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Jesper Jensen

@pickleball_librarian

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📍Pictona, Florida
JESPER10 for 10% off at @crbnpickleball & @pickleballshoe - Commission will be donated to the Alzheimer's Association✌️

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No pickleball courts, but excellent moussaka🇬🇷

#Zakynthos #pickleball #crbnpickleball by @pickleball_librarian

Danish-American pickleball-fanatic, living in Daytona, documenting my pickleball adventures through IG✌️

Love most sports. Played recreational soccer, Handball, hockey, badminton, and tennis, but pickleball is life.

#pickleballislife #franklinpickleball #crbnpickleball #franklinsports #crbnpickleball by @pickleball_librarian

Pictona Open gold in mixed with Michelle! We went 8-1 on the day, earning a rematch in the final on Championship Court against the team that beat us in pool play. It was an awesome day – lots of competitive matches, ups and downs, incredible comebacks, a perfectly played semifinal, and plenty of laughter on the court. A huge thank you to Lane and Katy for the for the pre-tournament practice, video analysis, and support to get us prepped! Obviously also a big thank you to Michelle for being such a fantastic partner on every level. Sunday was men’s doubles in a first-time partnership with Evan. Our bracket was combined with the younger age groups, who gave us a tough run - dang, those teenagers can play! Even though I didn’t think Evan and I reached our full potential together, we did go undefeated against all the teams in our 50+ age group to take gold in our division. Once again, thanks to Evan for a super fun day and a great tournament. I don’t say this often, but overall, I was really happy with how I performed in this one, and a lot of the credit goes to @dr.lane_o, aka Coach Lane for helping me tweak things, and to @dawgparkpickleball, too - playing in those events is making me a better player. Now, I’m so pumped for PPA Daytona coming up in a few weeks. Let’s go! by @pickleball_librarian

Runner-up in Men’s Doubles in Copenhagen Open with @sorenklix_pb !🎉

It’s always awesome playing pickleball on my trips to Denmark. This time, I got to join some great guys in Frederikshavn from @sportshallen.dk and @krifpickleball —thanks for meeting up, and I hope we can do it again next time I visit!

As always, I trained with @aalborgpickleballclub_ and feel like I’ve become an honorary member. Thank you so much for your generosity and kindness. I really enjoy playing with you guys and truly appreciate the fun and friendships.

The highlight, though, was Copenhagen Open. It was my first time partnering with Søren, who was an absolute beast on the court. I definitely felt the nerves early on, but Søren was so calm and supportive. After a shaky start with a few communication errors and an insane comeback, we found our groove and peaked in the semifinal against Samir and Rickard, two great players from Sweden. Unfortunately, we couldn’t quite sustain that level in the final, where we were a step behind the whole match against another strong Swedish team. Congrats to Bjørn and Johan - just too good!

I was also supposed to play Mixed Doubles with @janne_theilgaard , but I had to pull out due to a hand injury. It was a major bummer because I was really looking forward to competing with her! Forgive me, Janne… next time I visit, we’ll give it another go!

I feel so grateful to connect with Danish (and Swedish) pickleballers whenever I visit. It was wonderful seeing everyone again and meeting new friends who love the game as much as I do. While most of the courts are still (let’s be honest) less than ideal, it’s awesome to see how much the sport and the level of play are growing.

Until next time, friends!✌️🫶🇩🇰 by @pickleball_librarian

So stoked to have @dawgparkpickleball join Pictona this week for the first time, and the inaugural events were absolute fire.

On Monday, I played in the Prime 50+ division and had a blast. We were 36 in the bracket, with strong players traveling in from Jacksonville, Orlando, and Gainesville, which made for stellar competition. I went undefeated in the first round robin, then got teamed up with the top dawgs, Larry and his gang, and was humbled. It was incredible playing with them and left me hungry for more.

I was seeded 6th after the second round robin and drafted Jose for the Alpha playoffs. He was awesome, but we lost in the quarters (which still haunts me). We bounced back, won our back draw matches, and took 5th place overall. Super happy to see my buddies Daniel and Mike crush it in the Bravo playoffs - well done, guys!

On Tuesday, I dropped by to watch the young Premier Alphas compete, and the level was just insane - they just play a different kind of pickleball than the Hounds.

If you live in Central/Northeast Florida and haven’t played a Dawg Park event yet, you’re missing out. And if you’re a traveling player passing through who loves competitive pickleball, definitely check them out - they host weekly events across multiple locations. by @pickleball_librarian

Twoey backhand inside in (or middle), from the left, is one of my favorite shots. Wish I had ALW’s ankle-breaking cross-court dink to add to the arsenal. by @pickleball_librarian

MLP Orlando with @d.jack53 - such a fun time and the pickleball level was off the chart 📈 by @pickleball_librarian

Thursday night, Daniel and I broke out of our usual yard and headed to Jacksonville for our first Dawg Park event. We played in the Hounds division (40+), which meant no puppies allowed!

The format was unlike any experience I’ve had before. It’s a pure merit-based system designed to keep the games competitive and balanced. You play 6 individual round-robin games, shuffling partners every single round. Talk about a lesson in barking up the right tree - you have to adapt fast, support your fellow hound, and fetch a win together. Adapting quickly and being a good partner is an underrated skill, but absolute key in this format.

I had a great run in pool play and earned the right to draft my playoff partner. Naturally, I picked my main man, D-dawg, but sadly, we got run over by a stronger pack in the single-elimination bracket.

Best part about the whole thing was the community; huge shoutout to the Dawg Park team, the Fruit Cove crew, and all the established players for being incredibly welcoming to the new dogs on the block.

To my Pictona peeps, if you’re tired of the traditional over-priced tournaments where you sit around all day waiting to play, @dawgparkpickleball is the real deal—super organized, competitive non-stop games, and hardly any downtime. Can’t wait for the next one, and I’m sure more Pictona folks will be rolling up with us to more events in the future. by @pickleball_librarian

Some pickle recap: Two rough tourneys with Daniel and one with Trevor - both in open age brackets…never again [except in Denmark]. The young kids are just on a different level, so sticking to 50+ moving forward where I’m the young buck😅 The level at yesterday’s moneyball was insane for a 4.0-4.75 bracket, and happy with the way we fought. Daniel and I also played a 4.5 tournament and earned silver - really happy with that result. The highlight, though, was going to Jacksonville to play with and get some coaching from Karin, who is just a stellar player, teacher, and more importantly, just an awesome person. We learned a lot and had so much fun. Also thanks to Backhand Banana-bending Mikie for joining us - hope to play with you again another time. No tournaments coming up for a while - too dang hot and humid here, so back to drilling and working on getting better for the Fall tournaments and my trip to Denmark, where I’ll get to play Copenhagen Open again - can’t wait. Swipe for some fun points and a few highlights (mainly mine, because this is my account😂) from Picklerage with Daniel, Karin, and Mikie. Peace ✌️ by @pickleball_librarian

Pickleball in DK🎉🇩🇰 Randers Open is a part of DFT pickleball State Tour, and I got to compete with my friend, Brian, in 50+ where we battled our way to take gold - it especially meant a lot sharing an experience like that with a good old friend. In mixed, I played my second tournament with Anne and we went undefeated in pool play, won the quarterfinal, and then lost in the semis to @thordue and @idahasselbalch - two incredible players. It was a great experience playing such a stellar team. Unfortunately, we lost a close bronze medal match to Emil og @cammi888 - we just never really got going and they were the better team on the day. Overall a great tournament, and I hope I can attend again next year. @kenneth.m.pedersen.7 always does a great job organizing everything, and it’s so awesome reconnecting with Danish pickleball friends and meeting new ones.

During my DK trip, I once again got to join a training session with @aalborgpickleballclub_ - thanks APC peeps for always being so generous and welcoming. I’m super grateful that I get to play with you guys when I visit Denmark✌️

Lastly, I played some outdoor, lowkey rec games with my dear friends Brian, Tine, and Kim, and it was the most fun I’ve had on the court in a long time - it reminded me of when I first started playing pickleball. To top it all off, I got to jump on the padel court with my brother and my nephews. Those boys are simply the best❤️ Until next time, DK🫶 by @pickleball_librarian

Won $$$ at Proton @matchpointopen, so most def adding pro status to the resume😅 Competed in a stacked field of 32 teams, first time partnership with Robert, and second oldest duo in the bracket. Odds were not exactly in our favor, but after a shaky start with some miscommunication and unforced errors, we found our groove, were disciplined, consistent, and just got better throughout the day. Robert was solid as a rock and can drop and dink anyone to death (he is Pictona’s rec version of Colin Johns), which caught a lot of these young guys off guard - several of our opponents were better players than us, but we played them strategically smart (brain over brawn), and stuck to our game plan. It paid off...literally. In the final we got outplayed by two talented kids from Arizona - they were just too good and deserved the win..super nice guys too. Huge thanks to Trevor, Randy, and Shari for the support and for braving the cold and cheering us on all day - you are the best! by @pickleball_librarian

This is the most fun I’ve ever had playing singles. I hadn’t played this discipline in a long time and recently told a friend that my singles days were over. But right before registration closed for the PPA Daytona I decided to give it another go. I’m so glad it did - it was a blast and the guys I played were all super nice. This was such a great experience, I might even try it again in 26…moving into the 50+ age bracket. No more playing these young guns - my time to be the young buck again✌️😅 by @pickleball_librarian