“You’ll have fun!” “You’ll meet people!” “You’ll compete again!” All of those things are true about pickleball. But you also will get your heart broken. If you play long enough, it is inevitable. I’m a clinical psychologist and a competitive doubles player, and after years of playing this sport and studying relationships, I’ve come to […]
You and your partner have goals. Of course you do. Win the bracket. Hit 4.0 by fall. Don’t lose to those two again. Maybe you’ve never said them out loud, but they’re there, humming under every game you play together. Here’s what the best competitors in every sport already know: Outcome goals don’t drive performance […]
Everybody is looking for a partner. Maybe you’re between partners right now, rotating through open play, trying people out. Maybe you’ve got a tournament coming and a decision to make. So you run the checklist we all run: Similar (or higher) skill level, compatible style, available when you are, wants to compete as much as […]
You’ve felt it both ways. Some partners you click with by the second game — covering for each other, calling the middle, laughing off the misses. Others, you spend the whole session a half-step out of sync and can’t explain why. We tend to chalk it up to luck — we just have chemistry, or […]
