Keep ‘em Guessing!
The value of the unknown
In today’s Bite Size Pickleball newsletter:
The New Bite Size Pickleball Show
Keep ‘em Guessing
The Reviews are in: 11 Ways of the Athletic Warrior
BITE SIZE PICKLEBALL: THE TV SHOW
Yes, you read that right. Thanks to my friend Richard Porter, who I met when he was working on InPickleball Magazine, we’re both happy to announce that Bite Size Pickleball is going to be a show on Pickle TV. PTV is available on most of the streamers like Amazon Prime, Sling, and Fubo.
The first episode is going to include one of pickleballs original O.G.’s Scott Stover. Scott actually lives at the house where the first court still stands. Scott is an addict like us and pictured below wearing one of our best selling tees.
Scott is the cousin of one of the three inventors of the sport, Barney McCallum, and he was also the first-ever men’s doubles champion! I just got off the phone with him and we had a long talk on how far this game has come. I am excited about interviewing him for the show in the new year. A big hand for, Mr. Stover!
Get it? Stover? But wait! That’s not all, because also appearing in the first episode is Mr. Footloose, who has a problem staying out of the pickleball danger zone (the Kitchen) Kenny Loggins! If you’ve never seen the prior video I did with him, click here. And last, but certainly not least, it looks like pro Jessie Irvine is also going to be in the first episode (22 min), which should be available by the end of January. More soon on the journey to take Bite Size Pickleball from the page to the (studio) stage.
KEEP ‘EM GUESSING
As I have mentioned before, in another lifetime, I used to be an actor. And there were two kinds of actors relative to this pickleball lesson. The first actor, you could see all over Los Angeles when you drove by the acting studios, which included classes or auditions. They were the actors rehearsing their lines to the outside wall. “You look good today.” “You look good today.” “You look good TODAY!” And, oh yeah, it was an f’ing wall.
And then there was the other kind of actor, the intuitive kind. They were the ones who trusted themselves enough to respond to the stimulus in the moment. Those are the kind of actors who are exciting to watch, the ones you can never take your eyes off of, and who keep you riveted to the screen. An example of one such actor is Ed Harris. Harris also seems to be coming from a place of the unknown. The other kind of actor, the “planned” one, is just flat-out boring, because you can see their delivery coming from a mile away. Oh, yawn, they’re about to cry.
I bet you can guess which kind of actor I strived to be. And it’s no different on the pickleball court. I want to be the kind of player who keeps my opponents guessing. Because when you can do that, you’ll keep your opponents on edge, and you’ll have a distinct advantage over them.
And, in order to do that, as a pickleball player, you need to develop as many tools as possible. So, you need stuff like a good soft game, a hard-driving game, a couple of different serves, a lob game, a two-handed, and one handed, backhand dink, and maybe a few tricks up your sleeve as well. The more tools the better to spring from!
Several newsletters ago, I posted a video of me practicing my tweeners. They have since developed into a consistent weapon. I don’t do them a lot, but when I do, they have proven to be effective. Here is an example.
And, now that my opponents are starting to look out for them, I have developed a fake tweener to go along with them. Thusly, I am able to keep my opponents continually guessing on what is coming next. SIDE NOTE: Today I was playing with some friends and a couple of them were goofing off in warmups trying tweeners. It is just a matter of time until they become prevalent on our home courts. But, back to the lesson at hand…
In short, don’t be a one-note player. Heck, don’t be a two-note player. You want to be great? Can you handle being great? Well then, get out and build upon your skillset. And here’s the big key: once your skillset is in order, let your skills flourish in the moment. No thinking, or planning, or telling a wall how pretty it looks, just respond, in the moment, and what comes next, comes next. Because that is another thing: If an actor, or a pickleball player, doesn’t know what is coming next, neither does their audience/opponent. Riveting. Develop the tools, trust, and let them fly.
P.S. I guess ChatGPT decided there needed to be a truck in the shot to carry all those tools. P.P.S. I guess it also knew my favorite sport was basketball. Well, until now!
11 WAYS OF THE ATHLETIC WARRIOR: A GUIDE TO PEAK PERFORMANCE
Reviews are starting to come in for my new book which you can find at Amazon.
Enjoy your holidays, kids! Happy pickling, and family’ing to y’all! xoxo Rick