The Challenges of Pickleball Coaching & Hot Mics at the Pro Tournaments 👀 | It Feels Right

Welcome to Episode 60 of the It Feels Right pickleball podcast. In this episode, Adam Stone is back in the studio with Rob Nunnery! Learn about Rob’s APP Cincinnati match results and his experience with hot mics at the pro tournaments. They will also talk more about the challenges of coaching in pickleball, how pro players are managing playing in a team format, and news on upcoming tournaments. Plus, the tip of the week for rec players to focus on playing clean and minimizing mistakes 💯

Timestamps:
0:00 – It Feels Right Episode 60 Introduction 🎬
1:55 – Episode 60 Begins 🏁
5:37 – Rob played APP Cincinnati 🏓
7:07 – Playing against hollow paddles 👀
11:18 – Rob’s Match Results 📋
15:12 – The Hard 8s /MLP 🎱
16:15 – Coaching 🫵
19:13 – MLP Challenger Division Results 📝
21:45 – MLP Point System 🔢
25:28 – MLP Premier Division Results 💥
30:50 – MLP Transaction Period 🪙
34:28 – Hot Mics at MLP Atlanta 🎤
37:15 – Documentary Crew at the first MLP 📽️
41:32 – Rob’s MLP Documentary Interview 🎙️
44:37 – Tip of the day – Play Clean 🧼

➡️ https://www.selkirk.com/TV?utm_source=pinterest&utm_medium=social-video&utm_campaign=selkirktv

Download the Selkirk TV app today to stay up to date with the latest pickleball content, including highlights, news coverage, instructional videos, and much more.

➡️ https://slkrk.co/xbyh4e

#Pickleball #PickleballHighlights #PickleballLessons #SelkirkTV

right now Adam Stone back in the studio where he belongs today on it fils right we are going to cover the AP in Cincinnati we are going to travel down south to ATL with Mr Adam Stone discuss a little MLP some format some exciting players some exciting teams and of course uh a little tip of the day all this power talk we’re going to talk a little bit about the special recipe of consistent play and well time aggression because you know why why cuz it feels right it feels right legendary before we get into the episode we have to tell you about a musthave for anyone in the pickle ball world if you’re an avid pickleball player and don’t have this app downloaded on your phone you’re missing out on so much meet the Selkirk TV app the first and only free streaming and On Demand app dedicated to everything pickle ball whether you’re a player a fan or just curious about the sport sellart TV is your One-Stop shop for all things pickle ball get exclusive Early Access to content you won’t find anywhere else like lessons courses podcasts and much much more imagine improving your game with the pros or catching the latest pickle ball Buzz before anyone else need more how about a 24/7 live stream featuring new content daily from gripping PPA tournament matches and live coverage of grand stand Court to insightful player interviews selker TV has it all you can dive into the action anytime anywhere if you’re already watching this episode on the app thank you but if you aren’t what are you doing download the Selkirk TV app now it’s a must have for anyone who loves pickle ball visit sell.com sltv to get it hello hello Robert how are you hello Adam I’m doing great I’m in I’m in Cincinnati OH Cincinnati um yeah well Rob I got I got pretty deep in the game on on some of the YouTube chat last time we got together and uh one of the one of the comments was saying uh that we could shorten the time of the podcast uh by cutting down on our flattery and I’m just going to pair that with uh you look handsome and intelligent today so uh that’s kind of my response to that comment yeah and and honestly the way the light’s reflecting off your eyes and your smile it’s it’s you’re just so jovial and it brings great joy to my heart to see you happy and I’m sorry people writing in the comments aren’t as happy as we are that’s a shame yeah and you know what sometimes uh those comments we will adjust things I’m just not sure this is one of those situations uh who was it who was it I’d like to address I I I I don’t know maybe they’ll put another comment uh Jeffrey 2468 or or Adam Stone 777 or or something like that uh oh oh and also another important note in the comments is that infrared saunas are not lasers apparently so that was one that I noticed as well uh well the red the red they called okay yeah so the in the the infrared sauna might not be laser per se but there’s some other in this infrared sauna that I’m in there’s there are light beams which you know to me a light beam equals a laser but I don’t think it’s from the infrared I think it’s for other healing properties um which is obviously just a bunch of propaganda to sell to upsell it but um there are lasers in the infrared sauna that I get into okay yes I light light beams lasers I’m not an expert but I’m going to say the exact same thing that’s where do you wantan a do you want a fun fact yes I would love one I don’t think I think our listeners are probably over our fun facts and our flattery but you know what I’m going to keep doing it because this is a very fun fact um so I used to work at a health Tech startup in a former life in San Francisco I lived in San Francisco walk to work every morning like at 5:00 a.m. be the first one in the office um and I worked like my closest buddy at the time who basically worked alongside me was a guy from Seattle named Drake towns witzell little Korean guy uh very athletic great guy like one of my one of my best friends um at the time and we still chat here and there but he was adopted along with his sister to a family in Seattle and his grandfather turned out to be um I believe it’s Charles towns um and he invented the laser and won I think I won a Nobel Peace Prize for it so just just fun fact of the day big shout out to the to the crater the laser yeah I had no idea where you were going with that it turns out it was a it was a lovely story and I how many former lives have you had you’re like living with families in Ireland you’re in India you’re doing this you’re doing old business stuff that I didn’t even know about I thought I knew you well but I’m I’m second guessing that yeah uh there’s there’s lots of layers lots of layers most of them are buried pretty deeply yeah that’s that that’s fair enough as one does you know as one does uh Robert you played uh an AP tournament this weekend uh how did it go where was it tell me a little bit about your experience yeah Cincinnati I I love Cincinnati and I love that venue it’s uh uh there’s things I love and don’t love what I love is the stadium Court um it’s it’s like a built-in like concrete uh Stadium Court that’s really tight to the court and they I mean it was filled from Thursday to Sunday it was really cool like they really C like the fans come out for it um it’s a big deal it’s right downtown like right on the river and I think you know it’s pretty it’s a pretty iconic shot of all the courts lined up it’s like that kind of like it’s like that semi uh curve going going along like the like the long straightaway used to be a bunch of tennis courts um I believe it’s called saer point but the one thing I don’t like and I think it’s a it’s something that needs to be addressed it’s something that needs to be fixed it’s something that in my eyes should be required for pro event is having individually fenc courts period no matter what for pro matches um it’s just it’s just chaos on those courts you know we’re playing for playing for some real money now um and balls rolling over like if you’re sandwiching between two cords that are tight balls are going to roll over literally every other point so yeah and I think I mean for the most part we have individually fense but this is a tough one um you know what else is tough Adam I had my first real experience going against um some of these paddles that um sound very Hollow and it’s like okay our first match of the day and men’s we play I believe there’s a couple local guys and I’m immediately annoyed immediately like woke up grumpy probably didn’t have enough caffeine yet immediately annoyed already out of just just by just being myself um and then dude serves with a with a one of those new and they’re up three- Z two of them two of them were Aces I got aced twice oh and the other one was uh stab return by ryer that got you know kind of short middle and this guy a forehand that I didn’t see the ball hit The Back Fence before like it it was like paddle sound Back Fence ball in oh okay I so I I call ref I call the ref over I’m like I I don’t know if there’s a policy here I don’t know if we can challenge I don’t know what what we can do but just listen to this thing listen to this paddle now don’t don’t just listen to it like you’re like Ry and I have the one seed and we’re like were were getting aced like literally getting aced like non a non- bad bounce Ace yeah strong it’s the only time I’ve ever been aced I I couldn’t believe it I was like this if like almost like a little Panic like uh if this is like how this match is gonna go this is insane I’ve got to stop it I’ve got to I’ve got to do something they brought over like the head ra and he’s like look he’s like we can’t once the paddle in play it got approved uh once it’s in play we can’t do anything we can’t take it out of play during the match so we all we can do is test it after the match and if it fails we take it out to play I’m like yeah but what if you know what if we lose that match and we’re out of the tournament out of prize money and then that paddle fails and there’s no repercussions he just has to play with a new paddle that seems insane to me so obviously a lot of issues around that right now um but paddle stuff aside Cincinnati was dope uh I regain my left side form I I don’t miss very much I don’t miss very many backhand DS turns out I think I’m less dangerous I’m less dangerous off the bounce over there than the forehand side I think I’m more dangerous on the forehand side but I’m not going to miss I missed one backhand in and almost lost my mind in the gold medal match but I’m not gonna miss many backhand dinks and I like yeah I like it over there I’m just consistent yeah it’s it was always bewildering to me every time I missed a dink so I I I feel your pain there it’s not a good feeling just like it’s it’s like what happened like what happened but I I I will say one thing about the paddle situation is it’s like a it’s like a thud yeah like when it’s the sound is like a thud when it hits and it and and it does seem a bit different but uh this has been you know chatted about a lot uh but it was nice to to hear your thoughts about a firsthand experience on the non bad bounce acing is is pretty wild in the Pro game and just I mean we’re going to get into MLP a little bit later and I mean some of the most some of the most dominating players in MLP were like winning 52 53% of their points so if if you think something you know is I mean it’s it’s not like you’re winning 80% of your points so to have like little tiny things uh helping you or hurting you or whatever like it makes all the difference in the world in these matches so uh yeah so the so this so isn’t there a tennis facility in Cincinnati as well and then there’s that curved that curved thing I’ve seen it on social media it looks lovely uh that’s where we were at though and anytime we’re replacing or putting pickle ball courts in where tennis courts used to be I’m all for that so uh that’s that’s fantastic look you know at this point just you might as well just step on the throat of a dying sport well well well said so how how how H how were the how were the overall results for you uh and I think you so you played with ryler toart and I think you who did you play mix with uh play with fudge and mixed we yeah first time we’ve played together in a hot minute and yeah it was super fun we I thought we both had great energy which can be tough for the both of us at times uh so yeah she was really fun to play with we got bronze um we we lost to who’ we lose to we lost to Brendan and Jana and I’ll tell you dude Jana Jana when she’s on she’s on she she was hitting drives that clearing the net by a inch and dipping hard and she can hit the the ball and uh yeah she me up those yeah I love those small players that can just crack it and uh she does have a bit of variance in her game but like some of the like you said third shot drives and then some of the like aggressive forward movement volleys out of the air I mean she just absolutely destroys it and of course I know that as she was a member of the hard a uh uh for MLP last year so I I’ve seen it firsthand plenty of times and it’s it’s it’s a special quality of contact when she hits it well yeah she destroys the ball um yeah so bronze with fudge which was a good look I’ll always take a metal in mix always like always uh men’s men’s was yeah men’s was good we we had a tough match uh big big props to a few guys man uh Brandon Lane had a of a weekend uh playing with Susanna bar he’s his game’s really come along he is I mean he’s always been there in singles but he he is good man he’s not making many errors he’s really cleaned up the midcourt cleaned up the drops uh he’s got fast hands and he is incredibly long and uses his length really well um and his attacks are solid out of the air even off the bounce uh there’s some decision stuff that he can clean up but dude he’s he’s good and um I would expect him to be in be on podiums like competing for podiums every single weekend uh depending on who his partners are but yeah Big props to him first gold medal ryler to Hart’s first gold medal which I was so stoked on it was like my main motivation was like let’s get ryler a goal dude this is this is his time and he uh yeah he had lost like a bunch of quarterfinals in a row I think six or seven and he just wanted to break through the quarters man but um yeah great weekend for great weekend for those guys and had a good good gold match with uh sobec and uh Casey Coen Casey Co you don’t see him play too often but also very good those guys gave us a tough match in the in the final we won in three but it wasn’t wasn’t easy by any stretch of the imagination so um yeah that’s Cincinnati got New York in two weeks and uh then a little break from the AP because they don’t have anything to think until July gotcha all right no that’s that that that’s a good rundown now I remember Casey colen he’s been he’s been playing for a long time but on again off again and I mean I think he was what I remember Maybe I’m Wrong here but I remember him playing four five at one point and then just kind of fiveo then Pro and I you know I always analyze the draws of all the tournaments and take a look at them and uh you know that’s that’s cool to see him running deep in a in a pro tournament good for him and I I’m not think they got through they got through Brennan Brennan long Jackman Rowe um I mean that’s that’s I mean that’s quality stuff and and Brandon Lane too I’ve been seeing him on draws for a while I’m not super familiar with his game so uh yeah good good good stuff and and good runs from a variety of players so that’s uh you know that’s that’s pretty exciting I was I was oh go ahead go ahead no I was gonna say even even though you know had a full weekend in Cincinnati I I of course had the stream pulled up watching some of the MLP matches um and I know you were down there with the hard eights how how’d that weekend go didn’t go fantastic for the hard AES we’ll say that much uh it it was cool energy down in Atlanta I I I think that it’s uh probably just because it’s just it’s a different format you know there’s been a lot of standard tournaments uh this year we finally got MLP rolling a good good standard for format uh different format than the standard the players energy was good uh we had no excuse at all I mean we had a couple non debilitating injuries that I think might have affect our play I won’t go too in-depth with that uh I felt like we were right there I mean we lost three dream Breakers you know that’s never fun uh well you get points now for the dream breaker at least with that format so so uh one point to salvage in the dream breaker and of course we got got beaten regulation twice had one win so uh not the weekend I was a little disappointed in myself I kind of felt like I could have I could have done more from a uh in in Match Game adjustment standpoint as the coach uh cuz I I’m not not doing double duty I’m not doing commentary for the MLP so I I was there on the bench for all the matches and I just kind of felt like maybe I didn’t pull the trigger uh or or get M make some switches or some changes in terms of whatever it’s uh mixed doubles team alignments a strategic play in the moment and Co coaching’s tough man it really is it’s like I’m always like like do I do I give them specific game plans detailed game plans do I do I pull back and let them play in flow and only mention something every so often and I I just kind of felt like my balance of all of it wasn’t uh as good as it should have been so uh you know there’s 20 go ahead yeah I 23 regular season matches so we played We we played six so I mean you know there’s tons of play left but it’s still a decent chunk of our schedule so it was a bit it was a bit sad to to not get the results that we were hoping for comaraderie uh all that stuff was fantastic uh from the players on the hard a but uh just just didn’t get the results we were hoping for yeah what would you have coaching is hard man I think it’s so dependent on the player too like I just think about like what I like mid match like what I would want from a coach and it’s usually like yeah I think for me it’s less you know maybe if there’s something glaring tactically that I’m not doing or that I should be returning to somebody or focusing on something specifically but other than that like just I think for me it would just be like I just need somebody being positive like encouraging like that’s to me that’s like most of the battle because pickleball is such a mental game and it’s so easy to get down um off a couple strings of errors or something um yeah it’s such a it’s such an mental and emotional game it really well for me at least but um so I think having that kind of like support is huge especially having somebody on the bench the whole time yeah and and I think that probably game planning before is even more important than than in match adjustments which certainly need to happen but I think that there’s a type of player that is like that that wants me to say you drop here you drive here you dink here and then there’s some players where it’s a less is more situation like you exactly what you just mentioned so I think kind of figuring out the personalities of your squad and kind of knowing who needs what is kind of always a work in progress especially with a new team so yeah I mean that’s that’s just part of it and uh I think the players uh have some stuff to work on and I think I have some stuff to work on as well in that in that coaching role so uh o over overall it was really fun I got some stats pulled up here uh we’ll just touch on the Challenger division before we switch over to uh to Premiere as uh Todd F uh seven and one on the weekend he was leading the board 55% of his points W Rachel re I think that was probably the most surprising for me uh as she was 10 and two in her matches uh Eva radzikowska just Challenger Champion uh she always gets it done uh Vivien glosman and then Max manthal Purple Jesus uh went eight and four and uh so did Vivian glosman so a variety of teams had uh three matches or four matches and some teams had uh five or six matches so turns out that schedule wise uh which I like where the team is based has a lot to do with how many matches you play so if you were West Coast and you come all the way to the east you’re going to play more matches and vice versa so so a couple teams weren’t at the event and a couple teams were playing less matches and some more so that’s kind of how they’re doing it and I I think that makes sense to me what is something just coming out of the coming out of the weekend for you guys the hard8 what is something that you guys are going to be looking to adjust or or is it just getting more time together and and just executing like what how are you guys evaluating what happened well definitely those last two things because we played high-end gender doubles I mean it was something along the lines of I mean I I have no idea but it was something along the lines of like nine and three 10 and two or something like that in our gender and our mixed doubles uh was not where it needed to be so uh finding the right pairings and we actually switched back and forth a couple times and of course this team is Christine Maddox I enena tereno Eric Lang and Max manthal and we we mixed and matched a little bit to find the proper pairings um clearly mixed results and uh you know it it it all we we had some leads especially in the that a couple times with our second mixed with a 2-1 lead leads in the first half of the game wasn’t able to seal the deal and then of course 0 and3 in dream Breakers uh hurts a little bit we had one pretty lopsided one fairly close and one really close uh for the dream Breakers and you know dims the breaks that’s that’s part of the deal so really really it’s mixed doubles uh kind of finding a way to pair the right people together and have the proper strategy once we get that figured out I think we’ll will probably get us over that what are your thoughts on on that on that point system of you know only getting two points if you win in a dream bre dream breaker getting one point if you get to the dream breaker and lose um three points if you win 31 or 4 Z zero points if you lose outright I actually like it I I I I think the point point system is pretty cool because I mean I think there should be differences for uh I know they used to do game differential and point differential for tiebreakers and stuff like that but especially with this being a regular season and not each event being a standalone tournament I I I I actually like it that you you win in regulation you get a bonus you you make it to 2 two in the doubles portion that you get a little a little uh Point thrown your way I I I I like that uh I’m not positive actually I’m pretty sure uh that I’m I question the the playing the games to 25 with no freeze and you don’t have to win on serve and I don’t even care about the freeze whatever on the freeze but I do think that you should probably have to win on serve I mean one one of our are actually our first match I mean they won the match so I don’t mind saying this but Ali Phillips we had 24 and she just served it out and that was it you know that that was it so ended on that less comebacks I like the intense points I think the fans can really see it with the players and kind of respond to how how intense those points are with the comeback and in this particular format there was less comebacks you almost felt defeated if it got to like yeah 2216 or 227 it was almost it was like a like a 8% situation of a possible comeback and I think that you could see that a little bit so uh I know they did that for a variety of reasons which you know uh a lot of those make sense but I I just like The Comebacks and I I think the fans do too yeah and I think just winning on your serve is um is just a staple right it’s so odd to yeah like you said to have a Miss serve and then match is over that’s uh that’s a tough way to go out tough way to end it it and I think yeah I like the idea I don’t need a freeze that’s like manufacturing it too much but just winning on your serve is feels like you know that’s how you close out a match and I feel like you don’t have to necessarily close it out anymore right no no I I I agree and uh you know it’s it’s a there there’s tinkering everywhere I mean there’s tinkering in the wellestablished sports of like football and MLB and stuff like that still tinkering after 100 plus years with baseball so you know it’s it’s it’s it’s a work in progress so um I think that you know everybody will get it get it figured out get on the same page and you know find that perfect format and if it takes a bit of time that’s that’s part of it yeah I like I mean I like the testing the tinkering seeing what works seeing what sticks yeah definitely definitely and yeah I think I like 25 I think that gives you a little bit more buffer to like have the better team win but you yeah I think the only adjustment I would make to it is win on your serve and I think you have a lot more interesting matches yeah and some of the matches were a good bit shorter too I think in previous MLPs that 2hour window like even if it was kind of a blowout you still went like an hour 30 hour 45 minutes and with that uh you know no freeze no win on surf situation some of them were were fairly short uh as you know maybe I’m not positive but hour 15 minutes to an hour 30 minutes uh you know know for possibly for a full match uh over in Premiere Anna brigh 10 and0 10 and0 with 57% of points one and the St Louis shock had silly energy I mean like aggressive yelling From the Bench uh had uh the the ownership group and some of the the fans that traveled with them were bringing it and it was very infectious Gabe tardio Hayden Patrick win uh and I would say probably Gabe less so I mean Hayden’s always had some swag but Gabe was full on he was almost as intense as Hayden and Anna with some of the pump UPS in between points and stuff like that and I think the the energy really carried them and I believe uh I believe that it was a 4 in one weekend uh for the St Louis shock so uh you know pretty impressive stuff from yeah New Jersey only played three matches but won all three in dream Breakers as and an went Anna Le went six and0 and uh sorry Zayn Zayn went 0 and six but the team the team won all three so uh all good um Tina piznik had a had another solid tournament six and2 Hunter Johnson is probably i’ said Rachel reer was the surprise of Challenger I think Hunter Johnson was the surprise of Premier at five and one in his doubles matches we all know how good he is at Singles but to go five and one and win 54% of his points is well done for 100 Johnson as I think there was a handful of people that were questioning that pick for the LA mad drop so nice job Hunter 100% uh Kate fahe newcomer for the St Louis shock uh very fiery very intense uh clearly won all of her her uh women’s matches paired up with Anna brigh but struggled a bit with with mixed as I believe she was one and four in her mixed matches but just wanted to touch on her as as kind of probably the biggest newcomer into the uh Premier Division with you know maybe maybe mix and Mari humberg there too and look held up held up well obviously women coming over mix is the last one to crack so I mean the fact that she was able to win with Anna and and um yeah I think mix mix will come so it’s looking like a right now it’s looking like a great pickup yeah and I mean what we talked about the top of the player standing so I’ll mention a couple names at the bottom uh sorry ladies and gentlemen but you know the numbers don’t lie as we had Jack Saka going two and six for the New York Hustlers and Katherine PTO one and five for the Mad drops yeah uh I think I think both of those are are pretty surprising uh to me yeah I mean Katherine I mean Jack leso it’s first first MLP I mean obviously he loves the format he’s super fun to watch he loves the team environment that’s clear um it is different scoring first time doing it uh it’s it is like it is a little different strategy you got to be you know a bit more careful on the service points bit more measured in terms of playing high percentage not giving not giving serves away um so yeah there’s there’s some there’s some adjustments to make but c yeah Katherine was shocking yeah I mean that’s dims the breaks that’s uh that’s pickle ball sometimes you just don’t play your your best game and once again as I mentioned earlier like some of these players with great records are winning like 52% of their total points and some of these play some of these players with poor records are winning over 45% of their their overall points so we’re talking like super Minor Adjustments or a couple a couple points here a couple points there make a huge difference in these matches as as those those Point differential percentages are so tight so uh it it’s it could be for a very specific reason it could be that’s just how it broke down for this particular weekend Yola Yola players had a good weekend yeah well Simone Simone got double gold man she’s hitting forehand she’s hitting forehand harder than I’ve seen her hit forehand ever yeah yeah so uh yeah and I think that that held true for for a lot of the the uh MLP players as well so yeah F super fun weekend love uh love getting back in that MLP swing yeah it was just good stuff I I I just think that the the players you know it’s a long season it was an intense April on the PPA tour with like four consecutive tournament so uh the mixing of formats I think uh kind of gave a little extra life uh to some of the players that uh you know had been playing standard tournaments for quite some time and this is the fun part now the fun part is this wasn’t a standalone event where you had a champion like the fun part is this is like the start of the season this is like MLB opening day you know like you’re you’re seeing like how teams are jelling what’s happening and again like you said this is yeah you guys you guys played a fair chunk you guys played a quarter of your schedule this weekend but yeah but you know that means three quarters to to get get the ship right so but that’s the fun part you got storylines you have adjustments you’re going to see what’s the situation just in terms of um when can you make adjustments to the roster when’s the next event what’s all of that look like so so there’s actually a standalone mid-season tournament that does not it’s the basically the beer City open up in Grand Rapids and that does not count to your regular season schedule so you cannot go to the waiver wire until after the second event which is DC here in a few weeks or something like that so you cannot make uh trades are always available in between premere and Challenger and you can actually throw cash into a trade like send someone somewhere if it’s a hair lopsided you can kind of eat you know you hear hear that all the time in MLB they trade a player for cash considerations something like that so so that’s available but to go to the waiver wire and adjust your roster will not be an option until after the second event got it okay uh but but I mean I mean it’s fun I mean who doesn’t want to see sock and CJ Clinger like two contrasting personality super hilarious there was a couple awkward chest bumps mixed in there but like I mean that that is cool Dynamic I mean you have like I I watched U before the heart AES were playing a match I went over and I watched uh men’s doubles DC vers vers the shock and it was Hayden Patrick Quinn and deel just chirping chirping like deel was throwing his hands up when he hit a big counter you know like what you got and you it’s just funny because one weighs 130 pounds and one weighs 230 pounds and these guys are just going at it and barking back and forth uh it was it was cool and it was fun and you know it’s it’s very busy uh for the for the players and the coaches because I mean you got to you got to practice you got multiple matches a day so when I got a little sliver of time to be a fan and kind of just watch for 20 or 30 minutes it it was enjoyable it was enjoyable that’s yeah that’s what I like about it’s just so fun you can just pop into any match and you’re gonna it’s going to be good and it’s gonna matter the match is going to matter so I yeah I just think you don’t really get that in the tournament scene all the time I think you know tournaments are great sure but I like I like I like team pickle ball yeah but but both is good both is good so uh and I also think you know talking to a couple people it’s I I I do think it’s a hair more emotionally draining and I remember that from when I played uh uh I’ve talked about having two extra teammates having an ownership Group H having you know GMS and things like that all there for you which is great for support but I think it does add a bit to the intensity and uh you know I think once again not making an excuse our our opponents played great and we didn’t get it done when we needed to but you know I think six matches especially after that long layoff and getting a new Fresh format I I think maybe that could have uh uh drained us just a little bit just still trying to figure put my finger on exactly uh uh what went wrong or how how we can correct that moving forward so uh fun fun event uh looking forward to more uh we have the PPA in the exact same spot the very next uh weekend which I’m going to commentate uh Progressive draw one of the bigger ones so I’ll be there Wednesday THS I’ll be there all five days Wednesday through Sunday uh on the mic and uh yeah so it’s uh plenty of pickle already played plenty of pickle to be played uh good stuff we have uh any fun matchups coming up at the PPA well before we get to that there’s some uh there’s some hot mics in uh in Atlanta floating around oh God my biggest fear Rob so oh it’s terrifying yeah it’s like I I I’m always thinking I mean I I think that I’m a very nice person and I think I treat people well but I do occasionally say some inappropriate things and and I’m always terrified that you know just especially like when you kind of get loose and you’re just there talking with your buddy or your friend and some of the things that come out uh probably wouldn’t be taken well by everyone I remember when people used to GoPro their matches and stuff and I’d just be standing on the fence with some friends and I mean I don’t I don’t know what I’m saying I’m just having fun chitchatting with my buddy and it’s it’s a scary thing and now that I’m doing it professionally and you know these hot mics are going out to thousands of people it’s a scary situation so I I do I I know we had uh a lot of different analysts in the commentary role for some MLP MLP contracted players that that didn’t get drafted and uh so I believe it was uh Olivia McMillan and rafy rafy huitt having some reasonably I mean what I heard was pretty playful but it was also you know could be construed as as as a bit much so uh I know that there was a clip of it that got taken down down or something like that but I I I just feel for those two because that that is that is a big big fear of mine careful there’s mics everywhere there is mics everywhere even there’s there’s even mics on the bench now uh so me the stuff I say on court after I miss a dink is just nobody should hear it but I I’m surprised ref haven’t called me for I I say some egregious stuff pretty loudly I feel like well at least you only had to say that stuff once this past weekend because you only cuz you only missed one so but it was a flurry of f bombs it was a flurry I I mean in the moment competing it’s tough and I remember first MLP they literally had us miked I mean that’s that’s not the case around the waist yeah but but but I was just like are you guys really sure you want to do this like when I’m when I’m in my element out there competing like I’m not thinking about a microphone on me I am saying some aggressive horrible things and almost all of that is to myself but I I’m still using some colorful language and saying some things I should not be saying that are not uh you know kid-friendly so those mics man watch out they’re they might be hot and you got to be careful speaking of that first mop I remember uh there was a that was kind of the start of there was a documentary crew that was starting to capture some footage and start um poking about and I recently saw I don’t know where it was but it was um submitted to a film festival so it’s done it’s it’s the the docks made it’s about pickle ball and feuding billionaires was kind of the little teaser I read and it is premiering at a at a I think a film festival somewhere coming up like in the next couple weeks so it’ll be interesting when that comes out to see how that kind of got put together and portrayed oh that’s cool cuz yeah we had Ken’s pregnancy when she was playing MLP that like there was a I mean there was a big crew there and I think yeah so that crew’s that crew is different so the one that was doing that tracked Ken and I and MLP they yeah that didn’t get I don’t think that got that didn’t go anywhere like I think Amazon because they did Prime on Amazon on Amazon coach Prime and I don’t think they were able to sell this to anybody nobody I don’t think anybody bit um so I don’t think that one went anywhere this is the other one that is done by Ashley Underwood um and Seth pores um and that and that crew out in La so this is like I think the the one for Prime was going to be a docu series yeah so this one’s uh more of like a documentary that’s hour and a half two hours and I think it’s more just covering kind of the pro landscape of what happened what what’s going on with MLP PPA and that whole drama with the merger and lack thereof at the time yeah no and man I I guess that’s just how the documentary business goes is because I mean they had a crew for the one with you and Karen they came to North Carolina they went to all the events they had like eight to 12 people or something like that I can only imagine how much that costs and then to not get picked up uh has to hurt your heart a little bit I thought I was going to be a superstar but unfortunately it doesn’t look like that’s gonna happen I said some funny too dude they came down to they came down to Georgia and like and Florida and stayed stayed the night and like did the whole thing um but yeah it’s crazy to me that they could shoot basically an entire series like that and then it just goes it just it just goes to the graveyard yeah literally I mean just yeah it’s it’s pretty wild so yeah who knows why wouldn’t you like why wouldn’t you be able to like just at least like even put that on like YouTube or something you know what I mean it’s like why something yeah like a lower lower tier Network or like fubo or something you know put on right put it on Samsung TV whatever I just I just want to I just want to see me in a documentary I’m not playing anymore no one will ever do it again that was my chance that was my that was that could have been my my 15 minutes of fame but we’ll we’ll never see it what can you do no the opport opportunity’s gone so yeah onward I guess but hopefully this this Dock’s interesting I’m sure it will be yeah I think so I mean the merger was intense man it it dragged on uh there was so many moving Parts uh so much so much happening so I mean of course it’s going to be interesting to us but I I think it could be mainstream uh people not totally in the know with pickle ball could interesting to them as well so yeah I mean dude some of those some of those documentaries like stuff takes off afterwards if it gets on a on a big service and get gained some popularity like you it can really blow something up as I mean I know whatever Golf and F1 and all that stuff was already very much established but it’s only like grown huge since that stuff started coming out on Netflix so yeah uh yeah let’s let’s let’s get something going Let’s Get It On A streaming service and let’s let’s let the people see the the pickle ball drama baby yeah I did uh so they pulled me in for an interview and I was at uh Daytona for I don’t I don’t remember if I think it was maybe a PPA but um yeah so they they pull me into the hotel I go into the room doing this interview it’s initially it’s Ashley Underwood interviewing me which is Larry David’s wife um and just kind of like kind of like softball questions like layup s of like you know what’s your thoughts on Pro pickle ball and like what’s happened like you know how did you get into it like all all of that stuff and then Seth the other like the kind of I don’t know if he’s co-director or director but then he sits down and he gets like really aggressive with the questions and he’s like isn’t it true that the pp did this this and this this this I’m like I don’t know dude and then he’s like why why does everybody say that you know we should talk to you or that like have you talked to Rob yet or I’m like I dude I don’t know and then he and then he was just and then he was like and then he was like is it true that you Soldier stored ESPN and I’m like what no no I I wish I’m sure if he wants to give me some money what no but I was like what no and then and then I was just like look I’m not going to talk about my personal life and kind of just it could put like you know stop there but I found it yeah I found it like they were looking like they’re they’re trying to dig and like pull sure pull some weeds and stuff and see what they could find and uh I didn’t give I didn’t give them much though yeah no and I I get that too and it was a similar I mean I I just did a very brief interview too and it was like generalized questions and then like they were like do you like Tyson McGuffin or like said something like that and I was like well yeah of course I like Tyson he’s my boy but it was just like some like pointed questions and and I think that of course that makes sense you know people people like that kind of stuff so no you’re just reminding me I got asked the exact same thing about tys was like do you think do you think that Tyson thinks he’s famous or something something like that I was like I sure I don’t I don’t know people in pi sure know he is yeah that’s for sure so I I think it’s just cuz he has like a strong brand and you know like that’s that’s important to him and he’s done good work with that so maybe he’s a bit rizing in that regard yeah I I I love it I’ve I’ve always been a Tyson fan but it it was just funny to see like just like it was like light questions and then like the interviewer like crossed their legs or something and was like so tell tell me about this and we’re trying to like poke and PR for for some info so funny the format of it how it all played out but documentaries get them out there for the people blow this thing up even bigger than it already is I’m all for all of it same send it full send Robert I I normally have something prepared a little more specific for the tip of the day but I think it’s about that time and I have nothing prepared for today uh anything you would like to discuss uh for our amateur viewers about something that could possibly help their game yeah I always like to think about what like just played right so over the weekend like what did I think about what did I do that you can do uh when you go out and play today and tomorrow and the next day and one more day because there’s always one more game um and that is I always just try to remind myself at the beginning of a tournament day to play clean because it’s very easy to go into it with the mindset of you know oh it’s a little chilly today they’re switching let’s drive crash it’s just like you win by not missing very much and that holds true across every level and I think you can get into you can get into modes where you’re too passive um but at the end of the day when I’m getting beat by a team it’s because I’m missing more than the other team and it’s it sounds stupid basic stupid simple but it’s easy to forget that mindset of just play clean pickle ball play high percentage um drop get to the kitchen line if that’s your game that’s my game own to win points at the kitchen so I’m constantly reminding myself you don’t have to play Fast just because the other team’s playing fast and they’re driving they’re crashing it’s easy to get sucked into that and just play clean drop get to the kitchen work the point find your spots and just yeah Miss less than the other team because whenever I’m losing it’s because I’m missing more than the other team sounds stupid but it’s true yeah take take care of you is is always is always a good play and uh you know what to be perfectly honest with you you sometimes when you do that they just they just kind of give it to you and when you’re going crazy or or you’re a little sloppy and you’re missing shots you don’t even give them an opportunity to give it to you so I mean everyone wants to take it everyone wants to win their matches of course but if someone wants to give me a gift and I can just kind of bunp the ball over a little bit and and earn the W you know I’m I’m all for that and I think I got caught up a little bit with you know the the the paddle techn ology the new ball it’s flying around and especially with some of the early year tournaments with the cooler conditions you know like I was I was ready to just be done with my whole pickle ball philosophy you know like my my consistent play with well time degression and I was just ready to scrap it and just talk about Drive crash athleticism hand speeed whatever and you know we we move into some of the summer months and I’m I’m watching teams play MLP I’m commentating matches and and you know what it’s it is faster pickle ball is faster but man consistent play and well-timed aggression in so many situations uh still gets the job done so uh I think it is e easy to get caught up and just slap it they’re slapping it let’s let’s fire away from mid shin and because we can get more Top Spin on the ball now I mean if you’re playing a quality team just that stuff’s just not going to work in the long term even even if it might in the short term yeah I always think about like it’s you want to be like that team that like infuriates others and there’s nothing more infuriating to me than knowing I’m going to have to hit 30 balls to win a point like just because they’re going to get everything back like you want to be that team where teams are like oh my god dude it’s so much work just to win a single point like that’s that’s how you want to make people feel JW and kind of like their style it’s like we’re just going to we’re just going to dink it in a bunch of times you’re going to break your discipline before we do and then we’re just going to destroy a counter and hit you in the chest with it uh after you make a poor decision and try to force something so uh and I think it’s not coincidence that’s it that the tip tip Tip Top teams us that is their strategy especially in men’s doubles I know it’s a bit of a different format with women’s but uh th th those guys that play that crazy heavy athletic power game they do have runs and they do probably have more success than they did a year ago or so but it’s still that recipe at the top that seems to get the consistent results yeah I think the Flash The Flash and the drive crash will it’ll certainly get good runs and good upsets but it it’s super hard to sustain right now yeah and i’ I’ve always I’ve said this so many times I’ve always more impressed with like nine out of 10 quarterfinals or something like that as opposed to you know four second round losses and then like one Championship Sunday out of 10 or or or something like that so uh uh yeah uh I mean be consistent it’s it’s still it’s still a big part of the game and uh you know just occasionally put that that you know 19th shot Drive in your back pocket and just and just don’t use that one you know I like it I think this is um this is a well-rounded episode Adam I like it too uh I think we’re we’re hitting that happy place at about 45 minutes that I mean I think we only had about 30 seconds of flattery this time instead of a couple minutes so we’re we we we still will toot each other’s horn but we we we read the notes we read the comments and I think we did a decent job of toning that down this episode can’t say it’ll continue but we did it we did it all right here and I will say Adam this is uh you know it’s always a pleasure hearing your voice seeing how good you look on camera um hearing the insights that really we can’t be afforded from anyone else that has the experience of being you know a a player at the highest level who’s one of the biggest tournaments in the world but is also now a coach and a GM um and commentator I mean what a what a privilege and honor to have you on this podcast oh you cut out a couple times during that but I I I caught most of that that that I guess we can call it a rant and it was a lovely one at that so congratulations on your great left side play Robert and your wonderful variety of hats and your and your glowing skin and I think we’ll just I think we’ll just end it right here Bubba adios [Music] [Applause]