🥒 The “official” sandwich of pickleball
🎯 The twoey dink that changes your kitchen game
⚡ The coiling effect: how to counter like a pro
🏥 Every player’s worst nightmare in one cartoon
👵🏻 Learning pickleball at 100

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I opened my inbox this week and there it was — Jimmy John’s Picklewich.

All I could think was, this should be the national pickleball sandwich.

It instantly reminded me of Japan’s Pickleball Burger
(the one I wrote about awhile back — check it out here if you missed it).

Now I just need to know…

When I saw this video, I thought, okay, I want to perfect this shot.
Cam Luring’s two-handed dink is unreal — sharp, spinny, and spicy.

So I took notes while watching, because I definitely need to drill this if I want to force pop-ups and catch my opponent off guard with down-the-line speed ups. Here’s the condensed cheat sheet — in case you want to perfect it too.

Paddle tip down → Left hand leads → Short brush → Wait → Commit

Watch the video so you can see how wicked this dink is, and how perfectly you can disguise your speed ups (only take 5 minutes if you 2x the playback speed). Go drill it, and thank me later.

Now get out there and crush it!

I found a great reel this week featuring Zane Navratil breaking down how to counter like a pro.

The game’s faster than ever, and having quick hands isn’t optional anymore. Zane talks about the power of coiling—using a slight torso rotation to load your core and buy yourself a few extra inches of space during fast exchanges.

He also stresses letting your non-paddle arm flow naturally instead of locking it by your side. That small detail keeps your body loose, helps your upper body move together, and makes the coil-and-uncoil motion way more efficient.

Finally, he shows the difference in paddle angle—most players keep it flat or parallel to the ground, but tilting it slightly forward gives you a cleaner, quicker counter.

Go watch the reel so you can see exactly what he means by coiling, free-flowing, and setting that optimal paddle angle to improve hand speed and really counter like a pro.

Honestly, being told you can’t play pickleball? That’s nightmare fuel.

Seeing this cartoon made me stop and think about how grateful I am for my health — and that I can still play pickleball and do all the things I love.

Whenever I hear someone’s injured, like my sister who just had shoulder surgery on her right arm, my first thought is, “Oh man, how long would I be out of pickleball if that happened to me?”

Then I calm myself down: You’d be fine. You could still play left-handed. You might have to move down a few levels, but at least you’d still be on the court.

And yes, even when I’m riding my motorcycle, my brain does that unhelpful thing where I imagine crashing and immediately think, Alright, but how long until I could play again?

Does anyone else do this, or am I officially crazy? (Don’t answer that.)

👉 Your turn: what’s an injury you’ve had that should’ve kept you off the courts, but didn’t? Or one that actually did?

Hit reply — I want to know!

Okay, check out this Instagram reel:

Dorothy is 100 years old and playing pickleball for the first time. I love, love, love how she says, “Up until a few months ago I was okay, but I’m starting to slow down.”

You have to watch the video to really appreciate that line.

Honestly, I hope I’m moving a little faster than Dorothy when I hit 100. My family ages well physically, but unfortunately, we lose our minds.

It starts with dementia and progresses to Alzheimer’s, which means I’ll be even worse than I am now at keeping score.

Unless, of course, those studies are right and pickleball really does help prevent Alzheimer’s. In that case, anyone who says I play too much is getting the same answer every time: it’s doctor’s orders.

But enough about my family tree. What about you?
Do we have any centenarians in the Five Dink Friday family?
No?
Maybe a few 90-year-olds? 80-somethings still swinging paddles?

If you think you might be in the running for one of our oldest readers, hit reply — I’d love to feature you in a future edition.

💥 That’s it for this week’s Five Dink Friday!

If you laughed, learned, or decided you’d at least try a Picklewich in the name of pickleball pride, forward this to your favorite partner in dinks. Let’s keep growing the Five Dink Friday fam—one laugh, lob, and lesson at a time.

If someone served this into your inbox, hit subscribe so you don’t miss next week’s drop. 🥒

Until next week—dink smarter, laugh louder, and don’t forget to set your clocks back so you’re not an hour early for Sunday rec play.

—Janelle

P.S. Wishing you a Happy Halloween filled with tricks, treats, and plenty of dinks. 🎃