Podcast
Pickleball Therapy
Hosted by Tony Roig · EN
The podcast dedicated to your pickleball improvement. We are here to help you achieve your pickleball goals, with a focus on the mental part of your game. Our mission is to share with you a positive and more healthy way of engaging with pickleball. Together let’s forge a stronger relationship with the sport we all love. With the added benefit of playing better pickleball too. No matter what you are trying to accomplish in your pickleball journey, Pickleball Therapy is here to encourage and support you.
42episodes
Episodes
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The Best from our Archives Part 8 - Stop Chasing Winners and 2023 Open Notes
6d ago00:18:45Tap to summarizeThanks for joining us on Pickleball Therapy - the podcast dedicated to your pickleball improvement. If you have not yet subscribed to the podcast ... wait what?? you haven't subscribed? ... you know what to do.If you can STOP chasing winners, you will win more. What??? Yes. When you chase winners, you make more mistakes. When you make more mistakes, you lose more points. Simple as that.Stick with the program: make less errors - and you will win more rallies (and games). One powerful way to do this is by going for less winners. Stop playing high risk pickleball and you will play better.If you like the podcast, please give it a rating. And share it with your friends. If you like it, they probably will too.Stay well,Tony
Transcribe →Ep. 301 - Play Copernican Pickleball
2w ago00:08:40Tap to summarizeThis week, Tony reads from Pickleball Therapy: The Book — specifically the opening of Part Four, "Our Place with Pickleball."The framing comes from Copernicus. For a long time, humans believed the Earth sat at the center of the universe. It made sense at the time. Then Copernicus came along and changed the picture.We do the same thing on the pickleball court. We put ourselves at the center of everything that happens out there. The miss? Must be my fault. The lost rally? I should have done something differently. Tony walks through a scenario most players will recognize: a short return of serve, an opponent who moves in and drives hard, a ball that ends up in the net. The instinct is to blame ourselves. But if you rewind the rally, the cause is usually somewhere else.
Transcribe →Ep. 300 - Is Your Mosquito Derailing You?
3w ago00:11:21Tap to summarizeEpisode 300. Hard to believe. What are the mosquitoes in your pickleball? Your opponent's shot that trickles over the net. The unlucky bounce. The gust of wind. The wrong call. The lead you watched slip away. Each one is just part of the game, and each one can derail you if you let it. If you can identify your mosquitoes before they show up, you'll be ready when they do. And the better you get at it on the pickleball court, the better you get at it in life.Show Notes: https://betterpickleball.com/300-is-your-mosquito-derailing-you
Transcribe →Ep. 299 - It's YOUR Journey PLUS Avoid Distraction
4w ago00:20:45Tap to summarizeIn this episode, I explore two important ideas that can help you build a healthier and more productive relationship with pickleball. The first is why your pickleball journey belongs to you and how recognizing your own agency can help you navigate challenges, setbacks, and social dynamics on the court. Then we examine why so many players get distracted by so-called "magic bullets" and why lasting improvement comes from focusing on fundamentals rather than shortcuts. Show Notes: https://betterpickleball.com/299-its-your-journey-plus-avoid-distraction
Transcribe →Ep. 298 - Focus Your "I Care" Beam
Jun 500:19:48Tap to summarizeLet's explore this mental performance concept I call the “I Care Beam”—the idea that the significance we assign to pickleball experiences is entirely within our control. By consciously focusing our attention on the aspects of the game that bring us joy, growth, friendship, and health, we can reduce the emotional weight of mistakes and losses. Listen to the full episode for a fresh way to engage with pickleball and protect your enjoyment of the sport. Show Notes: https://betterpickleball.com/298-focus-your-i-care-beam
Transcribe →Special Episode - Pickleball Growth with The Real Housewives of Pickleball
Jun 200:47:46Tap to summarizeIn this special episode, Tony sits down with Neely Sullivan and Natasha Linton, the co-hosts of the Real Housewives of Pickleball podcast, for a conversation on how they each came to pickleball, what Neely and Natasha took away from their recent interview with Anna Bright (especially her use of the word "conscious"), and why focusing on one or two things per rec session is more useful than trying to fix everything at once. Listen in for these and more on peaks and valleys, and Tony's reframe of what a "valley" really is.Show Notes: https://betterpickleball.com/1540-special-episode-pickleball-growth-with-the-real-housewives-of-pickleball
Transcribe →Ep. 297 - Your Body : Your Pickleball
May 2900:17:43Tap to summarizeThe better your body feels, the better you play. And the better you live. In this episode we discuss the idea of nutritious movement (the same way you need a variety of foods, you need a variety of ways your body moves and loads), and why walking outside does more for you than almost anything else you can do. Rediscover movement patterns you may have lost because there is no shame in needing to relearn how to jump, or walk, or anything else your body used to do without thinking. Show Notes: https://betterpickleball.com/297-your-body-your-pickleball/
Transcribe →Special Episode - Rallying at the Rally House with Nick Dawson
May 2600:10:04Tap to summarizeIn this special episode, I sit down with Nick Dawson at Rally House in Carlsbad, California, to talk about the other side of the house. The side most of us never see. You will hear how Nick went from a backyard court during Covid to an 11-court club, why the permitting took 11 months and not the 5 he expected, and what it actually takes to turn an empty warehouse into a place a community calls home. Show Notes: https://betterpickleball.com/1539-special-episode-rallying-at-the-rally-house-with-nick-dawson/
Transcribe →Ep. 296 - Avoiding Mental Limiters
May 2200:14:16Tap to summarizeIn this episode, Tony breaks down the kinds of mental noise that quietly wreck your play: a disputed score, an out call you cannot let go of, a missed shot that follows you into the next rally, and the low-grade pressure you put on yourself just to play well. None of it has anything to do with your stroke, but all of it shows up in your strokes. Free up the bandwidth. Use it on pickleball.Show Notes: https://betterpickleball.com/296-avoiding-mental-limiters
Transcribe →Ep. 295 - Measure Better - Gauging Your Play the Right Way
May 1500:12:50Tap to summarizeA healthier and more productive way to measure progress on the pickleball court is to evaluate growth through points earned, rallies extended, and resilience shown under pressure. If you’ve ever felt discouraged by results that don’t reflect your effort or improvement, this episode offers a mindset shift that can transform how you approach your development as a player. Show Notes: https://betterpickleball.com/295-measure-better-gauging-your-play-the-right-way
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