Welcome back to The Pickleball Clinic Newsletter!

"It was the best of times, it was the worst of times..." Yes, in today's newsletter, we'll look at how pickleball was recently used to bring joy to underprivileged children around the world. But we'll also explore a potential ban on the sport in the summer island of Nantucket. Plus, Coach Matt goes in depth on the speedup, and a whole lot more.

Let’s do this! 👇

When Amy and Joel Nelson first heard about pickleball, they were skeptical.

"A couple of my friends started playing, and I'm like, yeah, this is kind of dumb," Joel remarked. "I thought it was for older people with a Wiffle ball!" said Amy.

But then they actually tried the sport, and immediately fell in love with it. Not only did they love the sport, but they realized the power of pickleball to help others.

The Nelsons had been actively participating in ministry trips in the past. "We were doing a ministry opportunity in St. Louis, and I saw these difficult situations," said Amy. "We were in a skate park, and drug deals were happening. It just broke my heart, and I'm like, most of these kids are bored."

So the Nelsons had an aha moment and realized that they could combine their two interests of ministry and pickleball by exposing needy children to our great sport.

Well, that's exactly what they did. Six countries later (within just six months!), the Nelsons had introduced pickleball to children all over the world, many of whom didn't have their own shoes.

The countries they visited included Mozambique, Egypt, and Japan, and as you might expect, so many kids lit up upon playing for the first time.

"When you put the paddle in their hand, and you see them, it's like their smile... they had so much joy for just doing something new," said Joel.

The Conditions Are the Same for Both Sides

Remember that you and your opponents are both playing in the same conditions. Many players will get in their own heads, thinking that the wind, sun, ball, or court are causing them to lose. While the conditions make it harder to play, they are uncontrollable and everyone on the court is subjected to the same “disadvantage.” What you make of it and how well you are able to adapt will determine whether you win or lose, not the conditions themselves.

When your team is up at the kitchen and your opponents aren’t, just think of three words — KEEP THEM BACK!

Playing Pickleball with a Frying Pan

If you have zero interest in ever getting better at pickleball, then use an old wooden paddle when you're playing. Or take it a step further and try using a frying pan. It might be a bit tough on your shoulder, but it could work. 😀

However, if you want to play the game the right way, the way it's supposed to be played, then you're going to need a paddle that allows you to excel at both the fast game and the soft game, the drives and the drops, the speedups and the resets. Only the best paddles in the world can do that, which is why the best doubles team in the world, the Johns brothers, have been using JOOLA paddles for years. So go ahead and see for yourself why JOOLA is a step ahead of all the other paddles out there.

Pickleball’s greatest player of all time, Ben Johns, did a little Q + A with us…

The Pickleball Clinic: What is your most memorable match?

Ben Johns: There are a number of significant matches that come to mind. My first answer is always my first major title — US Open Singles 2017. It was entirely unexpected and just a crazy day. Some other ones that come to mind are Nationals 2018 Men’s Double Final — this one was a memorable double dip (when that was a thing) with Kyle Yates (the most infamous lob of all time) and I had food poisoning at the time. And then the last super memorable one was winning an invitational tournament in Wichita, Kansas with Collin where we came back from a 10-1 deficit in game 3 for the championship.

Be sure to follow Ben on Instagram and YouTube.

There Once Was a Court from Nantucket

Roughly 30 miles south of Cape Cod in Massachusetts, sits a popular and expensive island called Nantucket.

Known for its beaches, Nantucket is a summer destination replete with boats, pools, and even a few golf courses.

But it's 2025 now, and that means Nantucket has some pickleball courts too. That's great, except for one little thing: noise.

We pickleballers know about this issue all too well, and the sport is taking actions to help reduce the noise, including sound barriers surrounding courts and research on quieter paddles and/or balls for the future.

Nevertheless, Nantucket's town council members recently considered banning pickleball on the entire island due to many residents registering noise complaints.

As you might expect, a potential pickleball ban caught the attention of quite a few people. But according to Planning Board chair, Dave Iverson, the story has been overblown.

"This isn’t a ban, this is about regulating," Iverson told the Nantucket Current. "It's meant to start a discussion... In its current state, it seems like a ban and that’s not the intention... I just think we need some guardrails. It's about being respectful of your neighbors."

Phew. That's good to hear if you are a Nantucket pickleball player, and really any pickleball player for that matter.

Because after all, we picklers aren’t going anywhere, but we also want to be respectful of our surroundings. So let's come together and work on solutions rather than threatening extreme measures like bans. 

We don’t say that word around here. 😄

An Extra Spring In Your Step

Imagine for a second that you had an extra spring in your step – and we don’t mean emotionally, although that’s important too. 😀 But for this exercise, we want you to imagine that you actually had more spring in every step you took. Now imagine that you could use this extra spring while playing sports AND that you could also reduce the risk of foot injuries by 41% at the same time.

If that existed, wouldn’t it be something you’d like to try? Well, we didn’t just waste your time on something hypothetical. What we just talked about exists. They're called VKTRY Insoles, and they're made using a carbon fiber plate. While you play, the insoles flex under your feet, returning energy with every step — while offering unmatched support and stabilization.

Get some VKTRY Insoles today, and save 20% here.

The ability to dink consistently is extremely important. However, as you get better, your competition will be able to dink consistently too. You can always try to work your opponent around with aggressive dinks, which is great, but another tool in your arsenal should be the speedup. Good thing Coach Matt is here to tell you everything you need to know about speeding up the ball. 👇

Key Takeaways:

• Only speed up balls that bounce high — meaning that the height of the bounce gets to about the height of the net, give or take a few inches.

• Only hit a speedup when you are on balance.

• Disguise your speedups. In other words, make them look just like your dinks so your opponent doesn't know when your speedup is coming.

• After you speed up, make sure to keep your paddle up and in a good ready position so that you're ready to hit your opponent's counter. 

Kyle Brandt, an actor, media personality, and one of the hosts of Good Morning Football on the NFL Network, has become known for his hype videos. Usually talking about a specific football team, Brandt conveys such passion and intensity that you feel like you're right there with him.

Well, his latest video features... you guessed it, pickleball! It's a hype video for the Denver Broncos filmed on what appears to be a pickleball court inside a subway station (we know, you have to see it). The video shows Brandt playing pickleball while also talking to the camera and comparing our sport to the Denver Broncos because they're both "fun, lot of buzz, not going away, best when the players wear their brightest colors, and multi-generational."

Brandt acknowledged that the Broncos would probably come up short against Josh Allen and the Buffalo Bills (which they did), but it's still a really cool video and a nice tribute to pickleball. 

Hope you enjoyed the newsletter. See you next week!

- Your Friends at The Pickleball Clinic

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