The self destruct line is not clickbait, I promise!😂

There’s a payoff waiting for you after you watch the video at the bottom! :)

Now let’s get to it!

Today’s edition has two parts: 

1. An Update on my Journey to Pro – It was the weekend of “almost.”

2. An Entertaining video – I partnered with a shoe insole company and made the most creative video I could think of to tell you about it.

{hint: stick around for the recycle bin explosion in the video. My favorite part.😂)

Without further ado, let’s dive into the 50th edition of the newsletter — powered by Selkirk! 

 An Update on my Journey to Pro 

It was the weekend of “almost.” 

We almost got a game off Collin Johns & Cierra Gayton Leach in an 11-8 11-8 loss. 

We almost upset Thomas Wilson & Leah Jansen after being up 11-6 in a game to 15.

We almost beat Wyatt Stone & Brandon French after being up 5-1 in a decisive third game.  And maybe the most gut wrenching of all…

We almost upset Julian Arnold & Hayden Patriquin after being up 12-8 in a game to 15. 

And while it was the weekend of almost — even more so — it was the weekend of…

Breakthrough. 

A realization that — I can play pro pickleball at the highest level. 

And before I go any further, if you’re not familiar with some of these players above I competed against at the PPA Newport last weekend, here’s their official world pickleball rankings. 

World Rankings (Mixed doubles)

Collin Johns - #30 

Thomas Wilson -  #11

Lea Jansen - #23

Cierra Gaytan - #39 

World Ranking (Men's Doubles)

Julian Arnold - #23

Hayden Patriquin - #26 

Wyatt Stone - #46 

Brandon French #57 

Yeah, they’re no joke. 

And here’s what I remind myself of often.

You work and work and work, especially when no one’s watching, so you can show up and surprise people when everyone is. 

More than anything, this weekend was a flash into our future potential. And I say “our” because my mixed partner Jennifer and men’s partner Michael were brilliant all weekend.

It felt like we poked our head through the ceiling to see where all the big kids play. To see that place we want to be but haven’t yet reached.

But I’ll tell ya what. While we may have lost, the progress we did make feels pretty damn good.

Speaking of progress, let’s talk 2 big questions that may have come to mind:

1. What changed in this tournament? And…

2. How did we lose 3 of 4 matches in nearly the same way? 

1. WHAT CHANGED? 

Two things: 

First…

Chemistry with my partners, no question about it. 

Jennifer and I have now played 6 or 7 tournaments together — so our comfort level together has skyrocketed, and it showed.

And Michael and I have been training for the last 3 months together — drilling, playing games, and talking for hours — obsessing over new ways to improve.  

And the second thing was…

My Mindset. 

6 months ago, I asked a two newer pros about breaking into the pro game. I asked about their mindset playing the top players.

What they said stuck with me. 

And excuse my French as I don’t curse often. But they said,

And when I woke up last weekend the morning of the tournament, I told myself,

Even though I know a lot of these pro players, and have looked up to them for a while — when I’m on the court with them…

Avoid small talk and lock in. 

These players aren’t my friends for the 20 - 30 minutes we’re on court. 

Fu** em. 

Yeah it’s a little aggressive but I’ll tell ya what.

It helped big time.

2. How did we lose those three or four matches in the exact same way? 

The scenario was: we were up with a chance to win, only to stumble and lose on a big run by them.

After reflection, I’ve got two thoughts on it.

1. If I’m being honest, deep down, maybe I wasn’t sure we could actually win. I may have been a bit surprised to be up against these great teams. That comes with being new to the territory. That changes now. 

    

2. We got tentative. After getting a lead, we played “not-to-lose” instead of stepping on the gas and competing to win. That changes now. 

In closing, yes…

…it was the weekend of “almost.”  

But more importantly, it was the weekend of progress.

A weekend to remember how far I’ve come.

A weekend to think back on my first pro match ever. An 11-0 11-0 loss to Jessie Irvine and Kyle Yates.

This was a weekend of greater confidence and deeper belief. A realization that:

“I’m coming for these guys, and I might just be a bit closer than I originally thought.

An Entertaining Video

For the last 5 years, I’ve obsessed over storytelling and creative advertising.

I’ve studied mesmerizing videos from apple, the brilliant ads from masterclass, and the masterful copywriting from Ogilvy.

It’s been a second passion of mine ever since my basketball days ended 6 years ago.

As many of you know, I’m full time in pickleball now. I compete at the pro level and create content on instagram, here, and on YouTube (officially launching very soon btw)

And with that comes the opportunity to partner with brands. Most recently, I partnered up with MOVE Insoles, as they’re expanding from being in the basketball space to also engaging with pickleball.

So because of my love for storytelling and creative advertising…

When we talked about me making a couple videos in partnership with them, I couldn’t just slap something together. I tried to get as creative as possible and show the insoles in a unique way.

Enjoy! 👇

The truth is, I really like these insoles and they give great foot support.

If you want to check them out, go to this link - super affordable and extremely comfortable — especially on those hard concrete surfaces we all play on when playing pickleball.

Until next time,

Kyle

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