Welcome back to The Pickleball Clinic Newsletter!

Happy New Year everyone! We hope you've had a wonderful holiday season filled with joy and pickleball. But it's 2025 now, which means it's time for New Year's resolutions. Today, we'll give you some pickleball-themed resolutions that you may want to consider, reveal a few shots you should avoid (even though they may work sometimes), look into the biggest pro tennis player to take on pro pickleball, and a lot more.

Let’s go! 👇

It's New Year's Day, which means it's time for some New Year's resolutions — pickleball style. Here goes...

I will not call balls out before they bounce: Come on everyone, is it that hard to wait until the ball bounces before you make your call? Because what if you're wrong? Then you have to change the call. (Or some people are too embarrassed and stick with the wrong call, which just ain't right! 👎) So instead, solve the problem entirely by not calling the ball until after it bounces. 👍

I will finally remember to "Return and Run" and "Serve and Stay": We understand that running up to the kitchen after you hit your return and staying put (or even stepping back) after you serve, creates some cross-wiring in the brain for some people. But you MUST do these two things if you ever want to advance past a beginner level. So use a dog training collar or a sports psychologist or meditate about it every day when you wake up. 😂 Whatever you do, just make sure you do these two things when you play!

I will stop sandbagging in tournaments: We totally understand the desire to win a medal. And honestly, you probably should win at least one medal (hopefully gold) at a certain level before you move up to face stiffer competition. With that said, we can't have people playing in tournaments that are almost a full point below their actual level. OK, Ms. 3.9? No more 3.0 tournaments for you! 😀

I will be a nicer partner: A big part of the appeal of pickleball is that it’s social, welcoming, and fun. Well, in order for that environment to exist, the on-court experience can't be one filled with bitterness and anxiety. When you are an unpleasant partner, you create those negative emotions and bring down the pickleball experience for the person you’re playing with. So be nice to your partner, and it will make the sport more enjoyable for everyone. 

Maybe none of the resolutions above apply to you. Or perhaps all four of them do. 😀 Regardless, if you're going to adopt one of these resolutions, then no giving up on them a few weeks into the year. After all, these aren't temporary adjustments, but rather pickleball lifestyle changes. 👏

Mix Up Your Serves

Vary the speed, depth, spin, and placement of your serves to keep your opponents guessing. Even though we want to prioritize getting our serves in, that doesn’t mean that we need to hit our opponents the same serve every time. Varying your serve doesn’t mean that you have to necessarily take more risk or hit it super aggressively. Varying the placement, depth, spin, and speed is a great way to keep your opponents from getting into a rhythm and it will increase the likelihood that you get a short return.

We know about the drive and crash, but what about a little drop and crash action? 💪

One Big Concern

Have you ever been hit with a pickleball? It doesn't feel great. Depending on where and how hard the ball hits you, it can leave a bruise. But ultimately, that's about it. We all have skin, and while it might sting for a minute, it's not that big a deal. 

There is really just one super vulnerable spot on your body that you have to worry about when playing pickleball — your eyes. But you're lucky because this danger literally disappears when you wear high-quality protective glasses, like the ones made by BLUE CUT. This family business makes glasses with a durable elastic frame, clear or prescription lenses, and an anti-fog coating. Plus, they are the Official Eye Protection Partner of The Pickleball Clinic.

So add eye protection to your list of New Year's resolutions and get yourself some glasses for the new year. Plus, if you visit the BLUE CUT site now, they’ll send you a code to take 20% off.

Since it’s pretty darn cold these days in most of the country, we figured we’d tease you with (sorry, enlighten you about 😉) pickleball courts located in some warmer parts of the world. Pictured below are a few courts in Punta Cana, a resort town in the easternmost part of the Dominican Republic. The popular vacation destination may be known for its white sand beaches and turquoise waters, but you can now add pickleball to the list.

In fact, you can go on a pickleball trip to Punta Cana in March through Pickleball Getaways, the premier place for amazing pickleball vacations around the world. Founded by pros Ben Johns and Dekel Bar, Pickleball Getaways has several upcoming pickleball trips to other beautiful destinations including Costa Rica and Turks & Caicos. 🌴

Sometimes Bad Is Just Bad

Have you ever played a sport and done something so bad that it turned out to be good? Here's an example...

You shank a golf shot way into the woods, but it happens to hit a big tree that sends your ball right back into the fairway. 👍

That is a fortunate accident or a “happy mistake.” But whatever you want to call it, it’s NOT GOOD! 😀 Sure, you'll take it, but it’s lucky, and if you did it a lot, you would not be successful.

Well, we've got that concept in pickleball too. In fact, we have tons of shots that fall into that category, but they’re not all as obvious as hitting your golf ball into the woods. So let's take a look at a few examples...

The Short Return: At lower levels, you'll sometimes hear people saying "good shot" after someone hits a super short return that their opponent cannot get to. But no, returns should be as deep as possible so that you keep the serving team back. Sure, you can catch someone off guard with a mishit short return, but it's not the right way to play, especially at a higher level.

The Speedup from Everywhere: Sure, if you hit the ball hard, some people will struggle with your pace and they may mishit their shot out or into the net. The problem is that as you get better, your opponents will be able to deal with your power more easily, and you will then realize (or at least your should 😀), that a drop or a dink is often way more effective than a drive.

The 3rd Shot Lob: Third shots should either be drops or drives. Why? Because they give you the best chance of getting up to the kitchen to even out the point. Do the laws of physics also allow for a lob? Yes, but it's not a smart or good play because the court is not long enough to consistently hit lobs over your opponents' heads.

Sure, if someone is extremely short or immobile, then you might have some success lobbing them — but does that really make you feel good about yourself? 🤔 Like if someone has a walker at a buffet, would you cut in front of them so you can serve yourself a few seconds earlier? Same idea here.  

Wow Drake, you know us all so well. 😀

The game of pickleball is constantly evolving, and different strategies are coming into and out of the game. But one shot that is still extremely important to have is the 3rd shot drop. If you want to get to the 3.5 level and beyond, the 3rd shot drop is a must-have. Good thing Coach Matt is here to show us exactly how to hit it.

Key takeaways:

• Minimize your backswing. The entire swing should happen out in front of your body.

• Bend your knees so that your paddle can get below the ball.

• Be relaxed with a low grip pressure (about a 3 out of 10), and have an easy follow-through.

Tennis star Nick Kyrgios recently announced plans to make his pro pickleball debut in 2025, alongside Jack Sock, another pro tennis player who made the switch to pickleball.

Kyrgios is still planning to continue his tennis career, but it is still very big news because it represents the highest profile active tennis player to come over to professional pickleball. The announcement came during Kyrgios' recent appearance on the Nothing Major Podcast, a podcast hosted by former American tennis stars, Sam Querrey, John Isner, Steve Johnson, and Jack Sock.

Kyrgios was long known as the “bad boy” of tennis, but in recent years, he has become entertaining, likeable, and quite popular within the sport — kind of like a past tennis bad boy, John McEnroe.

Hope you enjoyed the read. See you next week!

- Your Friends at The Pickleball Clinic

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