🎯 Ben Johns’ Inside-Out ATP — the filthiest shot of the year
🏆 Match Point Madness — ALW + BJ vs. the Johnsons for gold
🔥 Doubles Rally of the Year — ALW & Anna Bright go full chaos
💨 Singles Footwork Clinic — Staksrud + JMV prove PB = athletic
📘 Austin’s 5-Rule Playbook — plus my 60-second AI cheat sheet

Let’s get to it!

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Ben Johns pulled off an inside-out ATP against the Johnson siblings… and it might be the sickest ATP I’ve ever seen.

I watched it and immediately thought: Okay, that’s going on my drill list.
This shot has so many practical uses — and the shape on it is insane.

If you haven’t seen it yet, check it out:

If you haven’t seen the match point from the mixed doubles final at the Veolia Lakeland Open, do yourself a favor and watch this clip of Ben Johns & Anna Leigh Waters vs. JW & Jorja Johnson.

The rally… the defense… the angle…
And that finishing ball?

FIRE!

One of the top comments on the clip said it best:
“Real Pickle… everyone else plays dodgeball with a paddle.”
This description sometimes feels accurate.

Here’s the match recap for context:

Final Score (Best of 5):
10–12, 11–4, 11–2, 8–11, 11–7

A full-on marathon — and the final point feels like the entire match compressed into one insane rally.

And if match point was this epic (and it absolutely was)…
you’re probably going to want the full match.

💥 Here it is — all 5 games, ready for your weekend deep-dive:

I’m planning to watch it using my “active watching” strategy — the one where you try to predict the pros’ next shot based on positioning and patterns. It’s wild how much you learn when you attempt to think with them instead of just watching them.

And here’s some more fun facts:

ALW swept her entire slate — Women’s Singles and Women’s Doubles (with Anna Bright) and Mixed.

Ben Johns?
He won Mixed Doubles and Men’s Doubles…
and withdrew from Men’s Singles.

So honestly…
if he’d played singles, they might’ve swept the entire tournament between the two of them.

A clean PPA heist.

Enjoy the match — and prepare to pause → rewind → pause again.

I’m pretty sure this clip of ALW + Anna Bright came from the Veolia Lakeland Open too, judging by the timing — and the rally is insane.

What impressed me most?

It’s one of those rallies where every ball looks like the end of the point… until it isn’t.
And yes — the net cord finally finished it.
(If you want my very strong feelings about net-cord winners, I wrote about that last week here— enjoy.)

And just when I thought I’d already found the best women’s doubles rally of the year… another one popped up. Same duo — ALW and Anna Bright — and this one definitely is from the Veolia Lakeland Open.

The hands. The defense. The resets. The court coverage.

And then?
An ATP ender.

What I love most:
Watching how and when Anna Bright chooses to lob… the discipline they all exhibit in the middle of chaos… their precision resets, dinks, and speedups. There’s so much here for any serious pickleball student to chew on. Enjoy!

We’ve talked plenty of doubles this week, so here’s your singles palate cleanser:

Federico Staksrud and Jaume Martinez Vich putting on an absolute SHOW at the Lakewood event. 🔥

What blew me away wasn’t just the pace of play — it was Jaume’s movement.
The court coverage.
The recovery.
And the foot glides on hard court like he’s on ice.

I have never seen so many controlled slides on cement.
My shoes would 100% say “nope.”
(Probably means I need more speed + a sharper stop to even think about getting that effect.)

If you’re someone who tends to plant and spectate instead of move?
Watch this and get inspired.

And if you’ve ever had someone tell you pickleball “isn’t a real sport” or “doesn’t require real athleticism”…
just send them this clip and walk away.

I absolutely clicked on this YouTube title:

“The 5-Step System to Win 90% of Pickleball Matches.”

I mean… a 5-step system? To win 90%?
Yes, hello, inject that into my veins.

Spoiler: you’re not suddenly winning nine out of ten just because you watch this.
But there are some really good nuggets in here that I’m 100% stealing.

I dropped my AI-generated infographic of his 5 rules below 👇 — it took me about a minute to make after feeding Gemini Nano Banana Pro 3 the transcript and using some prompts from my AI coach.
(Yes, I have an AI coach. Yes, he is earning his keep.)

Here are the pieces that stuck with me:

His framing that drops are “offensive” shots and drives are for when you’re under pressure was interesting.

I don’t 100% agree that drives are “defensive” — if someone is in transition, I’m absolutely driving at them, and that feels very offensive to me.

But I do like his decision-making rule:

That mental frame alone should save us all from a few dumb third-shot drops per match.

His midcourt rule was simple and useful:

I really like “height + time” as a quick mental filter instead of just “it’s kind of high, so… SEND IT.”

His kitchen rule: dink crosscourt by default (more space, more safety), then recover and hover over the line looking for pop-ups.

If you pop one up or feel heat coming?

I really notice now when I’m playing with partners who:

Meanwhile, I’m over here shuffling, backing up, leaning forward, chasing balls down, and wondering why I seem to be the only one moving.

The more I play with partners who move well and understand when to come off the line… the more obvious it is when someone doesn’t. And the more it affects the “we just don’t play well together” vibe.

Sometimes it’s not you.
Sometimes it’s the 51% slice of the pie chart labeled “your partner.” 😅

I’ve been noticing this more and more: at higher levels, you cannot afford to skip attack opportunities.

Austin’s rule:

Pretty simple. But you’d be shocked how many points die because someone:

I’ve lost plenty of points because my partner didn’t pull the trigger when they should have. And I’m sure I’ve done the same to others. That was a good reminder: if it’s high, end it.

His last rule was my favorite: figure out what opponents target on you (or what you constantly avoid)… and then go get 10,000 reps on it.

Not “practice until it feels okay.”
Practice until you can’t get it wrong.

Remember:

I’m not going to pretend this video is a magic “win 90% of your matches now” button.
But between:

I think there’s a lot of value to pull out of it.

Curious what you think after you watch it and glance at the infographic:
Clickbait or actually helpful?

If this got you itching to drill an inside-out ATP, study a gold-match point, or finally stop avoiding that one weakness (thanks, Austin), forward this to a partner who loves leveling up.

If this was forwarded to you, hit subscribe so you don’t miss next week’s drop.

Until next week…
may your rallies be sweet, your resets soft, and your footwork a little more Jaume-like.

—Janelle

P.S. Hope you snagged some good pickleball gear on Black Friday/Cyber Monday.
Hit reply and tell me what you scored… and if you didn’t buy anything, what were you thinking?! 😅