Welcome back to The Pickleball Clinic Newsletter!

College students are getting more and more into pickleball — and so are celebrities. Today, we’ll take a look at those two groups of pickleball enthusiasts, reveal an important dinking tip, and discuss a whole lot more!

Let’s dive in 👇

We all know pickleball is the fastest growing sport in America — but how can it continue to grow over time? Send it to college. 😃

Why? Because college sports not only serve as incubators for tomorrow’s star athletes, but they also build and sustain interest in the sport among our young people — good thing college pickleball is off to a strong start…

• There are currently more than 130 colleges that have competitive pickleball clubs.

• The first collegiate pickleball national championship was in 2022 — the University of North Carolina edged out Utah Tech University, and the men’s singles winner was Collin Shick, now a pro player for MLP’s Florida Smash.

• USA Pickleball has a page on its website dedicated to college involvement in pickleball — with how-to-guides to start a pickleball club on campus and information about its college grant program.

What’s in store for the future of college pickleball? Will it be an official NCAA sport within 5 or 10 years?

If so, will college pickleball be relatively small, like college tennis and golf? Or maybe a bit bigger, like college volleyball and gymnastics? What about really big, like college basketball and football? (Dare to dream. 😂)

Reply and let us know what you think!

Speaking of big changes in pickleball, we hope you join our movement and sign our petition for creating a pickleball emoji! Here’s a video explaining some of our pain…

thepickleballclinic

View more on Instagram

For this week’s Bulletin, Ben Johns weighs in on pickleball tech advancements that we might expect to see in the future. 🐐

“Hey, bulletin readers!

What advancements in pickleball might we see arise thanks to its popularity?

Here are a few advancements I think we can expect, although I think the most dramatic ones will be those we don’t expect!

• Stats! I’ve been saying it for a while, and although it may not classify as “tech” I’m putting it in here anyway. Statistics and analysis of their impact in pickleball I think will change how we play the game vs what we think of now as the “correct” way to play. There will be changes in strategy and mechanics because of stats.

• More quiet pickleballs/paddles. Noise is often the biggest complaint from people that do not like pickleball. Particularly in residential areas I think we’ll see a much greater effort to make very quiet balls and paddles.

Until next time!

-Ben”

For more from Ben, follow his Instagram @BenJohns_PB!

Utilize the middle dink…

Test the middle of the court to see how your opponents react.

The middle often causes confusion if your opponents don't have a plan for who takes which shots. Plus, deep dinks in the middle will often cause your opponents to step back off the line, giving you room to go on offense or hit to their feet if they don't recover.

This doesn’t mean you need to dink to the middle all the time, but you should at least do it a few times early on to see if it causes confusion for your opponents.

🚨Our Biggest Giveaway of the Year!🚨

We’ve decided to kick off our partnership with Bread & Butter Pickleball by giving away 20 paddles! Enter here via Facebook or Instagram.

Here’s a video from B&B’s passionate founder, Doug, hyping up the giveaway with a spice of comedy! ⬇️

Great dinking + matching outfits = entertaining pickleball.

Celebrity Pickleball Showdown in Dallas

Last week’s Biofreeze USA Pickleball National Championships at Brookhaven Country Club, just outside of Dallas, brought celebrities out in force — especially professional athletes connected with the Big D!

As part of the Celebrity Pickleball Showdown, the celebrities weren’t just there — they were playing pickleball! One exhibition match featured…

• 🏀Dirk Nowitzki - Hall of Fame basketball player for the Dallas Mavericks

• ⛳Scottie Scheffler - Current #1 golfer in the world (grew up in Dallas)

• 🎾John Isner - American tennis star (lives in Dallas)

• 🏀Jason Kidd - Hall of Fame basketball player and current coach of the Dallas Mavericks

John Isner (6’10) teamed up with Dirk Nowitzki (7’0) — and probably got his first experience ever as the shorter member of his doubles team. 😂

Oh, and there’s more — Luka Dončić (current star of the Dallas Mavericks) was watching, and Tony Romo, starting quarterback of the Dallas Cowboys from 2006 to 2015, was commentating!

It seems like pickleball and celebrities go together like Travis Kelce and Taylor Swift.

Yes, there is a concept known as moderation. We just don’t like it…

Practice Makes Permanent with Franklin

There’s a new training tool out there and it’s time to drill! After all, practice makes permanent!

Franklin Pickleball, creator of the best pickleball in the game, now brings us Training Pickleballs designed specifically for practicing your skills and increasing your hand-eye coordination. These pickleballs come in two sizes: compact (69MM) to train your hand speed and oversized (80MM) to improve your shot placement.

Get a discount from The Pickleball Clinic with code clinic15 when you add Franklin’s Training Pickleballs to your practice routine.

Want to hit the perfect serve?

Matt gives 3 tips for increased depth, pace, and spin. 👇

Key takeaways:

• Stand sideways

• Start with paddle back

• Follow through over your shoulder

When JW Johnson won the USA Pickleball National Championship singles title over the weekend, he became the first man not named Ben Johns or Tyson McGuffin to win it since 2016.

Thanks for the read! See you soon.

- Your Friends at The Pickleball Clinic

Join the conversation below! ⬇️