The Secret Power of Joy
And how you can make it work for your pickleball game?
In today’s Bite Size Pickleball newsletter:
Utah, Here I Come!
Pickleball 101 Video
The Secret Power of Joy
UTAH, HERE I COME!
I’m headed to Salt Lake City, Utah Wednesday to watch my first-ever PPA tournament in person. Super excited for the opportunity to watch the pros up close. Also excited because Aline Morales, the 13-year-old I wrote about recently, will be playing in her first-ever PPA pro qualifier! Not only that, but I set her up to play with my awesome friend Bryanna Ojeda. How could I miss that? I will most likely be doing some writing about it in the evenings and posting here, and also on the Facebook group.
PICKLEBALL 101: KEEP THEM BACK
I wanted to post this video of me playing with my friend Tim, who is a savvy veteran and one of the best tacticians I have ever seen. He is a master of Pickleball 101. In this case, when you have an opponent back, keep them back! They will typically make a mistake IF you just display a little patience. The only exception to this if they give you a ball that you can slam at the partner who is at the net. But 90% of the time, when you can keep one of the serving team back, you’re going to come out on top.
THE SECRET POWER OF JOY
My neighbor’s kids love to say goodbye to me before they head off to school in the morning. I’ll call out the window to them and they’ll run over all excited. Today, the 5-year-old boy was, like, “Wanna see my new shoes?” He was ecstatic. I follow the rule of improv with kids, so I said, “Yes, And? I would love to see your shoes.”
He jumped up and triggered the lights on the bottom of the shoes. It gave him so much joy to show me. And, honestly, it made me joyful just to see how happy it made the kid to play show n’ tell.
Joy, for the littlest things.
How can you find moments of joy like that in your pickleball game? How about your life? I was reading an article in the New York Times today about this exact thing. The article is called “How to Strengthen Your Happiness Muscle.” Here is the link to it if you have a subscription, or maybe they let you read one article for free.And what the psychologists in the article suggest, for people dealing with anxiety, or depression, or even for those of us just can’t find much joy in life. They suggest finding the littlest piece of joy in your life and embracing it, letting it fill you up, no matter how small. Hold that little piece of joy in your soul like a magic amulet and let it expand. Do I quick exercise. Remember a moment of joy from your life recently. Feel it deep inside of you, and what that does to your body. It elevates it. That’s the idea.
Maybe you sneak off to get an ice cream on your lunch break. Joy! Maybe you watch one of your children do something cute, like jump up and down showing the neighbor their glowing shoes. Joy! Or maybe when you try your first Erne and fail, you are joyful, screaming, “Oh fudgebuckle!” But, you were ballsy enough to try it! Let that bring you joy! You went out on a limb, and that’s a joyful experience, too.
So, how does joy help our pickleball game? It helps us fly. F*ck Red Bull giving us wings. When it comes to pickleball, joy is the ingredient that gives us wings. It really does. When we’re joyful, and playing, it gives us a buoyancy that being serious, all the time, just doesn’t. When we’re too serious on the court, it weighs us down physically and mentally. Recognize joy. Spread it wherever you can. You never know when you might make a neighbor’s morning shine. Below is a few pages from a chapter in my book How to Play Better Pickleball.
