Health, Fitness, News & Fun for Picklers of All Ages

What's Cooking in the Kitchen This Week:

• WIN $200 Just In Time For Christmas! Survey Contest Is Live

• 3 Tactics To Get You To 4.0

• HAPPY BIRTHDAY The Fit Pickler Turns 2 🎉 🎂 🥳

• The Pickler’s Guide to Smarter Protein

• Fitness Expert Glenn Dawson: Prevent Knee, Hip & Ankle Injuries
  With These 2 Moves

• Post-Pickleball Cooldown Routines: Science Proven Methods

• Celebrity Jeweler Johnny Dang To Open Diamond Boyz Pickleball Social In Houston

• Wealthy California Town Bans Pickleball Over Noise Complaints

• Pickleball Emerges As New Corporate Networking Sport Replacing Golf

• Humor: Things Pickleball Players Never Say

• The Lakers Held A Pickleball Tournament Featuring LeBron James, Luka And Austin.

• Coach Mary: 2 Cool New Serves!

SURVEY CONTEST

We Still Need Your Help!
Please take 3 Min. to fill out our
Survey! On Dec. 18th we will
choose TWO Winners
from the survey submissions
EACH Will Receive a $200 Amazon
Gift Card Delivered To Your Email

Help us help you! Every year we survey our readers to find out what is important to them. Not just content in the Fit Pickler but in your day to day life. This information helps us bring you the best content and allows us to keep The Fit Pickler newsletter a FREE resource to celebrate recreational play. Thank you in advance!

If you filled out this survey out when you subscribed after Nov. 15th, you are already entered to win! (We will filter out duplicate submissions.)

Go here to fill out the survey: TAKE THE SURVEY NOW

🥷 SKILLS

3 Tactics To Get You To 4.0 Faster

If you feel stuck in that 3.0 to 3.5 range, the problem usually is not that you need a brand new arsenal of shots. It is that you need to stop handing away points, start the rally on your terms, and think like a doubles team instead of two singles players standing side by side.

The jump to 4.0 is a mix of tactics, mindset and footwork. You do not have to transform everything at once. Start with these three pillars and layer in a few mental and defensive habits as you go.

Tactic 1: Play A “No Gifts” Game

At most clubs, 3.0 and 3.5 points end on unforced errors. Missed serves, returns that float long, dinks that clip the tape and fall back on your side, rushed drives that never had a chance.

At 4.0, players still miss, but they do not donate nearly as many free points. They are boringly solid. The biggest upgrade is not hitting more winners, it is cutting down your gifts.

Think of each game as a “No Gifts” challenge.

Four simple “No Gift” rules

1. Big targets, not edges
   Stop aiming at lines unless the ball is a true sitter. On serves, returns and drives, picture an invisible border two or three feet inside the baseline and sidelines. That rectangle is your target zone. If it lands there with decent pace or placement, it is already a strong shot.

It is so fitting that our Birthday/Anniversary is celebrated in our Thanksgiving Issue. Two years ago we started The Fit Pickler because we looked at all the media out there and all the APPS and saw no one was truly celebrating the heart and soul of this sport: Recreational Players!

We are truly honored to celebrate you and remain inspired everyday by stories of this sport changing lives and building communities all over the world. A very hearty THANK YOU to you, our readers, for sharing this space with us each week. We will continue to strive to showcase the very best of Pickleball!

(PS If you want to give us a birthday present 😊 Please scroll up and fill out our survey.
Your voice matters and these surveys help us keep going strong and free to read.)

💪 Health & Fitness Section
Weekly Advice To Keep You Fit & Injury Free

The Pickler’s Guide To
Smarter Protein  

You've heard the advice for years. "Eat more protein." So you do. You pile chicken on your plate. You buy the big tubs of powder. You hit your numbers. 

 But somehow, your recovery still feels slow and your strength doesn’t last. 

Here’s the truth: after 50, your body’s playbook for protein needs a rewrite.  

 But once you understand how your muscles actually process protein now, everything shifts. Your recovery improves. Your strength holds. Your time on the court gets better, not shorter. 

 So here's what actually works. 

 Your Muscles Have Changed – Your Fueling Should Too 

 As we get older, our bodies develop something called “anabolic resistance.” 

 It’s a fancy term for a simple problem: your muscles become less efficient at absorbing and using protein. 

 Think of it this way: when you were younger, you could eat a huge steak for dinner, and your muscles would soak it all up.  

Now, it's like they can only take in smaller sips. If you try to flood them with a huge serving of protein all at once, most of it simply goes to waste. 

 That’s why piling protein onto your dinner plate isn’t working anymore. The secret to faster recovery isn’t eating more protein – it’s eating protein smarter. 

⚕️ Health News

Post-Pickleball Cooldown Routines:
Science Proven Methods

Post-pickleball soreness doesn’t have to be part of the deal — and in this piece, Susie Reiner, PhD, and Erik Korem, PhD break down the science behind cooldowns that actually work. From active recovery and foam rolling to stretching, hydration, and sleep, they explain what your body needs after a match and why it matters if you want to feel better, move better, and stay on the court longer.

If you want a clear, research-backed look at how to recover the right way — plus a few things most players skip — check out their full article and level up your post-match routine, see more here…

 🏋️ STAYING FIT with
GLENN & BRIANNA

Prevent Knee, Hip & Ankle
Injuries With These 2 Moves

👏 COMMUNITY SPOTLIGHT

The Celebrity Jeweler Johnny Dang
To Open Diamond Boyz
Pickleball Social In Houston

Johnny Dang — Houston’s “King of Bling” — is taking his talents from diamonds to dinks. His new 28,000-square-foot Diamond Boyz Pickleball Social is set to open on Westheimer with nine LED-lit courts, a lounge, mixers, DJs, tournaments, and even “Bling Nights.” With open play just $5 until the Nov. 22 grand opening, the city’s flashiest new pickleball hangout is already turning heads.

Want the full scoop on memberships, events, and what’s planned for opening day?

🗞️  NEWS

Wealthy CA Town Bans
Pickleball Over Noise Complaints

A noise dispute in the upscale town of Carmel has sparked a full-on fight over pickleball — and the city just made a surprising decision that’s angered players and relieved neighbors. It’s the latest example of how the sport’s rapid growth is colliding with local communities.

To see what happened and why this vote has everyone talking, check out the full story,
click here…

 💼 BUSINESS NEWS

Pickleball Emerges As New Corporate
Networking Sport Replacing Golf

Pickleball is officially crashing the old corporate-golf party. Fast games, low barriers, and way more inclusivity have turned it into the new networking arena for professionals — the place where deals get done, hierarchies flatten, and conversation flows without a five-hour time commitment. Companies are leaning in, and the culture shift is real.

Want to see why golf is losing ground and how pickleball became the go-to corporate connector? See more here…

🤣 HUMOR

Things Pickleball Players
Never Say

🏀 PRO NEWS

The Lakers Held A Pickleball
Tournament Featuring LeBron,
Luca & Austin 

The Lakers used their long break in the schedule to settle things the pickleball way — with a team-wide tournament featuring LeBron, Luka, Reaves, Vando, coaches, front-office staff, and some hilarious unexpected upsets. The bracket reveals some matchups every fan wishes were on video.

Want the full rundown on who teamed up, who got bounced early, who won?
See more here…

RALLY RUNDOWN:
LOCAL HIGHLIGHTS

BOSTON, MA: PickleBOS Celebrates Opening With Weekend Of Open Play
MANILLA: 2025 Open Pickleball Intercollegiate Championship
SEATTLE, WA: New Pickleball Facility Open In Seattle: Picklewood
ST. GEORGE, UT: Utah Tech Team Blazes Pickleball Trail After Being Crowned World Champions
NAGS HEAD, NC: 2025 Get Pinked! And More' Charity Event Raises Over $26
STUART, FL: House Of Hope Tournament Serves Up Howling Good Time
WEST BEND, WI: Pickleball Players Save Fellow ‘Pickler’s’ Life Thanks To AED
OAK ISLAND, NC: Pickleballer Holds Santa Slam-A-Thon For Toy Drive


DO YOU HAVE LOCAL NEWS TO SHARE? REACH OUT TO US AT
[email protected] and send us a link to your story!

  💪 2 Cool New Serves

1. The Banana Serve

This is opposite of the screwball or cut serve.  Watch the demo.

Tanner emphasizes, brushing across and contacting on the outside of the ball, shaving it. Flick your wrist.   Follow-through is up and out in front of you. 

2. The Short Topspin Short Corner Serve

Jill Braverman demonstrates the lob serve, which is so great to create short returns, but then she demos the short topspin corner serve.  She says, “No one wants to move in”.  This is a new one for me, and I am going to work on it this week!  This serve takes your opponent off the court and creates havoc with their ability to cover the middle.

3. More in Depth Demo of the Short Topspin Corner Serve

Jill Braverman talks fast, and to understand this serve, watch Sean Underwood in this next video.

He demonstrates positioning yourself to the outside of the service box and uses an open stance.  He says it is not about power, but placement.

The key is that this serve opens the opportunity to execute other serves, after they get frustrated defending the short corner serve.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING EVERYONE!

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