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

What's Cooking in the Kitchen This Week:

• Your Backhand Isn't Broken, You're Just Standing Wrong

• Why Your Knees Feel Better In June But Your Game Still Suffers

• DRILL OF THE WEEK: The Cross Court Dink Pressure Ladder

• Fitness Expert Glenn Dawson: You’re Not Ready For Back Squats!

• What Pickleball Can Teach About The Leadership Games We Play

• FL Pickleball Match Turns Violent as Nurse Allegedly Attacks Rival With Paddle

• St. Louis Shock Take Over First Place With Dominant Major League Pickleball St. Petersburg Event

• HUMOR: Play PB Early So You Can Be Productive the Rest of the Day

• Coach Mary: Try These Two Types Of Overhead Smashes

🥷SKILLS

Your Backhand Isn’t Broken
You’re Just Standing Wrong

You've probably said it before. "My backhand is terrible."

Maybe it happened after dumping a return into the net. Maybe it was a missed dink. Maybe someone kept finding your backhand side all game and it felt like every ball hit there came back weaker than your forehand.

The natural assumption is that the swing is the problem.

So players start tinkering with mechanics. They change grips. They think about paddle angles. They watch videos looking for the perfect backhand technique.
Sometimes those things help.

But a surprising number of backhand problems have more to do with setup than the swing itself. The real issue often shows up one second earlier. You're standing in the wrong place.

The Backhand Tells on Your Footwork

One reason players blame their backhand so often is that the shot tends to expose mistakes that the forehand can sometimes hide.|

A forehand is naturally stronger and more forgiving for most players. You can get away with reaching a little. You can be slightly late. You can hit from less-than-perfect balance and still produce a decent shot.

The backhand is less forgiving.
When your spacing is poor, the backhand notices immediately.
The ball crowds your body.

The contact point drifts too close to your hip.
You end up reaching instead of moving.
The swing feels rushed.

💪 Health & Fitness Section

Why Your Knees Feel Better In June,
But Your Game Still Suffers

Your knees probably feel better in June than they did in February. The morning stiffness is lighter. Getting low at the kitchen doesn’t come with that familiar ache before the first rally.

That feeling is real. It’s also misleading.

Warmth can make your joints feel looser, but it doesn’t rebuild the collagen your knees rely on for comfort, cushioning, and support. That’s where Advanced Collagen Plus can help. It gives your body all five collagen types — including Type II, the collagen tied to joint cartilage — in one flavorless scoop.

Which is why The Fit Pickler readers can click here to try Advanced Collagen Plus and unlock an exclusive discount automatically at checkout.

Because June warmth can make your knees feel ready.

But that doesn’t mean your joints are fully protected.

What warmth does to your joint

Warmth does two things picklers notice immediately. It thins synovial fluid — the natural lubricant inside your joints — which makes movement feel smoother. And it loosens surrounding soft tissue, so you feel more flexible right from the first game.

That’s the real reason February feels rough and June feels easy. The difference isn’t in your cartilage. It’s in fluid temperature and tissue flexibility.

🥷 DRILL OF THE WEEK

The Cross Court Dink
Pressure Ladder

Most players see a little space near the sideline and immediately try to hit the sharpest angle they can. The result is usually a miss, a pop-up, or a ball that creates more trouble for them than their opponent. This drill teaches a different approach, building angle one shot at a time until the court starts to open on its own.

Learn how the Crosscourt Pressure Ladder helps you create sharper angles, force tougher recoveries, and generate offense without taking unnecessary risks.

 🏋️ STAYING FIT with
GLENN & BRIANNA

You’re Not Ready
For Back Squats!

🧠 FOOD FOR THOUGHT

What Pickleball Can Teach
Us About The Leadership
Games We Play

During a pickleball game with her husband, a leadership coach realized she was stuck in one of two modes: trying not to lose or trying to prove herself. The breakthrough came when they stopped focusing on the score and started focusing on the rally.

See how that simple shift became a lesson about leadership, self-awareness, and the mental games people bring into high-stakes situations.

⚖️  TRUE CRIME

FL Pickleball Match Turns
Violent As Nurse Allegedly Attacks
Rival With A Paddle

A disagreement during a Florida pickleball match ended with felony charges after a nurse allegedly struck another player with a paddle. She says she was protecting her son from what she believed was a threat, while investigators concluded there was no immediate danger and charged her with aggravated battery.

Read what both sides say happened after a dispute over a ball escalated into one of the sport’s most unusual court incidents.

 🏓 PRO NEWS

St. Louis Shock Take Over
First Place With Dominant MLP
St. Petersburg Event

St. Louis didn’t just win in St. Petersburg, they dominated. In a weekend packed with top contenders, the Shock rolled through the field, swept Los Angeles in the final, and strengthened their case as the team everyone else is now chasing.

See the biggest takeaways from MLP St. Petersburg, including St. Louis’ rise to the top, Tyra Black’s trade debut, and the surprise team making noise outside the title favorites.

🏓 HUMOR

RALLY RUNDOWN:
LOCAL HIGHLIGHTS

SAN ANTONIO, TX: Military Members and Vets Converge on San Antonio for 2026 Warrior Games
ST. JOSEPH, MN: Pickleball Courts Prove to Be Instant Success
PADUCAH, KY: 'Paddle for a Purpose' Raises Funds Benefitting Local Nonprofit Paducah Cooperative Ministry
WEAVERVILLE, N.C.: Warehouse to Become 12-Court Pickleball Facility with Market and Vendors
OMAHA, NE: Stage 4 Cancer Survivor Celebrated During Special Pickleball Match at Southwest YMCA
LANSDALE, PA: Trumark Cares Foundation raises more than $12700 at annual Pickleball with Purpose event
GREENVILLE, SC: Pickleball Palooza event in Mauldin to benefit Ronald McDonald House


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

  💪 Try These Two Types
Of Overhead Smashes

The overhead smash is always a fun and satisfying way to end a rally, but not all overhead smashes are the same.

If you have not seen the already-covered overhead techniques demonstrated by instructors Callie Smith, Tanner Tomassi, Jordan Briones and others, be sure to check out their YouTube feeds on this topic.  But this week, I wanted to look at two shots I have not yet covered in this column.

The first one is the topspin overhead roundhouse smash.

The team at bangitpickleball on Instagram showcase a rally that ends with a topspin forehand roundhouse and here are some key points.

• This shot comes into play when you first try to shuffle slide back to attack a lob with an overhead on the forehand side, but you find that it is already past you.

• You do not have time to turn and run past it to lob, since you started too late.

• Keep your paddle are extended behind you, rather "than scratching your back."

• Reach back, and try to get on top of the ball, creating topspin and following through towards the net and across your body.

• We worked on this in my advanced class today, and some players said they already find themselves doing this in games.

The other shot to consider is the overhead backhand smash.

Instructors Tanner Tomassi and Hannah Blatt discuss the secrets to a successful one.

• Step one:  if your partner is not about to hit the overhead smash, this is your chance to help them on the backhand side.

• Step two:  take a step backwards, coil your shoulder, the use your wrist to snap it down.

• Step three:  know that this is not an outright winner.  You are aiming at your opponent's feet, so when you snap it down, you are ready for the next shot.

Both players emphasize that this shot will help avoid having to retreat and run down your opponent's lob.  You will keep your position of power at the NVZ.

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