💬 Feelings & Pickleball — emotional intelligence meets kitchen dominance
🍓🍌 Strawberry & Banana Flicks — two deceptive backhands I’m chasing
🧠 Wrist Intelligence — creating unfair angles from bad positions
⚡ Reflexes > Luck — the around-the-back winner you have to see
🎯 The Tweener — how to hit it without risking the family jewels

Let’s get to it!

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Make It Your Habit

I’m very grateful that Lance and I can talk about both our feelings and all things pickleball.

Honestly, there are few things sexier than when my husband tells me how much he liked this week’s Five Dink Friday.

Remember how I said I’m on a mission to master my backhand flick?

Well… the universe delivered.

This tutorial breaks down two deceptive backhand flicks:

Both are nasty. Both are going on my drill list.

The strawberry flick immediately clicked for me — I can see it as a killer 4th-shot option, especially when opponents hang back, unsure about their third. Short, angled, unexpected. That’s the shot.

The banana flick?

I need to see it used more in real match play to fully grasp when to deploy it — but I love the deception and the shape.

This is one of those “you have to see it” situations.

So tell me:

Hit reply and enlighten me.

I’m all ears — and very ready to drill. 🏓✨

Remember how I said one of the shots I want to master is creating insane angles when I’m pulled wide?

Not the safe middle ball.
Not the obvious line.
Not a bail-out lob (and if the ATP isn’t there).

I want the unfair angle.

And then this tutorial showed up.

This reel breaks down how to develop wrist intelligence to hit those next-gen crosscourt angles — inspired by 14-year-old phenom Tama Shimabukuro, and taught step-by-step with Malaysia rising star Natasha.

👉 Watch the reel first. You need to see this one.

This is exactly the kind of progression I love:
simple → specific → weaponized.

I’m adding this to my drill list immediately. If you’re also trying to unlock nasty angles from bad positions, this one’s worth your time.

If you haven’t seen this amazing return,

👉 Go watch it now
cuz trying to explain it would ruin it.

What makes it even better is the comment section (as usual):

This isn’t luck.
This is reps.
This is athleticism.
This is a nervous system that’s been trained to react before the brain can overthink it.

As I always say:

The more we practice, the bigger our surface area for luck.

And every once in a while…
luck looks like this. 🏓🔥

We’re ending this week with an absolute gem:
Mari Humberg teaching Ed how to hit a tweener without destroying the family jewels.(We ladies have a slight advantage here… 😇)

I love a good tutorial — especially one with playful banter — and this one is top-tier.

And honestly? I really hope I get the chance to pull this out someday, because you just KNOW it would feel epic.

My best guess is that the ideal setup is:
• 🏃‍♀️ Chasing down a lob
• 🌀 No time to turn
• 🎯 Ball traveling perfectly into tweener territory

So, tell me 👇 Tweener Superstars — where else do you use this shot? Help the rest of us mere mortals out.

If this had you thinking about new flicks to drill, angles to weaponize, or shots you didn’t even know were possible — send this to someone who lives for pickleball content like this.

If this landed in your inbox via a friend, hit subscribe so you don’t miss next week’s drop.

Until next week…
may your wrist stay intelligent, your reflexes stay sharp, and your tweeners stay safe.

— Janelle 🏓✨

P.S. We’ve been in Vietnam almost a week now and… still no pickleball.
I am, however, carrying my paddle everywhere like a woman on a mission.

It’s also Saturday for me and Friday for you, which means I’m writing this from the future.
Vietnam is absolutely beautiful.
I refuse to leave without finding a court. 🏓