Welcome back to The Pickleball Clinic Newsletter!

What do you do right before you play pickleball? What about right afterwards? Today, we'll delve into pre and postgame pickleball routines, check out what Ryan Reynolds is doing with pickleball courts in Hollywood, learn a key serving tip, and a whole lot more.

Let’s go! 👇

We've heard of pickleball courts being built in spaces that were once malls and movie theaters, but we haven't heard about building them in movie studios — until now!

Actor Ryan Reynolds, best known for his portrayal of Marvel Comics character, Deadpool, along with tons of other huge films, is teaming up with Warner Bros. to convert some of their Hollywood stages into pickleball courts!

Called "Maximum Effort Pickleball," the project intends to make money by utilizing underused studio space.

Because “When life gives you a production slowdown," said Reynolds, "you build a pickleball empire.”

The plan is for courts to have different movie themes — from sci-fi to noir — and Warner Bros. plans to rent out the stages by the hour.

There will also be VIP packages, celebrity tournaments, fan events, and corporate league nights.

With so many Hollywood stars taking to pickleball, including Jamie Foxx, Katy Perry, Leonardo DiCaprio, Ellen DeGeneres, Kim Kardashian, and Selena Gomez, Reynolds figures that there is an appetite for pickleball in Los Angeles.

Will this venture work? We hope so! We’re excited to see this concept come to life versoon…

Make Sure to Call Out the Score!

If you’re the serving team, always make sure you call the score before serving. The rule is that either player on the serving team may call the score, it doesn’t have to be the server. If you call the score it will avoid confusion, which will help you play better because arguments about the score will break your rhythm!

We’ll be teaching the behind-the-back cross-court volley winner next week. 😄

That Successful Friend

Do you have a sibling or friend who is really impressive or successful? At some level you might feel a little jealous, but ultimately you want to be happy for them because you're in this journey together. If anything, you can even be inspired by them to be a better version of yourself.

Well, Bombas makes really impressive socks. Why are they so impressive? Because not only do they make insanely comfortable socks, but they are also incredibly charitable — for every item you purchase, Bombas donates an essential clothing item to someone in need. So yes, we are now going to compare your friend or sibling to socks 😄...

First off, don't be jealous of your super comfy and altruistic Bombas socks.🧦 Instead, enjoy wearing them for pickleball and let them inspire you to give back and help others. As for getting your own Bombas socks, we're offering new customers 25% off all socks, underwear, and bralettes + free shipping on first orders of $85 or more. Just use this link and the discount code they provide once you're there.

Pickleball’s greatest player of all time, Ben Johns, did a little Q + A with us…

The Pickleball Clinic: What’s one thing any 3.0+ level player can do to improve their game?

Ben Johns: 3.0s, I would not worry about the colloquially accepted “right” way to play, such as hitting 3rd shot drops, or dinking, etc. What you should focus on is making as many balls as possible in any way you can. Ideally, I would focus on making every single return of serve, and getting better at classic punch volleys.

^{You can follow Ben Johns on Instagram and YouTube!}

How Do You Pre (And Post) Game?

We're pretty sure that if you're reading this, you really like pickleball. Awesome. 💪

But since you can't play pickleball 24 hours a day, (actually, these people did for even longer, but that's a different story) then you have to be doing something before and afterwards. 

Well, what are those things you do? In other words, what are your favorite pre and post pickleball routines? Here are some we're thinking of...

Pregame

Croissant and Coffee: It may not be the breakfast of champions, but it tastes good, and it kind of rolls off the tongue. 🙂 (Which reminds us, a "bagel and brew" works too.)

Stretching: This is not as tasty as the above (or below) but it's really important nonetheless.

Postgame

Ice Bath: While this is supposed to be good for you, unless you're a professional athlete, you'll probably be going for one of the other options below.

Alcohol: A beer, cocktail, whatever drink it is that gets you relaxed. 🍸

Massage: Your wallet might start getting pretty light if you have one of these after every pickleball game, but every once in a while, it might be nice.

So what did we miss? Reply and let us know what you like to do before and after you play!

Pickleball doesn’t care about your age or background. 💪

Why You’re Not Getting Better

The great thing about pickleball is that it’s fun at almost every level. But it can also get frustrating for people when they play multiple times a week and feel like they’re not actually improving. It’s human nature to want to get better at something, so that frustration is understandable. 

But what’s not understandable is why someone would complain about not improving without taking steps toward actually getting better. Well, that’s where Engage pickleball camps come in. Held in states throughout the country, Engage pickleball camps give you intensive training with top pros for 2 days straight!

You’ll leave with so much information on pickleball shots and strategies that it will be difficult not to improve your game, even if you tried hard not to. 😄 But seriously, if just one or two concepts stick with you, then you can drastically improve your pickleball game. And who wouldn’t want to do that? Check out all the camps right here, and use code “clinic5” for 5% off.

As we all know, you can’t win a point in pickleball unless your team is serving. So if you can’t serve, then you can’t win a pickleball game. Well, if your partner has a good serve, then you could actually win without you ever getting your serve in — but that’s not what you want. Plus, that partner probably won’t play with you again. 😄 Anyway, when it comes to serving, you can either hit a drop serve, where the ball bounces first (which we recommend for beginners) or a volley serve, where you hit the ball out of the air. Matt is here to give tips on both. 👇

Key takeaways:

• For the drop serve, have your paddle back and hold the ball in your other hand high and out in front. Drop the ball (you’re not allowed to put force into your drop), and when the ball bounces, swing through when the ball is at its peak.

• Contact the ball out in front of you (not at your side or behind you) and follow through over your shoulder. Don’t stop your swing short, right after you make contact.

• For the volley serve, don’t hit the ball directly out of your hand because that doesn’t allow your body to rotate through the shot.

• Instead, be sure to let the ball come down out of the air, which will 1) allow you to get your other arm out of the way so you can rotate and 2) create additional power from the downward force of the ball colliding with your swing.

Sure, America is the epicenter for pickleball in the world. But it's spreading around the globe, including in the country with the world's largest population, India. Thanks to some pickleball tournaments held there, like the PWR DUPR India Masters (which was dominated by one of their native sons, Armaan Bhatia, who won the triple crown), India just witnessed 300% growth in pickleball over the last two years.

There are now reportedly 1,000 courts and 70,000 players in India, spread out not just in big cities, but in smaller ones and in more rural areas as well. And with a total population of roughly 1.5 billion, there is no end in sight for how big pickleball could eventually become there.

Hope you enjoyed the read. See you next week!

- Your Friends at The Pickleball Clinic

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