Welcome back to The Pickleball Clinic Newsletter!

How often do you hit a speed-up? Today, we'll dive into why, when, and where you should hit your speed-ups, find out how much money the best pro players make per year, check out an all-new pickleball movie, and much more.

Let’s go! 👇

Unless you are new to pickleball, many of you will probably be familiar with a shot called a "speed-up."

But just so we're all on the same page, a speed-up is a shot used during a dink rally (usually when all four players are up at the kitchen line) that is hit hard and aggressively either at or in between your opponents.

It is also important to note that while some players may win the point outright on a speed-up, as people advance in level, opponents have better reflexes and are ready to counter speed-ups.

As a result, the goal of a speed-up is really to use it as the first shot in an attack combination. Hopefully, the speed-up leads to a higher ball from your opponent that you can then put away on the next shot or the one after that.

But when and where should you speed up? THAT is the question. Well, Shakespeare, we could write a whole chapter on the answer to that, so we can't cover it all right now, but we can give you the big picture answer below...

WHEN: A good time to hit a speed-up is when the dink you are receiving is easy. It is not stretching you in any direction, it's just kind of sitting there. This is also known as a dead dink. If you receive such a dink, and you are on balance, then you might want to try your hand at hitting a speed-up.

WHERE: A great place to aim your speed-up is to empty space. If there is an open gap between your opponents or if the opponent directly across from you is not guarding their line, then try speeding up to that open space. If there are no gaps, then target one of your opponents, usually the one directly in front of you.

Generally, you want to speed up either wide to their backhand or at their dominant arm's elbow or shoulder to put them in a "chicken wing" position.

WORD to the WISE: A speed-up is an attack or an initiation of a hands battle. Therefore, if you think you have an advantage over your opponents in hand speed or reflexes, then hit speed-ups more often than you normally would.

Conversely, if your opponents have quicker hands than you, then you might want to hit speed-ups less often than you normally would.

With that said, keep in mind that you should not expect to win every point in which you initiate a speed-up. Actually, if you're winning 51% of those points or more, then it is an effective strategy.

You Don’t Need a Partner to Improve

If you’re motivated to get better but don’t have anyone to play with, there are plenty of effective drills you can do on your own. Beginners should start by simply bouncing the ball up and down on the paddle, this helps train your brain to understand the ball’s behavior and greatly improves your timing early on.

For intermediate to advanced players, a wall is your best training partner. You can practice volleys, dinks, and even groundstrokes by hitting against it. Wall drills sharpen your hands, ball judgment, timing, and overall form, all on your own. If you truly want to improve, there are no excuses. Get out there and drill!

No need to overthink those easy ones. Just put them away! 👇

If you play pickleball regularly, then we can almost guarantee that you know about aches, pains, and overall soreness. Well, TheraICE is here to the rescue! And trust us, the material of these sleeves are like nothing you've ever felt before. It truly feels as if the TheraICE sleeve is molding to your body—which is why we made them our Official Hot & Cold Therapy Partner!

Because of our partnership, we can now offer a TheraICE bundle. Here's how it works: buy 2 products and get 15% off, buy 3 products and get 25% off. Plus, when you use code (CLINIC20), you get an additional 20% off the entire order! If you want to heal and recover this summer, then now is your chance to get in on the action!

Welcome back to the section where we define a word or term that is widely used in the pickleball world…

Poach (verb)

In doubles, the act of poaching happens when a player crosses over to their partner's side of the court to hit a ball that would typically be their partner's. The purpose of a poach is to allow one player to hit a stronger shot—usually a forehand—than would have otherwise been hit by the partner—usually a backhand.

A poach can also be used as part of planned attack, such as a “shake and bake,” where one player hits a drive, and the other player gets a head start moving up to the kitchen line and crossing in front of his or her partner in an attempt to put away the opponent’s pop-up.

Can pro pickleballers make a lot of money? And if so, how many players make big bucks as opposed to not much or somewhere in between?

Well, we all know how popular pickleball has become as a sport for amateurs to play. So if the number of amateurs playing pickleball were a stock, then it would have skyrocketed over the past 5-7 years.

But what about watching pro pickleball? Is that as popular? Let's cut to the chase—of course not. While the average person either plays pickleball or knows someone who does, they probably can't name one professional player.

Compare that to the NFL, for example, which has become almost a religion for millions of Americans, and even the NBA, where New York City and the rest of the country, was glued to the screen during the New York Knicks championship run.

Of course if you command an audience, then you're going to get paid. As a result, the average NFL player (and there are almost 1,700 of them) makes roughly $4 million a year.

Sure, the highest paid celebrity NFL quarterbacks, like Patrick Mahomes or Josh Allen, make more than $55 million annually, but even the lowest paid players make a minimum of about $1 million.

So how does pro pickleball stack up? Zane Navratil, a PPA Tour champion, pickleball insider, and pro player for Major League Pickleball's Chicago Slice, recently laid out a few different tiers of income based on his knowledge and experience as a pro.

At the very highest tier, there is the top woman, Anna Leigh Waters, and top man, Ben Johns. They are the faces of the sport and for that reason, they do pretty well.

Navratil estimates that between their league contracts, appearance fees, and sponsorship deals (which include Nike and Franklin for Waters and JOOLA for Johns), Waters makes about $4 million a year after taxes and Johns about $3 million.

The next group of roughly 10 players can make about $750,000 a year after taxes and expenses, which comes from a combination of league contracts, prize money, sponsorships, corporate events, and teaching clinics.

The next tier below that takes home about $200,000, but then below that tier, it plummets to $15,000 a year or less. The players hustling at professional qualifying tournaments actually lose money each year. 😢

Unfortunately, like in most sports and other forms of entertainment, there are extremely talented individuals who are in the top 1% of their craft. But unless they're in the 0.1% or so, then it's tough to make a living.

If you're going to fight on a pickleball court, just know that we're going to put classical music behind it. 😂👇

If you're a high-level player, then you may have established yourself as a right or left side specialist. Sure, you can play either side, but when you play tournaments, you specialize in one side. (After all, this is exactly what pros do.) Well, if you are a right side player who is also a righty, then get ready for a masterclass from perhaps the best right side player of all time, Collin Johns. 👇

Looking for a funny sports movie this summer with well-known actors? Then you've come to the right place because the much-awaited pickleball movie, The Dink, produced by Ben Stiller, is coming out in less than a month—and the official trailer just dropped! While Ben Stiller is not the star of the film, he does have a role in it, as does Ed Harris and former tennis star, Andy Roddick. The Dink will stream on AppleTV starting on July 24th.

Hope you enjoyed the read. See you next week!

- Your Friends at The Pickleball Clinic

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