^{Advertise | The Dink Home | Shop Gear | Subscribe}

Hand up, we were wrong. Yes, Anna Leigh Waters won her singles match against James Blake. But even she wasn’t enough to lead the ladies to a victory at Pickleball Slam 4. The tennis guys came in with a plan. And they executed it flawlessly. Tough day for pro pickleball. We break it all down below.

In This Issue:
— Why you miss easy shots
— How to practice alone
— ALW loses $1 million match

See you on the courts.

Just a friendly Friday PSA that the energy you bring onto the pickleball court affects more than just you. Your partner is feeding off the vibes, negative or positive. So are the two players across the net. Choose to be a downer, and your match results might reflect it.

We’ve all been there: a ball pops up, right in your sweet spot, and you push it long when anywhere in the court would have been a winner. It’s maddening. But it happens to everyone. Pro Jack Sock explains why it’s more common the longer and more intense a point becomes.

Your tennis friends are about to be insufferable. And we deserve it. Pickleball Slam 4 upped the ante this year by inviting the GOAT to join the fun. And shocker to many, not even Anna Leigh Waters could beat two old former tennis pros. Zane weighs in.

We’re gearing up to announce a very cool new partner, an innovator in the pickleball shoe space. Before we do, we want to hear from you. So tell us, do you hit the courts in pickleball-specific shoes, or have you found those adapted from other sports like tennis or basketball work just as well? Help us out, it’ll take less than a minute.

Growing up, I played a handful of sports competitively. One through college.

The number of hours I spent practicing, by myself, was countless. Every day, depending on the season, I’d be out in my yard or on a field somewhere getting reps in. Over and over. Until the skill felt like second nature.

Now that I’m obsessed with pickleball, you’d think that commitment to improvement would transfer, right? That I’d be in my basement every night with a foam ball after the kids are asleep, tirelessly pumping out speed-ups and counters?

Yeah, not so much. The truth is, like so many of you, I don’t drill as much as I should. When I have time to play, I want to play. And the progression of my game absolutely suffers as a result.

But it’s not too late. Here are a few proven drills you can do alone that will absolutely translate to better performance on the court. You just have to do them. Consistently. Until the skill feels easy.

✅ Drill 1. Find a solid wall. Bring a piece of tape and mark about 36 inches off the ground. That’s your net height. Now take seven steps back, roughly the distance of the kitchen line. Keep the ball in the air as long as you can. Vary speeds and shot types. Nothing is better for training hand-eye coordination and hand-speed.

✅ Drill 2. Set up two cones or targets about 8 feet apart. You can be on a court or on the street, it doesn’t matter. Move around them in a figure-8 pattern, shuffling laterally and always facing the "net." Every time you pass through the center, shadow-swing a dink or volley. Do it until you’re winded. Then go again.

✅ Drill 3. On a pickleball court, set up three targets: one deep on the opposing baseline, one in the middle of the opposing kitchen, one at the sideline. Get three balls. Hit a serve, aiming for the first target. Next, drop a ball, let it bounce, and hit a drop shot, aiming for the second. Move to the kitchen line, drop a ball again and aim a dink toward the third.

None of this is flashy. All of it is incredibly effective. The most important training is what you do when nobody else is watching.

We’ve got four more drills where these came from, too. A higher DUPR rating awaits.

➡️ Go ahead, practice alone.

A lot of paddles are starting to look the same.

Same builds. Same feel. Same everything.

Ronbus is part of the newer wave shifting away from traditional honeycomb cores — with their Quanta series using a full foam-core construction that plays noticeably different.

That tech is popping up more… often at a much higher price.

Ronbus just made it way more accessible.

And right now, you can take $20 off your entire order — including Quanta and other sale paddles — with code THEDINK.

Shop the Ronbus lineup and take $20 off with code THEDINK.

If you didn’t catch Wednesday night’s Pickleball Slam 4, we forgive you. It aired exclusively on ESPN and wasn’t particularly easy to follow via social media.

But what felt like a foregone conclusion for many — hand up, yours truly very much included — did not play out according to plan. At least not if you’re Anna Leigh Waters.

The doubles match is where things really took a turn.

ALW was the best player on the court by a mile. Not even close.

But here’s the rub: the boys barely let her touch the ball.

Their game plan was clear from the beginning: hit everything to Genie, avoid ALW at all costs. And it worked. Much to the frustration of Anna Leigh.

“I think you guys should actually hit me a couple more balls,” she said to their faces during a timeout. “It’s a little ridiculous.”

To which Blake promptly responded: “Seems like a bad idea.”

In the end, the guys took the match (26-23, 21-15) and the $1 million team prize.

➡️ See the highlights.

This week’s PicklePod episode covers a lot.

Ben Johns has one of the toughest draws we’ve seen in a while.
The JOOLA lawsuit raises some bigger questions about where things are heading.
And somehow we end up in a full breakdown of why lefties struggle in mixed.

Zane and Nico also debate what is the lowest DUPR partner ALW could play with and still win the Pickleball Slam.

Some real takes in this one — a few that might surprise you.

➡️ Watch the episode here.

A bevy of top players chose to skip the PPA Sacramento Open to rest and get ready for the upcoming Atlanta Pickleball Championships, including Anna Leigh Waters, Anna Bright, Hayden Patriquin, Christian Alshon, and Jay Devilliers.

That means the draws are wide open and we’re seeing some interesting new partnerships make deep runs.

Play is well underway — today is quarterfinals, which is always one of the most exciting days of a PPA event.

When the dust settles on Sunday, here’s who The Dink’s pro expert Erik Tice predicts will take gold across disciplines:

🔮 Women’s Singles: Kate Fahey def. Kaitlyn Christian
🔮 Men’s Singles: Chris Haworth def. Federico Staksrud
🔮 Mixed Doubles: Parris Todd and Andrei Daescu def. Jorja and JW Johnson
🔮 Women’s Doubles: Rachel Rohrabacher and Parris Todd def. Jorja Johnson and Tyra Black
🔮 Men’s Doubles: Ben Johns and Gabe Tardio def. CJ Klinger and JW Johnson

For more, check out our full preview article below.

➡️ Get the storylines.

A review from the Dink Fam...

Share the best newsletter in pickleball with your friends and you’ll get free stuff. What’s not to like?

{{rp_personalized_text}}

Copy & Paste this link: {{rp_refer_url_no_params}}

If your company is interested in reaching an audience of active pickleballers, you may want to give us a shout.