You have two sides to your pickleball self. Understanding each side can help you focus on what you need to in order to play your best pickleball. And building both sides of that as a player is how you’re going to become a truly well rounded player. Now, I want to be clear about this. It is more beneficial to you to first learn how to resist stress. Impart stress within the bounds of sportsmanship and the rules of the game. Dink with more purpose and intentionality. Learning this side of the game can help you – BUT – you first want to make sure your stress resistance is in order. The more you ..read more

A pickleball paddle that is too heavy for you can lead to poor play (too slow to get it in position) and potential arm pain (more weight = more stress to your arm). Just how head-heavy is your pickleball paddle? While the weight of your paddle is important (scale weight), the weight of your paddle as it swings is actually more important (swing weight). If you have a paddle that’s too heavy for you, chances are you’re overstressing your arm. The single most important characteristic in a pickle ball paddle is the paddle’s swing weight. The paddle swing weight will affect how the paddle plays, t ..read more

From Tony’s Desk: When looking to purchase a pickleball paddle, we are told the paddle’s weight (scale weight to be clear – more below), grip size, paddle length and width (and depth, which is often called width), and perhaps some of the materials that go into making the paddle core and face. There is, however, one hugely important piece of information that is missing from the pickleball paddle specifications that are provided: the paddle’s swingweight or, at a minimum, its balance (more on each below). This is why last week we published an Open Letter to all pickleball paddle manufacturers wh ..read more

Want to win your next pickleball game? Of course you do. We all want that. The trick is how to do it. Rather than focusing on winning the game, what you need to focus on when you’re out on the Pickleball court is simply the next point. Focus on the next shot that you’re going to hit. So you can look at the rally big picture if you want to. That’s the biggest picture of what you can play, the rally or the point. Focus on those shots because those shots in that order are the only thing that you can control when you’re out on the pickup ball court. Next time you’re playing, try and reframe you ..read more

There are hundreds of pickleball paddles on the market. How do you pick the perfect paddle for you? Rather than buying a pickleball paddle just because you saw a pro or fellow player using it, take a few minutes to learn the most essential parts of the paddle and the pickleball paddle characteristics you should be focusing on. We will also share with you the paddle characteristics that are secondary or irrelevant to your selection process. At the end, we will tell you the single most important factor you should consider when selecting your next pickleball paddle. You might be surprised at what ..read more

Missing a return of serve is “no bueno.” If you are committng this error in your pickleball play, you are giving away tons of points when you are in action. We share with you the most common cause for missed returns of serve out on the pickleball court and give you a specific recommendation about how to fix it. Joe’s going to serve me some balls now and I’m going to show the difference between a return of serve where you’re not rushing and a return of serve where you’re rushing, running through the ball, potentially missing it. Apply the tip in this video and watch those errors fade away. 0:0 ..read more

There are two sides to playing pickleball: you resist stress and you impart stress. The better you are able to resist stress, the less likely you will be to make an error when you play – the less likely to miss a shot. You become “the wall” out there, resisting everything thrown your way. For example, me or my partner hit a third shot that’s a little bit high, a little bit deep, and is getting smashed. So I’m getting ready to defend that shot. How well am I able to resist that pressure coming back at me? One way that you can withstand stress better is to take the net out of play. When you sta ..read more

If you face hard shots in your pickleball games and are not sure how to handle them, the tips in this video will 100% help you. They are sometimes called bangers. No matter what you call them, you can still gain control and be a more confident pickleball player, whether you are a beginner, intermediate, or advanced pickleball player. The first technique you’re going to learn to control pace is a block folly. You want to be able to block the hard shots that are coming your way. If you can’t deal with the pace, they’re going to keep testing you. And if you fail the test, they’re going to keep c ..read more

Keeping your eye on the ball is more than just watching the pickleball. It also means differentiating what matters from what matters not so much. A good way of thinking about it is through marginal advantages. Marginal advantages helps you understand areas of the game that are affecting your play when you’re out there, as opposed to those that are not. I’m going to tell you one area that’s not affecting your game that much is your pop ups. In this episode we share with you how to use marginal advantages while you play and while you work on your game. Get the biggest “bang for your buck.” We a ..read more

In this video we’ll talk about the court and the rules of the game that you need to get started. The shots that you’re going to hit and show you how a game is played. We’ll also discuss scoring. There are two shots that you hit in pickleball. One is a ground stroke. That means that the ball has bounced before you hit it and the other one is a volleyball. Every pickleball rally starts with the serve and the return of serve. The score in doubles pickup ball has three numbers to it- The first number is the server’s score. The second number is the return team score. And the third number is the nu ..read more