Charles Durbin, 31, a South Carolina native, stands 6’1″ and has always carried his weight well. He excelled at sports, karate as a young man, and then football; he was a four-year high school starter. When his playing days ended, he soon married and started a family with two young children, but despite the extra duties of husband and parent he was able to remain in decent shape, even at 270 pounds.
Then Covid hit. His job shifted to work from home, and like so many people stuck in that situation, his movement decreased, and his eating increased. That new scenario lasted a long time, 18 months.
His mother was the first to say something to him. She was visiting, and she looked at him head to toe. “Son, you are getting so big,” she said, touching his face.
“Southern mothers will always keep it honest,” Durbin said.
He was surprised. He knew he had gained some weight and slowed down a bit, but he had no idea just how noticeable it had become.
“You don’t see it. Others aren’t seeing you. You see yourself every day. Look in the mirror every day. But you don’t realize. I saw the scale in my kitchen and decided to get on it,” he said. “I was 392 pounds.”
Durbin was shocked and a little worried.
“It is a scary number (392), especially when you have a young family to care for and many others that love you.”
Decision 1 – Exercise
Durbin talked to his wife Kris, who also had gained weight during the lockdown. “I told her it was time to do something about this situation. Will you do it with me?” The answer was, of course, yes, and with Covid lockdowns falling off, they chose a two-prong attack.
- The nutritional change they kept simple: an app called Calculator.net, which determined how many calories you can eat in a day and lose weight. “That was it. You still ate whatever you wanted but had to fall into the calorie goal – ice cream, or whatever. I also went to water. Mt. Dew was my go-to drink. That I had to let go.” Durbin said.
- Pickleball
Anderson Courts was a park near Durbin’s home. He noticed some of the tennis courts had been taped off for pickleball, and people were playing. Eventually, Anderson had dedicated pickleball courts and even more people were playing.
The Work
“The plan was to do pickleball together to get in the sun and sweat a bit,” he said. At first, Durbin found moving hard. He and his wife also knew nothing about the sport. “The heat was grueling, especially in South Carolina. You’re feeling it; your body is feeling it. When I first started, I needed Epsom salt baths each night and the following morning. I’m done, I’d tell my wife. She supported me. Then I would continue to push through it.”
The Durbins are a close-knit, competitive family, and they all would play. His little ones, ages 9 and 5, would occasionally hit the ball, his brother would join them, his mom liked to come to watch, and his wife was always there with him. The scale started to move, as did Durbin. He felt better and was looking better, which is when it happened.
Decision 2 – Devotion
“I was there one night with my wife when I saw a group of solid players on the other court. I told her I’m going to ask them if I can play just one game with them,” he said. “They said yes.”
He knew how friendly the pickleball community was but was amazed such a skilled group would take him in for a game. But they didn’t go easy on him. “They handed my butt to me on a platter,” he said. “I was dead tired and felt super confused.”
That group and that game also sparked the athlete inside of him. “My juices were flowing, getting beat. It made me want to learn,” he said.
Like many who want to improve their game, he YouTubed everything from the rules and fundamentals to the tournaments. He continued playing with that original group of solid players and found other games as well. He continued to play with his wife, and they kept improving. He was bowled over by how friendly and welcoming the community was and started playing at other places.
“Everyone was great, and if someone didn’t enjoy taking you in, which was rare, you could tell. If you hit a pop-up or a dink that gets them smashed, you could tell that perhaps they’d like you to improve a bit.”
Durbin improved. He is now a 4.0 player who has also competed successfully at 4.5. He lost 100 pounds and continues to lose weight. He even has a pickleball sponsor, “I’m with a brand called Omega pickleball, part of Engage. I applied for it, and they reviewed me and offered me a sponsorship.”
He also competes with his wife in mixed tournaments. The family travels together to events, and his pickleball addiction has remained excellent family time. Sometimes his wife will sit in the stands for 5 hours, which means the world to him. His father was an accomplished racquetball and ping pong player, and he wished he could have played pickleball with him. His father passed away 10 years ago.
He is a local top dog now and runs a group using an app called Spond. “We welcome beginners to advanced, any level is welcome to join us. I’m not going to be that guy that only plays with the top people. I will always remember the group that let me in.” He loves the community part of pickleball.
“Pickleball is a sport for anyone who wants to come and play. We have a guy Lou, I call him Sweet Lou, he is 80 or 90, out there smacking the ball. Anyone can play and have a blast. It is such a great community. I can’t say enough good things about pickleball. The majority are just great people.”
The Goal
Durbin will play in his first PPA tournament this month, the Peachtree Classic. He continues to practice and work towards his goal of becoming a pickleball pro. Peachtree will be his first sanctioned tournament.
“Pickleball is 80 percent mental, in my opinion. The rest is physical. It is about momentum. If you are getting momentum, you can run through. If you aren’t getting your drops or your drives aren’t going over, the momentum goes, and it is no longer fun.”
He now realizes that pickleball has another level. He reflects on the 400-pound man satisfied with Mt. Dew, happy that his thoughts are now focused on the complexity of a third shot drop and how much practice is required to do it well. The sport has changed his mindset.
“A pro once said that pickleball is fun to play but very hard to master. That is where I am at now, looking to master it.”
His wife isn’t quite the pickleball addict Charles has become and, for that reason, keeps him grounded. As great as pickleball is for them, and as often as he goes to play or practice, she sometimes reminds him to stay home for movie night. He listens and spends quality time with the family, rested and ready to take the next step towards mastering his game.
Images provided courtesy of Charles Durbin.
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