From stay-at-home mom to Top 4 (1)

The most intense firefights you'll ever see

July 21, 2026

 

The Major League Pickleball trade deadline came and went yesterday, and there were multiple trades involving some of the top teams in the league.

The biggest move: Federico Staksrud is heading from the Orlando Squeeze to the New Jersey 5s, which means the 5s now have three of the best players in the game — Anna Leigh Waters, Jorja Johnson and Staksrud.

New Jersey was already one of the top teams in the league, but now they are going all-in on winning the title this season. Find out who else made moves at the deadline below.

In this issue:

  • How to hit the sharp-angle putaway 📐

  • Brooke Buckner discusses rapid rise 🎧

  • Dallas Flash get back on track ⚡️

  • 6 ways to build partner chemistry 🤝

  • The best public courts (Part 2) 😎

  • Reviewing HEAD’s new paddle 🧐

Let’s cook! 👨🏻‍🍳

HIGHLIGHT OF THE WEEK

This shot is so filthy — we’re learning it tomorrow

This is one of the most effective shots you can hit in all of pickleball — if you can execute it properly.

The woman above is having a drilling partner feed her high balls that most would hit hard and deep in the court. But in order to make sure there’s no chance of the ball coming back, she’s turning her paddle at the last second and hitting a sharp-angled shot that sends the ball close to the line. It immediately bounces off the court and into the wall.

If you get this one right, your opponents will have no chance.

🔗 Check out this week’s highlight on Instagram, Facebook or TikTok

GOT A CLIP WORTH SHARING? Each month we showcase the Top 10 Amateur Pickleball Highlights of the Month on our YouTube page. Submit your BEST clips for a chance to be featured in next month’s video using this Google Form. 

PICKLEBALLERS

How Brooke Buckner made her rapid rise in pickleball

In case you missed it last week, Brooke Buckner — one of the best women’s singles players in the world — joined Pickleballers to tell the story of how she went from college tennis coach to pickleball pro.

She breaks down what this season has been like with the Dallas Flash, looks back on her near-upset of Anna Leigh Waters last year and talks about why she believes she’ll beat Waters at least once before she retires.

🔗 Check out the full episode on YouTube, Spotify or Apple Podcasts

THE PROS

New Jersey 5s make huge trade heading into home stretch

For weeks there’s been speculation that the New Jersey 5s could be big players in the Major League Pickleball trade market.

On Monday — deadline day — they finally made their move.

The 5s acquired Federico Staksrud and Milan Rane from the Orlando Squeeze in exchange for Martin Emmrich and Lina Padegimaite. New Jersey also sent an undisclosed amount of cash to Orlando in the deal — the max per player is $200,000. The fact that two players were involved from each team means New Jersey could have paid up to $400,000 in the deal.

Find more details here and check out our full trade-deadline roundup here to see all the moves that were made Monday.

DALLAS FLASH SURGING LATE IN SEASON

A month ago the Dallas Flash were facing a nightmare scenario. They’d gone 1-4 at MLP Austin, left town with zero standings points and were at risk of missing the playoffs altogether. It was starting to look like a lost season.

They’ve steadily improved in the weeks since and this weekend completed the turnaround, going 5-0 and winning their first event of the season at MLP San Diego. Dallas took down two of the Top 5 teams in the league in the process — the Los Angeles Mad Drops and Columbus Sliders.

Townsend and Truong seem to have injected new life into the team, and Dallas is now 12-4 since making the trades.

Only one week left before it’s gone forever!

The limited-edition JOOLA Rally Rocket paddles have been so popular that JOOLA is running out of them. We’ve been told they are selling them through the end of July, and then they will be done forever!

FEATURED STORY

The best public pickleball courts in the US — Part 2

A few weeks ago we published a list of the best public pickleball courts in the United States — places where the vibes are good and you can seemingly always find a quality rec game.

We took into account several factors like location, number of courts, amenities, whether they had lights, etc. As could have been predicted, we heard from a lot of people about the many great public pickleball courts that we left off of our list.

So we put together a Part 2 that includes several great facilities we didn’t touch on the first time around. Here are a few notable public courts on our latest list:

Fritz Burns Park — La Quinta, California: Situated in a 12-acre park near the Coachella Valley resort communities. The expanded complex offers 16 dedicated outdoor pickleball courts with lights and shaded spectator seating.

Grant Park — Chicago, Illinois: Located in downtown Chicago, offering memorable skyline views and easy access to the lakefront and Museum Campus. Features 16 free, dedicated outdoor courts with permanent nets and lighting for nighttime play.

Lakeview Knolls Park — Maple Grove, Minnesota: Located northwest of Minneapolis. Featuring 18 dedicated outdoor courts with free open play welcoming all levels.

GEAR

A closer look at HEAD’s first full-foam core paddle

HEAD has officially entered the full-foam core paddle market with the brand new TriFlex Boom, but does it compete with the best modern pickleball paddles?

In this review, we break down everything you need to know about HEAD’s latest paddle, including how it plays, where it shines and the areas where we think it still has room to improve.

WE COVER:

▪️Performance on the court
▪️The new TriFlex foam core design
▪️Swing weight & twist weight
▪️Feel, power and stability
▪️Whether it's worth the $199 price tag

🔗 Check out the full review here or shop the HEAD TriFlex Boom here — use code “KITCHEN” at checkout for 15% off!

INSTRUCTION

The fastest ways to build chemistry with your pickleball partner

You’ve felt it both ways. Some partners you click with by the second game — covering for each other, calling the middle, laughing off the misses. Others, you spend the whole session a half-step out of sync and can’t explain why.

Chemistry accumulates between two people when one reads the other — and keeps getting it right. Every time you catch what your partner needs and give it to them, you make a deposit. Enough deposits and you get that locked-in, two-minds-one-team feeling that everybody’s chasing.

Here are a few ways to speed up the feeling-out process and start clicking with your doubles partner:

KNOW YOURSELF

Before you can be a good partner, you have to know what you’re actually bringing to the court. What does your best pickleball feel like — loose and chatty, or quiet and locked in? What rattles you? How do you act when you’re down — louder, quieter, faster, harder on yourself? Most of us have never looked, so we show up as a mystery even to ourselves — which makes us hard to partner with.

ASK QUESTIONS UP FRONT

Most partners have never told each other how they actually work, so they spend a whole season learning it the slow, painful way — by guessing wrong in the middle of matches. Skip that part. Before you play, ask the questions that matter: What do you need from me when it’s going well? What about when it’s going sideways?

MAKE IT SAFE TO MISS

Your reaction to your partner’s misses matters even more than your reaction to your own. A flinch, a head shake, a long silence after they net one — they feel all of it, and they start playing scared, which makes them miss more. Every miss of theirs that you meet with steadiness is a deposit they will never forget. A partner who isn’t afraid of you swings freely — and free players win more.

QUICK HITS

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