Nasty Nelson sparks gold medal controversy

How to master the off-speed attack. Louisville scraps $65M pickleball project.

May 12, 2025

After months of heated public discourse, a $65 million proposal to overhaul Louisville’s Joe Creason Park has officially been scrapped by the mayor—including the promised 18 new pickleball courts. It was nature vs. noise complaints, and pickleball lost.

In brighter news, congrats to Megan Fudge, the new APP Tour record-holder for most medals ever.

In This Issue:
— No new pickleball courts for popular Louisville Park
— Doubles strategy: Master the off-speed attack
— Who was traded during today’s MLP waivers?

We want more pickleball courts.

Our Picks ☝️

🥇 New Champ: Megan Fudge Makes it 70

With a gold in doubles and a silver in mixed, Megan Fudge became the winningest player in APP Tour history, topping the previous record set by JW Johnson. “I just feel extremely blessed.”

🚽 NBA Draft: Congrats, Utah Jazz?

Daily NBA podcast No Dunks used a bucket of pickleballs and a guy with a toilet on his head to predict tonight’s NBA draft #1 pick. According to one well-placed dink from the kitchen line, the Utah Jazz will take it.

👹 Downright Diabolical: A Gold Medal Nasty Nelson

On the second serve up 10-4 in the women’s 35+ championship match at the US Open, one audacious player decided to go for gold, launching a Nasty Nelson across the net. It worked, and they won—but not without some controversy.

👏 Teenage Dream: Meet Jalina Ingram

Jalina was adopted in 2013 and soon found tennis, excelling through the junior ranks. Burnout from an elite tennis academy turned her attention to pickleball. Now, she’s a signed PPA and MLP pro. Here’s her story. 

Doubles Strategy: Master the Off-Speed Attack

If you want to get better at pickleball, you need to start paying attention to strategy. That means recognizing and exploiting patterns that play to your strengths.

Speeding up at the kitchen line has become a hallmark of successful players, initiating offense to win the point how and when you want. But like anything, speed-ups can become predictable. Go to the well too often and it starts to dry up.

Pros Zane Navratil and Jack Munro have a cheeky solution for this—mixing in off-speed attacks. The pattern goes like this:

  • Set the hook by speeding up the ball a few times at the opponent across from you

  • Make sure to change up the location: down the line, at their body, and in the middle

  • Now that you’ve established yourself as an aggressor, it’s time to switch things up…

The next time you get a chance to attack, fire a speed-up low over the net, down the line, and at 50% speed.

Here’s why it’s so effective.

✅ It’s unpredictable. You’ve established yourself as a speed-up threat, willing to attack anywhere on the court. That puts your opponent on his heels.

✅ It’s out wide. You’ve sped up all over, but hit the off-speed shot down the line every time—this isolates one player and limits the options for a counter-attack.

✅ It’s disguised. Taking one ball down to 50% speed throws your opponent off so much they’ll mistime their counter and dump it into the net.

Got it? Now get out there any try it. Just remember—it’s all about the setup.

Another Way to Up Your Game

So you just read a few ways to sharpen your skills on the court. Here’s something that can help you level up off the court, too.

Our guy Zane Navratil recently started using Superpower. It’s a concierge health platform that gave him a full-body snapshot with over 100 lab tests. We're talking bloodwork, toxins, gut health, and more.

What he found? A few small lifestyle and diet changes made a big difference in his energy, recovery, and focus. All tailored to his body. All reviewed by legit health pros.

Zane’s been dialing in his game for years. Now he’s doing the same with his health.

Louisville Mayor Nixes $65M Park Overhaul, Including Pickleball Courts

A $65 million plan to transform Louisville’s Joe Creason Park into a major outdoor sports complex is officially dead.

The proposed project would have added 18 pickleball courts, 36 tennis courts, a large pavilion, playground, restaurant, and new walking paths—turning the popular, centrally located green space into a regional sports and recreation destination.

But after months of mounting opposition from local residents, city officials are pulling the plug.

Neighbors raised concerns about losing tree canopy, worsening traffic, and altering the character of one of Louisville’s most beloved parks.

"This movement was never anti-tennis. This movement was never anti-pickleball," one resident explained.

At a series of community meetings, vocal residents made it clear: they wanted upgrades, but not at this scale.

"The process worked. Your voices were heard. Your concerns were raised,” said Louisville Mayor Craig Greenberg.

The project is now seeking an alternate location. So if you’re a Louisville pickleball-lover, perhaps there’s still some hope.

2 Transactions from Today’s MLP Waiver Period

Rules in Major League Pickleball change faster than a Ferrari forehand.

But here’s one thing we know for sure: Today is the first of two waiver periods this season, meaning bench players can be claimed by other teams.

We’re weren’t anticipating a ton of action this time around—the top teams are going to keep their starting rosters, which leaves the bottom-feeders without much remaining talent to choose from.

But a couple of transactions did go down:

  • The SoCal Hard Eights claimed Roscoe Bellamy from the Columbus Sliders. Bellamy is big—6’ 5” to be exact—with big upside: he has a huge forehand and is very athletic.

  • Columbus picked up Ross Whittaker, a respected Ohio native who will be a solid bench player for the Sliders.

Other intriguing players open for trades include Erik Lange, Michael Loyd, AJ Koller and Helena Jansen.

Follow us on X and Instagram for updates on today’s MLP Waiver Period.

One Way to Stay in the Game Longer

Last week we broke down how to apply KT Tape Pro®. This week, let’s talk where.

Knees take a beating in pickleball with all the lunging and quick stops, but taping around the patellar tendon can relieve pressure and keep things aligned. Feet, ankles, shoulders, and lower backs also get worked hard during play.

Applying KT Tape to these areas can ease tension, improve stability, and help keep soreness from turning into something more serious. Pair that with smart warm-ups and the right shoes, and you’ve got a solid game plan to keep playing pain-free.

We know you're pushing through a lot out there. This might be your way to push back.

The Stars Came Out in Cincinnati

The APP Vlasic Classic is a wrap from Cincinnati.

In addition to the gold medal winners (listed below), a few storylines caught our attention:

Megan Fudge (top, left) earned her 69th and 70th APP medals, making her the winningest player ever on the tour. The previous record was 68, held by JW Johnson.

Days after posting on X promising “Just results,” Grayson Goldin secured gold in men’s doubles—a year to the day since his first APP singles gold at the same event.

Familiar faces dominated the rest of the action: Will Howells and Jack Munro didn’t drop a game on their way to another men’s doubles title; Sofia Sewing earned her third APP gold this season; Howells and Bobbi Oshiro remain undefeated in 2025, claiming another mixed doubles win.

👉 For our complete breakdown, head here. 

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