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

What's Cooking in the Kitchen This Week:

• 5 Tips To Improve Your Putaways

• The Tiny Habit That Slows Your Brain On The Court

• DRILL OF THE WEEK: The Erne Hunt

• Fitness Expert Glenn Dawson: The Leg Press Alternative

• The 2026 Franklin US Open Recap - Waters Takes Home Double Gold

• Experts Weigh In on the Surprising Impact Pickleball Can Have on YOUR Neighborhood

• Tennis vs Pickleball: Which Is better For Your Health?

• HUMOR: Playing Pickleball With My Spouse

• Coach Mary: Three Skills that Separate Amateur from Advanced Players

🥷SKILLS

5 Tips To Improve Your Putaways

Few things in pickleball are more frustrating than missing the very ball that should have ended the point.

You’ve moved your opponents, earned a high ball, and created exactly the opening you wanted. Then somehow, the putaway clips the net or sails long.

Most missed putaways don’t happen because the shot was difficult.

They happen because players subtly change what was already working.

This isn’t about every attacking ball. It’s about the most common putaway situations — high volleys, overhead-like opportunities, and attackable balls near the kitchen line where you’re in control and should be finishing.

The good news: most putaway mistakes come from a handful of fixable habits.

Small adjustments can turn rushed misses into confident finishes.

1. Shorten the Swing Instead of Trying to Hit Harder

As soon as players recognize a putaway chance, they often speed everything up.

The backswing gets bigger. The grip tightens. The goal shifts from controlled placement to trying to end the point immediately.

That’s usually where control disappears.

💪 Health & Fitness Section

The Tiny Habit That Slows
Your Brain On The Court

The Tiny Habit that Slows Your Brain on Court 

If you've ever grabbed a bag of chips or cracked a diet soda in the afternoon without a second thought — this is worth a minute of your time. 

New research found that a just a small increase in ultra-processed foods is enough to measurably lower scores on visual attention tests. This difference shows up exactly where you don't want it: When you track the ball, read the court, and react in time.

The Study That Changed the Conversation 

Researchers followed more than 2,100 middle-aged and older adults, tracking their diets and testing their cognitive performance over time. 

The finding that surprised everyone: For every 10% increase in ultra-processed foods, people showed a measurable drop in visual attention and processing speed. 

Ten percent isn't much. That's one standard bag of chips or one soft drink. A daily habit that so small that most would believe is harmless. 

And here's the part that matters: The drop happened even in people who otherwise followed a healthy diet. Even Mediterranean-diet followers weren't protected. 

So the problem wasn't missing nutrients. It was the processing itself. 

What "Ultra-Processed" Actually Means 

Ultra-processed foods aren't just "unhealthy" foods. They're foods that have been industrially manufactured — natural structure broken down, then rebuilt with artificial additives, emulsifiers, flavor chemicals, and industrial agents. 

🥷 DRILL OF THE WEEK

The Erne Hunt

Most players don’t miss ernes because they’re too slow, they miss because they chase the wrong ball. This drill sharpens the real skill, reading when a sideline dink actually gives you the green light, so you stop gambling and start striking with purpose.

Learn the cues, footwork, and decision-making that turn flashy erne attempts into points you can actually trust.

 🏋️ STAYING FIT with
GLENN & BRIANNA

The Leg Press Alternative
(No Machines Necessary)

🏓 PRO NEWS

The 2026 Franklin US Open Recap:
Waters Takes Home Double Gold

Anna Leigh Waters left Naples with two golds, a third straight women’s doubles title with her mom, and a mixed doubles thriller that took 16 match points to finally close out. The US Open’s biggest stage still found a way to get even bigger.

Get the full breakdown of the wild finals, surprise medal runs, and standout performances that shaped one of pickleball’s biggest weeks.

🗞️  COMMUNITY NEWS

Experts Weigh In On The Surprising
Impact Pickleball Can Have in
YOUR Neighborhood

Pickleball may be bringing people together on the court, but in some neighborhoods it’s also triggering lawsuits, noise battles, and major fights over where the sport belongs. As courts multiply, the real issue isn’t the game, it’s what happens when “pop-pop-pop” moves too close to home.

See how the pickleball boom is reshaping neighborhoods, property battles, and the future of community court design, click here…

 🏓 PRO NEWS

Tennis v Pickleball: Which
Is Better For Your Health?

Tennis may still win on pure cardio, but pickleball is making a serious case with faster reactions, better balance, and the kind of social pull that keeps people coming back. The real surprise is how close the health gap may be, especially for players who care more about consistency than max heart rate.

See where each sport truly has the edge, from heart health and injury risk to longevity and everyday playability, click here…

🤣 HUMOR

RALLY RUNDOWN:
LOCAL HIGHLIGHTS

SANTA BARBARA, CA: Katy Perry and Sister Angela Host 'Truly Electric' Annual Pickleball Tournament to Benefit Their Firework Foundation
PINEVILLE:, LA: Community Honors Man Behind Ward 9 Sportsplex in Pineville
WIMBORNE DORSET, ENGLAND: Dorset Pickleball Club Raises £652 For Parkinson's UK
EMPORIA, KS: Emporia State Student's Pickleball Tournament Raises Funds for Local Nonprofit
NORWOOD, OH: ACES at Factory 52 Acquired by Tri-State's Booming Pickleball Business
KANSAS CITY, KS: Firefighter Creates Black Pickleball Club of KC to Build Community
HOLLY HILL, FL: Northeast Florida Pickleball Teams Win 10 Gold and 10 Silver Medals at State Tournament


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

  💪 3 Skills That Separate Amateur
From Advanced Players

Three Skills that Separate Amateur from Advanced Players
Jordan offers a great video – please watch it several times

Skill # 1:  Topspin

·    Topspin dinks – be sure to brush up, not forward.  Vertical swing path.  Watch the video!

·    You are not using your wrist.  Wrist will push the ball into the net.  Your wrist should stabilize your shot.  Use your biceps and your shoulder – this shot is from the shoulder.

·    You need to get under the ball.  Drop your paddle to 6 o’clock.  Vertical motion, super early.

·    Backhand topspin dinks:  Use two hands!

·    Below contact, wrists are below.  Low to high.

·    Get your ball to bounce in front of your opponent, so they cannot take it out of the air and attack you.

Skill # 2:  Solid resets in the transition zone

·    You need to buy yourself some time to get to the net, so you need to reset into the Kitchen.

·    Whether in the air or on a bounce, your grip should be soft, and you should be “catching” or “absorbing” the ball.

·    The softer the ball, the more time you have to move into the NVZ.

·    Biggest problem is your feet – they need to be an early split.  Wide stance, parallel.  Check out the colors, red and yellow, for correct and wrong in the video.  Your feet need to be balanced early.

·    Mistake:  hitting a counterattack, rather than a reset.  Do not push, punch or hit, but instead, lifting and softening the ball.  Think catch or absorb.

·    Doing too much on your resets.

·    Attempting to cut or slice the reset.

·    Be still in transition, and we want to absorb the ball.  Stay low.

·    Lift it softly, with slice (lay your paddle back a bit.)  Soft grip.

·    Stay low, stay minimal.

Skill #3:  Aggressive Dinking

·    Footwork!  Do not let the ball get behind you.

·    Top players move their feet quickly and they anticipate.

·    Use a shuffle step to get behind the ball.

·    Your paddle stays in front of you!  No backswing.

·    On the backhand side, the two-hander is more aggressive!  Make sure you are targeting spots on the court. (Use cone targets when drilling.)

·    Check out how low Jordan gets on the backhand side.

·    Swing speed:  how far your ball will travel – you do not want to give them a ball in the air. 

·    Slow your swing speed down, pick your targets, which helps you control your swing speed.

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