Pickleballers Season 1 was inspiring, heart-wrenching and so much fun for our team. We talked to great players, some of the game’s most entertaining personalities and got the inside scoop from several business leaders in the sport.

We’re back this week for the start of Season 2, and we’re kicking it off with the best player to ever pick up a paddle: Ben Johns. You won’t want to miss this episode. More below.

Also in this issue:

• Pickleball provides second chances for pros and amateurs 💪

• Is this the coldest move in pickleball? 🥶

• How to maximize your advantages 📈

• Did Parris Todd make the perfect paddle for women’s players? 🤔

Let’s get cookin’. 🧑‍🍳

HIGHLIGHT OF THE WEEK

Is this the coldest shot in pickleball?

Our team got to thinking earlier this week: What’s the coldest thing you can do to somebody on a pickleball court? An Erne body bag? A perfect drop shot when they’re at the baseline?

We ultimately settled on the rare but extremely cold shot that occurs when your opponent has fallen down in or near the kitchen. You have no choice but to do the obvious: Hit the next ball right at them while they’re on the ground — just as Andrei Daescu did (respectfully) in this throwback clip.

🔗 Check out this point on Instagram, Facebook or TikTok

PICKLEBALLERS

Ben Johns: Life as the greatest pickleball player on earth

Season 2 of Pickleballers kicks off with a bang as we’re joined by the GOAT himself — Ben Johns. Widely considered the Michael Jordan of pickleball, Ben has racked up 150+ gold medals and once ripped off a 108-match winning streak in singles.

In this episode, Ben opens up about what it’s really like to be the greatest pickleball player alive. He takes us back to his childhood, the moment he fell in love with the game, and how Kyle Yates took him under his wing as he climbed to World No. 1.

🔗 Check out the first episode of Season 2 on YouTube or Spotify

PICKLEBALLERS DOORDASH & JOOLA PADDLE GIVEAWAY: Each week we’re doing a Pickleballers giveaway to celebrate the latest episode. This week we are giving away a $500 DoorDash gift card & a JOOLA Ben Johns Perseus Pro IV pickleball paddle. Enter here!

COMMUNITY

Pickleball provides second chances for pros and amateurs alike

The following is an excerpt from a story by Joe Mathews, who is a member of our Facebook community.

Other than the physical sport itself, the one thing I love most about pickleball is that it is a game of second chances.

Almost every current professional pickleball player, at one time or another, had given up on their dreams of becoming a professional athlete in another sport -- primarily tennis.

Several years ago, pros had other careers or pay-the-bills jobs. Riley Newman drove for Uber. AJ Koller built tiny homes. Thomas Wilson flourished in sales.

But what of the average Joe rec player? What does pickleball mean to us?

PICKLEBALL FOUND ME AT JUST THE RIGHT TIME

I started playing tennis when I was 18 -- late by tennis standards. I peaked when I was 25, playing in 4.0 and 4.5 leagues. Up until about age 50, I continued to play at 4.0 in recreational singles.

But at 51, I lost a step. At 55, I began letting balls go by me to conserve energy. At 58, I looked in the mirror and saw an over-the-hill 3.5 player and decided to hang it up. My 40-year love affair with tennis officially ended.

At the time, I lived in a work-live-play community in Franklin, Tennessee, which had six new pickleball courts. I hated that sport. I was a purist tennis snob who swore an oath never to play a sport named after some mangy, Washingtonian dog.

Dinking looked stupid. But like many others during the COVID-19 pandemic, I eventually cracked. I tried it, and gradually fell in love with the game.

Now I am 62 years old. My wife and I play 2 or 3 times a week, and players of all ages and levels are happy to see us and willing to play with and against us.

Pickleball provides us friendships, fun, competition and a community. I also play on a 4.0 men’s team.

Pickleball is an age level-setter. Comparatively, I am as competitive as a pickleball player at 62 as I was in tennis at 30. I was never a great athlete. I won by always playing all out and never conceding a point. My joy was going all out all the time, and then going home exhausted.

I thought I would never have another go-all-out-and-go-home-exhausted experience again. Then I found pickleball.

🔗 Read more of Joe’s second-chance story here

INSTRUCTION

Focus on the right shots to maximize your advantages

None of us has unlimited time, energy, or focus. We can only do so much.

If your goal is pickleball improvement, then you will improve more quickly by identifying areas of the game that will give you the greatest return on your investment.

A helpful way to think about this is to consider shots in terms of their marginal advantage. We can then focus on the shots that offer greater advantage and save those with lesser advantage for another time.

This process allows you to prioritize areas of greatest benefit and make the most advancement in your game in the shortest time.

For example, which of these skills is likely to result in more points won over time:

1. Developing multiple “tricky” serves that you can rotate between.

2. Becoming good at letting out balls go out.

The answer is almost certainly option No. 2, but we’re willing to bet most amateur players focus more on trying to improve their serve.

So when you think about your game and what to practice, consider the marginal advantage of what you are working on and then compare it with other areas. Focusing your limited time and energy on higher margin areas will improve your journey and your play.

🔗 More on how you can pick the right shots to focus on

PADDLE CORNER

Parris Todd: 'I wanted to make a paddle that was tailored for the women in pickleball'

When Parris Todd partnered with Franklin Pickleball to create her signature paddle this year, she knew she wanted something that would be elegant and geared toward women’s players, filling a void in a market dominated by more masculine-looking black, white and red color schemes.

But she also wanted something that would fit well with her game, a true hybrid combining power, control, pop, maneuverability and good looks.

After months of testing and going through several variations, the final product – the Franklin Parris Todd C45° signature paddle – was released late this summer, and has been met with tons of positive reviews. It comes in two colors: lilac and pink/blue.

“My idea was to do something different with the paddle as far as design goes, and I really wanted to bring something to the market that was more tailored toward the girls and the women in pickleball,” she said.

While Todd feels like she accomplished that, it’s certainly not just a paddle for women’s players – Todd has heard from plenty of men’s players who have liked playing with it as well, and the very low swingweight out of the box allows players of all strengths and skill levels to customize it with additional weight to fit their needs.

“The fact that guys like it as well and guys do use it is really cool to see,” she said.

🔗 Find out what Parris Todd likes about the thinner core and unique shape of her signature paddle

QUICK HITS

• WOW: Speaking of cold … this shot certainly qualifies

• LOL: Just a typical 3.0 rally in LA

• Oh no: His girlfriend is not going to be happy about this

• Yikes: He might be taking pickleball too seriously

• Oh yeah: This is how parties should be