This week in Five Dink Friday 😀

⚔️ Counter Masterclass Part 1 — when to attack and when to reset
✨ The Magic Corner — the tiny paddle tweak changing everything
📦 The Magic Box — where every great counter begins
👀 Read the Attack — Ben Johns on seeing speedups before they happen
🍼 Rare Baby Photo — apparently, I’ve been pickling since the womb

Let’s get to it!

You work on your third shot drops.
Your resets.
Your kitchen confidence.

But when’s the last time you worked on your roof? 😏

Summer is here; now’s the perfect time to inspect the one thing protecting everything underneath it.

Because just like pickleball…

Small mistakes become expensive ones fast.

A tiny leak today can become a five-figure headache tomorrow.

That’s where Lance — the local legend comes in.

He’s not just good on the roof… rumor has it he’s got a DUPR in the 4s and knows how to finish points at the kitchen too.

He’ll get up there so you don’t have to, and check for:

• Missing shingles
• Pipe sealing issues
• Flashing repairs
• Ventilation problems
• Winter damage
• Sneaky leaks before they attack your wallet

If everything looks good? Peace of mind.
If something needs attention? You’ll know before it gets ugly.

No ladders.
No guesswork.
No YouTube roofing disasters.

👉 Utah readers: Schedule your FREE roof inspection by calling 801- at eagleridgepros.com

Remember how I promised you a counterattack masterclass?

Well…I’m here to deliver. 😏

Over the past few weeks, I’ve been obsessed with one question:

How do the pros consistently get their counters to go DOWN at their opponents’ feet instead of floating or remaining flat?

So I started researching, reached out to several of the best coaches I know, and asked them to explain exactly what they were doing.

The first person to respond was Frank Solano, and he even recorded a custom video breaking it down for all of us.

The biggest lightbulb moment?

The height of the ball determines what shots are available.

🎯 Below your waist?
Reset it.

You are NOT hitting down on that ball. Stay patient, soften it, and wait for another one.

🎯 Around waist height?
Neutral counter.

Fight another day. Keep the paddle neutral and stay in the hand battle.

🎯 Above your waist (especially chest height)?
Now it’s time.

Rotate your wrist slightly, let the paddle tip lead, and punch DOWN at your opponent’s feet.

Frank’s explanation helped me realize that some counters will have to be flat due to their height.

If I can’t hit down on it, my job is to stay engaged in the hands battle until my opponent gives me a slightly higher ball that I can hit down on.

Since focusing on that one principle, I’ve stopped thinking something is wrong with me and my counters. I realize that firefights are just like aggressive dinking. I’m trying to get my opponent to give me a slightly higher ball that I can attack downward.

It’s amazing what happens when you stop asking a shot to do something it physically can’t do. 😂

Huge thanks to Frank for taking the time to make a custom tutorial for us.

If you want to learn from him, definitely check out his Luna Pickleball Camps.

Trust me… his clinics and camps are FIRE!

After Frank sent his tutorial, Instagram served me up this Coach Cori tutorial on how the key to getting your counter to go down has everything to do with the tip of your paddle.

Instead of trying to punch the entire paddle through the ball on your counters…

think about leading with the top tip (corner) of your paddle.

That tiny adjustment naturally closes the paddle face just enough to help the ball travel downward. Here’s the clip:

The higher the ball…

the more you can angle that paddle tip down.

The lower the ball…

the more neutral it stays.

Which ties in perfectly with what Frank taught us last section.

🧠 My takeaway?

Stop thinking:

👉 “Hit down.”

Start thinking:

👉 “Lead with the paddle tip.”

I’ve been drilling this on both my backhand and forehand counters this week, and it’s amazing how much easier it is to create that downward trajectory.

Tiny adjustment.

Huge difference.

Now I just need several thousand more reps until it becomes muscle memory. 😂

And, I’m calling the tip top of my paddle now. . .

✨ The Magic Corner

The next video I found that really helped me was Jack Munro’s Counter Masterclass on YouTube.

If you’re serious about improving your counters, I think the entire video is worth watching. The first 8 minutes focus on the one-handed backhand counter (which was my primary focus this week), and then he dives into the two-handed counter and the pancake grip (also called the Scorpion counter).

As I watched, I realized Jack was reinforcing almost everything Frank and Coach Cori had already taught us.

✔️ Break your wrist.
✔️ Keep your swing compact.
✔️ Get the ball DOWN.
✔️ Lead with the paddle tip.

But he also added one concept that really clicked for me.

I’m calling it…

📦 The Magic Box.

Jack explains that your strongest contact point is the space between your shoulders and your hips OUT IN FRONT OF YOUR BODY.

That’s your power zone.

Instead of reaching for the ball or letting it jam you, your goal should be to slide your body so the ball meets your paddle inside that box.

That one visual has already helped me tremendously while drilling.

Jack also had a good reminder: a counter doesn’t have to be the winner—it just has to be LOW. If you can force your opponent to hit up on the ball, you’ve earned yourself a put-away.

The other tip that was brand new to me?

🦶 Stay on your tiptoes.

Not jumping.

Not falling backward.

Stay on the balls of your feet and lean slightly forward.

It naturally puts you in a position where it’s much easier to get on top of the ball and drive your counter downward.

I also appreciated his breakdown of the two-handed counter and the pancake grip.

I’ve already got a pretty wicked twoey, so I didn’t spend much time there this week, but the Scorpion counter is definitely going on my list of shots to master.

In fact, I played a former racquetball player this morning who switched effortlessly between a continental grip and a full western pancake grip.

It was terrifying. 😂

Thankfully, all my counter training paid off.

By the second game, I recognized his patterns, anticipated what was coming, and sent a few counters right back at his feet.

#hotdamn. 😎

One thing became crystal clear during this little counter obsession…

The best counters don’t start with your paddle.

They start with your eyes.

In this tutorial, Ben Johns explains how to recognize one of the most common attack patterns before the ball is even struck.

The giveaway?

👀 The paddle and the foot move back together.

The moment you see your opponent create space by stepping back with their paddle, loading behind them, they’re getting ready to attack.

That split second of anticipation gives you time to slide into your Magic Box, get balanced, and prepare to counter.

Ben also reinforced one more lesson we’ve heard throughout this masterclass:

When they step back to attack…

don’t just counter it flat.

Counter it DOWN at their feet.

If you send a linear counter back, they’ll often step right back in and keep attacking.

But if you can drive that counter down, you’ve just forced them into defense.

One thing I loved about Ben’s explanation is that anticipation doesn’t just help you hit better counters…

It also helps you decide when NOT to counter.

Sometimes, the smartest play when you see someone winding up for an attack, is to MOVE out of the way and let it sail long.

I did this several times this week, and it worked like magic!

Well, truth be told, against higher-level players, it only got me 1-2 points before my opponent realized I was smart enough to move.

They simply started taking pace and power off the ball so that it stayed in, forcing me to woman up and counter with my fast hands.

A little pattern recognition, plus anticipation, goes a long way when it comes to mastering counters.

Train it, and I promise, fast hands will feel slower. ;)

Apparently, I’ve been preparing for pickleball since before I was born.

Sadly, this isn’t actually me.

I didn’t pick up a paddle until I was 45.

But judging by how much I’ve played the past two weeks…

I’m making up for 45 years of lost court time. 😂

And I regret absolutely nothing.

If this week’s edition made you believe you can become a countering badass

…then my work here is done. 😏

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

Until next time…

Stay compact.

Stay centered.

And remember…

The best counter isn’t always the hardest one.

It’s the one that goes DOWN and makes your opponent hit UP.

See you on the courts.

— Janelle 🏓✨

🥒 P.S. — Apparently, 1 Million People Wanted to Play Pickleball in the Middle of the Sea… 😂

One of our pickleball videos went viral this week…

1 MILLION views. 🤯

It’s the video of Frank Solana and me playing on an inflatable pickleball court floating in the Adriatic Sea during our Croatia pickleball yacht cruise.

If you’ve ever wondered what it actually looks like to play pickleball on a floating court…

…here’s the video. 👇

The best part?

That entire trip happened because of this newsletter.

iWorld Travel invited me on an all-expenses-paid pickleball cruise through Croatia in exchange for sharing the experience with all of you.

I’d say that’s a pretty fair trade. 😎

It was honestly one of the coolest pickleball adventures we’ve ever had, and you can read all about it in this past edition.

Playing on a floating court, island hopping through Croatia, meeting amazing people, and getting coached by Frank Solana and Chris Harradine…

We’d do it again in a heartbeat.

If a week of pickleball, private yachts, beautiful Croatian islands, and daily coaching sounds like your kind of vacation, I’ve included the flyer below.

I seriously can’t recommend it enough.

I hope you get to experience it someday.

P.P.S. I may or may not be researching inflatable pickleball courts for the reservoir behind my house…

#SideHustle 😂