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Pickleball Is For EVERYONE: As Proved By These Stories

Pickleball Is For EVERYONE: As Proved By These Stories

A Name Change, Insights from Pickleball Greats, and More Tips To Help Improve Your Game

The Pickleball Clinic
May 31, 2023

Welcome back to The Pickleball Clinic newsletter!

One of the pro tours is changing its name, top senior pickleball player Eva Welsher gives us some insights and more tips to improve your game.

Let’s dive in 👇

As pickleball grows, the major entities are trying to properly align their branding.

And this past week we had big news…

The APP, one of pickleball’s largest professional leagues, has officially changed its name:

Old: Association of Pickleball Professionals
New: Association of Pickleball Players

So why did the APP do this?

They believe the rebrand affirms APP’s commitment to inclusivity and providing best-in-class services for pickleball players of all ages and abilities, ranging from elite pros to recreational and amateur players.

We’re excited for what’s to come!

A weekly thought from pickleball’s GOAT Ben Johns 🐐

Pickleball was once considered an “old person sport.” I think that stigma has changed over the past few years into more of a “sport for anyone,” and everyone!

This is one of the coolest things about the sport.

In terms of the particular groups that often enjoy a sport, pickleball is likely the most diverse one I’ve ever seen. It traverses age, guy/girl, sports background (or none), socioeconomic status, nationality, and nearly every other distinction you can think of.

Among whatever classifications you fall under, with pickleball, anyone can have fun with it almost immediately, and then take it to whatever level they wish to whether that’s casual, social, competitive, or professional.

There is something in the sport for everyone. Rarely do you see something as unifying as pickleball, that brings together such a wide variety of people.

And to me, that’s one of the most special things we should value and admire about our sport.

Follow Ben on Instagram here: @BenJohns_PB and check out https://pickleball360.com/

Have you tried a PCKL ball? You should…

PCKL Elite 40s are REALLY starting to pop.

Players have consistently said the balls are easy to track, withstand hard hitting games and provide excellent feel that results in predictable flight with solid spin response.

We even saw Pros like Ben Johns and Anna Bright play with them at the Pros vs. 5.0s event in Arlington earlier this month.

Now, as an exclusive for Pickleball Clinic readers, you can save when you grab 48 balls and use code PBCLINIC10 at checkout.

If you’re in the 3.0-3.9 range and want to improve up to the 4.0-4.5+ range, the number one thing you should focus on to get there is your soft game.

Here are what I believe to be the 3 most important aspects of the soft game:

Dinks - keep them low and in the kitchen
Drop - this prevents you from being attacked
Reset - when in trouble, put the ball in the kitchen

Who else snuck some pickleball in over Memorial Day Weekend?

Splish Naturals Rejuvenation Mat

Welcome to Splish Naturals Sport. The holistic choice to reduce inflammation, pain, and cramping, naturally. We are excited to introduce you to our latest product, The Rejuvenation Mat. Perhaps you had the opportunity to test drive this mat at the U.S. Open in Naples or are familiar with what this mat does for your health, well-being, athletic recovery or simply, pure relaxation.

Learn more about the Rejuvenation Mat by viewing our e-manual.

The Rejuvenation Mat works at the cellular level to enhance recovery, energize the body or completely relax the body and is available at the Splish Naturals website, along with all the other, amazing, all-natural, pain-relieving products. Use this unique discount code to place your order for the mat (while supplies are available) or any other products. Visit the Splish Naturals website at: www.splishnaturals.com.

“Being a Senior Pro” by World #1 Eva Welsher

A Senior or “Champion” Pickleball Pro has more history than anyone knows.

Most Senior Pros come from a rigorous junior tennis background. From roughly age 8, we were trained for hours each day and traveled the country to compete.

Housing was big back then, so we mostly traveled alone and had to grow up fast. We trained and competed for 10 years before even starting to play at the top collegiate tennis programs in the country.

Some of us went on to play Pro tennis. We have had full lives, families, love and loss, all the good and the bad before we even started this Pickleball game.

We are the trailblazers for Pickleball.

Although it appears that many want to put us in the shadows for the glory of money and fame, WE put this game on the map. From fathers creating the game in their backyard to spreading it to our communities and friends.

We are proud that we are able to show our skills and re-ignite our competitive juices after decades of putting our love of racquet sports aside to conquer other goals in our life.

We love that we can rekindle relationships with other seniors that we played juniors with at 12 years old.

Pickleball has saved many of us in ways we never imagined. It’s made us feel young, purposeful, strong, noticed, and appreciated as if we were 12 years old again.

Being a Senior Pickleball Player is truly an honor and privilege!

Thanks to Eva Welsher for writing this incredible passage.