3 Sports Psychology Tips That Will Stop You From Obsessing Over Your DUPR Score and Build Unshakeable Mental Toughness, with Executive Coach Lauren Vosbein
Dinks On Tap: The Happy Hour Pickleball PodcastShow Notes
Let’s be real, how many times have you missed an easy dink and immediately blamed your paddle, the wind (even indoors), or your partner’s breathing?
We’ve all been there: the dreaded mental spiral where one bad shot turns into three, and suddenly you’ve forgotten how to hold a paddle.
In this inaugural episode of 2026, we’re stacking the court differently as Casie takes the host seat to interview her ride-or-die doubles partner (and co-host!), Lauren Vosbein. We aren’t just talking about drops and drives, we’re diving into the "fifth player" on the court: your mindset.
We share the hilarious and effective story of how Lauren stopped Casie’s mid-match meltdown by forcing her to mentally travel to Turks and Caicos during a timeout, proving that sometimes the best pickleball strategy has nothing to do with footwork.
Lauren isn’t just your favorite drinking buddy on this pod; she’s the founder of The Mental Caddy, an executive leadership coach for Fortune 100 companies, and an "accidental sports psychologist" who helps everyone from corporate VPs to PPA pros like Ivan Jakovljevic master their minds before they melt down.
Here’s what we’re pouring out in this episode:
Why mental toughness isn’t just woo-woo magic but an actual neuroscience involving your sage brain and positive intelligence.
The "Going Blank" technique: A 10-second sensory trick using brain training to stop performance anxiety and reset your nervous system.
How to create an on-court alter ego (meet "LaRhonda") to summon mental fortitude and aggression when you’re feeling too polite.
Why you need to stop treating your DUPR score like a mirror and start treating it like a metric.
Simple focus techniques you can do between points to start playing free and trusting your training.
So pour yourself a fresh one, find your inner "LaRhonda," and get ready to train your brain to stop getting in your own way.
Cheers,
Casie & Lauren
Dinks on Tap
Let’s keep the conversation going! Connect with us:
Instagram: @dinksontap
Facebook: @DinksonTap
Website: dinksontap.com
To learn more about the Mental Caddie or LPV Coaching, check out Lauren’s website or book a Chemistry Call.
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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Have you ever made it to the front of the paddle line at pickleball open play, only to have your partner dis you because she didn't want to play with "a beginner"?
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