Keith Jain

Player Bio

Name: Keith Jain

Hometown: Carlsbad, CA

Sponsors: I like to think I sponsor myself at this point, but I am open to offers.

Age: 52

Family: Spouse Cathy, and two sons Jack and Chris

Year started playing pickleball: 2018

Who is your mentor: Honestly, I don’t really have just one mentor. I tend to rely on my closest friends and family for advice and support.

Do you have a pickleball coach: I don’t have a dedicated coach that I work with, but I do play and drill with a number of different players on a regular basis and we all sorta help each other out.

How you got into pickleball: A friend of mine mentioned this sport with a funny name one day and that we should go down and play at the local courts in Carlsbad. Since I had never seen the courts in Carlsbad, I assumed he must have been joking. Then, while up in Lake Tahoe that same summer, I noticed a few people playing, what I assumed was pickleball, at the local park. I took my family hostage to the local Big 5 Sporting Goods, and bought two of the “starter” packs of wooden paddles and we headed to play. After a YouTube video teaching us the basics of the game and a lot of eye-rolling from my kids, we tried our hands at it. After making them miserable for a few hours, I decided it would be best to attempt pickleball at the local Carlsbad courts later that summer. Showing up there with my wood paddle and an Onyx ball, I challenged on and learned I had no idea how to play. But after a few games of beating up on some of the locals, they made me use a real paddle (I think they were embarrassed more for me than they were losing to a guy with a wooden paddle), and I have never looked back.

College Sports: Indoor Volleyball at Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo

Famous person you want to play pickleball with: Steffi Graf

Pickelball accomplishments: You mean besides just making it off the court in one piece almost everyday? Then I’d have to say winning a few 5.0 tournaments in gender doubles at the 19+ and 50+ levels, even as a senior.

What are you most looking forward to this year: Being a part of a team, making some great new friends, playing hard and improving my game, and enjoying the ride along the way.