players on Saipan have picked up the fastest growing sport in the world.

“Saipan players are dedicated and motivated to learn and play the sport. Everyone’s eager and hungry to learn. And I could really see that because people are asking questions and are very interested,” the 26-year-old said after concluding his two-day clinic at the American Memorial Park pickleball courts yesterday. 

Moore, who came to the islands after being invited by the Pickleball Federation of the Northern Mariana Islands, said the group’s growth is incredible considering the sport was only introduced locally a couple of years ago. 

“It’s amazing that you already have a dedicated pickleball court on Saipan during that short amount of time. People really want to learn and improve and that’s nice to see. There’s even some players that I met last year who’ve improved a lot already,” he said.

The co-founder of Pickleball Trips, a company taking pickleball players to world-class destinations around the world, said it’s also nice to see that the pickleball group is attracting young players like Chelsea Henson, who took part in the clinic. 

“Young players very quickly absorb new things. So even today, from the beginning to the end of the lesson, I can see like different shots being played and improving so quickly, so if she has a little bit of teaching and coaching I think she’ll be really good.” 

PFNMI vice president Don Dunlop said the group really hit a homerun with Moore agreeing to conduct a two-day clinic at the AMP.

“The fact that Daniel came here and being such a world class player, now he’s No. 11 in the world with a Dynamic Universal Pickleball Rating of 6.66, that means that we have someone exceptional coming to teach our game and bring it to a better, better level.”

Dunlop said Moore’s impact during the two-day clinic can be summed up by what Micronesian Games table tennis gold medalist Charlie Cheng shared. 

“Charlie said this clinic today has brought his level up another half a point, which is huge. We’re getting responses from people that this is now giving them the confidence to play at a higher level,” said Dunlop. 

Guam’s Dereck D. Alcorn said learning and playing against Moore gave him a bit of perspective on where he stands in the sport.  

“It’s funny because playing in the same pickleball groups on Saipan and Guam you kind of get complacent playing the same people all the time. But then having someone come in with multiple levels of pickleball skills has really opened up my eyes,” he said.

Alcorn, a 41-year-old businessman, said there’s a reason why Moore is one of the top players in the sport. 

“You think they’re winning shots, but no that’s coming back. Because it’s an everyday shot for him. So, we still have a lot to learn. I can’t label it but it’s kind of a feeling that I’m a little bit reenergized and challenged knowing that there’s more work to be done. This is huge for Saipan and then he goes to Guam next, so we’re excited that he’s going there too,” he said.

Cheng, meanwhile, said after Moore’s four-hour marathon clinic yesterday he’s markedly improved as a pickleball player. 

“It’s great and the biggest thing I learned today is that the weakest part of my game is the drop shot and the lob. I believe I improved half a point after this clinic,” said the 55-year-old entrepreneur. 

Henson, the 15-year-old Marianas High School student Moore alluded to earlier, said the skills he imparted to them during the clinic will go a long way in furthering the sport in the islands. 

“Daniel Moore is consistently testing our skills and honing them to be better and helping us go up a level. Hopefully, we’ll retain the information and we will slowly add it to our arsenal of skills.”

And her favorite part of the clinic was Moore’s reset drills because they demonstrated techniques that “were very different from what we’ve seen here on Saipan before. It’s very fun to see new things to learn.”