Welcome back to The Pickleball Clinic Newsletter!

Hey Dinkers. Today, we’ll look at one town that may put pickleball to a vote and another community that isn’t backing down to criminal mischief. Plus, Coach Matt gives tips on return of serves, dinks, and volleys.

Let’s do this. 👇

It's a tale as old as time. Boy meets girl, boy falls for girl —

Wait, no, different classic tale: tennis courts exist, pickleball becomes really popular, pickleball courts replace some tennis courts, tennis players are threatened and try to push back. 😄

In many towns across the country, the scenario above is playing out in one form or another. But in Upper Arlington, a town just outside of Columbus, Ohio, this issue may make it to the November ballot.

At the town's Northam Park, three of the existing twelve tennis courts are currently being transformed into six pickleball courts. 

However, a few more of the twelve tennis courts are rumored to be up for pickleball transformation, and that has the tennis players worried and upset.

"We want to prevent the loss of more of our beloved courts in the future, should the city decide to transform additional clay courts for pickleball use," said local tennis enthusiast, Walt Thieman.

So Thieman and others have created a petition. To be considered for the November ballot, the petition must gather 2,040 signatures by the end of June. If the signatures are verified, then it's up to the county board of elections to approve that the petition be placed on the ballot.

Regardless of the outcome, Thieman says there is no ill will.

“There’s room for both (pickleball and tennis courts) of us to exist here,” Thieman said. “There’s absolutely no reason for this conflict to become divisive in any way.” ☮️

Looks like it’s already divisive 😁, but we definitely like the peaceful spirit. 👍

Keep Your Paddle in Sight

Be sure to keep your paddle in your peripheral vision on volleys and dinks to shorten your backswing!

Many beginner and intermediate players struggle with taking too big of a backswing on their volleys and dinks. One way to correct this is by making sure that the paddle is always in your peripheral vision. When keeping the paddle out in front of your body, you should be able to see it out of the corner of your eye while looking towards the other side of the net. If you can't see the paddle in your peripheral vision, that means you're taking it too far back.

At the beginner level, you want to avoid using your wrist. But when you know what to do with it, the wrist flick is a weapon. 💪 

JOOLA — Not Just for the Pros!

As many of you know, JOOLA makes some of the best pickleball paddles in the world. That’s why the best player in the world (Ben Johns) uses one, along with a slew of other top-ranked players, including Collin Johns, Simone Jardim, Tyson McGuffin, and Anna Bright (pictured above).

But dare we say that the majority of us aren’t going pro? 😁 (Nothing to be ashamed of, but there can only be so many. 😥) Well, the reason we mention it is that JOOLA makes paddles not just for advanced players, but for beginner and intermediate players too! Like that cool cat paddle Anna is holding. Check out all the fun and colorful JOOLA paddles here.

Pro pickleball player and APP medalist, Jason Bock, discusses balancing work, family and getting the most out of his practices to compete at the highest level.

“My wife has always said I take on too many things which is probably an understatement. Apparently I need to learn to say no more but that seems impossible with pickleball. The moment I found pickleball during Covid I knew, like many, that I was hooked. The past 2 years of competing primarily in pro events has created some good results and even better memories. Snagging a bronze medal in Pro Men’s Doubles at the recent APP Cincinnati just made it all a little sweeter.

The key for me has been making sure I’m as efficient as possible with my work and pickleball practice so I can then give all my attention to my beautiful wife and 3-year-old daughter when we’re together. I may only get to practice 2 days a week but with that time I make sure to hit as many balls as possible.

I’m often asked what I concentrate on with limited time. I work on dinking in all 4 quadrants, 3rds, moving up through the transition area and always finish with skinny singles. The great thing about the area I live in is we have a talented group of players that are always looking to play with each other. Bottom line is even with limited time, you can be efficient and improve.”

Be sure to follow Jason’s pickleball journey on Instagram.

Pickleball Perp No Match for Community

Some of you may have heard about a man who recently vandalized pickleball courts in Manhattan’s Riverside Park.

The perpetrator, who is still at large, came to the courts three separate times over a period of a few days and dismantled nets, cut them apart and then scattered them throughout the park, some as far as a half mile away.

We’re not sure what pickleball did to him, but he’s clearly angry at the sport or at least at some of its players. Either that, or he really likes tennis or padel. 😂

On the bright side, at least it was pickleball equipment and not pickleball players that he dismantled and spread around the park. 😱 Nevertheless, his actions were very inappropriate, malicious, and of course, illegal.

Did his vandalism slow down the courts’ vibrant pickleball community? What do you think? All together now… HECK NO!

Pickleball is back in action on those very courts because members of the community pitched in to donate new nets. And the new equipment will be locked up in specialized containers overnight.

“I don’t think we missed a beat, or an hour,” said Elizabeth Shapiro, an organizer of the Riverside Park pickleball courts. “We got up and running right away.”

Oh yeah! And that goes for the rest of you would-be pickleball court vandals — if you give us pickles, we'll turn it into pickleade, or pickle juice, or whatever, you get the point. 😂 

When your partner keeps throwing up “lobs” — aka easy overheads for your opponents to smash at you. 😂

Spring + Summer = Sonrei Sunscreen

If you live up north, and you’re layering up to play pickleball in December or February, OK, we understand if you’re not thinking about sunscreen — although even then, it’s a good idea to use it. But it’s JUNE for crying out loud! 😄 Spring and summer are beautiful months, but they are also the most dangerous for the sun.

So make sure you stay protected with Sonrei, the best sunscreen out there, and the official sunscreen of The Pickleball Clinic. Sonrei is designed for all skin types and pigments, and it provides the very best water and sweat-resistant, fragrance-free, paraben-free, and vegan sun protection. So before you head out to the pickleball courts, get some Sonrei sunscreen, and use code "clinic20" at checkout for 20% off.

The return of serve is a very important shot in pickleball. If you can’t return serves consistently, you are literally handing points over to your opponent — without them doing anything to earn them! Plus, you won’t be able to get a side-out, which means you won’t be able to score points for your team. Well, that’s why Coach Matt is here to demonstrate what you need to do on your return. 👇

Key takeaways:

• Stop before you hit — don’t be swinging while you’re running.

• Bend your knees in order to establish a low and strong base.

• Back up way behind the baseline so you can guarantee that you’ll be moving forward and not backing up.

Like many sports, pickleball is a game of inches. So let’s get into the specifics, which will come in handy when you’re describing the sport to someone who hasn’t played.

• 34 inches: the height of the middle part of the net.

• 36 inches: the height of the net at the sidelines.

• 7 feet: the length of the kitchen on each side of the court.

• 15 feet: the length of the rest of the court past the kitchen.

• 44 feet: the length of the entire court.

• 20 feet: the width of the entire court.

  

Hope you enjoyed the read. See you next week!

- Your Friends at The Pickleball Clinic

Join the conversation below! ⬇️