When the Lights Go Out Mid-Match: Our Wildest Pickleball Tournament Experience Yet (And What It Taught Us About Focus Training)
Dinks On Tap: The Happy Hour Pickleball PodcastShow Notes
Winning gold sounds great… until the court lights shut off mid-point, and someone’s Uncle Larry is heckling from the sidelines. Welcome to pickleball tournaments, where the only thing more unpredictable than the tape lines are the emotions running high.
In this episode of Dinks on Tap, we take you inside our latest wild ride at a local tourney in Austin, complete with lighting meltdowns, DJ shutdowns, and one of us possibly forgetting how to see the ball entirely (glasses next time, anyone?). Between the laughter and the performance pressure, we’re breaking down the real story of what happens when performance anxiety meets competitive pickleball and how you can still walk away with silver and a smile.
During the tournament, we even bumped into Tom Irady, the unofficial bard of the pickleball community, famous for his hilarious parody songs like “Dinks in the Kitchen.” Tom was a perfect reminder that play is supposed to be FUN, even when you’re sweating through your skort.
Here’s what you’ll walk away with:
A reminder that mental toughness isn’t just for the pros, it's your best defense when the bracket breaks
How to adapt your pickleball strategy when things go sideways (and the lights go out)
Simple focus training tricks to help you stay in the mental game, even when distractions pile up
Real talk on team dynamics and how to support your partner when one of you’s running on vibes only
Tournament red flags: what makes a great pickleball event vs. one that makes you question your life choices
If you’ve ever found yourself mid-rally thinking, “Is it me, or did the court just move?”, this one’s for you. Hit play, laugh with us, learn a few pickleball tips, and get the inside scoop on what really happens behind the bracket board.
Cheers,
Casie & Lauren
Dinks on Tap
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More from Dinks On Tap: The Happy Hour Pickleball Podcast
How did a game three grown men made up on a badminton court, because a 13-year-old was bored, turn into the thing your group text runs on? We found the kid who complained, and he still can’t believe it either. In this episode, we get into our summer vault, full of conversations, stories, and a little pickleball drama we never got around to airing. We sat down with Frank Pritchard, the bored kid himself, who can answer “When was pickleball invented?” because he was there when his dad, Bill Bell, and Barney McCallum made up the game on Bainbridge Island. We also cover Picklr’s Chapter 11 filing and the “is pickleball dying” headlines that followed, Genie Bouchard’s paddle-tap walkout and what it says about pickleball etiquette, and why the drinks after play keep the pickleball community together. You’ll learn: Why it's called pickleball, and the Pritchard family member who came up with the name A firsthand account of who invented pickleball, from the teenager whose complaining started it What the original pickleball paddle was made of, and which founder designed it The pickleball history most players don’t know, including how scoring and serving used to work Why Frank took a 30-year break from the game, and what brought him back What Picklr’s Chapter 11 filing means for your local club, according to the general manager of the Picklr in DFW How the pickleball business can struggle while the number of people playing keeps growing Why Genie Bouchard skipped the paddle tap, and whether we think she was justified How we won a tournament this summer by giving a screaming team a taste of its own medicine
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