Pickleball Therapy

Sometimes we lose sight of the bowl of ice cream that we have in front of us. We did not get sprinkles, or fudge, or whipped cream in our ice cream. Does that make the bowl of ice cream any less delicious? Reframing our relationship with pickleball can help us not only feel better about our games. It can make the difference in how we play on the court. Keeping a healthy mind is your most powerful ally when you play.

In the riff, I share some thoughts about those points that can change a game. Sometimes you are up and just lose that little bit to focus. Next thing you know you lost the game. Sometimes you are behind but with a bit of focus you can snatch victory fro the jaws of defeat. Understanding these pivotal points in a game can make all the difference.

Get the Three Pillars of Pickleball here.

WeArePickleball immersive pickleball camps at https://wearepickleball.com/camps/ 

Get the same visual training that CJ and I use to improve our vision, our game, and our lives (better night driving included). Visit here for more information.

You can find out more about Tyrol shoes here.

Register to get our weekly VIPickleball emails and get your FREE front row seat to our upcoming Webinars by signing up here.

If you or a loved one wants to learn pickleball, check out Play Pickleball, a Beginner's Guide - available here digitally or here in print (paperback).

The Diadem Icon paddle is available here. Use code VIPickleball to get our discount at checkout (using the link you help support our ability to provide you with these podcasts and our other free content). You can read our complete Diadem Icon Review here.

Find Resources for your game here.

Join us at our immersive pickleball learning community - VIPickleball. Find out more and get on our waitlist at wearepickleball.com.

If you like the podcast, please give it a rating. And share it with your friends. If you like it, they probably will too.

Stay well,

Tony

Join us at ThePickleballSystem.com.

Want to play your best? You want to keep your eye on the ball. Step 1 - what is going to give you the biggest benefit (bang for your buck)? Step 2- stay on the area identified in Step 1 as long as necessary.

In the riff, we talk about a trick you can use to stay on track: time.

Check out Episode 109 of Pickleball Therapy – the Podcast dedicated to Your Pickleball Improvement – and stay on track to the best pickleball you.

Check out Vizual Edge and how they can help your game - and life - here.

Access the books referenced in our podcasts, training aids, Tyrol shoes, and other gear that CJ and I use here.

Click here to Join us inside THE Pickleball System. It will change your game.

Get the Three Pillars of Pickleball here.

If you or a loved one wants to learn pickleball, check out Play Pickleball, a Beginner's Guide - available here digitally or here in print (paperback).

Join us at our immersive pickleball learning community - VIPickleball. Find out more and get on our waitlist at wearepickleball.com.

If you like the podcast, please give it a rating. And share it with your friends. If you like it, they probably will too.

Stay well,

Tony

One of the best aspects of pickleball is open play. As a social sport, we get to play with pickleball players from all sorts of backgrounds and walks of life. While this is usually great, there are times when playing with "random" pickleball partners drawn from a stack of paddles can prove challenging.

In this week's episode we answer a question (and it is one we hear fairly regularly) about playing with different pickleball partners, particularly when your partner may see pickleball strategy the same as you. My guess is that if you are listening to this podcast, you know us otherwise, in which case I am sure your strategy is the correct one. But there will be times when your partner may think differently. What then?

In the riff, I share with you a personal story about doing it wrong - and then right. To help you stay on the right track.

Check out Episode 108 of Pickleball Therapy – the Podcast dedicated to Your Pickleball Improvement – and solve the vexing puzzle of the partner who sees it different.

Join us for the Miniseries here.

Check out Vizual Edge and how they can help your game - and life - here.

Access the books referenced in our podcasts, training aids, Tyrol shoes, and other gear that CJ and I use here.

Click here to Join us inside THE Pickleball System. It will change your game.

Get the Three Pillars of Pickleball here.

If you or a loved one wants to learn pickleball, check out Play Pickleball, a Beginner's Guide - available here digitally or here in print (paperback).

Join us at our immersive pickleball learning community - VIPickleball. Find out more and get on our waitlist at wearepickleball.com.

If you like the podcast, please give it a rating. And share it with your friends. If you like it, they probably will too.

Stay well,

Tony

Heading out to the Pickleball courts? Get yourself ready to play your best out there and to fully enjoy the day. In this special episode we help you get ready. Focusing on what it is important and preparing to ignore the noise out there will improve our chances out there. Think of this podcast as a checklist to get you ready for the day. If you enjoy the podcast, in addition to sharing it, make sure you tag it so that you can come back to it again in the future. Why not get ready each and every time you play?

In the riff, we give you some tips to deal with anxiety. It happens. To everyone not just you. Use this technique to relax the body and mind.

Check out Episode 107 of Pickleball Therapy – the Podcast dedicated to Your Pickleball Improvement – and get ready to have an awesome day on the pickleball courts.

Join us for the Miniseries here.

Find out more about Tyrol shoes and why they are the best pickleball shoe available here.

Access the books referenced in our podcasts, training aids, Tyrol shoes, and other gear that CJ and I use here.

Click here to Join us inside THE Pickleball System. It will change your game.

Get the Three Pillars of Pickleball here.

If you or a loved one wants to learn pickleball, check out Play Pickleball, a Beginner's Guide - available here digitally or here in print (paperback).

The Diadem Icon paddle is available here. Use code VIPickleball to get our discount at checkout (using the link you help support our ability to provide you with these podcasts and our other free content). You can read our complete Diadem Icon Review here.

Join us at our immersive pickleball learning community - VIPickleball. Find out more and get on our waitlist at wearepickleball.com.

If you like the podcast, please give it a rating. And share it with your friends. If you like it, they probably will too.

Stay well,

Tony

When we think of winning as getting to 11 first and losing as when our opponents get to 11 before we do, we rob ourselves of the benefits that can come from score losing a game. The only way we grow as pickleball players is when we are pushed to do so - this often means losing in terms of the score in a game or match. Take advantage of these growth opportunities by focusing on what you can do to improve as opposed to just the L that you get after that "loss."

In the riff, we get into what it means to compete. What is the right bar for you to set for yourself when you are out on the pickleball courts.

Check out Episode 106 of Pickleball Therapy – the Podcast dedicated to Your Pickleball Improvement – and reframe your work out on the pickleball court.

Join us for the newsletter and get your Workbook here.

Find out more about Tyrol shoes and why they are the best pickleball shoe available here.

Access the books referenced in our podcasts, training aids, Tyrol shoes, and other gear that CJ and I use here.

Click here to Join us inside THE Pickleball System. It will change your game.

Get the Three Pillars of Pickleball here.

If you or a loved one wants to learn pickleball, check out Play Pickleball, a Beginner's Guide - available here digitally or here in print (paperback).

The Diadem Icon paddle is available here. Use code VIPickleball to get our discount at checkout (using the link you help support our ability to provide you with these podcasts and our other free content). You can read our complete Diadem Icon Review here.

Join us at our immersive pickleball learning community - VIPickleball. Find out more and get on our waitlist at wearepickleball.com.

If you like the podcast, please give it a rating. And share it with your friends. If you like it, they probably will too.

Stay well,

Tony

As you learn more, it is important to accurately understand what you are hearing out there – including from us. Oftentimes we find that tips or instruction are misapplied or misunderstood by players. This not only undermines the potential benefit of the instruction. It can result in a negative impact by the misunderstood or misapplied instruction.

It is critical that you properly understand what you are learning or hearing.

Check out Episode 105 of Pickleball Therapy – the Podcast dedicated to Your Pickleball Improvement – and get the filters you need to process information that is helpful to you - as well as avoid information that is not.

PLUS - an update of the proposed 2023 rules - specifically, how they apply to the spin (pre-spun) serve.

Join us for the newsletter and get your Workbook here.

Find out more about Tyrol shoes and why they are the best pickleball shoe available here.

Access the books referenced in our podcasts, training aids, Tyrol shoes, and other gear that CJ and I use here.

Click here to Join us inside THE Pickleball System. It will change your game.

Get the Three Pillars of Pickleball here.

If you or a loved one wants to learn pickleball, check out Play Pickleball, a Beginner's Guide - available here digitally or here in print (paperback).

The Diadem Icon paddle is available here. Use code VIPickleball to get our discount at checkout (using the link you help support our ability to provide you with these podcasts and our other free content). You can read our complete Diadem Icon Review here.

Join us at our immersive pickleball learning community - VIPickleball. Find out more and get on our waitlist at wearepickleball.com.

If you like the podcast, please give it a rating. And share it with your friends. If you like it, they probably will too.

Stay well,

Tony

All pickleball players have received advice about how to play the game, particularly when we were beginner pickleball players. Some of the advice is good: how to score a pickleball game, where to stand when your partner is returning serve (hopefully at the Non-Volley Line), etc. But there is also some bad (as well as at least not always applicable advice): forehand takes the middle, do not cross the middle of the court to hit a ball, etc. The worst one of all – the one we take aim at in this week’s podcast: when the third shot is being hit rush up to the Non-Volley Zone Line.

“Rush up to the kitchen” is some of the most damaging advice that new players are taught. Not only is it often the wrong pickleball strategy under the circumstances, it can have long term damaging effects on the player. Specifically, players become habituated to just running forward to the kitchen no matter what, over and over. When they finally learn the correct pickleball strategy, they have a hard time breaking this ingrained bad pickleball habit.

Check out Episode 104 of Pickleball Therapy – the Podcast dedicated to Your Pickleball Improvement – to learn more about this piece of wrong pickleball “strategy” as well as learn some tips to skirt future bad advice (you will get some).

Access the books referenced in our podcasts, training aids, shoes, and other gear that CJ and I use here.

Click here to Join us inside THE Pickleball System. It will change your game.

Get the Three Pillars of Pickleball here.

Register to get our weekly VIPickleball emails and get your FREE front row seat to our upcoming Webinars by signing up here.

If you or a loved one wants to learn pickleball, check out Play Pickleball, a Beginner's Guide - available here digitally or here in print (paperback).

The Diadem Icon paddle is available here. Use code VIPickleball to get our discount at checkout (using the link you help support our ability to provide you with these podcasts and our other free content). You can read our complete Diadem Icon Review here.

Join us at our immersive pickleball learning community - VIPickleball. Find out more and get on our waitlist at wearepickleball.com.

If you like the podcast, please give it a rating. And share it with your friends. If you like it, they probably will too.

Stay well,

Tony

None of us has unlimited time in our days, and certainly not unlimited time to work on our pickleball games. If we want to play our best pickleball, we must prioritize the areas of our game that are most important; those that will give us the biggest bang for our buck.

For example, the third shot drop. Is it an important pickleball shot? Of course it is. But not always. For many players, the third shot drop is unnecessary – for now. Let’s say you are missing punch volleys into the net or wide or you play against bangers but do not know how to let out balls go. In either of these cases, the third shot drop should not even be on your list of shots to improve. Probably not even Top 10.

If you are in this large group of players where the third shot drop is not Top 10 then whatever time you are working on the third shot drop is not being used for its best purpose. You are better off identifying the areas that will give you the greatest advantage and working on those.

Check out Episode 103 of Pickleball Therapy – the Podcast dedicated to Your Pickleball Improvement – to learn more about prioritizing your game. You will also get Tony’s Top 5 things he would NOT do now that he is a pickleball professional.

Access the books referenced in our podcasts, training aids, shoes, and other gear that CJ and I use here.

Click here to Join us inside THE Pickleball System. It will change your game.

Get the Three Pillars of Pickleball here.

Register to get our weekly VIPickleball emails and get your FREE front row seat to our upcoming Webinars by signing up here.

If you or a loved one wants to learn pickleball, check out Play Pickleball, a Beginner's Guide - available here digitally or here in print (paperback).

The Diadem Icon paddle is available here. Use code VIPickleball to get our discount at checkout (using the link you help support our ability to provide you with these podcasts and our other free content). You can read our complete Diadem Icon Review here.

Join us at our immersive pickleball learning community - VIPickleball. Find out more and get on our waitlist at wearepickleball.com.

If you like the podcast, please give it a rating. And share it with your friends. If you like it, they probably will too.

Stay well,

Tony

Getting coached at the courts can be a tricky proposition. Sometimes the advice you are getting is correct: scoring, 2-bounce rule, and similar usually do not present a problem. But oftentimes the advice is wrong: rush to the NVZ on the 3rd shot, have to wait for the ball to bounce to step into the kitchen (non-volley zone), and forehand in the middle are much-repeated erroneous maxims. What do you do when a fellow player offers unsolicited, even if well-intentioned, advice? In this episode of Pickleball Therapy we have you covered.

In the riff we flip the question around: what do you do when it is you who wants to help a fellow player? There is a "right" way of doing it.

Access the books referenced in our podcasts, training aids, shoes, and other gear that CJ and I use here.

Click here to Join us inside THE Pickleball System. It will change your game.

Get the Three Pillars of Pickleball here.

Register to get our weekly VIPickleball emails and get your FREE front row seat to our upcoming Webinars by signing up here.

If you or a loved one wants to learn pickleball, check out Play Pickleball, a Beginner's Guide - available here digitally or here in print (paperback).

The Diadem Icon paddle is available here. Use code VIPickleball to get our discount at checkout (using the link you help support our ability to provide you with these podcasts and our other free content). You can read our complete Diadem Icon Review here.

Join us at our immersive pickleball learning community - VIPickleball. Find out more and get on our waitlist at wearepickleball.com.

If you like the podcast, please give it a rating. And share it with your friends. If you like it, they probably will too.

Stay well,

Tony

I was reminded this week about how negativity can affect the way we interpret information that is otherwise aiming to be helpful. It can also affect your mind when you are trying to play your best pickleball. Two things can happen: 1 - you are focusing on the negatives rather than the positives - if instead you change your focus on the positives you will allow them to crowd out the negatives and 2 - your mind ignores the term "no" - just doesn't know what to do with it. This means that when you say "Don't hit the net" your mind hears "Hit the net."

That is the opposite of what you want to feed your brain. In this episode of Pickleball Therapy we address this common limitation we impose on ourselves.

In the riff, we answer a listener question about falling behind in games and give you some specific tips to help you avoid falling ehind, particularly in a tournament  or there competitive setting.

Access the books referenced in our podcasts, training aids, shoes, and other gear that CJ and I use here.

Click here to Join us inside THE Pickleball System. It will change your game.

Get the Three Pillars of Pickleball here.

Register to get our weekly VIPickleball emails and get your FREE front row seat to our upcoming Webinars by signing up here.

If you or a loved one wants to learn pickleball, check out Play Pickleball, a Beginner's Guide - available here digitally or here in print (paperback).

The Diadem Icon paddle is available here. Use code VIPickleball to get our discount at checkout (using the link you help support our ability to provide you with these podcasts and our other free content). You can read our complete Diadem Icon Review here.

Join us at our immersive pickleball learning community - VIPickleball. Find out more and get on our waitlist at wearepickleball.com.

If you like the podcast, please give it a rating. And share it with your friends. If you like it, they probably will too.

Stay well,

Tony