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

What's Cooking in the Kitchen This Week:

• Reading The Ball, Not Just The Player

• The “Thermostat” Nutrient You’re Probably Missing This Winter

• DRILL OF THE WEEK: Baseline To The Kitchen Transition

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

• How to Master Flick And Roll Volleys: Lessons From Ben Johns

• What Amateur Pickleballers Must Learn From Parris Todd Ruling

• Major League Pickleball Looks To Add Teams, Reach Profitability This Year

• Want To Live Long? Start Playing Pickleball: Longevity Researcher Dan Buettner

• USA Pickleball Appoints New Chair

• Coach Mary: How to Get Explosive Power on Your Serve

🥷SKILLS

Reading The Ball
Not Just The Player

Most players are taught to watch their opponent. Their paddle. Their shoulders. Their feet. Those cues matter, and they belong in your toolkit.

But the fastest reads on the court don’t come from the player. They come from the ball.

The ball starts telling the truth the instant it leaves the paddle. Its height, speed, spin, and arc reveal what kind of contact was made and what kind of response is required. When you learn to read those signals, you stop reacting late and start preparing early.

If there are two cues to prioritize above all others, they are these: how high the ball clears the net, and what it does immediately after the bounce. Those two alone often tell you whether to attack, neutralize, or reset.

Why the Ball Gives You Earlier Information

By the time you finish processing an opponent’s body language, the ball is already traveling toward you. The ball, on the other hand, commits immediately. Its flight shows whether pace was added or absorbed. Its arc shows intent. Its bounce confirms quality.

Good players don’t guess. They read.

Once you start trusting ball cues, the game slows down.

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

The “Thermostat” Nutrient
You’re Probably Missing This Winter

Every winter, millions of smart, health-conscious people do the same sensible thing. They notice the shorter days, the weaker sun, the heavier joints… and they reach for Vitamin D. 

And yet if you’re underwhelmed by the results, you’re not imagining it. 

Because new research suggests something uncomfortable: Vitamin D often can’t do its job on its own. In fact, without a certain behind-the-scenes partner, a good chunk of the Vitamin D you take may never fully “turn on.” 

Think of Vitamin D like your home heating system. You can have the furnace, the fuel, and the vents – but if the thermostat isn’t working, the house stays cold. 

But here’s the part that rarely gets mentioned: Vitamin D has to be activated inside your body before it can help with any of that. Swallowing it isn’t enough. 

And activation depends on something else being present. 

That’s why simply increasing your Vitamin D dose doesn’t always lead to better results. 

The Missing Link Most People Overlook 

Here’s the twist: the nutrient that controls how Vitamin D is processed isn’t rare, exotic, or new. 

It’s magnesium. 

🥷 DRILL OF THE WEEK

Baseline To The Kitchen
Transition Drill

Getting from the baseline to the kitchen is where a lot of points quietly fall apart. Good drops don’t always lead to good transitions, and rushing forward is usually the mistake, not the solution. This drill breaks the move to the net into repeatable phases so you arrive balanced instead of under fire.

Learn the baseline-to-kitchen progression that turns solid third shots into controlled, winning position at the line.

 🏋️ STAYING FIT with
GLENN & BRIANNA

Prevent Knee, Hip & Ankle
Injuries With These 2 Moves

🥷SKILLS

How To Master Flick & Roll Volleys:
Lessons From Ben Johns

Flicks and roll volleys look similar, but they solve very different problems at the kitchen. Ben Johns breaks down how contact height, intent, and pace separate the two — and why choosing the wrong one can turn pressure into a pop-up fast.

Watch Ben explain when to flick, when to roll, and how the best players use both to control hands battles at the net, click here…

🏓 PRO NEWS

What Amateur Pickleballers Must
Learn From Parris Todd Fine

A $50,000 fine and multi-event suspension sent shockwaves through pickleball, but the real story isn’t just about Parris Todd. It’s about waivers, international appearances, and how quickly clinics and exhibitions can turn into contract violations.

See what actually happened—and what amateur players, clubs, and organizers need to know before inviting pros across borders.

Why it matters for anyone hosting events, inviting pros, or crossing organizational lines.

🏓 PRO NEWS

Major League Pickleball Looks
To Add Teams, Reach
Profitability This Year

Major League Pickleball says it’s closing in on a major milestone: league-wide profitability by the end of this year. With expansion back on the table for the first time in two years, MLP is courting new owners, eyeing two additional teams, and pitching pickleball as a rare, lower-cost entry into pro sports — even as cash flow pressures and front-loaded player contracts loom behind the scenes.

What does this mean for team values, player pay, and where the league goes next?
Click here to find out…

⚕️ HEALTH NEWS

Want To Live Long?
Start Playing Pickleball
Longevity Researcher Dan Buettner

Longevity researcher Dan Buettner has spent decades studying why people in the world’s longest-living communities stay healthy for so long. Now, he’s pointing to pickleball as a sport that checks more boxes than most when it comes to aging well.

See why Buettner believes pickleball fits perfectly into the longevity equation—and what makes it different from almost every other workout. Click here…

 🏓 PRO NEWS

USA Pickleball Appoints
New Chair

USA Pickleball is entering a pivotal governance chapter as longtime board member and Boeing senior counsel Stephanie Russell steps into the role of Board Chair. Her legal background, corporate board experience, and timing signal how seriously the organization is treating its next phase of growth.

Get a closer look at who Russell is, why this appointment matters, and what it says about where USA Pickleball is headed next, click here…

RALLY RUNDOWN:
LOCAL HIGHLIGHTS

GRAND RAPIDS, MI: Local Pickleball Player Earns National Championship Medal After Discovering Sport A Year Ago
LOS ANGELES, CA: Pickle Alley LA Announces Soft Opening A New Cultural Fitness Pickleball Destination Powering DTLA's Revival
NYC, NY: Life Time Opens NYC's Largest Indoor Pickleball Club Atop Penn Station
GAINSVILLE, FL: Tom Petty Park Revamp Nears Completion With New Pickleball Courts
EDMONDS, WA: South County Fire Honors Community Members For Saving A Pickleball Player’s Life In Edmonds
PALM COAST, FL: ‘Luck of the Pickle’ Pickleball Tournament Set for March 13-15
TAMPA, FL: Tampa Ranked One Of The Best Cities For Pickleball In 2026
MACON, GA: 'I've Never Seen Anything Like This' | Southern Pickleball Keeps Growing Game

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

  💪 How To Get Explosive
Power On Your Serves

“How to Get Explosive Power on Your Serve”

Back to Justin from the Pickleball Journey Boys. He does a great explanation and break-down of the serve, and how to add explosive power. He puts the focus on the following:

• The serve is the one stroke that you have total control over, so let’s make it more of a weapon!

Serving Progression: Consistency, Placement, Power

To Get More Power:

• Utilize your wrist – cock it back, lag it, then flick through. Snap harder!

• Do not get jammed close to your body. Watch the video. Finish out towards your target.

• Body rotation: hips through! Incorporate some shadow swings to get muscle memory. Follow-through with your shoulders also, using your off arm to create shoulder rotation.

• Weight transfer, using momentum. I love how he has Jessica use the walk-up serve to create momentum. Be sure to not fall into the court since we have the two - bounce rule.

• Lastly, Justin talks about an advanced tip: start your serve from farther back, not just right behind the baseline. Your trajectory will be higher, you can move into the serve, and create more spin. Be sure to watch the demo in the video.

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