“Couples Therapy” In the Kitchen: Mike & Kelly Deese’s Pickleball Journey
Spotlight on Honolulu pickleball couple Kelly and Mike Deese
How a shared love for pickleball became their favorite pastime—and yes, sometimes a test of patience.
Honolulu—Playing as partners in life and on the pickleball court isn’t always as easy as it looks—but for Mike and Kelly Deese, it’s been a pretty fun ride. The Makiki couple started playing in 2021 thanks to a friend’s invite and quickly found themselves hooked.
“We got addicted after the first game,” they laugh. What began as casual rec play turned into something much more: a shared passion, a weekly ritual, and a new lens through which to grow together.
Like many couples who dive into pickleball, there were a few growing pains along the way. Kelly admits she used to get frustrated when Mike offered pointers during play, and their lighthearted bickering sometimes followed them off the court. But through it all, they’ve found d a rhythm—both on and off the court.
These days, Mike helps coach a weekly drill group, and they both play 5–6 times a week, still pushing each other to level up.
Without further ado, please meet Mike and Kelly Deese!
Currently residing in: Makiki
Where did you grow up, and what high school did you go to?
Kelly: I grew up in Honolulu and went to high school at Saint Andrew’s Priory.
Mike : I was born in Hawaii and moved to Palau because my parents joined the Peace Corps. At 6, my family moved to South Florida where I went to elementary school and eventually moved back to Hawaii when I was 12. I graduated from Kalani High School.
How did you discover pickleball, and when did you start playing?
In 2021, we both discovered pickleball through our friend Dana who took lessons and wanted a small group of people to play with so she taught us the game. We got hooked after the first game lol. And just like that, we would meet weekly to play. 🤣
Who started playing first?
We started exactly at the same time.
How often, if at all, do you play together?
We play together all the time. Mike sometimes plays rec games in the morning after he drops me off to work. I usually get off early and we go drill or play with different groups of PB friends.
How easy, frustrating, awesome, etc is it to play together? Do you have similar personalities on and off the court?
Kelly: Mike played different sports growing up that carry over well to pickleball. He played recreational tennis in middle school and badminton and ping-pong. Also club and beach volleyball. So it was pretty easy for him to advance in the sport quickly.
For me, I didn’t play any racket sports growing up. In the beginning, I would get frustrated often when we played together and I would become irritated if he told me what to do. I would be like “ I know! I know!” and then we would start to bicker on the court which would continue off the court. I think some couples can relate to that. We used to call that “couples therapy” and it was a running joke amongst our PB couples friends because they all understood how sometimes hard it is to play with your spouse.
Now I try to keep my emotions in check. I think of him as my coach and I also try to just have fun and keep things positive. It’s always a work in progress, but at the end of the day, playing together as a couple is a really awesome thing.
Mike: I try to be more supportive on the court and more encouraging during our games even under stress. We really appreciate being able to play together as most couples don’t have a sport that they can do together.
What do you love most about pickleball?
Mike: I love the diversity of the game and that it’s not a sport that has been solved yet as the strategies keep changing in the game as the sport progresses.
Kelly: One of the blessings is we have this sport in common and we get to hang out a lot on and off the court. And we've met some awesome people from all over who have become really good friends.
How often do you play?
We play or drill 5-6 times a week. Mike plays more often than I do. We mostly play at the Nuuanu YMCA and other gyms for open play games and outside parks for our weekly friend games and drilling group.
What paddle are you using, and what do you like about it?
Kelly: I play with the Paddletek Bantam ALW-C 14.3mm for a nice balance of power and control.
Mike: I play with Selkirk Power Air S2. It feels like a large ping pong paddle because it has a lot of spin and is fast in paddle battles at the kitchen.
What is the next goal you’re working toward (in pickleball or otherwise)?
Mike: Currently, I help coach our weekly drill group with an amazing group of ladies. The goal is to get them to a 4.0+ level through implementation of good court strategy, fast hands at the kitchen, “paddle touch” drops to get to the kitchen, good dinking strategy and fast counters against speed ups.
Kelly: We all want to level up our game and work on consistency.
What do you do outside of pickleball (hobbies, work, school, etc.)?
We love to travel and spend time with our family, friends and our dogs. We have two Pomeranians who love taking really long walks and riding around in their stroller. Lol!
Anything else on your mind?
It's really cool to see our friends progress in their pickleball journey and some of them even winning medals in tournaments. Schedules and lifestyles change and sometimes we don’t get to see everybody who we used to play with. We appreciate all the people we’ve played with over the years and we’ve learned so much from all our friends.
