Former Seattle Mariners draft pick, NCAA National Champion and 5.0+ pickleball player Billy Cooke joins the World Pickleball Podcast to explore one of the most overlooked areas of player development: reaction training.

Billy explains how elite baseball has spent decades developing vision, hand-eye coordination and decision-making through small-ball training, and why those same principles could help pickleball players improve their speed at the kitchen line, react faster under pressure and become more consistent in fast hands battles.

We also discuss:

• Billy's journey from professional baseball to competitive pickleball
• Why baseball is often described as a "game of failure" and what pickleball players can learn from that mindset
• How reaction time can be trained rather than simply inherited
• The science behind small-ball training and visual processing
• Why most players don't practise at game speed
• How Max PB is adapting proven baseball training methods for pickleball
• Whether technology can give players a genuine competitive edge

Whether you're trying to move from 3.5 to 4.0 or chasing professional competition, this episode offers practical insights into how better training can lead to better performance.

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