Welcome back to The Pickleball Clinic Newsletter!
Do you think some tennis players resent pickleball because they think it copied tennis? Today, we'll take a look at a brand-new sport that appears to be copying both pickleball and tennis, consider wild new names for our sport, discover how much footwork is the right amount, and a whole lot more.
Let’s go! 👇
Hitting a ball back and forth over a net with some type of paddle is a lot of fun. (If you don't think so, then you're probably reading the wrong newsletter.)
While humans have most likely been playing some form of this game for hundreds if not thousands of years, it wasn’t until the end of the 19th century that sports including tennis, table tennis, and badminton were officially created.
But in the 2020s, it looks like a new batch of similar sports are taking over. While pickleball was invented in 1965, it didn't really take off until around 2020.
The same thing can be said for padel, which also exploded in popularity (mostly in Europe) a bit after the pandemic even though it was actually invented in 1969.
But is there another popular racket sport on the horizon? MAYBE. The sport is called "TYPTI," and it's brand new — like just introduced in 2026!
It looks like a cross between pickleball and tennis, and it's even played on a pickleball court! The racket looks like a tennis racket, but a lot shorter, and the ball is made of foam.
The "cool" different twist in typti is that if you hit the ball into the net on your own side, you still have a chance to win the point by then hitting the ball off a bounce with anything but the racket strings — like your hand, foot or the racket handle.
Typti was created by Steve Bellamy (founder of The Tennis Channel) and is backed by a group of investors that include Drew Brees, Tony Robbins, Chris Pine, Nick Kyrgios, JJ Abrams, Tiffany Haddish, and Bert Kreischer.
Will typti catch on like pickleball and padel have? It's too soon to know, but the sport looks interesting and is definitely worth keeping an eye on.
Find the Right Footwork Balance at the Kitchen Line
Taking too many steps can disrupt your balance and slow your recovery, while taking too few can leave you stretching for the ball. Aim for 3–5 small, controlled steps to dial in your positioning and stay ready for the next dink.
Stepping way into your partner’s side of the court is OK sometimes — especially when you end the point with a big winner. 👇
The Future of Booking Courts
One really frustrating part about starting a business is that you can have an incredible product or service, but if nobody knows about it, then it won’t succeed. So just as important as having a great product is marketing it — and pickleball clubs and facilities are no exception. That’s where CourtsApp comes in, the first AI-powered court marketing platform built to connect racket sport facilities with interested players by showing people in real time where there are available courts in their area.
It’s immediate marketing and exposure for pickleball clubs and it's absolutely free because CourtsApp only makes a commission on the courts it books. CourtsApp is a win-win for both facilities and players, and it’s already in 150 clubs and helping to book 1500 courts. So sign up and don’t let any more of your courts stay empty.
Welcome back to Ask Jilly B, a monthly thought-stream from coach + top pro player, Jill Braverman.
Why Your Footwork Sucks
I don't know you. I've never seen you play. But I can tell you that your footwork is probably mediocre. How do I know this? Because I have spent over 10,000 hours teaching and watching amateur pickleball. Are your feet, calves and legs sore after you play? If the answer is "no" then I promise that you're not moving your feet enough! Footwork (and court positioning) are the two most important facets of pickleball and probably the most misunderstood. So how do you improve your footwork?
The simplest way is to feel ridiculous. Feel like your heels never touch the ground, like you're bouncing up and down on your toes the entire time you're playing—not just when you're hitting the ball—feel like you're a caricature. You know you're doing it right when you feel "absurd," when you're sore the next day, when you feel like you could get to every ball on the court regardless of where it is. Too many players just throw up their hands and say "I'm too slow to get to that ball" when the truth is that no one could get to that ball if they are starting from a position on their heels. Get up on your toes, feel ridiculous, and watch your pickleball world open up! As I like to say, "make it squeak."
The Name of the Game
What's in a name? In one sense, everything because it's the single word that's associated with a person, place, or thing.
At the same time, one could argue that a name means almost nothing because it's the person, place, or thing that's important, not the arbitrary word used to identify it.
With that said, we're taking a hard look at the name of our sport, "pickleball." Some think it's silly, others think it's cute — either way it's too late to change it now.
But what if it could be renamed? If you could rename pickleball, what would you call it? Well, we actually posed that question to all of you via our Facebook and Instagram communities. Let's take a look at how you responded...
Many people suggested aggressive names like "Wack-a-ball," "Wham!," "Bangerball," "Slam," and "Killerball."
On the opposite side of the spectrum were suggestions of gentler names like "Smileball," "Therapy," "Court Therapy," and "Dropadink."
Some of the names were quite thoughtful, like "Capture the Net," (assuming this means controlling the kitchen), "High-Low" (referencing the importance of leverage in our sport), and "Bainbridge,” (a tribute to Bainbridge Island, Washington, where our sport was invented).
But enough of those teacher's pet names. 😆 Some of the more fun names included "Atta-ball," "King Kong Ping Pong," "Kitchin flinchin," "Badabing ball," and "WTS (What's the Score?)."
However, our two favorite names had to be these: "Dink around and find out," and "The artist formerly known as pickleball."
(For the young ones out there, that last name is a reference to "Prince." For the really young ones out there, "Prince" was the name of a musician. 😉)
There’s nothing wrong with switching partners. But let’s do so with some decency, alright? (In other words, NOT like this. 👇)
When You Have a Vision
When the word “vision“ is used in sports, it doesn’t literally mean eyesight. It means an athlete's ability to see the entire court, to process what’s going on and to anticipate what will happen next.
That type of vision is essential, and it’s likely why JOOLA (pickleball’s most transformative paddle company) used “Vision” as the name of its new line of paddles. There are three versions, the standard Vision, Heat Vision (pictured below and thermoformed with a polypropylene honeycomb core), and Double Vision (featuring the new Aramid Surface). They're all great paddles and made for everyday play. You can check them all out here!
If you watch professional pickleball at all, then you know that Andrei Daescu is one of the top 4 or 5 players on the planet. At age 37, he's also almost twice as old as many of his competitors, which makes his top 5 status even more impressive. So we figured we'd talk to him since he might know a thing or two about pickleball. 😉 Here, Andrei joins Coach Matt to discuss how to move through the transition zone. 👇
In the past, people viewed the lob serve (a high, looping, slow serve) as an occasional change of pace option — a serve you throw in every so often to mess with your opponent's timing. But not so fast. The female GOAT, Anna Leigh Waters, has been using the lob serve in tournaments quite a bit recently, and it's been very effective.
The reason it's so effective is that if you can hit the lob serve deep (like within 2 or 3 feet of the baseline), then not only does it have the usual positive effect of a deep serve by keeping your opponent back longer, but it also forces your opponent to either short-hop their return or back up way behind the baseline, making it that much harder for them to get up to the kitchen fast enough for their next shot.
Hope you enjoyed the read. See you next week!
- Your Friends at The Pickleball Clinic
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