Welcome back to The Pickleball Clinic Newsletter!

What’s the nicest pickleball facility you’ve ever been to? Today, we'll take a look at five of the most beautiful pickleball facilities on the planet, find out what our sport needs to change, take a look at some real pickleball royalty, and much more.

Let’s do this! 👇

Pickleball is fun no matter where you play. It was even fun back in the days when you had to put down tape on indoor basketball courts or outdoor tennis courts. But as time has gone on, permanent pickleball courts with high-quality nets in attractive facilities have become more and more common. It’s still the same great sport, but hey, a nice facility can make for an even better experience. Well, what happens when you have pristine pickleball courts that are set in stunning locations? What you get is our list of “Five of the Most Beautiful Pickleball Facilities in the World.” Here goes...

Manzano Mesa Pickleball Complex - New Mexico

Let's start out West in Albuquerque, New Mexico, where you will find a robust public pickleball facility featuring 33 outdoor courts. In addition to the immaculate pickleball courts, the complex is surrounded by the beautiful desert landscape, making it one of the premier pickleball spots in the Southwest.

Ritz-Carlton Kapalua Resort - Hawaii

Now let's go even further west, this time all the way out to Hawaii, specifically Maui, to the Ritz-Carlton Kapalua resort. Well known for its golf course, which plays host to an annual PGA Tour tournament, the resort also offers other activities, including pickleball! Just look at the location of these courts, nestled right up against the Pacific Ocean.

CityPickle Central Park - New York

A pickleball facility doesn't need to be in a tropical resort to be beautiful. It can also be smack in the middle of one of the world's most iconic cities: New York City. Plus, it's in one of the world's most iconic parks, Central Park, just steps away from the famous Plaza Hotel. This 14-court facility boasts incredible views of NYC's skyscrapers, is open to the public, and is run by CityPickle. Plus, its exact location is in Wollman Rink, which is an ice-skating rink. So while you can play pickleball there in the warmer months, in the winter, yes, people are skating on it. How cool is that? It has also become the site of Major League Pickleball's end-of-year tournament.

H'mong Village Resort Ha Giang - Vietnam

Next let’s get out of the Western Hemisphere and head over to Vietnam, which has established itself as a hotbed for pickleball. These absolutely breathtaking courts are part of the H'mong Village Resort Ha Giang. When you’re done playing pickleball, be sure to explore some of the area’s natural beauty, including Lung Khuy Cave and Hang Rao Waterfall.

Ventus at the Marina El Cid Spa & Beach Resort - Mexico

Lastly, let’s head south to Riviera Maya, a stretch of Caribbean coastline on Mexico’s northeastern Yucatán Peninsula. Just south of Cancun, and filled with beach resorts, these three courts are part of the Ventus at the Marina El Cid Spa & Beach Resort. As you can see, they are on a roof, right in the heart of a gorgeous resort, and just steps away from the ocean.

So there you have it, five of the most beautiful pickleball facilities in the world. Are there other incredible pickleball facilities around the world? You bet! And will more get build in the near future? Yes, they will, and we can’t wait to see what’s in store…

Record Yourself Playing

Recording yourself on court is one of the fastest ways to improve your game. Many players have no idea what their mechanics look like until they watch themselves play, and video often reveals habits you'd never notice in the moment.

That's why top players regularly watch film—they use it to identify weaknesses, track progress, and make purposeful adjustments. Next time you play, set up a tripod or prop your phone on the sideline, review where you're making mistakes, and turn those observations into your next practice session.

Look out, it’s an all-out firefight! 👇

Sure, pickleball can give us some aches and pains, but that's OK because TheraICE created an innovative, wearable solution that harnesses the proven power of compression and cold therapy. So essentially, your ordinary ice pack just got the ultimate upgrade!

TheraICE combines reactive relief and proactive prevention, supporting you not only when pain strikes, but also beforehand by keeping your body ready for what’s next. Plus, because of our partnership, we are offering a TheraICE bundle: 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—or if you just want a single sleeve, you also get 20% off when you use that code!

We all love playing pickleball around here and we probably think it's perfect the way it is. But, of course, nothing in life is 100% perfect.

So we posed the question to all of you via our Facebook and Instagram communities: "If you could change one rule in pickleball, what would it be?" Let's hear how you responded...

One person wrote: "If the ball hits the net and goes into the serve box it should be a let." This is the rule in tennis, and it’s actually used in some pro pickleball leagues and tours.

Someone else replied, "rally scoring," which means that teams can score points even when they are not serving. This scoring system already exists, it is used in some leagues and tournaments, and it also eliminates the third number in pickleball scoring.

One answer was, "No Nasty Nelson and VAR to check if the ball is in or out." Good ideas. If video replay were available on all pickleball courts, then that probably would be the rule, and as for Nasty Nelsons...

Other people also wanted to outlaw the Nasty Nelson, and we suppose that wouldn’t be too hard to do. If the non-returning player is standing on his or her side of the court and is struck by the serve in the air, then that would simply be considered a lost point for the serving team. Makes sense.

Now before we get into the obvious joke responses, we have to mention one idea that at first might seem like a joke, but might actually be a good rule change. And that is: "Only 3 lobs per team per game!!!!!!!"

Especially if mobility is an issue for a team, then they are very vulnerable to lobs, and if the other team constantly lobs them, it kind of ruins the game and takes the fun out of it for everyone.

So if there were a limit to the number of lobs a team could hit, then it would prevent that strategy of always lobbing. It might be a little difficult to decipher exactly what is and is not a lob (like how do you measure the exact height of the ball over the net in real time?), but we could see a rule like that working.

OK, and now for the funny comments: "If over 6’ tall your kitchen line is 1’ further from net." The idea behind this comment is understood, but having different kitchen lines might get a bit confusing.  

Our favorite joke, though, was this: "Any ball that is out of my reach is OUT!" Now that's a rule we can get behind. 😂

Sorry, but it’s kind of true. 😂👇

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Are you an intermediate player who is looking to get to the next level? Then you need to watch this video. From analyzing where to stand after your serve and which areas to target on your opponent, to learning the 3rd shot drive / 5th shot drop combo, Matt will give you an invaluable 20 minutes of pickleball knowledge. Check it out below. 👇

When you hear pickleball royalty, what names do you think of? Anna Leigh Waters or Ben Johns? Well, you would be right in one sense. But some actual royalty took to the pickleball courts recently when Prince Harry, the Duke of Sussex, played in an exhibition match as part of The Invictus Games, an international adaptive sporting event he founded in 2014 for wounded, injured, and sick service members and veterans.

Hope you enjoyed the read. See you next week!

- Your Friends at The Pickleball Clinic

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