You know what they say about pressure. It makes diamonds. And no team heading into MLP St. Louis had heavier expectations on their shoulders than the hometown Shock.
Five dominant wins later, including a Super Sunday beat-down of Ben Johns’ LA Mad Drops, and Anna Bright’s squad is looking more glittery and full of promise than ever. We break down the full event below.
In This Issue:
— 3 bad impulses costing you points
— How to drill with just 3 hours/week
— Pickleball club rent costs how much?!
For the love of the game.
Our Picks 👆
🔥 Watch This: The Shock Ladies Show Out
The Shock women dismantled their Mad Drops opponents 11-1 on Super Sunday, on their way to a finals sweep (more on that below). Watch this winning point from Anna Bright and Kate Fahey and it’s easy to see why. Total domination.
✌️ How Rude: Walking Off a Rec Play Court
One of the most frustrating aspects of open play is encountering a player who insists on telling everyone how the game “should” be played. Like there’s one set of rules and they’re the expert. One player got it so bad, she walked right off the court mid-game.
💣 Truth Bomb: You Should Be Stretching More
You know it. We know it. One of the keys to better performance on the court and faster recovery off of it is a solid pre-game stretching routine. And yet, so few of us can actually be bothered. Let’s change that together. Time to limber up.
🏝️ Isolation: How Do You Beat Anna Leigh?
Nobody has a blueprint for beating Anna Leigh Waters. But Zane and partner Mari Humberg came close in a recent MLP matchup. Their strategy: Put ALW on an island and keep the ball as far away from her as possible. It nearly worked (until it didn’t.)
3 Bad Impulses Costing You Points
You know those moments mid-game when you find yourself pleading out loud: “Why did I do that?!”
That’s your impulse control talking. And when it comes to pickleball, yours could use some work.
Rest assured, you’re not alone. We all revert to bad habits when a point gets tight or we’re put in a corner. Here are three common problems we see all the time — and how to fix them.
🛑 Attacking with a full head of steam through the transition zone. If there’s any chance the next ball coming your way will be low, or even bounce, trying to play it with full forward momentum is a losing proposition.
✅ Instead, take the space you can, then split step and get in your ready position. Hit the next ball balanced, with your feet set. Move up when you can, not when you want to.
🛑 Speeding up let cord balls. Something about a let cord makes you feel like you’ve gained the upper hand when you really haven’t. Yes, the ball has lost pace. But it’s also gained spin and isn’t going to bounce very high.
✅ Hit a deep, aggressive dink here instead. This is an opportunity to gain position, not win the point.
🛑 Being too predictable. We all have favorite shots and combos. But that doesn’t mean they’ll all work against every opponent. If you love to lob, for example, but the last three attempts have been demolished past you, that’s not a sign to keep lobbing.
✅ When your go-to shots aren’t working, play it safe and look for other opportunities. Dink to the middle. Target their backhands. Soon enough, you’ll see another opening you can exploit instead.
More often than not, you know the correct shot, you’re just not executing it. Advanced pickleball requires strategic adjustments in real time. Stop relying on the shots you want to hit and start prioritizing the ones you know you should.
The Omni Lets You Decide How It Plays
Most paddles come as-is. The Selkirk Omni comes with options.
The ReactCore double-ring foam stiffens on hard contact and softens on touch shots.
The adjustable MOI weights snap on and off by hand. Move them up for more power, shift them down for more control, or remove them entirely.
The InfiniGrit surface holds 2,000 RPM spin potential three times longer than raw carbon.
Selkirk's new all-court paddle. $300. Lifetime warranty.
The St. Louis Shock Get the Monkey Off Their Backs
The St. Louis Shock are the only MLP team to play all three events so far this season. Entering their hometown event in St. Louis’ Chaifetz Arena, they had a third-place and a second-place finish. Solid, but not the best.
Expectations were high. And boy did they deliver.
The Shock went 5-0, including a 3-0 sweep of the LA Mad Drops on Super Sunday. Anna Bright and Kate Fahey gave up just 10 points in their five women’s doubles games. As a team, they allowed just nine total points across all three games in the final.
Women’s doubles: Anna Bright and Kate Fahey def. Catherine Parenteau and Jade Kawamoto: 11-1
Men’s doubles: Gabe Tardio and Hayden Patriquin def. Ben Johns and Max Freeman: 11-3
Mixed doubles: Bright and Patriquin def. Johns and Kawamoto: 11-5
The top five finishers from MLP STL:
🥇 St. Louis Shock: 25 points
🥈 Los Angeles Mad Drops: 18 points
🥉 Brooklyn Pickleball Team: 15 points
🏅 Orlando Squeeze: 12 points
🏅 Palm Beach Royals: 10 points
Next up: MLP Austin action gets underway this Thursday. But first, get caught up on what you missed from STL below.
How to Structure a 3-Hour Weekly Drill Routine
Practice makes perfect, as they say. In pickleball, that means drilling. And drilling takes time.
The good news? You can improve dramatically in as little as two or three hours per week. We’ve told you this before. And any coach worth their salt will say the same: focused, deliberate practice beats junk volume every single time.
If you can spread one hour across three separate days in a week, this is a proven framework for success:
Block 1 (60 min): Drilling with a partner or solo: Pick one shot or technique and hammer it. Your goal should be perfect form and as many repetitions as possible.
Block 2 (60 min): Structured, competitive play: Take what you’ve learned and apply it in real-game scenarios. You’re going to make mistakes. Don’t quit; keep reinforcing this skill until it becomes routine.
Block 3 (60 min): Targeted skill work on an identified weakness: Now identify a big missing gap in your game and focus on it for a couple weeks at a time. Pro tip: Record a competitive play session and see where you’re making the most mistakes.
Productive drilling isn’t about time so much as it’s about intention. Drill smart, play better. It’s as simple as that.
➡️ Learn more.
Built for Players Over 50, By Players Who Get It
A 55-year-old and 65-year-old are not the same player, but most tournaments treat them like they are.
US Senior Pickleball doesn't. USSP runs age-protected brackets in five-year increments for players 50 to 85+.
Round-robin play means everyone gets plenty of court time. And beyond tournaments, USSP organizes clinics, leagues, ladders, and social play for seniors at every level.
Membership is $20/year and knocks $10 off every tournament you enter.
Pickleball Facility Rent Costs How Much?!
More and more, big pickleball facilities across the country are closing up shop.
Sometimes it’s simply a case of not attracting enough paying customers to keep the lights on. Other times it’s because a big shiny competitor opened up shop across the street.
In the case of S2 Pickleball in Boise, it became a matter of paying their monthly rent. A cool $30,333.33, to be exact. They’ve only been open a matter of months and have already been served with eviction papers.
If paying $364,000 in yearly rent sounds crazy, consider this: that’s in Idaho. Imagine what some of these clubs are paying in Boston or Los Angeles?
It’s no wonder the pickleball facility industry is in the midst of a boom and possible major shakeout.
Headlines & Quick Hits
7 Progressive Steps to a Faster Pickleball Serve
Why Younger Players Have the Reaction Time Edge
Shovel, Push, Drip: 3 Essential Drop Shots Explained
Highlights
Sweet, sweet payback
Ranking MLP players on vibes only
Jay Devilliers’ perfect flying Erne
Missed a recent issue? We've got you covered
A review from the Dink Fam...
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