u/ZaneNavratil_AMA

Defending champs out. Mad Drops out. Ben Johns fully engaged and it still wasn’t enough.

Dream Breakers aren’t won by the better singles player ➡️ CJ Klinger beating world number one Chris Haworth proved that.

The Fives survived but ALW and Noe went winless in mixed all weekend against Tina and Dekel. Every team in New York is going to be studying that matchup.

Shock look locked in. Who wins it all?

— The equipment wasn’t competitive enough to attract serious pros, and unlike tennis, you can’t sell a custom one-of-one paddle to consumers

— Their most loyal customers actively disliked pickleball during the peak of the tennis vs pickleball turf war

— Paddle tech was changing every six months and these brands were built for 18 to 24-month product cycles

— They played it safe to protect established brand names in a sport that rewards risk-taking

— They botched the first impression and YouTube paddle reviewers made sure consumers didn’t get burned twice

Now Callaway, Ping, and Mizuno are entering the space. Callaway’s first paddle is already showing signs of the same pattern — outdated tech banking on a strong brand name.

Do you think any legacy brand can actually crack pickleball paddles, or is the window already closed?

I got too fired up in men’s doubles against Palm Beach and crossed a line. I said some things I shouldn’t have said and reacted in a way I’m not proud of.

I’ve always believed players should compete with personality and show emotion but there’s a line, and I crossed it.

Beyond the drama, Dallas punched their ticket to San Diego convincingly, Texas survived two incredibly tense matches against Atlanta, Brooklyn needed a clutch Jackie Kawamoto performance to escape a shorthanded SoCal team, and the Slice went home.

San Diego matchup predictions are in the full recap! What are your picks?

Hard to overstate how good this weekend was. A few things that make the case:

The Slice were fighting for their playoff lives all weekend. Elsie Hendershot was crying on the bench at 22-22 in the dream breaker against the Black Bears. Five minutes later she saved the season at 23-23 in a sequence that’s already one of my favorite MLP moments ever. John closed out Miami the next morning and we’re in.

The Shock vs Fives mixed match lasted roughly 46 minutes. Probably the longest in MLP history. Hayden and Anna had five match points. Anna Leigh and Hayden were chirping non-stop. Five match points saved. AL and Noe win on their fifth. Unreal.

Add in record-breaking attendance and the best pickleball point of all time playing in the background and this weekend is genuinely hard to top.

Full breakdown in the recap video. Is this the best MLP weekend ever or is there another event that tops it?

I put together a full breakdown of my tournament prep routine after seeing a lot of players make the same avoidable mistakes leading up to events.

A few things worth knowing:

— Build a practice cadence a month out and start simulating match pressure early
— Quality over quantity in the week leading up — overplaying is one of the most common mistakes
— Hydration needs to start days before, not the morning of
— Avoid technique changes late — the week of a tournament is not the time
— Day before prep, warmup structure, and partner game-planning around returns, thirds, and kitchen strategy all matter more than most people think

Be sure to check out the full breakdown! What does your tournament prep routine look like?

Missed this one for a wedding and Slice had a great home weekend without me! Wins over the Bouncers, Vegas, and SoCal moving us from 16th to 12th with one event left.

Dallas went back-to-back with a 21-10 Dream Breaker win over Brooklyn, and I think that result says more about Brooklyn than it does Dallas. JW crushed Haworth, Brooke crushed Hannah, and Danni closed it out. Brooklyn isn't looking nearly as scary in Dream Breakers as they were earlier in the season, which is going to matter a lot come playoff time.

Jersey and St. Louis are still tied for first with the number one seed on the line in Orlando next week. Full breakdown in the recap video. Is Brooklyn's Dream Breaker problem a real concern or am I reading too much into one result? 

Worked with Zaichao on cutting balls off out of the air instead of backing up, and simplifying the timing on offensive flicks with a Set and Snap motion instead of swinging arm and wrist together 💪 If you struggle with knowing when to take the ball out of the air or how to simplify your backhand flick timing, this one’s for you.

Tons to unpack from MLP San Diego 👇

— Mad Drops finish fifth in the weakest event of the year. Concerning.
— Dallas goes undefeated. First win of the season.
— Bouncers lose badly to the Flash and almost sweep the Mad Drops. Same day.
— Federico gets an orange card then disappears from the lineup Sunday.
— Len Yang had a weekend to forget

Check out the recap for the full breakdown!

Left-handed players give a lot of people trouble and most of it comes down to not recognizing the differences early enough. In this video I break down a few things worth knowing going in!

— Lefty drives curve differently than you’re used to. Recognizing the paddle hand early changes how you read the ball.
— Stacking creates an open court you can exploit on both serve and return if you know where to look.
— Deep, quality serves and returns cut down on lefty drive-and-crash poaches significantly.
— Dead middle dinks are dangerous against lefties. They have too many attack options from there. Forehand to backhand patterns are much safer.

Be sure to check out the full break down!

The Shock swept the mid-season tournament with a smart isolation strategy that frustrated Jorja Johnson and held Anna Leigh to just 19.7% of shots. It worked. But Anna Leigh Waters never loses twice in a row and now the Fives know exactly what's coming.

The bigger question is Federico Staksrud. With the trade deadline extended to Monday and a franchise tag still being discussed, I genuinely think he's the only player who can stop St. Louis from winning it all. No franchise tag and he's almost certainly heading to LA, New Jersey, or Brooklyn.

Shock and Fives are dead even at 23.3 points per event heading into Orlando. Full breakdown in the recap video. What do you think? Did the Shock show their hand too soon, and where does Federico end up?

Most drills feel productive but don’t translate to real match situations. John and I put together five different drills that do translate.

Full breakdown with John on the channel. What drills are you currently using to work on these areas?

Most players focus entirely on their own game during warmups. Pro players are watching their opponents instead.

A few things worth paying attention to before the first real point:

— Ready position tells you everything. Paddle high means they defend off-speeds well. Paddle low means they’re looking to flick. Forehand grip favored means attack the backhand.
— Watch for bailouts in dinking rallies. If someone keeps changing the pattern, they’re hiding something.
— Identify rushers in the transition zone. Players who sprint through it usually can’t reset — they’re swinging for winners because they have no other option.
— Slow hands are a green light. Pull a few balls at them early to find out, then go there relentlessly if you find it.

Be sure to check out the full breakdown! What’s the first thing you look for when you’re sizing up a new opponent? 👇

Trades all over the league this weekend, including a deal that might've handed the Shock a championship while simultaneously costing them their best prospects. Alix Truong got traded to her fifth team of the season, which says a lot about where her value currently sits.

The bigger story though.. the video board fell on top of Rachel Rohrbacher mid-match. MLP's official statement afterward felt pretty disconnected from what actually happened on site, while Rachel's own response was genuinely classy. Let me know what you think! 

Full breakdown of all the trades, the upsets, and everything else from the weekend in the recap video.

Struggle with counters and fast hands? This video is for you. I spent this lesson breaking down when to use a one-hand vs two-hand counter and fixing the bobbing and jumping that creeps in during hands battles. I also drilled the actual decision-making process between one and two hands using a hand-feed drill, since that split-second choice has to become muscle memory rather than something you think through mid-point. Full lesson is on the channel if you want to see the drills in action!

The Sliders put the league on notice with a big trade last week, then turned around and finished fifth at St. Pete after the upset of the year from the Palm Beach Royals. The bigger story is how Palm Beach got there. They signed Casey Diamond just hours before their match, conveniently right after their usual sub was "out sick." 

Add in a brutal missed call, an ankle injury, and a looming blockbuster trade still on the table, and this might be the wildest weekend of the MLP season so far.

Full recap in the video. What's your take on the Casey Diamond signing? Fair game or shady?

Jeff Troesch has worked with MLB organizations, Olympians, and college programs, and now works with several pro pickleball players. We covered the most common mental mistakes at both the amateur and pro level, what’s actually happening physiologically when you choke, how to handle being targeted, between-point routines, and what confidence actually is according to sports psychology. If the mental side of your game is holding you back this one is worth a watch. What’s the biggest mental challenge you face on the court? 👇

Watched the full match and broke down everything that led to it. Nico full sending Jay on the first point. Jay sending it back. Lea yapping on the bench. Miss after miss with Jay letting her hear about it every single time.

Also debating the body bag double standard this week. Guys are doing it to guys with regularity now and it almost never crosses into mixed. Is that fair and is it about to change?

Full recap in the video. What's your take on both?

My friend John has been pretzeling me with his forehand off the bounce speed up for years.

So I made him teach me the secrets on camera.

Three things before you execute:
— Get behind the ball
— Paddle tip down
— Wait for the right ball

Down the line = hold and push. Cross body = tip down to tip up wrist snap. Check out the full breakdown!

He didn't make excuses. He didn't call me out. He said "Good post. I needed some* fire.* I will show you ball this weekend."

He went 10 - 0 in St Louis and the Shock swept the Mad Drops.

Full St Louis recap is up now! Power rankings, Brooklyn's scary dreambreaker lineup, bird watching is back, and everything else from the weekend. Check it out!

Being targeted and isolated on the court is one of the most frustrating feelings in pickleball.

Here's what actually helps:

Test the aggressive cross-court dink to get your partner involved

Go down the line on YOUR terms, not as a bailout or they'll Ernie you

Make them hit difficult shots. You can't control where they go, but you can make the right spots hard to hit 

If nothing is working, stack and change sides entirely.

Check out the full breakdown!