Welcome back to The Pickleball Clinic Newsletter!

Hey Dinkers. They say if you can’t handle the heat, then get out of the kitchen. Well, if it gets too hot this week, then be careful and play in the morning or evening! 🥵 Anyway, today we’ll see how both presidential candidates are courting the pickleball vote, what you need in order to be ready for your next pickleball tournament, and how to put spin on your dinks.

Let’s do this! 👇

There are two things in America that are as hot as pickleball right now. One is the weather this week 😂, and the other is the upcoming presidential election. 

We all expect the election to be close, so it makes sense that both candidates want to target voters through pickleball. And they are!

The Biden campaign launched a program to engage with seniors through events focusing on bingo and pickleball. 

The program, called "Seniors for Biden-Harris," is hosting a pickleball tournament in Virginia to encourage seniors to vote in November.

Meanwhile, Trump's campaign isn't hosting any pickleball tournaments yet, but it is selling pickleball paddles.

For $118, you can buy a Trump pickleball set, which includes two paddles with the name "TRUMP" on them, a case, and two pickleballs.

We're not stupid enough to get into politics in this newsletter 😄, but we will neutrally applaud both campaigns for not ignoring the pickleball community. 👏

Now if only one of the candidates were bold enough to do something like mandate half-day Fridays so everyone could play pickleball. 🥒😄

A platform like that might actually sway the election. If it happens, just make sure everyone knows we came up with the idea. 😂

Follow Through Over Your Shoulder

Today's tip is for your drives, serves, and return of serves that you are hitting from the baseline. Make sure that you follow through over your shoulder, on both the forehand and backhand side.

Many beginners stop their follow through midway through the swing, which decelerates the paddle and causes the shot to slow down and lack control. When you finish these baseline shots, your paddle should finish by your shoulder opposite of the side you're hitting on. (I.e. if you're a righty hitting a forehand your swing should finish by your left shoulder).

A sneaky Erne for the win! 🙌 

Can You Make It Whistle?

If you play with someone who hits the ball hard enough, you can sometimes hear a little whistle that the pickleball makes as it glides through the air. That's a sweet sound. We should record that sound and put it on a loop to help people fall asleep. Which sound do you like more? That whistle or the sound of a perfectly clean counter you hit right after your opponent speeds the ball up at you? Oooh, that may be too tough to decide. 

Well, whichever you prefer, you can rest assured that the best ball to use for making those sounds is the Franklin X-40. (We're actually not 100% sure that the X-40 makes better sounds than other balls 😄, but we are sure it plays better.) Go get yourself some today, and use code “clinic15” at checkout for 15% off!

Wil Shaffer is an up-and-coming pickleball player and part of the APP Next Gen Tour. Today he speaks about three elements of pickleball that he believes are extremely important.

“Pickleball is FUN! That’s what gets everyone hooked. It remains fun for me as I move toward higher levels of competition, but it also takes a lot of dedication. Sure, I drill and play a lot of games, that’s the fun part. However, I think the three most important aspects to focus on are: mental toughness, strength and conditioning, and studying the game.  

Things can spiral so quickly, so if you cannot reset your brain just as fast, your game is in jeopardy. I have to constantly have this in my mind! I work with a sports psychologist, who helps me a lot, because my mental toughness is always changing.  

Strength and conditioning is my favorite part of the day. I work on footwork, balance, agility, and I lift weights. Coach Ty Woody with Pickleball Sports Performance helps me understand what my body needs and why. I believe this is how I was able to elevate my game in 2024. And finally, I am a student of the game. I love watching matches, both my own and pro matches. I am constantly evaluating patterns, shot choices, and movement on the court. If I have one goal for the upcoming year, it would be to watch even more film! 

The game is incredible, the people that support me in my pickleball community are priceless, and I am so thankful that this wonderful game found me! Get out on the courts and have FUN!

You can follow Wil’s pickleball journey on Instagram.

The Ultimate Tournament Check List

Playing in a pickleball tournament this summer? Great! Just make sure you have everything you need.

In addition to packing sunscreen, sunglasses, electrolytes, shoes, balls, and your paddles (JOOLA or Engage maybe?) 😂, you're going to want to bring a few more items.

Glasses: To give your opponents if they start making bad line calls. 👓

Ear Plugs: For when your partner starts giving you advice after every point.

Tissues: If you don't win gold, you're not going to be happy. 😥😄 

Excuses List: We've built up a pretty big list. Here are the biggies --> Sun, Wind, Injury, Partner, Paddle, It's Too Early, It's Too Late, Haven't played recently, Played too much recently.😂

But all joking aside — and don't worry, we'll get back to joking pretty soon — if you live in New Jersey or its surrounding states, then you don't want to miss the New Jersey State Open.

Why? Because The Pickleball Clinic's co-founders, Aaron Reznik and Matt Slowinski have partnered with the PPA for what should be New Jersey's largest pickleball event of the year! The pair co-founded Montclair Pickleball, now NJ’s largest pickleball academy with 4 locations statewide.

Running from July 12-14 in Hamilton, NJ, it will be a United Pickleball Qualifier for 2024 Nationals and will include men’s/women’s doubles, mixed doubles, and singles with levels ranging from 3.0 to 5.0+ and $5,000 in prize money split between divisions.

Winners from each bracket will get to partner up with Ben Johns in his upcoming pro tournament — we told you we'd get back to joking pretty soon. 😄

Don’t worry, we’ve all been there. 😂

A Real Denver Nugget

Have you secured your Golden Ticket yet for the 2024 USA Pickleball National Championships in Mesa, Arizona? There’s still time! UTR Sports is hosting a Golden Ticket qualifier in the Denver Metro area on July 10-14.

Hundreds of players have already registered for singles, doubles, and mixed doubles in different age and level divisions. Registration closes on June 26.

REGISTER NOW

Taking place in Arvada, Colo., the Denver Metro Golden Ticket is part of the UTR Sports Pickleball Amateur Series, a year-round tour of round-robin events held throughout the U.S.

As your pickleball game improves, the ability to hit various spins on your dinks will become an important tool to have in your bag. Today, Coach Matt shows you how and when to hit dinks with spin. 👇

Key takeaways:

• Slice: otherwise known as “backspin,” cock your wrist to hit this shot and have your swing path look like a “U.”

• Topspin: only use on dead dinks or when you are in position and on balance — swing from low to high and brush up on the ball.

• Flat: the most consistent dink, make sure your paddle isn’t moving from high to low or low to high on impact.

We know we mentioned politics above, which can be a dicey subject, especially these days when the country seems as divided as ever. For that reason, we encourage any of you who may have been offended by us mentioning the election to write back to us.

Please write an extensive message detailing all of your political, social and economic beliefs — and we PROMISE not to read any of your messages. 😂 (We’re interested in pickleball around here, not politics! 🥒💪)

Hope you enjoyed the read. See you next week!

- Your Friends at The Pickleball Clinic

Join the conversation below! ⬇️