Hey!

There are 82 days left until ThatPickleballSchool launches. To be the first to receive early offers, click here to join the priority list.

Also, I decided to re-name the newsletter:

ThatPickleballSchool Newsletter

I like the ring of it. And it reflects what we’re doing here every week — learning together. 🙂

Today’s newsletter is all about last weekend’s tournament in Newport, which I’m calling the “best pickleball day of my life”…so far.

Here’s what to expect:

1. An overview of last weekend 👈

2. What I learned playing alongside Tanner Tomassi 🧐

3. What I’m most proud of 👏👏👏

An Overview of Last Weekend

If you read last week’s newsletter, I shared a detailed breakdown of my first three matches in the Men’s PRO Qualifier (with videos).

Two days later (last Saturday), Tanner Tomassi (known as Tanner Pickleball on YouTube) and I showed up for the Men's PRO Doubles MAIN DRAW. 

Here’s how the day went:

Getting 4th place is the farthest I’ve ever been in an APP Tour tournament! And to do it all the way from Qualifiers was pretty neat! 🤯

Here are some links to those matches if you’d like to watch:

Round of 16 - click here

Quarterfinals - click here 

Semifinals - 👇👇👇

Once ThatPickleballSchool Online membership launches on October 1st, I plan to take my tournament match breakdowns further by diving deep into pre-match strategies and adjustments.

While I’d love to share more in the newsletter, I need to hold back some details since I know other pros read this 🥷, and I often face the same players at tournaments every weekend. 🙂 

With that being said, let’s transition to…

3 Things I Learned Playing With Tanner

#1 - Tanner is LEGIT

First and foremost, Tanner is a phenomenal player. I knew he was good from seeing him at tournaments the past few months, but playing alongside him showed me Just HOW GOOD he really is.

Especially at every fundamental shot.

His serve & return is solid. His drops are consistent. He’s money in the transition zone. His dinks are low, sharp, and unattackable. His out of the air attacks are tough to handle.

And his hands are lightning fast.

This is a good reminder for all of us regarding getting better at this game. 

Before getting fancy with a bunch of off-the-bounce speed-up practice, get good at what happens most in games. And what I shared about Tanner above is what happens most!

#2 - My Counters Improved

For the last two months, I’ve noticed how I start inching my way back from the kitchen line during hands battles or when someone is about to speed it up.

A part of this was a bad habit I’d developed over time. The other part was a lingering effect from my wrist injury, where I’d back up off the line to reset because I was afraid of the pain I’d feel from the counter punch.

Now, don’t get me wrong - there is a time to step back from the kitchen line.

But I knew I’d been doing it at the wrong times.

Then I stood beside Tanner last weekend.

This dude never backs up during hands battles, and I love it. He stays planted and punishes the ball when someone tries to attack him. I first noticed this in our day of practice before the tournament started.

Then, at one point during Saturday’s matches, I hit a dink slightly high and thought I’d lost us the point. Instead, Tanner punched the counter so hard I thought the ball cracked.

He turned to me and said, “I WANT THEM TO ATTACK ME!”

I still get the chills thinking about that moment.

Standing next to him over the next few days – maybe through osmosis – made me stand firm at the kitchen line and join him in the fight.

He doesn’t even realize how much this helped me this week.

Tanner, if you’re reading this, THANK YOU!

You’re a BEAST.

#3 - How to Be a Great Teammate

I consider myself a pretty decent teammate most of the time, but playing eight matches with Tanner this weekend in high-pressure situations reminded me of a few things.

You MUST pick each other up. At one point in our third round, I went on a 3-4 point lull where I just sucked. I missed a dink, a return, a reset, and something else. The truth is I was hot, tired, and completely lost focus.

During the timeout, Tanner asked me, “What are you feeling?”

It was a moment to vent. So, I said,

"Man, I just lost focus. His length is putting a lot of pressure on me in this one situation. I need to do something different."

Then, I went on to describe the change I wanted to make.

And he said, “Okay if you feel good about that, let’s do it.”

I absolutely loved that question from Tanner, “What are you feeling?”

Instead of telling a partner what to do right away, asking them what they’re feeling or seeing out there helps you develop a plan to overcome it together.

Out of that timeout, we made some big plays. I yelled out after one of them to manufacture some energy, and we were off to the races. We came back to win that game and, ultimately, the match.

So what’s the takeaway?

Anger is okay but flush it fast.

In the second round match, where we played the #1 seed of Rob Nunnery and Erik Pailet, we won three games, but the scores couldn’t have been closer (10-12, 11-9, and 11-9).

It reminded me of a famous Roger Federer video that is going around right now. In it, he talks about how many Grand Slams he has won. Then he shares that his career points won percentage is just 54%.

WHAT?!

That’s an insane stat.

Well, in our second-round match, we only won 52% of the total points.

But that’s all we needed.

We both made a ton of mistakes, and we were angry at ourselves at different moments. However, we both allowed that anger to exist for just a few seconds before letting it go and moving on to the next point.

If we hadn’t done that, there’s a good chance our mistakes would’ve compounded, and losing would’ve been inevitable. Just a few points separated us from Nunnery / Pailet, and being able to flush our anger out was the difference.

What I’m Most Proud Of

Over the last ten months, senior pro Dayne Gingrich has been coaching me weekly. We meet for phone calls, film study, and text each other constantly about strategy and mindset-related topics. 

He’s been a HUGE help for my game. Without a doubt, he’s the smartest person I’ve studied the game with.

For me, the physical stuff has always been easy to work on. I’m obsessed with it. I love practicing. I love watching match film. I love breaking down the game.

But truthfully, I’ve avoided investing time in the mindset piece since my high school and college basketball days.

I’ve read the books. I know the quotes. But really embracing what it means to work on your mind – I hadn’t done that.

Well, over the last six months, I have.

Shoot, 12 months ago, I would’ve been terrified to go on center court, scared of how I might play.

What if I embarrass myself?

This past weekend, I played four center-court matches at APP Newport Beach. The last was the Men's PRO Doubles Semifinals, with a packed crowd around the court.

It was a huge moment that would’ve previously had me shaking in my court shoes.

Yet, because of the work I’ve been doing, the only thing I felt before stepping onto the court was calm.

I fell into a flow during warmup. Then, when the match started, I focused on three things:

1. My breath

2. Our strategy

3. Giving Tanner positive energy 

And those three things carried me through those center-court matches and the big pressure moments throughout the tournament. 

Whether you’re playing a rec game or the biggest tournament of your life, I encourage you to focus on simple things before and during the match.

Just make sure one of the things is your breath.

You’ll be amazed at how much that can carry you as the pressure rises.

IN CLOSING

This was an amazing run.

It gave me confidence that I’m the type of player who can compete at the highest level. But more than anything, it made me hungry to experience more moments like this.  

Thank you for coming along for the ride.

This is just the beginning 🙂 

Until next week,
Kyle

PS: Stay tuned. I have a new YouTube video coming out on Sunday at 7 p.m. EST: “7 Reasons You Pop Up Dinks (and how to avoid them).”