Welcome back to The Pickleball Clinic Newsletter!

Have you ever been fired? Today, we'll take a look at three pro pickleball players who got a pink slip, check out the latest excuses to hit the courts, reveal some game-changing dinking advice from one of the best pickleball minds in the game, and more.   

Let’s go! 👇

Did you know that three pro pickleball players were just banned from the United Pickleball Association (UPA), which is the parent company of the Professional Pickleball Association (PPA) Tour and Major League Pickleball (MLP)?

According to a statement released by the UPA, it "has terminated the contracts of players Ryan Fu, Vivian Glozman, and James Ignatowich."

Why were these players expelled, you may wonder? Did they gamble on the sport? Were they using illegal performance-enhancing substances? Did they commit a crime? No, no, and no.

UPA's reason for the expulsion was that the players participated in "competitor events," which it deems a "violation of UPA agreements."

The specific issue was a recent trip that the players took to Japan, where they participated in a clinic put on by Pickleball Japan Federation in an effort to help grow the sport.

Ignatowich, Fu, and Glozman did not play in a tournament, but simply conducted clinics, which according to the UPA was reason enough to kick all of them off the PPA Tour and out of MLP.

But in a post on X, Fu maintains that the UPA committee actually approved the trip in July and that he participated in the exact same trip last year, which was also approved.

There is yet another wrinkle to this story, however, which is that four pro players participated in the Japan clinic even though only three of them were banned by the UPA.

Who was the fourth? Paris Todd, who according to the PPA website, is currently ranked #6 and #5 in women's doubles and singles, respectively.

Why wasn't Todd's contract also terminated? Because the UPA says that Todd initially reached out to them to request permission for the trip.

As a result, Todd's case is under further review, and her penalty "could range from a fine to a suspension to, if warranted, termination." Whatever the decision is, we will keep you posted.

Don’t Be Offensive from a Defensive Position

Topspin dinks are a great way to go on offense at the kitchen line, but avoid using them on defense. Fighting a tough offensive dink with topspin is a recipe for a popup!

We don’t show you singles points too much, but this one is pretty sweet. 👇

You can choose a lot of things, like your friends, your job, and where you want to live. But you know what you can't choose? Your family. Yup, we all have those quirky relatives who we may not have picked if we had the choice, but we still love them (or at least most of them), and still have to get them gifts for the holidays.

That's where pickleball comes in. If your relatives are already picklers, then you're all set. But even if they're not, this is a chance to get them into pickleball, which will actually give you something that the two of you can have in common. Check out JOOLA's gift guide, where you can shop for family members, like "Glam-MA" and "Uncle Nope." 😄

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

Nasty Nelson (noun)

This is a shot in which the server purposely hits his or her serve at the opponent directly across the net with the intention of hitting that opponent with the ball on the fly — thus winning the point for the serving team. While perfectly legal, it is a controversial shot that is often viewed as rude and unsportsmanlike. The Nasty Nelson can be used in competitive play, but it should really be attempted once in a blue moon as a joke shot among friends.

In the sport of pickleball, there are some pretty classic excuses to use that can make you feel better by blaming something else for your poor play. In fact, some excuses are so common that we actually came up with an acronym for them: SWIPE-L (S: Sun / W: Wind / I: Injury / P: Partner / E: Early / L: Late)

While the excuses above (especially the first four) are probably the Mount Rushmore of pickleball excuses, there are some others we’ve been hearing on the courts...

Not Enough Warmup: You would be playing better if only you had warmed up more before the match.

Too Much Warmup: You warmed up too much before playing, which has made you tired and not at your best.

Noise: A loud noise went off right before you hit the ball, which made you mishit it out or into the net.

Lighting: You cannot see the ball well because of poor indoor lighting.

Movement Behind the Court: Someone walked behind the court as you were hitting, which distracted you. 

Tennis Background Makes It Difficult: This excuse is particularly funny to hear when having prior tennis experience would actually help (not hurt) one's pickleball game. Something like "I can't hit topspin because of all that muscle memory I have from tennis." 

DISCLAIMER: Every single one of these excuses are legitimate in the sense that they may actually be reasons for playing poorly. However, most of these excuses affect both teams equally, which makes complaining about them sound like you're well, "just making excuses." 😉

A good reason to show up to the courts with more than one ball. 😂👇

The holiday season is here, but let's not forget that the word "holiday" is derived from the combination of "holy” and “day." So now that we've got you pronouncing it "holyday," let's take a look at another kind of holy… Holey.

Holey Performance is an electrolyte and hydration brand specifically designed for pickleball players to help us stay fresh and healthy. They designed a program consisting of pre-game (for pick-me-up energy), in-game (for hydration), and post-game (for recovery and muscle health).

It's a powerful combination that improves your energy, focus, and healing. Grab some for yourself and use code (clinic20) for 20% off.

Do you want to be a force up at the kitchen line — like not just survive up there, but thrive? Well, we brought in the former #1 Senior Pro in the world, Eva Welsher, to show us how she dominates dink rallies with a super important drill. Eva has one of the best strategic minds in all of pickleball. Period. So you might just want to give this a watch. 👇

Pickleball has been played in gym class, or "physical education" as the schools like to call it, for decades throughout the country. But of course it wasn't treated as a competitive sport for young people until rather recently. Last year, Maryland became the first state to make pickleball an official varsity sport in one of its public school districts. But will another state please stand up?

What? What's that we hear? Arizona, is that you? Yes, while there has not yet been a formal request, PURE Pickleball & Padel, which will soon become the largest indoor pickleball facility in the state, is promoting pickleball in Phoenix-area high schools with the intent of hopefully making it an official varsity sport.

Hope you enjoyed the read. See you next week!

- Your Friends at The Pickleball Clinic

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