Show Notes
Episode 309: Use the Force Luke (and Leia) A floater comes at you. It's just hanging there in space, waiting. Game point. Everybody on the next court has stopped to watch. You bring the paddle up, you swing, and the ball goes straight into the net. You have to be kidding me. So what happened? The natural response of any athlete is to go to mechanics. I mishit it. Something in my swing broke down. Something in my grip, my footwork, my paddle face. I'm going to suggest to you that more often than not, that miss was not mechanical. It was mental. And I don't mean mental in the way we usually mean it. I'm not talking about focus, or nerves, or staying present. I'm talking about your decisions, or the absence of them, about the shot you just hit. Run through three questions. One. Did you have a clear idea of where you wanted the ball to cross the net? A target. A specific space over the tape. If the answer is no, or I'm not sure, then you did not hit an intentional shot. You hit an unintentional one. You swung the paddle forward, and whatever happened, happened. When the ball lands in the net, it's hard to be upset about it. Where were you sending it? Two. Did you pick a spot with enough cushion? If you're aiming a quarter inch over the net, you have already baked the net into the shot. It sits inside the range of outcomes you selected. Give yourself paddle width over the net, at minimum. You'll still catch the tape once in a while. It will be much rarer. Three. Did you feed that information to your processing unit? Your processing unit is your brain. The decision only helps if it gets delivered before you swing. Miss any one of those, and the error was mental. Do all three, with real margin, and still find the net, then yes, now we can talk about mechanics. Footwork, swing, grip, something. But that's the second place to look, not the first. Here's where the Star Wars part comes in. In the movies, the Force is telekinesis. You move an object with your mind. You don't touch it. You just decide, and it goes. You can't do that on a pickleball court. Not directly. But you can do it indirectly, and that's the whole idea. Your mind makes the decision. Your mind hands that decision to your body. Your body sends the ball. If that connection isn't there, the ball goes wherever it goes. So if you want to fix the shot, start with the mind. — The Riff: Gratitude Most of you interact with this sport as a player. Some of you also interact with it as a student of the game, which is a different thing altogether. There are players who just want to go out and hit the ball, and that's perfectly fine, but they usually aren't listening to this podcast. There are other ways in, too. Fan of the pro game. Organizer. Referee. Tournament volunteer. The person who texts three other players on a Thursday to make sure Friday morning happens. That last one matters more than it gets credit for. I'm thankful for the people here who organize our play. David, Paul, Tyson, Stephanie. If I'm forgetting somebody, forgive me. It's been a long day of content creation. Because of them, I get to play on a Wednesday, or a Friday, or a Saturday. I'm thankful for the facilities, too. Pickle and Pint in Largo, Florida lets me shoot my videos there and cooperates with every project I bring them. None of that happens unless somebody decides to build courts, operate them, and pay for them. And I'm thankful for you. My coaching would be for nothing without players who listen, who watch, who read, who came in early and founded the community. All of it is what lets me do the thing I love doing with this sport. I like playing. I love coaching. Thank you, from me and from the whole team here at Tony Roig Pickleball. Be well, Tony
More from Pickleball Therapy
This is a bookmark episode. Save it. Come back to it before you play. Coach Tony shares three questions that came out of TRP's camp development process. Each one has a different job. Question 1: Today I'm going to the courts to... Exercise, friends, competition, or just seeing how well you can hit a shot. Naming your reason sets the standard for the day. Wins, losses, and the trickler that cost you a game become noise. Question 2: Today I'm going to make an extra effort to... This is additive gratitude. Warm up before you play. Ask a friend how they're doing. Invite someone new onto your court. Point out something good. The key is to decide before you arrive, because once the ball starts flying, all bets are off. Question 3: Today I'm going to focus on... Pick one area. Let everything else be what it is. Tony walks through the order of priority used in TRP coaching, and explains why focusing on one thing gives your brain the bandwidth it needs. In this episode: - Why this is a bookmark episode - A Sorry NOT Sorry update from open play - Framing your day - Additive gratitude - Choosing one focus area - The coaching order of priority: return of serve, fourth shot, serve, footwork, court positioning - Why the third shot drop comes later - Bandwidth and the one-thing rule The three questions in writing: https://www.tonyroigpickleball.com/blog/three-questions-pickleball-mental-game Camps, coaching, and free resources: https://tonyroigpickleball.com
In Mailbag Episode #2, Coach Tony answers your questions from the TRP community. Should you keep blocking the banger's hard shots, or let them go? Why does the shake and bake keep beating your team? And if you serve or return from the wrong side in a stack, is it a fault? As always, Tony gets into the why. Why most hard balls at net height and below are headed out. Why fake outs stop working once you have a book on a player. Why a deeper return takes the air out of an aggressive driver. Why you face the ball, not the net. Have a question for the next mailbag? Post it in the free TRP community: https://www.tonyroigpickleball.com/products/communities/v2/ypc/home If you haven't signed up for the Community, you can do so here. https://www.tonyroigpickleball.com/offers/s2u4oi6n/checkout Strategies for 50+ Play (free course that includes the vision training exercises Coach Tony referenced in the episode): https://www.tonyroigpickleball.com/offers/hvYMUFR8/checkout The Shots That Matter (free course): https://www.tonyroigpickleball.com/offers/zMK4VHNQ/checkout TRP shirts and merch: tonyroigpickleball.myspreadshop.com #pickleball #pickleballtips #pickleballtherapy —————————————————————— Coach Tony Roig helps players understand the game instead of just collecting tips: strategy, the mental game, and the decisions that decide pickleball rallies. 🌐 Website: tonyroigpickleball.com We recommend Pickleball Central for your pickleball needs. Using our affiliate link at https://pickleballcentral.com/tonyroig helps fund content like this. Customers will get up to a 10% discount. Discounts may vary by product, and some exclusions apply. We earn a commission on purchases. 🛒 Tony's Amazon storefront — books, training tools, and gear Tony uses: https://www.amazon.com/shop/tonyroigpickleballformerlyin2pickle?ccs_id=77992b29-49a7-48a5-a01b-9035a0cc01a2 As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases. Contact: [email protected] Connect Instagram: @bestpickleballcoach Facebook: @tonyroigpickleball TikTok: bestpickleballcoach
We all play the same game. Ben Johns, Anna Leigh Waters, the best player at your facility, and you. This week, Coach Tony explains why every player's game shares the same blueprint. He calls it the PickleWall. The bottom row of the wall is the same for everyone: serve, return of serve, block volley, punch volley. Pros don't skip the return. Beginners don't skip the serve. What separates levels is execution, and sometimes a missing block. The order matters. You can't set block 10 until the blocks underneath can hold its weight. Tony explains how to choose the block that gives you the most return for your time, and why the first block works like a gym for every shot that comes after it. In the riff, Tony turns to who sits at the center of your improvement. It should be you. Not the algorithm, not the trend at your courts, not the tip a friend just heard. Every tool should orbit you. In this episode: - Why the pros play the same game you do - The PickleWall - Finding your missing block - Priority and precedence: what comes first - Why chasing random tips leaves holes - Your Pickleball Coach and pay what you can - You at the center of your journey - The two-handed backhand black hole Your Pickleball Coach: https://yourpickleball.coach Camps, coaching, and free resources: https://tonyroigpickleball.com
What if it works out? Coach Kyleen joins Coach Tony this week to share a video from TikTok Mima. Her message is simple. We spend plenty of time imagining how things could go wrong. Give the other possibility a little attention. Tony and Kyleen tie it to pickleball. Many players decide it won't work before they even try. They tell themselves a story before they leave the house. Kyleen shares the question she now asks instead: what's the best that could happen? Tony explains why "don't miss" can backfire, and the two talk about a gold medal match where one player missed every serve and her team still won. In the riff, Tony talks about 50+ coaching. Same game, same rules. But lived experience matters. Tony shares how he stays competitive against younger players with smarter play and better court positioning. In this episode: - TikTok Mima: What if it works out? - The stories we tell ourselves before we play - What's the best that could happen? - Why "don't miss" works against you - Every serve missed, gold medal won - Pickleball is messy - Why 50+ coaching matters - Smarter play and court positioning Join us on October 15, 2026, for the live Stacking Lab. Sign up here - https://www.tonyroigpickleball.com/offers/ofCAzfB3/checkout Learn more about Your Pickleball Coach, the most comprehensive online pickleball coaching. Visit YourPickleball.coach Interested in a Tony Roig Pickleball Camp experience? Check out https://www.tonyroigpickleball.com/camps
How deep does your pickleball knowledge go? This week, Coach Tony Roig looks at the difference between Google knowledge and real knowledge. Google knowledge is surface-level. Real knowledge means understanding the why, so you can see how the pieces of the game fit together. Tony uses the forehand in the middle vs. Respect the X debate to show what that difference looks like on the court. In the riff, Tony takes on information overload. Too many voices, so you can't hear any of them. He explains how to be more discerning about what you let in, and why trusting one source for now helps you build the knowledge to decide for yourself later. In this episode: - What Google knowledge is, and why it often comes up short - Forehand in the middle vs. Respect the X - Why it's always about the why - The cost of letting everything in - A Twilight Zone lesson in being discerning - Long term: move toward real knowledge - Short term: find a source you trust - This week's challenge: cut one input Read "The Myth of Forehand in the Middle": https://www.tonyroigpickleball.com/blog/pickleball-myth-forehand-in-the-middle Free mini-courses, blogs, and other training opportunities: Click here to view the episode transcript.