Pickleball Therapy

You can register for the class and find the Pickleball Central link and code at BetterPickleball.com . Have a great week and we will see you this Friday for our regular episode - Pilling: It is a thing :). 

Obstacles will naturally arise and are the reasons why you cannot reasonably say that you will not miss a single shot the next game you play. If obstacles are unavoidable and they generate the percentage, then that percentage is unavoidable by extension.  This week we drive home the conversation we're having last week about 15% volley and setting reasonable expectations as we try to figure out the...

When we're playing a match and we miss a shot, particularly one that we consider 'easy', we can get down on ourselves. Missing shots is usually the most negative feeling that we have besides losing. How do we process when we miss a shot when we play? This week I'm gonna share with you a technique of dealing with misses because they are going to occur . And it is a normal part of overall execution...

This week we dive deeper into a recent episode by Tony on a very powerful perspective that had me reflect on my journey about learning.  What I discovered about the reality of the struggle during practice is that, first of all, it's unavoidable. The absolute only way to master a skill to proficiency is through repetition where you will inevitably face both success and failure, no shortcuts. Now pr...

A distraction pulls our attention away from the main thing that we're trying to focus on and it could either be physical or mental.  For instance, if you're trying to paint something, and somebody keeps tapping your paint brush right on the end, it becomes hard to paint because you're distracted by it.  Same thing happens when we play pickleball and we're trying to focus on the shot or we're tryin...

I got to play in one event at the USA Pickleball Nationals in Mesa, Arizona, that I'm going to be using as the centerpiece for today's conversation- How do we play better pickleball? It was a mixed doubles match where me and my partner, Ken, got to play hybrid which is one standing player and one player in a wheelchair.  We were going to play Troy and Ryan in that Bronze Metal match where they won...

Let's talk about the concept of clicking when it comes to knowledge acquisition. How do we acquire knowledge and how do we know that we've acquired it?  Sometime there's frustrations of not acquiring knowledge as quickly as we would want it to. So things may not be clicking for us and there's something that we're missing right now.  i) Something as simple as listening to the podcast is a click, be...

On a pickleball court, there are four factors that affect the outcome of the game; us, our partner, and our two opponents.  We'll use an analogy where factor A is going to be us, factor B is going to be our partner then factor C and D are our opponents-the two players across the net.  The input in a pickleball game is going to be the game, the rules, the ball, the wind conditions, the court size w...

 Pickleball, in its essence, is a zero-sum activity because it's built around the concept that there's going to be one winner and one loser. In a zero-sum world, our opponent's victory is our loss. Their positive is our negative. But it doesn't have to be that way. Think about your losses as simply learning opportunities so now you have a positive and a positive. Let's go into an analogy metaphor...

In this episode we're going to re-up one of our most popular and best episode. How do we customize the journey best for ourselves? Think of your journey as a customer experience and treat it that way to feel the best about yourself as a player and as your experience. We also talk about the concept of agency in outballs that applies to everything you're doing. What shot did you just hit? Where are...

You can be successful as a pickleball player with different types of approaches, both hard and soft game strategies, and being a proponent of the soft game, doesn't mean that I'm an opponent of the hard game. Most pros have both a good soft game and a good hard game, because they'll mix the two depending on what's working in that moment and their overall strategy.  The analogy/metaphore I like to...

Sometimes we'll play in situations in open plays where there's really no gathering of levels. So it's basically a free-for-all.  How do you keep the game fun? How do you keep playing productively with players who you've known for a long time when you, or they, get to different levels of the game?  This is a common question or situation we encounter and that's what we're going to be talking about i...

In this special episode of Pickleball Therapy, we have a meeting with fellow pickleball therapists who share their insights and happenings from their own pickleball journeys.

Let's talk about ratings, one of those double-edged swords that really don't say anything about how you play.  While there's definitely a place for ratings in our sport, the only reason you need the rating is if it's consistent with what you want.  Always ask yourself; 1) Why do I need the rating?  2) What's the rating doing for me and what I want with the game?  So if you want to play tournaments...

As a pickleball player, I want to feel good and play without doing that at the expense of my opponent. Taking advantage of my opponent and paying attention to my opponent's negative feelings to expand my confidence should not be something to look forward to or to work towards. The idea that our tank of confidence will be filled by our opponent's misery, them being upset at their partner or some ne...

Good pickleball, and the best pickleball you'll ever play, is built upon a foundation of sound FUNDAMENTALS. I was reminded of the 'imagined' bad word, fundamentals, during a pro level match that I was watching because as pickleball players we often shy away from that word and dismiss it as only applicable for beginners. The truth is, executing everything really well, including those fundamentals,...

How to learn more about our upcoming course: ThePickleballsystem.com To sign up for our Virtual Clinic: BetterPickleball.com (click at the top header) To join us for our System tour, send us an email to Support@BetterPickleball.com and put in the Subject Line: "Tell Me More" Hope to see you in class Tony

In this episode we talk about three subjects; assigning fault, increasing our evolutionary empathy and staying focused. I got to play in a mixed group recently where I was paired with Dakota, a younger player, both in terms of her time in pickleball and also just a younger person. It was a tight match and we ended up on the losing end of it. I complimented her on a few of her shots and let her kno...

Have you've been dreading doing something or having a conversation for a long time?  The pool is an interesting way of thinking about it where you're standing by the side of the pool trying to decide, do I get in the pool? Do I not get in the pool? One way to deal with it is to just dive into the pool.  Take the plunge into the pool- quicker than 20 seconds, and everything else becomes easier and...

In this special episode of Pickleball Therapy we talk with the incomparable Sara Weiss about her pickleball journey and the idea of being an animal on the court. We also talk about how she balances between pickleball and life coaching and how that led Sarah to this amazing place where she's now playing pro-qualifiers. It's interesting to learn about how she views the interaction of pickleball and...

The idea of strategic fluidity (wanting to be adapt to everything) and pickleball is a fine concept that sounds great in theory. But how does that work in practice when it comes to pickleball rules and what rules to apply or not to apply? Having an idea of the rules or guidelines can help you determine the best shot in any given situation, as opposed to a purely fluid approach that requires you to...

There is another side to your game – and there’s plenty to be proud of   I want you to list all the things you do not do well as a pickleball player – or that you could do better. Things that frustrate you or that you “cannot just get.”   Actually, hold on for a moment before you start writing your list and hear me out.   The moment you read the above words “the things I do not do well” I imagine...

As we move forward, we will be in a different place every time. Ask yourself,  am I the same player I was an year ago? When you're working on a part of your game that you're trying to get better at, you're trying to get closer to the solution to the problem so you need to engage in iterations.  It's processing it again and again and repeating it to help you improve faster and better. In this episo...

Game plan is super valuable because it's human nature to make errors.  The better that you get at the big picture view of pickleball and your relationship with sport, the better you understand the perspective and the less likely you are to tip over into a downward spiral.   Mental work will help you play better and have more fun. For instance, try and listen to a podcast when you're on the way to...

Pickleball is beautiful, amazing and with loads of benefits. The biggest of them all being you'll be a happier human being, just from playing pickleball.    But sometimes we get lost or lose perspective of the game. The game that you choose to play helps you frame how you deal with adversity when you're playing. Also how do you stop being a 12-year-old? I'm going to share with you a personal story...