3 realizations. 2 Cool Videos, and 1 Medal | Week 16

From never playing to pro pickleball in 12 months. That’s the mission I’m on and the story I’m living.

Here’s a timeline update. It’s been 6 months, and I’m still going strong.

After this weekends tournament at the PPA Austin open, I have 3 realizations to share, 2 videos for you to watch, and 1 story around the silver medal I won.

Let’s start with the three realizations:

1. I can do this.

When I look back over the last 3 months (since starting tournaments), I’ve actually had a ton of success, even though it doesn’t always feel like it.

 

Over the last few days, I’ve sat back and reflected on some really cool accomplishments.

It reminded me, I’m right where I’m supposed to be in this whole process. And if I continue to train well, have fun, and ask smart questions to those better than me — I’ll have a chance to become a pro in the next 6 months.

A little self belief can go a long way, for you and for me.

We got this!

2. Go up and talk to people. You never know where it’ll lead.

Throughout the weekend, My playing partner, Shea and I filmed content when we weren’t on-court playing. And by doing that, we met over 75 people. From the number one player in the womens game to the owner of major league pickleball, we had some cool conversations.

One woman we met, Lee Whitwell (seen below), who’s a legend in the game, invited us, to what essentially is, the Major League Pickleball headquarters.

In another edition, I’ll talk about how theres currently three professional leagues in pickleball. But for now, just know this. Major league pickleball is one of them, and the guy below in the blue shirt, Steve Kuhn, is one of the owners!

 

This experience was a bit surreal. We talked with Steve about the future of pickleball. We filmed some content with Lee, laughed a lot, and learned more about the game from her.

After those conversations ended, we got to play with some of the top womens players in the game. (Seen below). They’re incredible, and it was a quick glance into how good the players really are at the pro level.

The learning though, is Shea and I don’t end up at these cool places without walking up and talking to new people.

So remember that. Be courageous, walk up to people, and start a conversation. You never know where it may lead.

 

3. This is just the beginning for pickleball

Pickleball is picking up steam. After talking to some influential people in the sport this weekend, it was cool to hear where many believe the sport is headed.

Up and to the right.

So if you haven’t played this incredible sport yet and you’re reading this newsletter, get out and play. Trust me, you will have fun the first time out. I wrote about why in this article.

And now for the two cool fun videos.

One idea we had was to ask 50 people, “Why they like pickleball, in one sentence or less.” So I asked the number women’s player in the world, who just so happens to play doubles with her mom. How awesome is that?

Here’s the video.

I interviewed one of the top pickleball women doubles teams in the world. It's a mother daughter duo. Pretty Cool. 👇 pic.twitter.com/TfHVtQWFmb

— KYLE | ThatPickleballGuy (@KyleKoszuta) March 31, 2022

The next idea we had involved a ping pong table in the park. See, a lot of people say, Pickleball is like playing ping pong, except you’re standing on the table. So when we saw the table, we knew what we had to do!

People say pickleball is like playing table tennis, but you're standing on a table. pic.twitter.com/9C0z5rhSyM

— KYLE | ThatPickleballGuy (@KyleKoszuta) March 31, 2022

The story behind the 1 medal.

Honestly, this surprised me. I’d never entered a tournament at a 5.0 level, which is one level below pro. And when I talked to Shea about playing this tournament, we said, “screw it, let’s do it.”

Then we found ourselves on center court in the gold medal match in one of the hotbeds of pickleball. This moment was surreal. We lost the match, but gained a ton of confidence.

 

 

It was a validating of all the hard work I’ve invested into improving. It was like a sign to myself, that (like I mentioned above), I can do this.

And while this journey has been pretty incredible, it’s just getting started.

Until next time,

Kyle