Welcome back to The Pickleball Clinic Newsletter!

Today, we'll find out where pickleball ranks when it comes to sports that can help you live longer, take a look at a game-changing nonprofit that seeks to bring pickleball to underserved communities (that WE started), learn the two-handed backhand dink from top pro James Ignatowich, and more. And in case you didn't notice, instead of sending this newsletter out last Wednesday, we're giving you two newsletters this week — one today and one later in the week!

Let’s do this. 👇

If you're reading this newsletter, then chances are you know firsthand the power of pickleball. And no, we're not talking about bangers who constantly drive the ball. 😉

We're talking about the communal and social power of pickleball to literally change people's lives for the better. 

Shouldn't everyone get that opportunity? That's the question that two young men from New Jersey have set out to answer with a resounding "yes!"

Who are those men? None other than co-founders of The Pickleball Clinic, Aaron Reznik and Matt Slowinski, who also founded and lead one of the top pickleball academies in the country, Montclair Pickleball.

The duo's new nonprofit organization, The Paddle Project, has a simple mission: to provide underserved communities with the three things they need to enjoy the benefits of pickleball — paddles, instruction, and courts.

The Paddle Project will be collecting used paddles at Montclair Pickleball locations, giving those paddles to people who cannot afford them, and then teaching those people how to play pickleball.

The organization's first project has already started in New Jersey, where it has partnered with Oasis, an organization in Paterson, New Jersey that serves women and children in need.

But that's just the beginning. The Paddle Project's goal is to bring paddles, courts and instruction to underserved communities not just in the United States, but to countries all over the world.

The Paddle Project has also partnered with three Founding Paddle Partners: JOOLA, Franklin, and Engage Pickleball. 

We invite you to learn more and to donate in an effort to bring the joy of pickleball to ALL people.

Don’t Change Your Grip at the Kitchen Line

You should keep the same grip for all of your shots at the kitchen line, regardless of whether you're hitting a dink, volley, forehand, or backhand. When all players are at the kitchen line you're only 14 feet away from your opponent. You don't have time to change grips! I generally recommend using the continental grip, because it allows you to hit all shots efficiently.

Not a bad point, eh? 😉

Stay Tuned…

Keep an eye out in the coming weeks for something brand new from The Pickleball Clinic. It’s very cool and it’s coming soon! Get pumped, and we’ll keep you posted.

Welcome back to Ask Jilly B, a monthly thought-stream from coach & top pro player, Jill Braverman.

Never Be Intimidated Again: How to Play with the “Big Boys”

“I can’t believe they let a woman play in this,” said an onlooker during a local Open tournament I played in (and won) last week. A question I am asked frequently is, “Don’t you ever get intimidated?” Whether that’s against the opposite sex or better players, the short answer is “not anymore,” and here are four keys that will help you next time you feel intimidated on the court:

1. Remind yourself that everyone has weaknesses—even Ben Johns! We’re all human—so please don’t give your opponents credit before they’ve really earned it.

2. Focus on yourself and what YOU want to achieve—it’s easy to get distracted and fixate on the “better” opponent(s). But it’s amazing what you are capable of when you focus on YOURSELF and stop watching what your opponents are doing.

3. Pickleball is one of the few sports where it’s genuinely difficult to be overpowered and where men and women have almost equal footing due to the kitchen (which is an equalizer) and the equipment (the wiffle ball’s holes slow down the speed of the ball).

4. Even if you know you’re not as good as your opponents, remember that you can still outsmart them. You can be more patient, you can lob better, you can find the weaker player and funnel 80%+ balls to them (as my coach says “you don’t need to beat both players on the court, just one”).

How do you stay confident on the court? Let me know by writing to me at [email protected].

Be sure to follow Jill for more insights and instruction on Instagram and YouTube.

Is Pickleball the Fountain of Youth?

Dan Buettner is a New York Times bestselling author and Emmy Award-winning producer who produced the documentary TV mini series, Live to 100: Secrets of the Blue Zones, which is based on his book with the same name.

Much of Buettner's career focuses on studying people who have lived a long time and noticing patterns and commonalities among them.

He then takes those findings and reveals them to the general public so we can all increase our chances of living a long and rewarding life. 

On Buettner's Instagram account, he often speaks about healthy forms of eating, exercises, and mindsets. 

But in a recent post, he discussed the "Best Sports to Live to 100." Coming in at #3 was bicycling because he likes how easy it is on your joints.

Taking the #2 spot was actually golf, assuming that you are walking the course and not riding in a cart.

As for the #1 sport, Buettner first said "racket sports" in general, including tennis and badminton. But then he continued by saying, "I would argue that this is the best of all... pickleball."

The reason Buettner preferred pickleball over every other sport is that in addition to the physical activity it provides, pickleball also provides social connections in the form of new friends and communities. 💪

We’re not going to sugarcoat it, those days are pretty dark. 😢

The Key Ingredient

Some sports, like swimming and running, don't require a ball. And hey, that's cool. But many other sports (the more fun ones 😃) use balls. To name a few: basketball, soccer, golf, tennis, baseball, volleyball, football, and of course the best one... PICKLEBALL!

The ball is the central object in all of the sports above — without one, those sports literally can't exist. So it’s pretty important that you use a good ball. That's why you want the best pickleballs out there: the Franklin X-40, made by a company that's been specializing in creating balls for all different sports for almost 80 years! But don't just take our word for it. The Franklin X-40 pickleball is not just the Official Ball of The Pickleball Clinic, but it's the official ball of USA Pickleball and the APP Tour as well. Get some Franklin X-40s today, and use code “clinic15” for 15% off.

As pickleball evolves, new shots come into our sport. If they’re effective, they stick around. And if they’re really effective, then not only do they stick around, but not having the shot in your arsenal actually starts to hold you back. One shot that fits this description is the two-handed backhand dink. Good thing we have a pro pickleball player (James Ignatowich) with one of the absolute best two-handed backhand dinks in the world to teach it to us step by step. Check it out below. 👇

Key takeaways:

• Getting your grip right is extremely important. Your dominant hand should be in a continental grip at the bottom of your paddle and your non-dominant hand should either go directly above, with that index finger behind the paddle OR overlap and be on top of your dominant hand.

• If you can get your feet set behind the ball, then you can use the two-handed backhand. But if you are fully stretched, a one-handed backhand is probably the better choice. Also, getting low by bending your knees is crucial for this shot.

• One pitfall to be mindful of is giving up ATPs from a severely-angled two-handed backhand. The fix to this problem is hitting your two-handed backhand dinks a bit deeper, which makes an ATP attempt more difficult.

One of the best sports schools in the country is the University of Alabama. While best known for winning tons of football championships, it has also won national championships in gymnastics, softball, and golf. So when the University of Alabama does something in the sports world, people pay attention.

What did it recently do? It announced that the school will be spending $1.6M to build 10 brand-new pickleball courts in order to grow the sport and meet the ongoing demand from students. The University of Alabama will join a long list of colleges that have more than 8 pickleball courts on campus, including: Ohio State, Baylor, Pepperdine, and the Universities of Maryland, Georgia, and Michigan. Great to see our young people experiencing the joy of pickleball. 🎉

Hope you enjoyed the read. See you next week!

- Your Friends at The Pickleball Clinic

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