About PickleballMAX

Tennis player turned pickleball player. I blog about how one maximizes their picklebility. Picklebility is simply defined as an embodiment of one's passion, ability and addiction to #pickleball. See you on the courts!

Does Pickleball Paddle Technology Really Matter?

Go to any pickleball dealer website – or listen for just a couple of minutes to a pickleball paddle brand “ambassador” – and you’ll likely hear them extol the virtues of their brand’s latest paddle technology: A graphite core. A polymer core. A Nomex … [Read more...]

WinterMAX 2019 Pickleball Tournament

With temperatures plummeting and players flocking out-of-the-cold and indoors, we are once again approaching the date for our annual pickleball between-Christmas-and-New Year's get together – also known as the 2019 WinterMAX Pickleball … [Read more...]

Stop White-Knuckling your Paddle when Dinking!!!

As new students take pickleball lessons from me for the first time and we begin our progressions by dinking from the NVZ line, at some point during this initial lesson, I always pose the following question: On a scale of 1-10 (with 1 being a very … [Read more...]

Disagreement Over a NVZ Infraction in a Non-Officiated Match — What’s the Call?

You Make the Call! Here's the Scenario: In a non-officiated pickleball match, (and from the other side of the net) you notice your opponent has their foot on the NVZ Line during execution of the volley. You call them on the fault. Both opponents … [Read more...]

College Football Coaches Playing Pickleball

While college football fans are devouring Top 25 rankings in any-and-every publication they can get their hands on, the month of July marks the final month of a relatively quiet time for college coaches and staff. With the exception of spring … [Read more...]

Pickleball Focus, Purpose & Intention: Mental Toughness — Bridging the Gap between the Practice Court and the “Real” Court

We've all experienced it in varying degrees on the pickleball courts -- some more than others. As we exit the stress-free laboratory of the practice courts and enter the pressure-cooker of a "real" game or tournament match, we don't play in any way … [Read more...]

What is Pickleball and How do you Play?

"What is pickleball, and, how do you play pickleball," you ask? Invented in 1965 on Bainbridge Island, just outside of Seattle, Washington -- pickleball is a combination of tennis, ping-pong and badminton that is played on a court about one-third … [Read more...]

Hangin’ with the Golden Boy & Dayne Gingrich — Mental Domination and the 1% Mindset

As pickleball players we are often guilty of solely training our physical and technical execution of various shots. We'll spend countless hours and thousands of repetitions hitting dinks, drops and drives -- all while the practicing and training of … [Read more...]

The Pickleball Serve — What to Hit, When to Hit and Why to Hit Different Types of Serves

The serve in pickleball represents a dichotomy of fundamental philosophies. On the one hand, pickleball "traditionalists" will argue that, because you can't win a point if you don't get your serve in, it's best not to take any chances and, instead, … [Read more...]

Top 10 Tournament Preparations for the Pickleball Tournament Newbie

Pickleball Tournaments. For many, it may be your first time in a very long time of competing, perhaps since your "glory years" of high school when you were on the basketball, football, softball or debate teams. Perhaps you didn't play sports prior to … [Read more...]