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

What's Cooking in the Kitchen This Week:

• How To Reset Without Retreating

• Why Winter Pickleball Feels Harder on Your Joints

• DRILL OF THE WEEK: Pickleball Overhead Defense Drill

• Fitness Expert Glenn Dawson: Knee Pain? Start With This

• 14mm vs 16mm Pickleball Paddles: Performance Data & Analysis

• How Many People Across The World Have Played Pickleball?

• Anna Leigh Waters Lands Two Major Partnership Deals

• Western-Themed Indoor PB Complex Stampedes Into San Antonio

• HUMOR: When Your Doubles Partner Takes All Your Shots

• Coach Mary: 5 Shots To Help You Adapt To How Pickleball Is Evolving in 2026

🥷SKILLS

How To Reset Without Retreating

Staying neutral under pressure without giving up court position

There’s a moment every pickleball player recognizes. The exchange speeds up, the ball gets heavy, and instinct says: back up, survive, reset. Sometimes that works. Often, it quietly hands control to the other team.

The issue usually isn’t the reset itself. It’s what the reset turns into. Too many players treat resetting as permission to drift off the line, rather than a way to stabilize the rally while holding their position. A reset is a positioning tool, not an exit strategy.

What retreating actually is (and isn’t)

Retreating isn’t defined by taking a step back. It’s defined by surrendering influence over the point.

Creating space to handle pace is not the same as abandoning the kitchen line. If every hard ball automatically sends you two or three steps back—and keeps you there for the rest of the rally—that’s retreating.

A reset that keeps you balanced, ready, and engaged is very different from one that forces you to defend farther and farther from the net. The difference isn’t the ball itself. It’s what happens to your position after you hit it.

The true goal of a reset

A reset isn’t meant to win the point. It’s meant to stabilize it.

💪 Health & Fitness Section

Why Winter Pickleball Feels
Harder On Your Joints

What to Do Before Game One 

Winter pickleball has a familiar storyline. 

You step onto the court feeling confident. Then the first few points arrive… and your knees feel stiff, your hips slow, and your elbows oddly uncooperative. By game two, you’re better. By game three, you’re finally playing like yourself. 

Here’s the truth: it’s not age. And it’s not “needing more time to loosen up.” 

 It’s biology – and a little physics. 

 The Cold-Weather Joint Problem No One Talks About 

 Inside every joint is synovial fluid. Its job is simple: lubricate movement so your joints glide instead of grind. In warm conditions, it’s slick and efficient. 

 Cold changes that. 

 Lower temperatures make synovial fluid thicker and less slippery. When that happens, joint movement takes more effort. Think of trying to stir honey straight from the fridge versus honey warmed on the counter. Same substance. Very different performance. 

 Cold weather also tightens blood vessels in your arms and legs. That reduces circulation, slows tissue warming, and increases stiffness – especially in knees, hips, shoulders, and elbows. 

 That “rusty” feeling before the first serve? It’s real. And it’s mechanical, not personal. 

🥷 DRILL OF THE WEEK

The Overhead Defense Drill

Smash defense is where a lot of points quietly fall apart — not because the shot was unbeatable, but because panic takes over. This drill reframes overheads as controlled situations, teaching defenders how to absorb pace and turn pressure into a true reset instead of a pop-up or hail-mary swing.

See how to structure the reps, add game-real rules, and train calm resets that flip defense into offense.

 🏋️ STAYING FIT with
GLENN & BRIANNA

Knee Pain?
Start With This

🏓 GEAR NEWS

14mm Vs 16mm Pickleball Paddles:
Performance Data & Analysis

The debate between 14mm and 16mm paddles isn’t as simple as “thin for power, thick for control.” After testing 400+ paddles, Matt Khoury breaks down how core thickness actually shows up on court — what he measured, what surprised him, and why feel matters more than marketing specs.

See how the testing was done and what it means for how you play.

🗞️  NEWS

How Many People Have Played
Pickleball Worldwide? 120 Million

How many people around the world are actually playing pickleball depends on how you count. When you separate regular players from those who’ve only tried it once, a clearer picture emerges: about 22 million active players today, with roughly 80–120 million people worldwide who’ve picked up a paddle at least once. The numbers hint at where the sport’s next surge could come from—and it’s not just North America.

See how researchers arrived at a realistic global count—and what it says about pickleball’s next phase of growthAmerica, click here…

 🏓 PRO NEWS

Anna Leigh Waters Lands
Two Major Partnership Deals

Anna Leigh Waters’ dominance on the court is now being matched off it. In a matter of days, the world No. 1 has locked in major new partnerships with Franklin Sports and Nike, signaling a big shift in how pickleball’s top star — and the sport itself — is being positioned on a global stage.

See what each agreement covers and what it could mean for pickleball’s next wave of sponsorships. See the details of the Franklin deal here….. and the Nike deal here…

👏 COMMUNITY NEWS

Western-Themed Indoor
Pickleball Complex Stampedes
Into San Antonio

A new Western-themed pickleball destination is riding into San Antonio, blending climate-controlled courts with a bold, personality-driven vibe. Outlaw Pickle is aiming to be more than just a place to play, leaning hard into community, design, and atmosphere from day one.

Check out the pics, Click Here…

🏓 HUMOR

When Your Doubles Partner
Takes All Your Shots!

RALLY RUNDOWN:
LOCAL HIGHLIGHTS

NEW ORLEANS, LA: Drew Brees Serves Up Pickleball To Beloved New Orleans
SUGAR LAND, TX: Sugar Land And Missouri City Ride Pickleball Growth Wave
LOS ANGELES, CA: Crossroads Students Begin Push To Make Pickleball A Varsity Sport
PALM SPRINGS, CA: Can a Charity Pickleball Tournament Bring Generations Together?
COLORADO SPRINGS, CO: The School Buzz: Colorado Springs Principal Wins Pickleball Championship
WENATCHEE, WA: WRAC Opens New 6-Court Indoor Pickleball Facility
HOLMDEL, NJ: Jersey Pickleball Club Opens First N.J. Location In Historic Building
SAN CLEMENTE, CA: High School Coach Reunites With San Clemente Firefighter Who Saved His Life


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

  💪 5 Shots To Help You Adapt To
How Pickleball Is Evolving In 2026

Instructor Tanner Tomasi discusses five pickleball shots or skills you need to have to continue to be competitive in 2026.

Drive-Drop Combo
Instead of using a third shot drop every time, which I admit, I was able to do successfully in tourneys from 2010-2022, Tanner says to first execute a third shot drive with topspin, then follow-up with a third shot drop.

If your opponent returns deep, it is difficult to execute a good third shot drop. Instead, drive it with topspin, and follow-up with a good drop.

This will help you get a free point sometimes, rather than just using the third shot to get to the net.

Strong Return of Serve
Deep returns, rather than hard returns. It's about body position and footwork.

Problem: Instead of hitting and then moving forward, they stop.
Problem: Conversely, they move as they are contacting the ball.

The correct technique is to be moving through the ball as you contact it, so your momentum is forward.

Handling drives from your opponent when you're at the NVZ line
When you see your opponent driving it at you, your paddle should not be next to your chest. It should be out in front of you.

Mistake: Paddle too close to you, so you reach out to attack.
The paddle should be out in front and extended. Just track it and attack in front.

Speed Up Off the Bounce
This is an investment in the match. Pressure your opponent, do not just reset and play defense.

Follow these three rules:

1. Only when you are near the sideline. Why? It gives you more target options.

2. Choose a Target. Go to his chicken wing. Or his paddle side hip. Lastly, hit extended out wide to his backhand. Especially if he has a one hander.

3. When you hit a speed up, treat it like a one-two punch in boxing. The first ball is not the put-a-way! It creates a weak counter, and then you attack! Be unpredictable!

Fast hands
Keep Your Feet and Base quiet and still like you have a plate of food on your head.

Do not push with your shoulder! Power comes from your wrist! Hit, get ready for the next ball.

Instead of trying to blow your opponent away, aim for their knees or ankles. If you go back at their chest, they will attack you!

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