What if it works out?

Coach Kyleen joins Coach Tony this week to share a video from TikTok Mima. Her message is simple. We spend plenty of time imagining how things could go wrong. Give the other possibility a little attention.

Tony and Kyleen tie it to pickleball. Many players decide it won't work before they even try. They tell themselves a story before they leave the house. Kyleen shares the question she now asks instead: what's the best that could happen? Tony explains why "don't miss" can backfire, and the two talk about a gold medal match where one player missed every serve and her team still won.

In the riff, Tony talks about 50+ coaching. Same game, same rules. But lived experience matters. Tony shares how he stays competitive against younger players with smarter play and better court positioning.

In this episode:
- TikTok Mima: What if it works out?
- The stories we tell ourselves before we play
- What's the best that could happen?
- Why "don't miss" works against you
- Every serve missed, gold medal won
- Pickleball is messy
- Why 50+ coaching matters
- Smarter play and court positioning

Join us on October 15, 2026, for the live Stacking Lab. Sign up here - https://www.tonyroigpickleball.com/offers/ofCAzfB3/checkout

Learn more about Your Pickleball Coach, the most comprehensive online pickleball coaching. Visit YourPickleball.coach

Interested in a Tony Roig Pickleball Camp experience? Check out https://www.tonyroigpickleball.com/camps

How deep does your pickleball knowledge go?

This week, Coach Tony Roig looks at the difference between Google knowledge and real knowledge. Google knowledge is surface-level. Real knowledge means understanding the why, so you can see how the pieces of the game fit together. Tony uses the forehand in the middle vs. Respect the X debate to show what that difference looks like on the court.

In the riff, Tony takes on information overload. Too many voices, so you can't hear any of them. He explains how to be more discerning about what you let in, and why trusting one source for now helps you build the knowledge to decide for yourself later.

In this episode:
- What Google knowledge is, and why it often comes up short
- Forehand in the middle vs. Respect the X
- Why it's always about the why
- The cost of letting everything in
- A Twilight Zone lesson in being discerning
- Long term: move toward real knowledge
- Short term: find a source you trust
- This week's challenge: cut one input

Read "The Myth of Forehand in the Middle": https://www.tonyroigpickleball.com/blog/pickleball-myth-forehand-in-the-middle

Free mini-courses, blogs, and other training opportunities: Click here to view the episode transcript.

In this special mailbag episode, Tony answers questions from the TRP community. How tightly should you hold your paddle? If the third shot drop isn't your priority yet, what is? How do you use partner play strategy when your partner changes every game?

As always, Tony gets into the why. Why a lighter grip gives you more power and protects your arm. Why a drop and a dink are the same shot. Why getting beat on the outside dink probably isn't where your points are going.

In this episode:
- Grip pressure and the 10-5-3 scale
- What to work on before the third shot drop
- Drop vs. dink: one shot or two?
- Partner play when your partner changes every game
- Forehand in the middle vs. Respect the X
- Where to stand when you serve
- Split step or keep moving through the transition zone?
- Getting beat on the outside dink
- Back braces and staying healthy
- Finding practice partners, local and virtual

Have a question for the next mailbag? Post it in the free TRP community: https://www.tonyroigpickleball.com/offers/s2u4oi6n/checkout

Read "The Myth of Forehand in the Middle": https://www.tonyroigpickleball.com/blog/pickleball-myth-forehand-in-the-middle

Tony's comments on back braces reflect his personal experience only. He is not a medical professional.

Sorry. Sorry. Sorry.

Carol, a member of our community, posted about a pattern in her weekend group. After almost every point, someone apologizes. She keeps telling them there are no sorries in pickleball. It isn't sinking in.

In this episode, Coach Tony invited Coach Kyleen from the TRP coaching team to join him in the conversation. Kyleen has lived the experience Carol conveyed. She started playing with a group of women who were all new to the game. Same level, same mistakes. They still apologized to each other. We see it at our camps too, especially on the first morning.

Mistakes are built into this sport. Your partner is going to make them. So are you. So are professionals. We talk about why the "sorry" habit sticks and a simple way for a group to break it together.

Then a harder question. Are you good enough to play with this group? Coach Tony shares the story of a player who, while traveling, approached a group of men, was asked her level, and was turned away. Tony talks about what he told her to say next time.

The bigger point is simple. Someone welcomed every one of us into this sport. If they hadn't, we wouldn't be playing.

Kyleen and Tony will be in Tampa this October for two camps, including a women's camp on October 22 and 23. If you're curious, book a call with Kyleen. She'll give you the facts, and you can decide if it's right for you: https://calendar.google.com/calendar/u/0/appointments/schedules/AcZssZ1kdoeYXFOcUDj4tGqrzJAXwC9bD5kZr4qWMhBWUn9KoHhTbVhWGRv0xwoCgij4L1wM_QV2QRV-

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Coach Tony Roig helps players understand the game instead of just collecting tips: strategy, the mental game, and the decisions that decide pickleball rallies.

🌐 Website: tonyroigpickleball.com

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A player I have known for years told me they did not think they could advance in the game. If that player believes it, others do too. So this week I want to be clear. There is no real limit on your growth as a pickleball player. Not age. Not ability. The only limit is your decision not to grow. What actually derails players is trying to do too many things at once. The fix is one thing at a time. Lock it in, let the positive feedback loop build, then move to the next one.

Second, a conversation from our Boston-area camp about expectations on the serve side. Because of the two-bounce rule, the serve team starts every rally at a positional disadvantage. When you go back to serve, you are more likely to lose the rally than win it. Not because you did anything wrong. Because that is how the sport is built. Set your expectations with that in mind.

Third, our Partner Play series starts at the end of September and we are collecting stories. Share up to three things a partner has done that rubbed you the wrong way. Post it in the comments, in the community, or email tony@tonyroigpickleball.com with "My Story" in the subject line. Improvement stories are welcome too.

Camps for 2026 and 2027: https://tonyroigpickleball.com/camps
Your Pickleball Coach: https://yourpickleball.coach

Pickleball Therapy: The Book is available on Amazon and Barnes & Noble.

Be well,
Tony

Doubles pickleball is a team sport just like football or basketball. Two players instead of 5 or 11, but the same dynamics apply: your team plays its best when both players are in sync.

You cannot control your partner. But you can communicate with them, and there's a constructive way to do that.

The second idea is sonder. Everyone on the court is walking their own path. Your partner included. That matters most in the small moments, like when someone apologizes after a miss. Tony explains why the "sorry" reflex tends to make the dynamic more uncomfortable, and what to say instead.

The through line is simple. How you treat your partner shapes how they play. How they play shapes how your team plays. Partner play is a skill, and it's one you can hone.

A ceramics instructor swapped a ball for a "priceless" vase and watched his class tense up. Nobody forgot how to catch. They just became afraid of what dropping it would mean.

That shift happens in pickleball too. Early on, the game is just fun. Then the expectations arrive, and the same missed shot that meant nothing now feels like a big deal. This week I talk about how expectations change how you interpret what happens on the court, and why setting them before you play protects the enjoyment that makes this sport worth coming back to.

In the Riff: improvement frustration. Working hard on the wrong thing (the third shot drop is a common example) can leave you wondering where the payoff is. I explain the block-by-block approach we use in Your Pickleball Coach, and why locking in one block before moving to the next builds a positive loop that lasts.

Your Pickleball Coach: https://yourpickleball.coach
If cost is an obstacle, email support@tonyroigpickleball.com and we will work with you.

There is a lot going on in a pickleball game. Four players, several rallies inside every rally, the lob, the dink, the banger, the volley you got jammed on. And underneath all of it, a conversation running in your head about the score, your partner, the wind, the shot you should have made.

That's all sound. No silence anywhere.

The week before a live coaching call, Tony visited an art exhibit called "Silence Before Sound." One room, roughly the size of a small house, held three pieces of art. That was intentional. They could have filled it, but filling it would have defeated the point.

Your brain works on the same principle. Give it three things to see, and it sees all three. Give it fifty-three, and it sees none of them.

In this episode, Tony connects negative space to the Tap Into Your Flow series inside the Tony Roig Pickleball project, shares what players reported after using The Blue Danube as an anchor, and offers a practice you can start before your next session. Not on the court. In the car, before you get out.

Learn more about Your Pickleball Coach at https://yourpickleball.coach