I’ve watched a lot of pickleball tutorials on hand speed—and thought I’d seen it all. But this random Instagram post made me stop mid-scroll. The tip?
Choke up on your paddle.
Simple, smart… and I’d never tried it.

I noticed a difference in accuracy and counter speed immediately. And it turns out that was just the beginning.

I hunted down the full video and it’s packed with gems—some you may have heard, but never explained quite like this:

🔥 This is hands down (pun intended) one of the best breakdowns I’ve seen.
Check it out and tell me. . .
Which tip are you trying first?

When the dating apps fail… there's always open play.

This YouTube Short made me LOL — because, well, I literally met my now-husband on the court.

Not on a Saturday night, but a midweek, midday drill sesh. 💅

One year later… married.
Doubles partners for life. 💍🏓
Still dinking strong.

And while we actually play great together (most of the time)...
Let’s be honest:
Some married teams? Oof.

You can feel the tension through the net.
The eye rolls. The “Why’d you poach that?”
The “I was covering middle!”

If they keep playing together, it’s not just the paddle getting dropped…
It’s the relationship. 💔
At the very least, someone’s on the couch tonight. 😬

I tell you what . . . Pickleball may be great for meeting a partner, but maybe not so great for staying married to one? 😅

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This meme says it all . . . being picky about partners. . .

It’s not snobbery.
It’s selectivity.
And honestly?
It’s survival. 😂

Last week we broke it down in pie chart form:

50% of your game is your partner. So yeah… who you play with matters.

If you know, you know.

This Reddit post about the first-ever wheelchair pickleball tournament in Wyoming stopped my scroll.

I’d never seen anyone play pickleball in a wheelchair, so I just had to see it. YouTube delivered:

Watching this clip stirred up all kinds of emotions:

🥹 Grateful — for my legs and that I’m not in a wheelchair.
❤️ Inspired — by the athletes who’ve lost their legs but not their will to compete.
😨 Scared — because life can change in an instant.
🙏 Grounded — knowing if I ever end up in a wheelchair, I can still find joy, purpose, and a place on the court.
😮 In awe — of their heart, grit, and drive.

Pickleball isn’t just for the mobile or the mighty.

It’s for anyone with a paddle, a spark, and the will to keep playing — no matter what life throws at you.

If this doesn’t fill you with feels… I don’t know what will. 🫶

This week, I leveled up my drilling — and it’s all thanks to a tip I learned from pickleball pro, Kyle Costanza. As a former basketball player, he talked about how they used to track success — like shooting 10 free throws and logging the score. Simple. Effective. Repeatable (we did this too at the end of every practice).

So I asked myself:
Why don’t I do that with my pickleball drills?

I started with my forehand drive:
10 balls, same target. How many can I hit clean?

First run: 7/10.
Not awful… but not the 90–100% I want.
Then I tried my backhand. It took me 15 minutes to finally go 10/10.

But now? My wall drilling has intention.
I know where I’m at, and I can measure my growth (what we measure improves).
And yes, I’ve started doing it with my slice, drop, and roll volleys too.

So this week, I’m challenging you:
👉 Pick a shot. Pick a target. Go 10 for 10.

And to help, I made you this printable drill tracker. Simply click to download and print.

And for all your Excel nerds like me, you can make a copy of my Google Sheets file and simply replace my data with yours. Click the image below to grab your digital tracker.

Let me know your drilling tips, and if you beat my scores ;)

Well Fam, that’s a wrap on this week’s Five Dink Friday.

We laughed, we drilled, we cried (looking at you, wheelchair warriors), and we all learned how to be a little faster… and a little pickier. 😏

Oh—and remember last week’s Pickleball Burger?

One of you legends replied with outBACKHAND Steakhouse… which honestly deserves its own franchise. A few more that came in (or maybe we dreamed up while mid-dink):

Keep 'em coming — and PLEASE, if someone is going to Japan, order the pickleball burger — I’m dying to know how your review compares to this dude’s:

📬 Or if you’ve got a favorite pickleball meme, clip, hot take, or strategy that made your game better? Smash reply — I’m all ears (and Ernes).

📤 Know someone who should be reading this? Forward it like a forehand drive. I'll be forever grateful :)

Until next Friday: dink loud, dink proud.

– JP

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