Welcome back to The Pickleball Clinic Newsletter!

Hey Picklers! It’s been a crazy week to say the least. This week, we’ll take a look at how pickleball courts are now competing with golf courses as top venues for doing business. Plus, get ready for highlights from a mixed doubles tournament, discounts, and a pickleball video game coming out today!

Let’s do this. 👇

Want to talk business? Then let’s play some pickleball.

Yes, it appears that the pickleball court is becoming a venue not just for pleasure, but also for business.

In other words, move over golf, and let's play pickleball. 🥒💪

According to a recent article published in Bloomberg, corporate bookings at pickleball clubs have taken off — like by multiples of three or five in just the past couple of years.

Why is this trend happening?

Two big factors are time and money. If you're playing pickleball with a potential business partner, you might play for one or two hours, or at most three at a corporate event. If you're playing golf, it's an automatic five hours.

Plus, entertaining clients on a pickleball court is cheaper than golf. Chicago-based real estate broker Colin Hebson, who has been bringing clients to play golf for 25 years, says that his pickleball club costs $80 for two hours versus the $600 to $700 it costs to take clients out golfing.

Yet another factor is client comfort. If you haven't been playing golf for years, there is a ton of pressure (and ultimately embarrassment) you experience from not being very good.

But in pickleball, with zero experience, you can get out there and start having fun within 15 minutes. So is golf heading south? No, as it also received a big boost during the Covid years.

But one thing’s for sure, golf definitely has to make room for pickleball at the conference room table.👍

It ain’t over ‘til it’s over — especially in pickleball. 😲

Try Not to Get Frustrated

If you're someone who frequently gets frustrated when you aren't playing as well as you think you should during matches, try to disconnect yourself from the outcome. Players that are overly fixated on winning and losing typically enjoy the game less and have trouble producing the results they want in match play.

Whenever you are frustrated with the way you are playing, try to remember why you started playing the game in the first place: to have fun! When you take a step back to enjoy the game, the people around you, and the competition, playing becomes more fun, and in turn you will play better!

Besides, every mistake is just an opportunity to improve! If you're frustrated that you're missing a certain shot, try to drill it, and be thankful that you know exactly what you need to do to get better.

Once in a Blue Moon…

Feeling blue? We haven’t tested it yet, but we don’t think it’s possible to feel blue after watching this music video. ☝️

Why? Because once in a blue moon, a song comes out that is so powerful, so insightful, and so catchy that you can’t resist singing it. THIS is that song. 😃🎵 So give it a little listen and then realize that nobody can do electrolytes, flavor, hydration, and pre-game like Jigsaw Health. Get yourself some Blue Raspberry Pickleball Cocktail today, and use code “clinic10” at checkout for $10 off.

We’ve got a treat for you today. It’s Elly Smith: pickleball player, content creator, and member of our team. Today, she talks about topspin.

“Hey guys! It’s Elly here! Today I want to break down a technique that helped me understand how to add topspin to my shots.

I didn’t come from a tennis background so when I first picked up a paddle to play, one thing I didn’t understand was SPIN! Learning how to spin the ball has become almost essential in pickleball today. So let’s talk about an easy way to understand and execute topspin.

The easiest way to think of it is brushing up on the ball, from low to high. It’s gentle and fluid, not a chopping motion. Start from under and behind the ball and then simply brush up. That’s all it takes to create topspin! No need to over complicate things.

I hope this helped you understand a simple way to execute spinning the ball — and now you can wow all of your friends the next time you play!”

Be sure to follow Elly on Instagram.

Something Can Get Younger? 😲

We all know that since the pandemic, pickleball has been getting more and more popular — no news there.

And we also know that the sport has gotten younger each year as well. But we didn't realize just how young!

In a recent study conducted by Civic Science, 17,000 respondents were asked if they played pickleball in the last 30 days.

The group with the most people to respond "yes," was... wait for it 😄... Gen Z-ers! Yup, that's people under the age of 24!

Then came Millennials, followed by Gen X-ers and then Baby Boomers. In other words, the complete opposite order of what you might expect.

Granted, since it's been very hot recently, the numbers may be skewed a bit because older people may be more likely to avoid the high temperatures.

Nevertheless, the fact that large numbers of very young people are playing pickleball is awesome — and great news for the future of our sport. 💪

If you live almost anywhere in the United States, you’re probably going outside to play some pickleball at dawn or dusk and staying inside the rest of the day to crank up the AC. Well, air conditioning costs money! So don’t overpay on pickleball gear when you can get exclusive discounts on the best brands in pickleball right HERE. 👍

POV: Your partner’s battling at the kitchen, and you’re still chilling at the baseline. 😂

No More Sandbagging

The leaders of UTR Sports, the APP, and USA Pickleball recently discussed their partnership and why an accurate and reliable global rating is key for pickleball’s next phase of growth. Check out what they said above☝️, and for even more detail, click here.

“The UTR Pickleball Rating is simple and easy to understand, especially if you’re one of the millions of new pickleball players in the world,” said Ken Herrmann, Founder and Head of International & Player Development at APP. “We needed a technology partner with software that can run leagues and tournaments and support our mission of growing and supporting the sport,” said Mike Nealy, CEO of USA Pickleball. “The rating system is key to the game.” Get rated today!

We’ve assembled our Top 5 plays from the recent APP Newport Beach Mixed Doubles Final. Notice how often the best players in the world… DINK! Check out these incredible points below. 👇

If you’ve ever played video games, chances are you’ve played a sports video game. Football, basketball, baseball, and others have been around for years. But now, and we mean starting today 😄, you will be able to play the PPA Pickleball Tour video game, which is being released on XBox, Playstation, and Steam.

You will be able to hit all the major shots in pickleball, such as dinks, volleys, and drives, but also fancy shots like ATPs and Ernes. Plus, you'll be able to play against the best players in the world, including Ben Johns and Anna Leigh Waters. 👍

Hope you enjoyed the read. See you next week!

- Your Friends at The Pickleball Clinic

Join the conversation below! ⬇️