Who always has a date on Valentine's Day?

A calendar.

Alright now that we’ve all had a good laugh, here are the topics for today’s newsletter:

• Austin’s first indoor Pickleball facility

• shoe testing: Selkirk, FitVille, Montis

• new paddles to try: Neonic Flow, Honolulu Pickleball Company, Six Zero Infinity Black Diamond

• content updates

• next vlog

• life thought

• song recommendation

• business

The first ever indoor Pickleball facility opened up in Austin, Eastside Paddle Club (website). Up until now, I never had a membership or really had to pay to play (with the exception of traveling to facilities in other states), I just loved the idea of outdoor public park spaces as that’s how I came up in the sport. Everything just felt organic. You met people in the neighborhood, ran into friends who you didn’t know played, and it just happened naturally. But with everything, it has its limitations. While I love the outdoor light and weather conditions, they can also inhibit you from playing, especially if you’re in Austin. There’s also the convenience of always having somewhere to play, with a bathroom, balls, events, court reservations, a place to practice, a place to meet other committed and competitive individuals. With that being said, I just got back from playing outdoors for the first time in weeks, the ball moves significantly slower, haha. I’ll release a video of the spot soon.

With the first of anything comes a lot of novelty, excitement, but also expectations. I remember when the renderings first came out on this place everyone joked on it because they had tennis courts in the 3D renderings. They opened early, before they had an idea of incorporating things you’d expect from a facility. As the owners are newer to Pickleball, like many others, they weren’t sure what regulars were expecting. And I think because they decided to open up early (mostly due to demand), it worked in their favor as they could take in the feedback from the community, which the Pickleball community has no issues holding back on. It’s a work in progress, which seems to be on brand with vibe of Austin these days.

All in all, it’s been worth it. It’s become a place that has brought people from multiple parks and facilities to one area, people I hadn’t seen in a long time and people I’d heard of but never met. I’m excited to see what they continue to do with the space and how they grow. If you haven’t already noticed, I’m big on aesthetics and quality (but don’t look back on my early videos 😬) and you can tell their team prioritizes it. It’s been tons of fun and if you’re ever in Austin and want to check it out, just DM me on Instagram.

SHOES

A few weeks ago I uploaded a photo of Selkirk shoes to my Instagram (@buildingpickleball), for those who had seen it, that was a mistake, I completely overlooked and had forgotten they were 1. prototypes and 2. not supposed to be posted. I was sent a 2nd different pair (which I can’t post images of) and these are much better. I’ll save the details for when I get the green light. If they eventually release them to the public and you have questions about them, feel free to reach out.

NEW PADDLES

I was sent some new paddles from Neonic (Instagram) - Flow, Honolulu Pickleball Company (Instagram), and the Six Zero Infinity Black Diamond (Instagram). If you know me, you know I’d been using the BreadNButter Filth for like 7 months? It’s a combination of the pop, control, elongated shape, and minimal design. When I got the Infinity BD I was hesitant. I never quite understood the DBD so I wasn’t sure how much more different this one would be. I haven’t gotten a good chance to test the first 2 paddles because as soon as I got the Six Zero Infinity Black Diamond, I felt it was a natural transition and upgrade from the Filth. I think the sweet spot for the power can definitely be unexpected when you hit it. The swing weight feels great. I didn’t add tape to the lower corner until recently. Excited to continue playing with it.

CONTENT UPDATES

Choking in sports, the Ecological Approach, podcast with Jack Munro.

It’s been a busy past couple months with the content. More so researching than the editing. I finally got around to uploading the video on ‘reinvestment’ aka ‘choking’ in sports (link down below).

And then the one I’ve been waiting for, the introduction of the Ecological Approach and why I don’t drill anymore, I don’t do static warm-ups in practices I control, what practices can look like, and overall don’t believe in isolated ‘drilling’ (link down below). This entire series is going to be really interesting and exciting but with it comes a lot of research and experimentation on my end. I think the next step is to release videos regarding practice, however, the difficulty now is experimenting with and understanding the ‘transfer of training’ or ‘training transfer’. Basically, to what degree is what we’re practicing out of competition have an effect on competition and is it positive or negative. This goes back to what I pointed out in the video, are we being busy or productive? How do we measure this? How do we know if what we’re doing is truly effective? Not all training transfers equally.

It’s been a while since a new podcast episode has been released and I was really happy with how the one with Jack Munro turned out. Probably one of my favorite in-person conversations. I’ve finally dialed in the studio setup and lighting as well. One issue with a part of this video, I had a brief (10 min) part where the camera that was pointed on Jack went out so I just laid his practice footage on top. Just want to give you a heads up and apologize for the mistake. Thanks again for everyone understanding and riding with me in this journey of improving the experience.

• Choking in sports(here)

• Introduction of the Ecological Approach and application to Pickleball (here)

• The story of the youngest pro Pickleball player Jack Munro (here)

NEXT VLOG

My next vlog will be of a product release event coming up in March. I can’t disclose any details just yet but I’m really excited for this one and can’t wait to share it.

THOUGHTS

People always talk about how you shouldn’t be afraid to say no.

I think it’s just as important to not be afraid to receive ‘no’ either. Embrace the situations and circumstances where rejection is possible. Do not turn your back on it. Many of the greatest opportunities will always have this door in front of you that can be slammed on you. But there’s always a chance one of those doors will instead open up for you.

SONG RECOMMENDATION

BUSINESS

Need help with content creation? Maybe it’s product photography, video, user-generated content, whitelisting ads, or social media strategy? I recently took photos for Pickleball Effect’s grips and tungsten tape and working on a whitelisting ad for Vuori. Curious? Reach out at [email protected]

if you’ve made it to the end, thank you.

brian