Welcome back to The Pickleball Clinic Newsletter!

Have you ever wondered how your favorite athlete, singer, or president would do on a pickleball court? Today, we'll assess the pickleball skills of 5 of the world's biggest celebrities, check out the latest registered pickleball trademarks, learn how to hit a two-handed backhand speedup, and a whole lot more.

Let’s do this! 👇

Who are some of your favorite celebrities? How do you think they would be at pickleball? Today, we're going to look at some of the most famous people in America (and the world), and attempt to evaluate their pickleball skills. Here goes...

Taylor Swift: She may be one of the most famous people on earth, and she is engaged to a professional athlete, but she doesn't seem to have an athletic background. That doesn't mean she wouldn't be good at pickleball, but we just don't know. There is this clip of her swinging a paddle, where she looks fairly coordinated, but that's not much to go on. So we may just have to leave her skills as a blank space. 😄

Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson: The Rock is a former football player who was on the University of Miami national championship team. While he may not have been good enough to play in the NFL, that's still elite athlete level. Of course he went on to become one of the more successful pro wrestlers of all time, and while that is staged entertainment, it still requires strength and athleticism. But what about the hand-eye coordination necessary for pickleball? Kind of like Ms. Swift above, it's inconclusive.

Donald Trump: As most of us probably know, President Trump is an avid golfer with a 2.8 handicap. That would probably translate to almost a 5.0 pickleball player. How accurate is his handicap? We’re not sure. But even if he's more like an 8-10 handicap, that’s still really good. Now is golf a racket sport? No, but it's pretty darn close. Just imagine removing your non-dominant hand from a golf swing, and it looks an awful lot like a pickleball serve or drive. With all of that said, we're guessing that he may be pretty good.

Barack Obama: President Obama's sport is basketball. He played on his high school team that won a state championship, and played tons of pickup basketball at Occidental College. While basketball doesn't involve a swing, it requires a great deal of athleticism, including hand-eye coordination. Here's some footage of Obama playing hoops. Based on all of this information, we're also going to conclude that he would probably be quite good as well. 

Caitlin Clark: Sticking with basketball, let's look at one of the best basketball players alive, and the face of women's basketball. When you're one of the best athletes in the world, we're going to assume that you could be excellent at any sport. But we don't need to assume because we have footage! Clark’s return doesn't look great, but her low volley does, along with her poach and putaway. 💪

So there you have it — 5 celebrities and their pickleball skills. If you ever bump into one of these people on the street (good luck with that😀), then be sure to challenge them to a game. 

Don’t Forget About Your Serves and Returns

Even If you’re an intermediate to advanced player who enjoys drilling, don’t overlook your serves and returns. Because these shots feel relatively simple at higher levels, they often get pushed aside during practice sessions.

However, if you want to move up in level, you must be able to serve and return deep with consistency and precision. Strong depth and accuracy immediately give you an edge at the start of the point and make you far less vulnerable to attack. The only way to truly master these shots is to prioritize them in your training. Make them a staple of your drilling, not an afterthought.

If one of your opponents does this, then you’re in for a VERY long day. 👇

Welcome back to the section where we define a word or term that is widely used in the pickleball world…

Holding your dinks (term)

The term, "holding your dinks," refers to a technique or strategy that high-level players use by pausing for a split second before they hit a dink. This slight pause adds deception to your game because it forces your opponent to hesitate for a split second since they won't know what your next shot will be or where it will go.

Yup, it's time for a game called "Guess That Pickleball Company." The way it works is we’re going to give you the name of a trademark granted in January that has the word "pickleball" in it.

Then you will try to guess what aspect of pickleball the company is set to focus on. The list comes from The Business of Pickleball, which navigates the US Patent and Trademark database to see newly registered pickleball trademarks.

We'll start with two new ones, "Pickleball Playa," and "Pickleball Gangsta." What aspects of the game do you think these new companies will service? And are these two trademarks related?

First off, they're NOT related. But they totally should be! And what are these companies all about? If you guessed online retail clothing services and athletic apparel, respectively, you'd be right.

Moving along, what do you think about "The Pickleball Pen"? Probably like a new court facility somewhere, right? Wrong. It's a pen, as in a writing instrument or a permanent marker.

What do you need a pickleball marker for? Evidently to label your pickleballs so people don't take them. OK, so kind of like what golfers do with their golf balls, we get it.

Of course if someone wants to intentionally steal your pickleball, then the marker won't prevent that. In that case, someone needs to invent ball-tracking devices so you can use GPS to locate your ball — and then raid the house of the person who stole it. 😀

Let's try one more round, except this time, it’s the name of a trademark application made in January, not one that was granted that month. And the trademark is called "FOMP: Fear of Missing Pickleball."

That's awesome! Goodbye FOMO and hello FOMP! What is this trademark for, you may ask? A T-shirt and apparel company. Well, good luck to these pickleball trademarks, and long live pickleball!

It doesn’t get much better than this. 👇

In 2025, RPM shocked the pickleball world with its first paddle ever, the RPM Friction Pro. Well, it's time for an upgrade... the RPM Friction Pro V2. This all-new paddle incorporates RPM's new Axial Carbon Layup and it has an enhanced EVA foam ring, which generates elite spin and power, and makes the sweet spot even bigger!

Co-designed by one of the world's best players, James Ignatowich, the RPM Friction Pro V2 comes in both 14mm and 16mm, and it has an elongated shape, which provides extended reach for high balls, volley attacks, and singles play. Pre-order yours, and use code (clinic15) for 15% off.

The two-handed backhand dink is a really good shot to have, and for two main reasons. The first is that it allows you to be aggressive with your backhand dink. (Yes, some people can be aggressive with a one-handed backhand slice dink, but it's more difficult.) The second is that it allows you to hit speedups from your backhand side as well. Good thing Coach Matt is here to show you exactly how to hit a two-handed backhand speedup. 👇

In a recent opening monologue on The Tonight Show, Jimmy Fallon did a bit with a member of his band, Tariq "Black Thought" Trotter. And guess what it was about? Pickleball — and padel. Trotter takes the side of pickleball, while Fallon goes for team padel. We're assuming that it's a total joke and that neither of them have a strong opinion about either sport.

Nevertheless, the fact that they even did the routine speaks to how much pickleball is a part of the zeitgeist. Is padel up there in popularity? Certainly not at the same level as pickleball in America, but it definitely seems to be growing.

Hope you enjoyed the read. See you next week!

- Your Friends at The Pickleball Clinic

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