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

What's Cooking in the Kitchen This Week:

• Paddle Tracking: The Hidden Skill Of Top Players

• Pro Cheater Caught On Tape & Suspended For Outburst

• The October Slide: Why Your Recovery Slows Down Before Winter Hits

• 8 Essential Pickleball Warm-Up Drills to Prevent Injury

• Fitness Expert Glenn Dawson: Proper Squat Form

• Waters Wins Her 36th Career Triple Crown At PPA’s Virginia Beach Cup

• Nurse With AED Saves Young Fiance’s Life On The Pickleball Court

• Pickleball Tops Global Charts Overtakes Padel in Player Count

• Coach Mary: 7 Mistakes That Keep You From Reaching the 4.0-5.0 Skill Level

🥷SKILLS

Paddle Tracking:
The Hidden Skill Of Top Players

How to read the game before the ball even crosses the net.

Some players seem to have supernatural reflexes. They’re always in position, never caught off guard, and somehow know where the next shot is going before it’s hit.

The secret usually isn’t faster reactions. It’s better information.

Great players don’t just watch the ball—they track the paddle.
A split second before contact, an opponent’s paddle gives away everything: direction, depth, speed, and sometimes even spin. Learning to read those cues is one of the quietest—but most powerful—skills in pickleball.

What Paddle Tracking Is (and Isn’t)

Paddle tracking is the art of watching your opponent’s paddle motion, angle, and position to anticipate what shot is coming.

It’s not guesswork or staring—it’s focused observation. The goal isn’t to predict every shot, but to recognize patterns and probabilities that tell you what’s likely to happen next.

In short: you’re learning to react sooner, not faster.

👎 Players Behaving Badly

Pro Cheater Caught On Tape &
Suspended For Profanity- Filled Rant

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

The October Slide
Why Your Recovery Slows
Down Before Winter Hits

You finish a morning of doubles, feeling strong. But the next day? Your legs ache longer than usual. Recovery drags. Even colds seem to sneak in faster. 

 It feels like age. But really, it’s something else. And it starts every October. 

 Why The Silent Slide Begins 

 By the time fall rolls around, your body is running lower on a key nutrient. One that helps bones, muscles, and immunity all work smoothly. 

 Studies show this dip begins in October – long before deep winter sets in. By January, levels are often at their lowest. But the slide starts now. 

 What Is It? 

 The nutrient you’re probably missing is vitamin D – the sunshine vitamin. 

 In summer, your skin makes plenty of it from UVB rays. By October, those rays are weaker, especially in northern states. Even if you’re still out on the courts, your body can’t make enough. 

 🏋️ STAYING FIT with
GLENN & BRIANNA

Proper Squat Form

 💪 Fitness

8 Essential Pickleball Warm-Up
Drills To Prevent Injury

Pickleball’s rapid footwork, lateral lunges, and explosive rallies, brings a higher risk of joint strain and soft tissue injuries. Recent data has shown a steady increase in knee tendinitis, Achilles strains, and lower back pain, especially among players who skip structured warm-ups.

To reduce these risks, a focused warm-up routine targeting the hips, knees, glutes, and ankles is essential. The following eight exercises can be completed in five minutes and are ideal for regular players looking to prepare their bodies for the demands of the game.

Before You Begin: Safety Considerations

• If you’re returning from injury, have arthritis, or experience joint instability, start with smaller ranges of motion and lower repetitions.

• Always consult a healthcare or rehab professional before starting a new exercise regimen, especially if you have chronic pain or medical conditions.

• Movement should be controlled and deliberate—this is about activation and mobility, not speed or volume.

🏓 PRO NEWS

Waters Wins Her 36th Career Triple
Crown at PPA’s Virginia Beach Cup

Rain delays couldn’t dim Anna Leigh Waters’ shine in Virginia Beach. The 18-year-old phenom added her 36th career Triple Crown—sweeping singles, doubles, and mixed—to extend a run of dominance few sports have ever seen. From public-park roots to pro-tour polish, this PPA stop was a reminder of where pickleball started—and just how far it’s come.

Get the full recap of Waters’ record-breaking weekend and the names pushing her chase, click here…

⚕️HEALTH NEWS

Nurse With AED Saves
Young Fiance’s Life On
The Pickleball Court

Three stories this week about an AED saving a pickler’s life. This one proves it can happen at any age.

It happened fast—a thud, a shout, then silence on the Miller Park courts. Twenty-seven-year-old Rory Bakke’s heart stopped mid-rally, but his girlfriend, Sunny Saengdara, didn’t freeze. A nurse by training, she dropped to her knees, started CPR, and grabbed a brand-new AED installed just weeks earlier. That timing—and her calm—brought him back.

Read how one player’s collapse became a life-saving wake-up call for a community.
Click Here…

🌍 GLOBAL NEWS

Pickleball Tops Global Charts
Overtake Padel In Player Count

Pickleball just claimed the global crown. With as many as 50 million players worldwide, it’s officially outpacing padel by more than five million—proof that simplicity, social play, and a welcoming culture still win. From backyard courts to pro arenas, the game’s momentum is rewriting what a global sport looks like.

See how pickleball became the planet’s most-played paddle sport, click here…

RALLY RUNDOWN:
LOCAL HIGHLIGHTS

HUMBOLDT COUNTY, CA: The Humboldt County Pickleball Scene Which A Very Chill Guy Has Put Together
MERCER ISLAND, WA: City Council Approves Resolution To Name Pickleball Courts After Jacobson
ANNANDALE, VA: Pickleball VS. Tennis: Vandalism Reported
HOUSTON, VA: A New Pickleball Empire Is Rising Across Houston's Suburbs
DENVER, CO: Pickleball Boom In Colorado Fuels Growth Of New Destinations
COLORADO SPRINGS, CO: Wresting Over The Paddle: Pickleball Dispute
Heats Up
CANADA: Fairgrounds Secures $140M For Pickleball Court Projects
HATTIESBURG, MS: Pickleball Club to Host Halloween Bash

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

  💪 7 Mistakes That Keep You From
Reaching the 4.0-5.0 Skill Level

Checkout Tanner’s 7 mistakes that keep you from reaching the 4.0 – 5.0 level skill level.

If you cannot access the video on the Desert Sun website, then go to YouTube, go to Tanner Tomasi Pickleball, and search for 7 mistakes that keep you from reaching the 4.0-5.0 skill level.

Mistake 1:  Being Reactive, rather than Proactive.
This comes from not paddle tracking the ball after you return it.  Track the ball you hit with the point of your paddle, so you are ready to return depending on where it is coming from.  This is a great demo!

Mistake 2: Standing upright when approaching the NVZ line.
Amateur players tend to approach the NVZ after they execute a third shot drop upright.  Then, when the ball is returned, they must crouch and get ready.  Pros approach the NVZ already is a low, ready position.  Tanner calls this the “crab walk.”  Watch the Wrong and Then the Right way.

Mistake 3:  Wrong mindset in hand battles.  Instead of just attacking, slow it down, and let them make a mistake.
In hand battles at the net, players tend to just attack at the opponent’s chest, trying to hit through them.  Instead, try to slow it down, and attack high to low, at your opponent’s feet.  Watch the demo!

Mistake 4:  Lazy footwork at the NVZ zone.
Tanner says this is 99.9 percent of your problem when making errors.  He calls this “Cement Feet.”  Players are in the middle of the court in the transition zone, and they are looking to reset.  Rather, you need to be on your toes, using your knees, with active feet, constantly moving and ready to respond to your opponent’s shot.  The same thing happens at the Kitchen line.  Super important tip!

Mistake 5:  Incorrect ready position at the NVZ line.
Confusion about paddle position at the Kitchen.  Pros keep a low paddle position, to reset, defend, dink, or attack with topspin.  This is when both of you are at the Kitchen line.  Conversely, when your opponent is at the baseline, now you should have a higher paddle position, way out in front of you, so you can attack if possible.  When they are back, you should stretch!  This is a huge adjustment that you should make!

Mistake 6:  You should never drive 2 balls in a row.  If you drive your third, then drop your fifth.
When you are at the baseline, you should never drive two balls in a row.  If you drive the first ball, then reset or drop the second ball.  This gets you to the NVZ, instead of freezing you at the baseline.  Awesome demo.

Mistake 7:  How to handle drives right at you.
As that ball is being driven, the mistake is that you lunge and punch at the ball from in front of your chest.  The ball often ends up in the bottom of the net.  See the Wrong demo.  Instead, reach out, with your paddle floating over the Kitchen.  Reach and defend/attack in front of you, using your hips, shoulders and follow-through.  Watch the Right demo.

Not Yet a Subscriber? Click Below to Get Our Newsletter Every Week - Its FREE