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

What's Cooking in the Kitchen This Week:

• SURVEY CONTEST WINNERS ANNOUNCED

• The Secret Cause Of Most Pop Ups And How To Fix Them

• Why Your Knees Bark Louder When Its Cold Out

• Drill Of The Week: Battleship

• Fitness Expert Glenn Dawson: Fix Ankle Pain With Two Moves

• Older Adults Who Play Pickleball Report Lower Levels Of Loneliness

• Pickleball Church Finds Financial Stability Through Innovative Building Use

• How Pickleball Became One Massive Private-Equity Rollup

• West Virginia Wesleyan Announces Varsity Scholarship Pickleball Program

• Pickleball Brings People Together Sometimes Forever And Ever

• Humor: When Your Partner Is A Banger

• Coach Mary: The Short Backswing

SURVEY CONTEST WINNERS!!!

Congratulations to Pballerb*@****
From Winter Springs, FL &
Zimb**@**** from Snellville, GA
Check your email
today for your $200 Gift Cards!

We cannot thank you ALL enough for participating in our survey! It really means the world to us that you took the time and we truly value your opinions! Looking forward to another amazing year of fun and educational issues.
We will share highlights of the survey in our New Year’s Edition!
Happy Pickling!

🥷SKILLS

The Secret Cause Of Most
Pop Ups - And How To Fix Them

Pop-ups are one of the most frustrating mistakes in pickleball because they feel random. One rally everything feels smooth, the next ball floats up and gets crushed. Most players assume they opened the paddle face or swung incorrectly, so they start adjusting grip, wrist angle, or swing path.

Yes, paddle angle and grip matter. But if your feet are late, no amount of mid-swing correction will save you consistently.

Most pop-ups start with late feet, not bad hands.

Why Pop-Ups Rarely Come From the Swing

If you slow things down, most pop-ups happen before the paddle ever touches the ball. The body is still moving, leaning, or reaching when contact happens. When that occurs, the paddle naturally lifts the ball even if your stroke itself is sound.

A good swing hit from a bad position will still produce a bad result.

The real issue shows up earlier than most players think.

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

Why Your Knees Bark Louder
When Its Cold Out

It's 48 degrees. You're lacing up for Tuesday morning doubles. You step onto the court, bend into your ready position, and your body send you a message that sounds a lot like: "Are you SURE about this?"

Maybe it’s your knees. Or your hips.Or your shoulders. But somewhere in your body, something's stiff, slow, and talking back – and it wasn't doing that in July.

Here's the thing: you're not imagining it. And you're not alone.

Cold weather genuinely makes your joints stiffer. But it's not a sign you're done. It's just your body asking for a smarter warm-up – one that gets you loose, confident, and ready to play your game, even when the thermometer's being rude.

Let's talk about what's really happening inside those joints… and the exact moves that fix it fast.

What Cold Weather Actually Does to Your Body

When temperatures drop, three things happen – and all three mess with how you move:

Your joint fluid thickens

Inside every joint, there's a lubricant called synovial fluid. Think of it like motor oil. When it's warm, it flows smooth. When it's cold, it gets sluggish. That means more friction, less glide, and a knee that sounds like a rusty gate on your first crosscourt dink.

🥷 DRILL OF THE WEEK
BATTLESHIP

Dinking rallies can look solid while going absolutely nowhere. If you’ve ever felt stuck trading safe shots at the kitchen line, this drill flips the script by turning dinks into deliberate, point-winning weapons — with pressure, targets, and consequences built in.

Add this BATTLESHIP drill: to your next session and start dinking with intent instead of hope.

 🏋️ STAYING FIT with
GLENN & BRIANNA

Fix Ankle Pain With Two Moves

⚕️HEALTH NEWS

Older Adults Who Play Pickleball
Report Lower Levels Of Loneliness

Pickleball is doing more than keeping older adults active — it’s reshaping their social lives. New research looks at how time on the court connects to loneliness, isolation, and the kinds of relationships that actually stick.

See what the study found — and why pickleball may offer something other activities don’t.

 👏 COMMUNITY NEWS

Pickleball Church Finds Financial
Stability Through Innovative
Building Use

A Long Island minister who’s become known locally as the “pickleball pastor” found an unlikely way to keep his church financially afloat. What started as a personal hobby turned into a community draw — and quietly transformed an underused church space into something far more sustainable.

Read how the pickleball pastor turned a social hall into a solution, click here…

💼 BUSINESS NEWS

How Pickleball Became One
Massive Private-Equity Rollup

Pickleball didn’t just explode on courts — it quietly became a magnet for big money. As the sport surged from neighborhood courts to pro leagues and global platforms, one billionaire has been assembling a behind-the-scenes empire that touches nearly every part of the game.

Want to understand how pickleball turned into a private-equity powerhouse — and what that means for its future? See more here…

 💼 COLLEGE NEWS

West Virginia Wesleyan Announces
Varsity Scholarship Pickleball Program

West Virginia Wesleyan is making history by launching a varsity scholarship pickleball program, becoming the first college in the state—and only the second in the country—to do it. Existing tennis courts are being transformed into a dedicated pickleball home with room to grow.

Curious how this could reshape college athletics and opportunities for pickleball players? Take a closer look at what this new program means, click here…

👏 COMMUNITY NEWS

Pickleball Brings People Together
Sometimes Forever And Ever

Pickleball is known for community — but for some players, it’s led to something much bigger. Across South Florida, chance games and post-match hangouts have turned into lasting relationships, with couples tracing their entire love story back to the court.

Read how pickleball is quietly becoming a matchmaking ground, click here…

🤣 HUMOR

When Your Partner Is A Banger

RALLY RUNDOWN:
LOCAL HIGHLIGHTS

ANNANDALE, VA: Pickleball Tournament Supports After-School Programs For Asian American Youths
AVON PARK, FL: Main Street Inc Hosts First Pickleball Tourney
SAN LOUIS OBISPO, CA: SLO Is Getting A Massive New Park With Pickleball Courts
GOLETA, CA: Indoor Pickleball Complex to Take Over Former Bed, Bath & Beyond
GREAT FALLS, MT: Firefighters Will Host A Pickleball Tournament Fundraiser
WINONA LAKE, IN: Banter, Poker, Pickleball: Dealing Aces To A Friend In Need
RHODE ISLAND: Volunteers Introduce Rhode Island Special Olympic Athletes To Pickleball
ROANOKE, VA: Roanoke Shine Pro Pickleball Team Partners With Elementary Students For “Pickle Math” Program

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

  💪 The Short Backswing

This first video from the Flying Pickleball Academy is spot on.

·    Emphasis on short backswing, with a short turn of the hips.

·    Follow-through with your shoulders and lower body, almost moving forward as you execute the return.

·    This is a great demo!  Be sure to watch it several times.

Callie Smith does such great short demos!  Check out her don’ts, (She wags her finger no.) and her do’s (She gives a thumbs up.) 

Note the hip turn, short backswing, and big follow-through.  And this is at the NVZ line!

Callie Smith again, now on the forehand side.

·    She wags her finger No with the huge backswing on the forehand side.

·    She demos the short backswing, with more follow-through in the stroke that she gives you a thumbs up.

Simone demos a simple drill to get you to keep your paddle in front of you when volleying.  There is no backswing!

·    At the net, she just catches balls that are tossed to her.  In front, and on both the backhand and forehand side.

·    Importantly, she also shows how to move from the backhand side to the forehand side.

·    Finally, she uses her paddle to mimic the same stroke, out in front of her body.  So crucial to success at the NVZ.

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