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Hello and welcome to this special
episode of Pickleball Therapy.

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I'm your host, Tony Roig.

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For this episode, I had the pleasure of
speaking with Lydia Hirt, who is the Vice

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President of Marketing
for Life Time Fitness.

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Now, you may have heard that Life Time
Fitness is involved with Pickleball, but

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what you may not know is that Life Time is
actually the largest facility operator of

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pickleball courts anywhere in the world.

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And also, Life Time has developed what's
called the LT Ball now, which is a new

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ball that's making its way
among pickleball players.

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In this interview, I talk to Lydia about
the growth of the sport, the new ball, as

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well as Lydia's own personal
experience in the sport of pickleball.

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Enjoy the interview.
Hello, Lydia.

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It's a pleasure to have you on
the Pickleball Therapy podcast.

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How are you doing today?
I'm doing well.

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Thanks so much for having me, Tony.

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It's a pleasure to have you on.

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Lydia, I've already let everybody
listening know that you've been at

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Lifetime for about almost a
year now, going on a year now.

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Talk to us a little bit about how you got
into pickleball as an individual, and then

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we'll talk a little bit about your story.

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We had some nice conversation earlier
about you being able to play with

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your father and how awesome that is.

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Let's just work through it a little bit.

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So tell us a little bit how you
got involved in the pickleball.

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So, Tony, like so many other people, I
discovered the ball in

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2021 during the pandemic.

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I was with my family.

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We were renting a place down in Florida
for the winter, and we discovered the ball

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as something that my sister and
I could do with our parents.

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It was fun.
It was safe.

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It got us out the house.

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It got us moving, and it ended up
completely changing the

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course of my entire life.

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That's awesome.

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That's the story of so many
of us, myself included.

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I'm glad you got exposed to pickleball.

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Unfortunately, in circumstances,
but the result was good for you.

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Tell me a little bit about...

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I believe you were working in publishing,
and then you've been

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working at Life Time now.

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How does your experience with pickleball
translate into Life Time's commitment to

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the sport of pickleball
and how it's growth?

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Yeah, great question, Tony.

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I had a fantastic career in book
publishing for around a dozen years.

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I was at Penguin Random House, where I
worked with many of the world's best

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authors in the fiction
and non-fiction space.

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If you're a fan of reading, you probably
have read some books that I

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have been very proud to publish.

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Luckily for me, marketing is transferable.

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When I discovered pickleball, came back to
New York City from Florida, where I live.

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Pickleball in New York, it was
really hard to find at the time.

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Again, this is 2021.

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People were played in
parks, in public settings.

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But if you did not really know how to get
in the door through,

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at that time, it was a lot on team
reach through specific invite codes.

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You really had to know
somebody to get in the door.

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So it was a very popular community.

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You just had to figure out how to get
your foot in the door.

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I got involved on a local level to really
raise that of how to play

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pickleball in New York City.

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I started my Instagram account, Vidia.

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Pickleball, to really help more people
get involved at the community level.

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I was doing all of that in my free time
while I was also working this

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very corporate publishing job.

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From there, I met the two women
who were starting City Pickle.

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My initial foray into pickleball was the
Chief Marketing Officer at City Pickle,

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which did incredible things for
pickleball in New York City.

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From that experience, I met some people
who work at Life Time

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who really with me that opportunity of
Life Time is the world's

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largest pickleball operator.

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At this moment in time, we have
795 courts at 143 clubs nationwide.

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We have millions of people playing We
already have more than 2 million moments

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of participation at our Clubs for
pickleball in the first five

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and a half months of this year.

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So at scale, Life Time's commitment to the
sport of pickleball and growing that

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within our own members and elsewhere is
just incredibly compelling and exciting to

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me as a marketer, as a brand leader, and
somebody who is really committed to the

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sport of pickleball and think it truly
does have the ability to change lives.

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Yeah, that's awesome.

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I can hear there's some there's some
there's some there's some

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play going on right now.

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So that's- There is there's
some going on in the background.

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I'm at our beautiful Pen-1
Club in the heart of Manhattan.

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We're right across the street
from Madison Square Garden.

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We're right above Penn Station.

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Hundreds of thousands of
people walk by every day.

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Our seven pick-up courts
are on ground level.

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Sometimes it's like you're playing on
Championship Court at a public setting

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because you'll have people
peering in through the windows.

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Sometimes we have families
stopping to cheer for us.

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It's a ton of fun.

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That sounds like an awesome facility.

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I might have to check it out when I got
up to New York for the MLP upcoming.

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So I'll swing by and take a look at.
Definitely should.

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So,
Lydia, so it sounds like, obviously,

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Life Time's all in on pick-up,
which is phenomenal, right?

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I'm, and it sounds like
you are too, right?

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Such a fan of growth of this sport because
of the impact that it can have

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for so many folks out there.

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And obviously we need facilities, right?

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No pickleball courts, no pickleball play.

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And so it's great to hear about Life Time's
current and also planned growth

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in the sport of pickleball.

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One of the other things that we talked
about was one of the areas that's

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different parts of the country, you play
with different balls, balls

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have evolved over time.

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You had the Dura, Franklin
has a big in place right now.

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Core has been involved.

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There's all these different
names that you hear about.

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But my understanding is that Life Time has
taken a step in that direction as well?

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Yes.

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Oh, my gosh, Tony, I have
it in my hand right now.

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We have our patent pending LT a ball,
it is an incredible ball to play with.

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So our Lifetime founder and CEO,
Buram Akradi, is a trained engineer.

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So he saw a problem that the ball for a
pickleball does not

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always bounce correctly.
It's not sustainable, it's not durable.

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It's not the speed at
which he likes to play.

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So he went out to solve that problem.

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We now have our
proprietary LTE pickleball.

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You'll actually see, unlike other
pickleballs, it is actually two sides,

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like a roter motor.

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Let me get back to you on
exactly how that's produced.

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But it's two actual sides fit together,
and it has 48 holes, evenly space.

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The holes have champered edges,
which means that this ball rolls.

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It won't get caught in one of
those holes like other balls.

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It also is incredibly sustainable.

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I have personally not
actually seen our ball crack.

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I do know if it does, it cracks along that
seam, it doesn't get those annoying

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hairline fractures where you play a couple
of points and then realize, one of these

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holes is cracked, how far do you go back?

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It is fast.

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It is an incredibly fun ball to play with.

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Ppa, MLP Pro, Zane Navrittal just recently
did an entire YouTube review of the LT

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pickle ball after it was played with at
the PPA event in Peachtree, and

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he had incredible things to say.

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He did say this is the best bouncing ball
with that most consistent bounce

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that he has ever played with.

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We at Life Time are incredibly excited to
really be fixing something that we

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perceive to be as a problem with the ball
to make that ball a better experience for

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players of all levels, and also to
hopefully make it more sustainable ball

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that breaks less, you need to replace it
less, which is both cost savings

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and better for the environment.

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Yeah, that makes a lot of sense.

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And Zane definitely knows the sport.

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He's been at it for a long time.

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And if Zane likes it, then I like it.

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I haven't had a chance
to play with it yet.

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I know, I believe Dan is sending me a few,
and we're going to be trying them out

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and then giving our feedback on it.

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But certainly the fact that the PPA and
the MLP are willing to put the ball in

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play says a lot as well about the ball.

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And I believe that
this episode is dropping sometime around

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We've owned the PPA and MLPs out in San
Clemente, so they're going to

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be using the balls out there.

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So we're going to be on the look out to
see how the ball performs out in

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the San Clemente West Coast weather.

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It had some East Coast weather in Atlanta,
now we're getting some West Coast weather,

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and I'm sure the ball will do great there.
Exactly.

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So it will, as you're mentioning, the LT,
the ball will be used at the PPA in

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Rancher San Clemente and then
MLP immediately following.

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So we will be seeing a ton of
buzz and feedback from the pros.

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We have heard some very notable top
players Our big fans of how it plays.

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So really excited to see the
ball continue to get experience.

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Yeah, that'll be awesome.

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And I'm always a big fan of anything that
makes our sport stronger,

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anything that improves our sport.

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And obviously, just like we need courts,
we need balls to play.

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And if the balls last longer,
kudos for that development.

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So that's a great news that your founder
took some time to focus on

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that, some of his attention.

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Lydia, share with us a little bit about
your You and I were talking

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about your father, right?

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And your father, a lot of players out
there, the sport getting younger, right?

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But still a lot of the players in
our sport are a little bit older.

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And I believe you said your father
was in his 70s, I believe, early 70s.

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Tell us a little bit about
your father's experience.

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You just saw him and your
interactions with your father in the sport

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of pickleball and how that's improved his
quality of life, I guess,

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or his experiences.

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All great questions, Tony.

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So my parents, my sister and I all
discover pick a ball

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together at the same time.

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My dad and I have really become
fully pick a ball addicts.

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We play as much as possible.

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We love to play together.

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My dad just turned 71 over the weekend, so
he came to New York City along with my

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mom, and we played pick
a ball every single day.

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It was incredibly fun.

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So on Saturday, it was myself, my fiancé,
one of our friends, and my dad got

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together here at Life Time Pen, and we for
an hour and a half, my dad and

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I won three out of five games.

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That is not to embarrass my
fiancé and our friend via.

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That is just because pick a ball is one of
those sports that it really does put

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precision over power, even though I will
also say my dad does get quite

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a bit of speed on that ball.

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But at 71 years old, my dad and I together
were able to meet, we were able to

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consistently win against and show up and
perform against two middle-aged

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men, which is incredibly satisfying.

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When we were leaving the game or when we
were wrapping up the day, Viet, our friend

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who played with us, was like,
Wow, your dad is so good.

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Not necessarily what you're expecting for
a 71-year-old man, he tore his

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meniscus last year playing pickleball.

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So he shows up, he wears his knee brace,
he wears an ankle brace for his Achilles,

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and yet he can still
have a strong presence.

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He can feel really good
about how he plays.

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He can still show up on that court.

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And from my dad being active in his
pickleball community, he and my mom moved

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to Philadelphia around two
and a half years ago now.

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And their social life really originated
through people they met on the

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pickleball courts out of the gate.

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It was those early relationships that
through which they found other friends.

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They now found volunteer opportunities.

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They also are very involved in Bridge.

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So clearly, my parents are
just gamers in general.

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But pickleball really brought so much
community, friendship,

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physical activity to their lives, and just
that sense of togetherness when

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they're moving to a new community.

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I love to travel, but I prefer to really
travel to places where there is more

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pickleball because that way, even if I'm
going by myself or with friends or with my

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fiance, we'll inevitably find more
people that we enjoy through pickleball.

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Whether that means we're actually going to
get a meal or a drink with them later or

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even just hearing what their
recommendations are in the place that they

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call home is just incredibly fruitful.

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Yeah, that's an awesome way to engage with
the sport is, the sport

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has such a ripple effect right in our
lives, not just, okay, we

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get to play this thing.

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It's all the other benefits that we get
from it, socially travel and otherwise.

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And I've had the pleasure, me and my wife,
we had the pleasure of the same

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interaction with this wonderful sport.

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One last question, Lydia.

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I know that you have
a busy schedule today.

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What are you guys seeing at Life Time in
terms of if you have this up your head,

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like growth of the sport
in terms of engagement.

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I know you mentioned the two million, I
think you call them moments

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and things like that.

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But are you guys seeing that to be like a
constant for you guys where

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the courts are in use?

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Obviously, again, we're
hearing the courts.

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We're recording this about
midday, and so it's active.

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Are you guys still seeing that spread out
throughout the country,

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the same demand growth?

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So Life Time's Year over year
numbers just continue to increase.

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Our percentage of players is up.

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Our percentage of members engaging
in pick-up all is increased.

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As you're mentioning, we're recording
this in the middle of the day on a Monday.

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Our courts here at Penn in the heart
of Manhattan are always packed.

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You'll hear about peak times versus off
peak here in New York,

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it is always peak times.

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We've even extended our club operating
hours by an hour so that we are open until

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midnight during the weekend until 11: 00
on the weekends because there is

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that much demand for pickleball.

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We're seeing that across the nation.

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We are continuing to build more courts.

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We want lifetime to be
your home away from home.

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We offer the best saunas, the best spas,
incredible recovery, small group training.

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We really bring the boutique-style
fitness class to you.

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But then also with pickleball on top of
it, we understand that Pickaball can be

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competitive or it can
be really more social.

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We want offer our members and our
community basically whatever

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they want under one roof.

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I know people that stay at Life Time.

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I work from here, and they're
here just as long as I am.

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It's a luxury experience.

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Like my Life Time is that athletic country
club, so they are able to pay for their

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membership while also spending a
significant amount of time

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here all day, every day.

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I love to see it.

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People have their routines down.

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They pick a ball, then they to the cafe
and get their smoothie, then they take

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some calls, then maybe they get back on
the court, then maybe they go back to that

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cafe to get lunch a little
bit later in the day.

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And in between,
you see those people you know.

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You're waiting from across the court.

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I sit here with my headphones out on
on calls as you mentioned, courtside.

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And I see people and friends I know who
are wildly waving from across the court.

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And it's like, I'm on a call.

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And then sometimes I'll be on an important
call and all of a sudden a ball

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will come right in my head.

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So it keeps That keeps us on our toes.

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But ultimately,
the love for a pickle ball within Life Time

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just continues to grow and really
motivates us to be delivering on that best

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possible experience, whether that is
you're traveling to one of our courts.

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In Atlanta, Life Time has over 60 courts.

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My fiancé and I were traveling to Costa
Rica over the holidays to

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play pickle in Costa Rica.

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We ended up getting stuck in Atlanta for
24 hours through a misconnection

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due to a Delta breaking system.

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And guess what we did?

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We went to one of our Lifetime clubs and
got an extra day in of pick-up all in.

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Was it in Costa Rica?
No.

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But was it really great to
be able to enjoy that type?

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Make the most of it, see some other
beautiful lifetime experiences,

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and pick up that paddle?

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So we definitely...

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It was not a waste of day.

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That is awesome.

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And that's awesome about
lifetime commitment.

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If someone wants to follow you,
do you I don't have your ledia.

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Pickaball on Instagram?
You're still using that thing?

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Yes, it's ledia.
Pickaball.

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I need to pick up my
newsletter again, too.

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I am really just excited about everything
I look at as the pickaball lifestyle.

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I love fashion.

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I love pickleball clothes.

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I now wear skorts, I
think 90% of the time.

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If I have to put on what I call hard
clothes, it really just throws me off.

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I think there is so much to that
community, to that lifestyle of pickaball,

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and really how it can really
touch every of your life.

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And then I'm also really lucky to have a
career that also highlights the business

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side, because I do just think that as the
sport continues to grow and evolve, we're

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still early in the future of pickle.

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I think pickleball is just
going to continue to rise up.

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And I really feel so privileged to be able
to see it from both sides, to be able to

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experience pickleball from the fun, the
friendship, that joy in community, but

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then also from that business side, and how
lifetime can continue to grow and develop

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those core experiences, which really just
continue to bring more and more desirable

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into our brand, into our really
incredible memberships.

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Yeah, that's awesome.
So, Lydia, that's pickleball.

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We'll put it in the show notes.

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Then Is the ball available
yet for the general public?

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00:17:17,400 --> 00:17:19,295
So if someone wants to try it out, they
can go ahead and get some,

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or is that still coming up?

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Yep, you can get the pickle ball on our LT
shop, and also we are building a

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relationship with Pickleball Central.

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So everybody is welcome to
experience the LT pickleball.

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Please do.
I would love your thoughts.

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00:17:34,240 --> 00:17:36,200
I cannot wait to hear
what you think, actually.

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00:17:36,225 --> 00:17:39,880
It is so much fun when I play with other
balls now for any reason,

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they feel a little slow and heavy.

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The timing is off, whereas this
ball, it is so much fun to play with.

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And again, it doesn't break.

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So I carry them around in
my bag everywhere I go.

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Sometimes, depending on where it is, I'll
leave them with other players I meet

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because I know it has a long life ahead.

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Love it.

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00:18:01,320 --> 00:18:02,895
So we'll put that in
the show notes as well.

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So if you want to check out the LT
pickleball, and if you want

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to follow Lydia on Instagram.

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Lydia, it's been a pleasure
having you on here.

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It sounds like they need a fourth out
there on the court, so

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I'm going to let you go.
Really appreciate your time.

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00:18:13,120 --> 00:18:14,175
Thank you so much, Tony.

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I really appreciate it, too.