Welcome back to The Pickleball Clinic Newsletter!

Is another sport messing with pickleball?! Today, we’ll take a look at the sport of padel, a woman who hasn’t given up on her passion, the two-handed backhand drive, and a whole lot more!

Lets get into it! 👇

Pickleball has been the fastest-growing sport in the U.S. for years — but another sport has had a similar meteoric rise in Europe, and it's called: padel.

But wait, before you call your pickleball friends and prepare for battle with padel players😄, let us give you a little background on the sport.

Like pickleball, while padel has only recently become widely popular, it was actually invented back in the 1960s — 1969 to be exact, in Acapulco, Mexico. (Remember, pickleball was created right around that time, in 1965 in Washington State.)

A padel court is a little bigger than a pickleball court, the racket is similarly sized but thicker, and one more thing... it has WALLS. Four of them! Yup, the court is enclosed.

The scoring is virtually the same as tennis, and you can kind of think of it like tennis and squash had a baby.😃

Padel is most popular in Spain, followed by Argentina, Sweden, and Italy — and some of its best known supporters from other sports include Lionel Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo, Rafael Nadal, and David Beckham. 

Pickleball is most popular in the United States, Canada, and Australia — and some of its best known supporters from other sports include Andre Agassi, John McEnroe, Drew Brees, and Michael Phelps.

Are we setting up for a cold war? Or even worse, a hot one!??😄 No, no, you can put your weapons down. 

The two sports are different enough and have taken strongholds in different parts of the world, such that there is no reason why they can't co-exist, just like all the other racket sports that have been around for many, many years. 

Have any of you ever played padel? If so, reply and let us know what you think of it.

Always remember: “Return and Run!”

After you hit your return, you should run up to the kitchen line. Even if your opponents hit a really hard serve, you should do your best to get up to the line. If you find yourself getting caught back on hard serves, try to start an extra step or two back. That way you’ll be able to hit with forward momentum and get up to the line faster.

Tammy and Martin Emmrich are married and they are professional pickleball players. They are both former pro tennis players and transitioned over to pickleball in 2022. Today, Tammy discusses the importance of the kitchen line game and balancing pro sports with motherhood.

“To us the most important thing was developing the kitchen game. Every tennis player can drive a ball, but developing the kitchen strategy and consistency is essential.

Also drilling is key to improvement. Don’t just play games, it won’t give you a full tool box of shots that will allow you to excel!

We travel with our 3-year-old, and I would say it’s super fun but also tiring for me as a mom some days. The days can get long but I wouldn’t want it any other way. I would encourage all moms to follow their passion — a child is not a setback, it only makes us stronger and more fierce! Moms are so incredible and can achieve anything they set their minds to. After having a kid, almost anything else is mild.😄 We need to build each other up and support each other in sports. I love how many other moms are pursuing their dreams while being incredible moms!

In terms of the growth of pickleball, it’s here to STAY!! 💪🏻🙏🏻 We are so incredibly thankful for the opportunities we have been given to play full time, thanks to the PPA Tour and our sponsors Holbrook Pickleball and Montis Pickleball.🙏🏻”

Follow Tammy and Martin’s amazing pickleball journey on Instagram.

Slow Your Roll!

Food is delicious — but that doesn't mean you eat three dinners! Relationships are amazing — but that doesn't mean you have seven different partners! Why? Because doing fun things without thinking often makes them worse, not better.

Same goes with pickleball. We all love pickleball around here — but if you just jump into it without preparing your body, you decrease your chances of playing well and increase your chances of getting hurt. So remember to stretch, drink plenty of water, and get your minerals in.👍

We get all of our feel-good supplements from Jigsaw Health, our official electrolyte brand! See for yourself why we’re such big fans of theirs — and use code “clinic10” at checkout for $10 off.

The “tweener” may be the coolest looking shot out there. Will it win you many fans? Probably. Will it win you many points? No.😄👇

“Where There’s a Wheel, There’s a Way”

Jamie Elliott first discovered pickleball in 2010. She fell in love with it, progressed up to the 4.0 level as a player, and became a USA Pickleball Ambassador.

But when complications arose from surgery to remove a cancerous tumor on her spine, she was left with partial paralysis of her lower body.

While Jamie has made big strides toward walking with assistance, her legs are ultimately too weak to compete.

No problem — not being able to use her legs effectively wasn't going to get in the way of Jamie playing pickleball again. So she turned to wheelchair pickleball, and her new motto is "Where there is a wheel, there is a way."

“I wanted to be back playing because I knew it was such an important part of my life, I didn’t want to stop," said Elliott. "I was depressed and down without it. It brought me back to life."

There are certainly challenges to wheelchair pickleball, both in playing — by having to use your hands for both swinging the paddle and for moving the chair around — and in accessing courts, since the wider pickleball wheelchairs don't always fit through doorways at pickleball facilities.

Nevertheless, Jamie has raised awareness around the sport, and it has led to some real results, including the donations of sport wheelchairs and partnerships with companies including Carvana and Chicken N Pickle.

We've got three words... Go Jamie, go! 

Just try not to cook with your paddle too much. We did for a while, but then our edge guard melted off. 😂 

You Can Put a Court There?

They rolled out the red carpet last week for the Oscars. Sure, it was nice to see the Hollywood stars all dressed up. But what would’ve been better is if we saw them playing pickleball💪 — and hey, many of them would’ve probably preferred it too! Who? Leonardo DiCaprio loves pickleball, and so does Selena Gomez and George Clooney.

The only problem with playing on a red carpet is that the ball wouldn’t bounce right and it would be tough to paint on lines.😫 Well, good thing there’s a pickleball court you can roll out. Guess what it’s called? PickleRoll, of course! It’s the premier temporary (and permanent) pickleball surface used in backyards, and at events and tournaments all over the country! Check them out here.

Tired of always hitting backhand drops? Want to add a powerful two-handed backhand drive to your arsenal? Well, it just so happens that Coach Tanner is here to show you exactly how to hit it.👇

Key takeaways:

• Choke up on the paddle with your non-dominant hand.

• Step into the shot and keep your shoulders level.

• Don’t take a big backswing.

• Squeeze the battle tighter with your non-dominant hand.

Zillow recently reported that pickleball courts have become a hot commodity in home sales. Their data reveals that the keyword "pickleball" has spiked in popularity when compared to the listing descriptions of nearly 300 home features from one year ago.

Also in the last year, pickleball mentions in house listings are up 64%. Whether it’s converting driveways into courts, painting new pickleball lines on existing tennis/basketball courts, or building brand new pickleball courts, there is no doubt that more and more people are playing at home.

• Did you know that we just started a new monthly recap video called the “Monthly Minute with The Pickleball Clinic”?!! If you haven’t already, check it out here.

Hope you enjoyed the read. See you next week!

- Your Friends at The Pickleball Clinic

Join the conversation below! ⬇️