Ryan Sherry received medical attention leading up to the event, but will be back in North Carolina to defend his title from 2022.
Ryan Sherry knows how to have fun.
He also has no problem speaking his mind, either.
Now, figuring out what size of shoe he wears? Well, sometimes there are mysteries that go unsolved.
Sherry is back in North Carolina this week, defending his singles title from a year ago, in a massive field of 82 players.
He’s down 25 pounds, he’s more than ready to call out the PPA Tour’s top players, and he’s cut back (some) on the partying and the indulgences. His feet are in much better shape, too.
“Most guys lie about size,” Sherry said. “I’ve been wearing a size 10 shoe since I’ve been in college. I’m not a size 10. My shoes have been too long. Too big. I made some corrections to get my feet right.”
Well, picking the right size shoe is important, but it wasn’t just size that plagued Sherry’s movement. As it turns out, Sherry had been suffering from foot pain for some time, but only recently discovered that he had several tiny glass shards lodged in his heel.
“About a year ago, I dropped a bottle and thought I had cleaned it all up,” he said. “I stepped on something and it hurt, but I didn’t think it was that big of a deal. I made the change in shoe size and my feet were getting better, and I went in and got an MRI, and the doctor said there were some loose bodies in there. I hadn’t thought about that. It hurts, but I always just thought it was a number of different things.”
Sherry’s always got a story. It’s part of his charm. From his work off the court where he helps ex-professional football players get compensated for injuries to owning a mental health facility that treats ex-NFL players, Sherry is constantly on the go.
“We helped recover $300 million for our people last year,” Sherry said of Legacy Pro Sports which has aided more than 5,000 ex-athletes. “I’m not sitting around between matches, I’m trying to help these players. I’m talking to them every day. And part of the reason I play hard, is because I work hard.”
Kind of like he’s been for the past week, spending time in Los Angeles, checking out a Laker game, even celebrating with LeBron James after hitting a winning shot. If there’s a good time to be had, Sherry is there.
Last year, he famously called himself out for partying a bit too hard in Vegas right before making a tournament final in Florida, saying he shared some good times with Dana White, Rob Gronkowski, and Rick Ross.
While the trend in pickleball is top players getting younger and intense training becoming mandatory, Sherry is a “bros before pros” kind of player. He’s going to have a good time, he’s not afraid to make a statement, and he’s going to show up and play hard.
Now, he’s not exactly the John Daly of pickleball, but Sherry doesn’t distance himself from that comparison, either.
“I’m good with that and part of it is true,” Sherry said. “But I put in more work over the years, and in my mind, I’m still ahead of them. They are making up for the work I put in. I did the work all those years, and I did it the right way.”
“I’ve beaten J.W. [Johnson], [James] Ignatowich, Tyson [McGuffin] and lots of good players. I love these guys, but they didn’t play high level tennis (Sherry played four years at the University of Florida). Take Dylan Frazier. He couldn’t get a point off me in tennis, but he can beat my ass in pickleball. It’s one of the reasons I love this game, it gives people a chance to be massive.”
A year ago, Sherry defeated Julian Arnold for the singles title in North Carolina. Since, he’s cut out his partying on Tuesdays and Wednesdays and credits that for the reason he’s lost weight. “And the funny thing is, I’m not joking. It’s true.”
“There’s no magic pill. I’m a little more conscientious about what I’m eating. I’m just trying to be a Friday-Monday guy now, instead of going out on a random Tuesday or Wednesday. But at the end of the day, I’m me, and I do have fun.”
Sherry said he recently came off of four sleepless nights in Los Angeles, but with seven days to get ready for North Carolina, training with Pablo Tellez and Federico Staksrud as well as Jack Sock, Sherry said he’s planning on showing up and playing well. He’ll be ready.
“I’m planning on enjoying the moment. I’m going there to win the tournament, but I’m 100 percent going to have fun,” Sherry said. “Players reach out to me when they want to have fun. When someone goes out, Ryan Sherry is the one they call.”
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