Welcome back to The Pickleball Clinic Newsletter!

Sometimes an intense pickleball match can feel like life or death, but of course it isn't. Today, we'll look at a truly near-death experience on a pickleball court, learn about people and places that have rejected pickleball but later came to embrace it, discover a pickleball club that is hosting singles events, and a lot more!

Let’s do this! 👇

So much of the allure of sport is its ability to give us a range of human emotions — in an essentially make-believe environment.

After all, most sports involve people, a ball and a flat field or court. And yet from just those things, the most passionate feelings are experienced, bringing us from painful sorrow to ecstatic jubilation.

Our traits are also revealed, including characteristics such as courage, mental toughness, and heroism.

But ultimately, it’s just a game. It’s not real, it isn’t actually a battle and it’s not really about life or death. Well, it was on December 5th in Sandy, Utah, when Kevin Newman had a heart attack while playing pickleball.

Kathryn Reinart, a retired EMT, immediately recognized the situation and sprung into action. She had someone call 911, another locate and bring over an AED device, and asked for anyone who had CPR training to form a line behind her.

The six people who worked on resuscitating Kevin were all honored recently at Sandy City Hall. "It was life-saving," said Newman. "They saved my life. They're a miracle. They're angels."

While what Kevin said is true, what also saved his life is the AED device and people having CPR training. Everyone involved encouraged more people to get CPR training and to make sure that AEDs are located at every sports facility.

As many of you may remember, an NFL player, Damar Hamlin of the Buffalo Bills, survived a heart attack during a game because of the similar heroic actions of the Bills’ training staff.

Because of Hamlin's experience, a new federal bill called the HEARTS Act was recently passed in the U.S. House that will establish a grant program to make it easier for schools to obtain AEDs and to conduct training on how to use them as well as how to administer CPR.

Master the Transition Zone!

The transition zone is arguably the most difficult area of the court to play in, yet also one of the most important at the highest levels. It’s important to mix up third shot drops and third shot drives in order to keep your opponents guessing. When playing in the transition zone, make sure to stay on your toes and keep your knees low in order to hit any type of shot. If your heels get planted in the transition zone, you’ll have trouble moving and adjusting to your shot!

Severe angles look cool, but they also set up ATPs. 😢

Pickleball in Flip Flops?

Don't play pickleball in flip flops! Why? Because it's dangerous. Also, don't play pickleball in high heels. Why? For the same reason. Now those are pretty obvious examples. But even when your footwear is a little better than high heels or flip flops, that doesn't mean you're wearing the right shoes.

What are the right shoes? It’s time to meet the latest shoe from Diadem, the Court Flo. Comfort meets performance with this new pickleball shoe featuring superior cushioning and support. Built with player feedback at it's core, the Court Flo delivers the perfect blend of speed, breathability, and court responsiveness with every cut you make. Order yourself a pair today, and use code “clinic10” for 10% off.

In our previous featured courts, we’ve shown you places out West in the desert. We’ve shown you pickleball courts right on the ocean surrounded by palm trees, and we recently highlighted courts in the heart of New York City. But today, we’re raising the roof. Yup, rooftop pickleball courts!

On the fourth floor of the Amway Grand Plaza Hotel in Grand Rapids, Michigan, there are four pickleball courts that allow guests to take in views of the city. Opened in July of 2022, the courts have lights for nighttime play and are open to the public. The hotel is one of six Hilton hotels across the country that have pickleball courts. 🥒

If at First You Don’t Succeed…

Have you ever looked at a piece of food and thought that you definitely won’t like it? But then you tried it and it actually tasted pretty good.

Or maybe you met someone for the first time and didn't care for them all that much. But then you interacted with them later on and came to realize that you actually like them quite a bit.

It's definitely strange how that works, and it has certainly been happening with our sport of pickleball, where certain groups of people have initially been resistant to playing pickleball, but then came around to embrace it.

Exhibit A is the recent AO Pickleball Slam held in Melbourne, Australia. It was held during the Australian Open, one of the four most prestigious grand slam tournaments on the tennis calendar.

It was the first-ever pickleball tournament held at and during a tennis grand slam tournament, which was quite remarkable considering the tension that has existed between our two sports.

Tennis has long rejected pickleball, perhaps first out of a feeling of superiority and more recently a feeling of jealousy at its popularity.

Well, regardless of the reason, tennis seems to be changing its mind on us, kind of like how former #1 tennis player in the world, Ivan Lendl, did. "I hated it [pickleball] too at first and then I played a few times and I changed my mind.” Now, Lendl plays in pickleball tournaments regularly and has a 5.1 DUPR rating.

So the moral of the story is to not always trust your first instinct about something. However, sometimes your first instinct is the right one, like in the case of the person writing this newsletter. 😀

When I first heard that pickleball (that fun sport I played in high school gym class) was becoming a thing, I had a visceral, almost spiritual feeling in that very instant during the conversation that pickleball would become a huge part of my life.

So I went back home, looked for a place I could play near me, and signed up for a league that was about to start. The first night of the league, I fell in love with pickleball, and I’ve never looked back. 💪🏼

This is TOTALLY not true — but still pretty darn funny. 😂

Getting the Feel of It

When you just start out in pickleball, your first instincts might be to hit every ball as hard as you possibly can. While there is room in pickleball for hitting the ball hard, you'll soon realize that you need balance to your game. There are shots that can and should be hit hard, like serves, drives and overheads.

But then there are shots that need to be hit softly, like dinks, drops, and resets. For these soft shots, you need feel, finesse and touch. The better you get, the more you can actually feel the ball on the paddle, as if your hand is actually making contact with the ball. Well, if you want the best feel in the game, then you need to be using Franklin's X-40 pickleballs. They provide feel for the soft game and also power for the fast game. Get some for yourself today, and use code “clinic15” at checkout for 15% off.

The backhand dink is one of the more important shots in all of pickleball, especially if you’re a righty who likes to play on the left side of the court. So why not learn how to hit it from the person who has the very best backhand dink in the world, Ben Johns. 👇

Key takeaways:

• Do NOT flick your wrist. Keep your wrist locked instead.

• DO cock your wrist upwards, which will put your paddle in the proper position with an open face.

Over the weekend, a camera crew came by to film a piece for FOX's national TV channel at Montclair Pickleball Bergen County in Fair Lawn, New Jersey. Why was the camera crew there? To feature an event called "Doubles for Singles," a mixer created to help singles meet one another with the backdrop of pickleball. 

These special Saturday nights include 2 hours of pickleball along with food, drinks, and music — and they’re divided up not by skill, but by age. The events have actually been so popular that the married folks wanted in on the action. No, no, not that they wanted a break from their spouses, but that they wanted a night to play pickleball too. 

So that's what led to, wait for it... "Doubles for Couples," which also includes pickleball, music, food and drinks, except those are on Saturday afternoons, and you're NOT allowed to exchange numbers! 😆 Did any of you meet your significant others playing pickleball? Reply and let us know. In the meantime, look out for the FOX special about "Doubles for Singles," which will air on the morning of Valentine's Day. 

Thanks for reading. See you out on the courts!

- Your Friends at The Pickleball Clinic

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