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PICKLEBALL WILL SAVE AMERICA
Lea Jansen and Jason Aspes join the PICKLEBALLERS Podcast
By now we hope you’re familiar with our podcast PICKLEBALLERS, which we launched about a month ago.
This week on Episode 5 the crew is joined by pro Lea Jansen — one of the most intense and misunderstood players in the game — and Jason Aspes, President of the United Pickleball Association and co-founder of The Kitchen.
They dive into paddle testing drama, what it's like building the rules for pro pickleball and Lea’s raw perspective on life as a top player living with diabetes. More on the latest episode of PICKLEBALLERS below.
Also in this issue:
Pickleball vacations are the best vacations ✈️
Several MLP teams make roster changes 🔄
Pro player Connor Garnett shares twoey tips 📝
The Dink Master Pro is a game-changing tool 📈
Let’s cook. 🧑🍳
HIGHLIGHT OF THE WEEK
Jack Sock breaks out the ‘Nasty Nelson’
It’s not every day we see a “Nasty Nelson” in a pro match.
On Tuesday at the PPA Tour Orange County Cup, Jack Sock bagged Stephen Madonia with his serve. It came after Madonia had hit Sock with a speed up on a previous point, so it seemed like there was an aspect of retaliation at play.
But Sock said after the match that there’s no bad blood between the two, rather that he just saw Madonia “sleeping” at the net and had to go for it.
What's your opinion on going for a 'Nasty Nelson' in a match? |
PICKLEBALLERS PODCAST
Lea Jansen & Jason Aspes on the power & politics of pickleball
This week on PICKLEBALLERS, the crew is joined by pro Lea Jansen — one of the most intense and misunderstood players in the game — and Jason Aspes, President of the United Pickleball Association and co-founder of The Kitchen.
Jansen has been on tour since pro pickleball took off in the early 2020s, so she has plenty of stories to share about her early success and how she broke into the game, life as a top player living with diabetes and some of her most memorable matches over the years.
Jansen and Aspes also dive into the paddle testing drama and what it's like building rules to protect the future of pro pickleball and the game as a whole.
FEATURED STORY
The many benefits of recreational pickleball travel
Pickleball's explosive growth has established it as a major participatory sport, with multiple pro tours leading the charge in professionalizing the competitive scene. Those entities have heavily invested in high-stakes tournaments, sponsorships and media deals, primarily focusing on elite players.
But does this tournament-centric approach overlook the vast recreational player base?
The typical pickleball player's journey starts with curiosity and social play, evolving into recreational enthusiasm — this forms the sport's largest demographic. Only a fraction pursue serious amateur or professional competition. This mirrors sports like golf and tennis, where most participants play for leisure, fitness and social connection at their own level, not with the primary aspiration of joining the elite pro tours.
A pro-centric model risks misinterpreting these motivations. When the focus is intensely on professionals and ROI, the vast amateur base can be inadvertently neglected or viewed mainly as a source of revenue through tournament fees or to bolster pro event attendance.
THE TRAVEL OPPORTUNITY: A GATEWAY FOR ALL
Pickleball travel — encompassing vacations, clinics and retreats — offers a powerful solution. Psychologically, people on vacation are more open to new experiences. A fun, branded "pickleball academy" or introductory session at a resort can spark passion among players. And travel appeals across the entire player lifecycle.
Beginners/enthusiasts: Find non-intimidating, enjoyable learning environments.
Recreational players: Blend their passion with leisure and skill improvement.
Competitive players: Use travel for destination tournaments and training camps.
MASSIVE PICKLEBALL CENTRAL SALE
Pickleball Central is kicking off summer with their biggest sale ever — over 1,000 products marked down to sell and make room for new inventory! Find pickleball paddles, balls, shoes, apparel and accessories at their lowest ever prices.
TRENDING
Multiple Major League Pickleball teams made roster changes this week, including a big move from the Carolina Hogs that will impact their starting lineup.
The Hogs waived Collin Johns, who was their No. 2 men's player and had been playing with brother Ben Johns in men's doubles and Kaitlyn Christian in mixed doubles. Carolina picked up Martin Emmrich in a corresponding move.
The New Jersey 5s also made a big trade Thursday to reunite with Mari Humberg, who helped them get to last year's MLP championship.
Other teams to make moves Tuesday and Wednesday were the Texas Ranchers, Orlando Squeeze, New York Hustlers, St. Louis Shock, SoCal Hard Eights and Florida Smash (Challenger).
INSTRUCTIONAL
Pro player Connor Garnett breaks down the two-handed backhand
Connor Garnett, currently the No. 3 ranked singles player on the PPA Tour and coming off a silver medal at the Atlanta Pickleball Championships last month, is known for his two-handed backhand. So we asked him recently to teach us how to execute his signature shot. He broke it down into a few key steps:
TIP #1: HIPS AND CORE -- This is where the power comes from. Think of how you throw a medicine ball or do band rotations at the gym. That feeling in your hips and core is what gives you the power on your shots. Feel sturdy in this area as you rotate into the ball and let your arm get brought out by the hips. Players who rush their backswing oftentimes lose power. But if we let our hips bring the paddle out and accelerate only once the paddle starts moving forward, this makes our swing much more efficient.
TIP #2: LOW TO HIGH THROW -- This is crucial when starting the acceleration and hitting through the ball. The backswing can vary player by player, but if we have our paddle tip below our wrist and then throw that up and over the ball (i.e. throwing it up and having the left hand turn over to see the back of it), this gives us the topspin to keep the ball in.
TIP #3: CONTACT POINT -- Oftentimes people try and step in as the ball is getting to them and they hit the ball late. This also causes players to lose power. We want our contact point to be slightly in front of our hips, so we can easily accelerate after the shot. Avoid getting caught up with having a perfect backswing at the start, because the contact point determines where the ball is going. As you get more comfortable with this, you can reprioritize the backswing.
PRODUCT OF THE WEEK
Up your game with the Dink Master
A reliable drilling buddy is hard to come by. Good thing most people have access to a garage or back patio where they could set up this training aid.
The Dink Master Pro from Enhance Pickleball is a durable hitting surface that provides accuracy targets for you to practice placing dinks and speedups.
An added bonus: Both products come with a drill catalog, and you can find a few of our favorite drills here.
🔗 Buy the Dink Master Pro here, and check out our full list of great training aids
UP AND COMING PICKLEBALL COMPANY
Young pickleball entrepreneur launches new brand
A family friend of ours who is in college recently launched a kickstarter for a new pickleball brand called Alevenil Pickleball. We love seeing the entrepreneurial spirit in the sport!
The founder of the brand is eager to get feedback, so feel free to offer suggestions here on how they can improve.
QUICK HITS
What did you think of this week's newsletter? |