How to move past the Pickleball Plateau

Greg Dow shares unfiltered stories about tour life on Pickleballers

February 12, 2026

 

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When you started playing pickleball, you knew nothing about it. But it seemed interesting, so you learned a little bit here and a little more over there. Eventually, you felt good about your game. But then … you were stuck.

That is what’s referred to as the “Pickleball Plateau.” How do we end up on the Plateau? And is there something we can do about it? In today’s newsletter we're going to break down why players get stuck and how they can move past the stage of feeling stuck. Learn more below.

Also in this issue:

  • This point made our week 🤯

  • Greg Dow shares unfiltered stories about tour life on Pickleballers 🎧

  • In-depth review of the new Holbrook Fuze 🤓

  • Several players debut new paddles at Cape Coral Open 🧐

Let’s get cookin’. 🧑‍🍳

KITCHEN SWAG

Introducing The Kitchen’s new Too Good pickleball hat

There is no better feeling than when you hit a shot and all your opponent can say is “Too Good.”

That’s the moment this hat is for — the clean winner, the perfect angle, the shot earns the respect.

Look good. Play good. Too good. 

HIGHLIGHT OF THE WEEK

The best thing you’ll see all week

There are some pickleball points that are so good they stand the test of time. Points that you can re-watch every few months and it doesn’t matter if you’ve seen it once, you’ll watch it every time.

Ben Johns, Anna Leigh Waters, Ivan Jakovljevic and Judit Castillo gave us one of those points on Wednesday at the PPA Tour Cape Coral Open. We promise you’ll want to watch this one.

🔗 Check out this highlight on Instagram, Facebook or TikTok

PICKLEBALLERS

Greg Dow: The funniest player in pickleball — unfiltered stories, hot takes and chaos

Greg Dow is one of the funniest guys on the entire pickleball tour — a self-proclaimed “beer pong legend,” a legit pro who’s been battling top teams for years, and one of the best commentators in pickleball because he actually understands the game and knows how to make it entertaining.

In this week’s episode of Pickleballers, Greg sits down with Roscoe and Jared to tell his full story: growing up outside Charlotte, being a multi-sport kid (football, baseball, basketball), discovering tennis late, and finding pickleball during COVID back when “pro pickleball” barely existed and only a couple guys were making a real living.

🔗 Watch the full episode on YouTube or listen on Spotify

PICKLEBALLERS & JOOLA GIVEAWAY: Each week we’re doing a Pickleballers giveaway to celebrate the latest episode. This week we are giving away any JOOLA pickleball paddle of your choice. Enter here!

TRENDING

Several of the biggest names in pickleball are debuting new paddles this week at the PPA Tour Cape Coral Open.

  • Anna Leigh Waters was using her new Franklin signature paddle earlier in the week, which is called the C45 Aurelius. It’s now available for pre-order on Franklin’s website (learn more).

  • Ben Johns is using the new JOOLA Perseus Pro V, which hasn’t been released. It’s expected to be available for pre-order later this month.

  • Anna Bright is using the JOOLA Scorpeus Pro V.

  • Federico Staksrud is using a new hybrid shape from JOOLA called the Kosmos, which will be part of the Pro V lineup.

In total, 11 JOOLA Pro V models showed up on the list of UPA-A approved paddles this week and several other JOOLA pros have put them in play this week.

INSTRUCTION

The pickleball plateau: Why you're stuck and how to move past it

The Pickleball Plateau simply refers to a common stage along most pickleball players’ growth journey where they appear to be staying at the same level. It is usually characterized by frustration and a sense of helplessness.

The good news is that plateauing is not permanent. But first we have to understand why we plateau at all.

HOW YOU IMPROVE

To understand why we get stuck, we first need to work through how we improve. Here are the elements of improving as a pickleball player:

  1. You want to improve. This may seem self-evident, but it is not. There are players who are not interested in improvement. And that is fine – they are entitled to play this sport as they wish.

  2. You obtain proper guidance. These are the inputs you will use to improve. As you will see below, there is more to this than meets the eye, and flaws in guidance are a common source of plateauing.

  3. You put in the work. Improvement does not happen just because you will it. The more work you put in, the more you improve. Pretty straightforward.

  4. Rinse and repeat.

GUIDANCE IS KEY

As noted above, improvement is predicated on having the proper guidance. You can think of it as a roadmap. How can you expect to get from where you are to where you want to be without a path to get there? Seems pretty obvious, doesn’t it?

Yet many players who want to improve find themselves going round and round with no forward progress. And it is because they do not have a clear roadmap.

WORK IS NEXT

Once you have the right guidance, you need to put in the work. Sticking to the plan is important. Pick a shot or strategy and stick with it until you have brought it into your game. It sort of goes without saying, but the more work you put in, the faster your game will improve.

GEAR

Review: New Holbrook Fuze puts focus on playability over power

Holbrook became the latest company to launch a full-foam paddle with the release of the Holbrook Fuze on Thursday, but they've taken a slightly different approach than what most paddle brands have done over the past 8-10 months.

The paddle uses a "dual density core" that features a low-density foam in the bottom/middle of the paddle and a high-density foam at the top of the paddle and down the sides. Holbrook says these layers were strategically placed to enhance power on full swings while adding forgiveness on off-center hits.

They also have used an aramid layer on the paddle face, which is meant to boost feel on softer shots. There are currently four variations of the Fuze that have been released:

OVERALL THOUGHTS

We think Holbrook did a pretty good job with their first full-foam paddle. The unique design with the different types of foam at the top/sides and middle/bottom is an interesting concept, and it did seem to help activate more power on aggressive shots while offering a little bit more forgiveness on mishits. If you're somebody who likes the stiff/poppy feel of full-foam paddles but are looking for something that has the overall power dialed back a little bit, this is a good option.

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