Welcome back to The Pickleball Clinic Newsletter!

Hey Pickleballers. Quick exercise. Picture some of the people you play with at your local courts. How well do you think you know them? Today, we'll take a look at a local park pickler who had a whole different side to his personality. Plus, we'll explore what you can do with your old paddles, learn how to get more power on your serve, and a whole lot more!

Let’s go! 👇

It’s the classic love story… boy or girl meets pickleball and they fall in love.

First, you start with a beginner paddle, which is fine for about two hours until you realize that a flimsy piece of cardboard isn’t going to cut it. So you go out and buy an intermediate or advanced paddle.

That helps for a month until your friend Pam lets you hit with her paddle and you see what you’ve been missing out on this whole time.

A few months later you’re in a funk and you need something with more pop so you get a poppier paddle. Then you realize it has too much pop so you need one with more touch. 😀

Before you know it, while you’ve only been playing for a year, you already have at least five or six paddles. Which begs the question, what do you do with all of them?

Don’t worry, we’ve thought about all of this for you…

Plates: You can just eat straight off of them. We don't think they’re dishwasher safe, but a little scrub after each use should do the trick. (Or if not plates, then definitely try using them as serving trays or trivets.)

Snow Shoes: Wrap the paddle to the bottom of your shoe with some masking tape, and you’ll be ready to go. ❄️

Holiday Accessories: They should make for nice Christmas tree ornaments 🎄, at least on the lower branches that should be sturdier. Celebrate Hanukkah instead? Then drill 8 holes for candles in the paddle, one in the handle for the lighting candle, and boom, you have yourself a menorah. 🕎

Small Table: Glue four paddles together at the edges such that the handles act as the four legs of a table. Then cut the handle off a fifth paddle to glue on top, and you’ve got yourself a little table, albeit a short one.

Anger Paddle: If you’re the raging type who just needs to smash paddles, then keep your older ones in your bag and smash those instead.

If there’s a way you’ve used an old paddle that’s really unique, then reply to this email and let us know!

If a Strategy Isn’t Working, Change It

Pay attention to what shots you’re getting beat on, because not changing a failing strategy is an easy way to let a game slip away quickly! For example, if you’re having trouble scoring points, switch from drives to drops (or vice versa), if you’re getting beat in hand battles, try dinking more, etc. Changing your strategy is an easy way to turn a losing game to a winning one!

There’s no way this happens too often. But it looks perfectly legal to us. Let’s call it an Erne counter. 👍

How Old Are You?

Were you born in 1946 or earlier? If so, then congratulations, you are older than Franklin Sports. As for the rest of you, sit down and show some respect! 😂 We're just kidding, although not about the fact that Franklin Sports has been around for more than 75 years. Yup, since 1946, Franklin has been a powerhouse in the world of sporting equipment, with a big focus on making balls for many different sports.

Well, pickleball is no exception because Franklin has already established itself as the premier brand for pickleballs. It’s why the Franklin X-40 pickleball is used in tournaments, leagues and rec play all over the country, and why it’s the official pickleball of USA Pickleball and The Pickleball Clinic. Get some for yourself, and use code “clinic15” at checkout for 15% off.

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

The Pickleball Clinic: How do you generate power and spin on your serve without over-hitting?

Ben Johns: The best way to think about generating power and spin is to get paddle head speed first, then if you are overhitting, close the paddle face more and that will lead to more topspin, which offsets the power.

Be sure to follow Ben on Instagram and YouTube.

Do You Really Know Who You’re Playing With?

Ready to hear something creepy? Here goes...

Remember the guy who allegedly tried to assassinate Donald Trump a couple of weeks ago by hiding for hours in shrubbery with a rifle alongside a Trump golf course in West Palm Beach, Florida?

Well, it turns out that he’s a pretty avid pickleball player. 😲

We generally like to highlight celebrities who play pickleball or people with very inspiring stories. This guy definitely doesn’t fall into either of those categories, but it’s certainly interesting to think that you may have been dinking with him recently at your local park.

The man, named Ryan Wesley Routh, was a regular at Swanzy Beach Park morning pickleball games for several years in Oahu, Hawaii.

According to Bryant Schultz, a regular pickler in the park group, Routh was “always personable and good-natured,” and on friendly terms with the pickleball regulars.

Evidently Routh was tough on himself, though, and chastised himself for poor play. “Except for his own errors,” Schultz said, “he was the most mild-mannered player out there.”

The local pickleballers also didn’t know that Routh was interested in politics or that he had self-published an almost 300-page book last year where he criticized the former president and even called for his assassination.

In the end, no shots were fired by Routh (the Secret Service fired shots at Routh upon seeing him hiding in the bushes with a rifle), but he was allegedly planning to kill the former president.

All politics aside, in the history of America, there aren’t too many people who have gotten that close to assassinating a U.S. President. But we think it’s safe to say that Routh is probably the first one who was also an ardent pickleball player.

Bangers get ridiculed all the time, but non-stop lobbers are right up there — or down there. 😄

A Model Citizen

Does this guy look familiar to you? No, he’s not an actor or a model — although yes, he is a good-looking bald guy. Rather, just a good-looking guy, why did we even mention “bald” to begin with? Maybe it’s because not enough follicly challenged people are represented in pop culture. 😄 Anyway, that is none other than Andre Agassi, pro tennis legend and current pickleball addict.

Agassi recently joined forces with JOOLA because he wants to be part of making the best pickleball equipment in the world. So if you’re looking for paddles (like the latest 3S series or Mod TA-15s), shirts, bags, grips, or anything else pickleball-related, then you need to make like Agassi and turn to JOOLA. By the way, being bald has to help in pickleball because it’s got to make you a little faster, right? At least by a hair — pun intended.

One of the best players in the world, James Ignatowich, recently stopped by to give us some tips on the serve. His thoughts on how to improve your serve are actually a bit unorthodox, but very insightful, and definitely worth giving a try. He explains below. 👇

Key Takeaways:

• Rather than developing a consistent serve and then adding more power, Ignatowich suggests the opposite approach — first hit the ball almost as hard as you can so you are comfortable with getting your body to create power. And then AFTER that, tone it back down so that it can be more consistent.

• Create power with your legs and transfer your weight from your back foot forward into the court. Swing that back foot forward into the court during your follow-through so that you land on it and end up having most of your weight on that front foot — which was your back foot when you started your serve.

The biggest movie theater chains in America will be spending more than $2 billion over the next three years in an effort to upgrade the moviegoing experiences they provide. Sure, they’ll work on things like seats, screens, and concession stands — but there’s something else they’ll be doing: adding pickleball courts!

Michael O’Leary, the president and CEO of the National Association of Theatre Owners, was inspired by a movie theater he saw in Dallas, Texas, which had an outdoor space next to its 12 screens with a bar, live music, and a couple of pickleball courts.

“I never thought when I took this job I’d be talking about pickleball courts as much as I am,” said O’Leary. “It’s all part of us responding to what consumers want when they go out for an evening.”

Hope you enjoyed the read. See you next week!

- Your Friends at The Pickleball Clinic

Join the conversation below! ⬇️