Meet The Pros - Miok Lee

Meet The Pros – Miok Lee

We love to feature local folks who are doing a tremendous job on the courts. Miok Lee is the real deal! She loves this game and her enthusiasm is contagious. Enjoy!

Can you list for us your major wins so we can correctly introduce you to our readers? 

2017 Int’l Indoor Pickleball Championships:
    Senior Women’s Doubles Open with Julie Haney – Gold
    Senior Mixed Doubles Open with Scott Edwards - Gold
    Women’s Doubles Open with Cat Grant - Bronze
2017 Yakima pickleball Classic hosted by Tyson McGuffin - Silver
2017 Grand Canyon State Games - Mixed Doubles 50+ with Tony Tollenar - Silver
2017 Tommy Wong Memorial Tournament:
     Mixed Doubles 5.0 with Justin Rodgers - Silver
     50 + Mixed Doubles Skill 5.0 with Ross Holcomb - Bronze
2017 USAPA Southwest Regional Tournament:
    Mixed Doubles Skill 5.0, 19-49 with Joey Farias – Silver
    Women’s Doubles Skill 5.0, 50-59 with Susan Baze - Gold

2016 International Indoor Pickleball Championships:
    Women’s Doubles 19+with Lynn Syler – Gold
    Mixed Doubles 50+ with Roger Archer – Gold
    Women's Doubles Open with Lynn Syler - Bronze
2016 Western Oregon Pickleball Classic - Mixed Doubles Skill Group 5.0 - Silver
2016 US Open Pickleball Championships - Mixed Doubles 50+ with David Redding - Bronze
2015 State Games of Oregon -
    Mixed Doubles 19+ Gold with Dalton Vavra
    Women’s Doubles 5.0 with Lynn Syler – Silver
    Mixed Doubles 5.0 with Dalton Vavra - Silver
2015 4th Annual Rally in the Valley - Mixed Doubles 5.0 with Wesley Gabrielsen - Gold
2014 Timberhill Winter Blast - Mixed Doubles 5.0 with Enrique Ruiz - Gold

What paddle do you play with and why?
I love the Selkirk Pro S1G+. It has a large sweet spot and the control for the short game is excellent. The power is good for put-aways.

What’s your pickleball story? How were you introduced to pickleball?
I was introduced to pickleball at our local YMCA in Gig Harbor about 6 years ago. My husband Ken and I like to stay active and wanted to establish some more regular play time at the YMCA. At the time, we were actively playing tennis and badminton. We had setup some clinic time at the YMCA to introduce badminton to folks but there were very few people that were interested to play. One day, some pickleball players dropped in during our badminton clinic and introduced us to the pickleball. They were looking for players and asked us to join in. We started with the wooden paddles. We quickly understood why folks like this game! We don’t know of any other sport where we laugh and enjoy the game so much, and it is so easy to start to play this game, starting out at Level 3.0 level.

What’s your preference – playing indoor or outdoor?

Outdoor… I’m just more used to playing outdoors now. I love the fresh air.

Do you like singles or doubles better? Why?

Doubles! I used to play singles when I was younger but you need a lot of stamina for singles game and I don’t have any more for the level I like to play at. My hat is off to the folks who play singles.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7DveW42fQ4Q

What’s your favorite place to play? Why?

Indoors it’s George and Kathleen Raft’s place called “The Court.' It's very nice. They have recently built an enclosed pickleball court and they often let me play there. For outdoors, I love my local place: Sehmel Homestead Park. It is a beautiful park. It has painted lines over tennis courts and a basketball court where we use portable nets. We have 9 courts! You folks are all invited to come and play with us.

What’s your secret sauce? Any tips for players?

I feel confident with my dink game and I like the extreme angle shots. For a tip: practice, practice and go with your high percentage shots. The more you practice, the more high percentage shots you can choose from.

What’s your day job?

I’m one of those that are lucky and don’t have a job outside of the house, so, pickleball!

How many hours a week do you play? How do you make time to play?

I play at least 12 hrs a week and I can move all my other tasks around my pickleball play.

Any lucky rituals before a big tournament?

Nope.

Do you have any pickleball goals you’d like to share?

I’m still learning, so I would like to continue to improve and would like to win at Nationals and again at the US Open.

Anything else you’d like to share about your experience being one of the best pickleball players in the world?

I’m flattered that I may be considered one of the best players in the world, but I don’t think I am. There are so many more better players than me. I am so grateful to Selkirk for supporting me. They are an amazing family and company!  I would like to just give a quick shout out and thanks to the great players that partnered with me like Tyson McGuffin, Dalton Vavra, Wesley Gabrielsen, Joey Farias, Lynn Syler, Jan Yu and so many others. I really love this game and that should be the biggest take away: Enjoy the game!