Unspoken Rules

Be the doubles partner everyone wants...

Author

Shea Underwood
August 22, 2025

Week 57

Welcome back to the Road to Pro Newsletter! Just by opening this issue, you are now automatically eligible for this week’s paddle giveaway. Last week’s winner was Jason from South Carolina!

Here’s what I’ve got for you this week:

  • Quick tips for becoming a better doubles partner

  • An easy way to strengthen your mental game

If you’re reading this, you now have a chance to win this week’s paddle giveaway!

Now, let's get to it!

Big shoutout to Selkirk for sponsoring this newsletter and making all the paddle giveaways I do possible!

I personally have been using a Selkirk paddle for over five years now, and they just released an incredible new paddle called the Boomstick. Trust me…it lives up to its name. It’s the most powerful paddle I’ve ever played with, and it comes out of the case perfect and ready to play, which means there’s no break-in period. The core is built to last an incredibly long time, there are weights on the sides that keep it perfectly balanced, AND it comes with the new InfiniGrit surface which gives you longer-lasting spin.

You can get it on Selkirk’s website here and use my code INF-SHEA for a gift card on a future purchase.

Be an Active Partner

Many players act as if the point doesn’t really start until the ball comes their way. But if you want to be a great partner, you can’t think like that. What you do when you’re not hitting the ball often makes the difference between setting your partner up for success or making their job a lot harder, specifically on the return.

Your role starts the moment your opponent serves. You should already be up at the kitchen line, and be sure to keep your eyes glued to the ball at all times. Watch the serve and watch your partner’s return. If you’re paying attention, you can and should call out balls when you see them, so that your partner doesn’t have to question whether the serve was in or out and get distracted. You should also observe what kind of return your partner hits. It will give you clues about what kind of third shot your opponents may hit, which means you can get into position and better prepare for the next shot.

Another thing to be aware of is to make sure you’re not blocking your partner’s view of the serve. I often see players who aren’t receiving the ball stand right on top of the middle line, usually as a means of distracting their opponent. But really, if you’re crowding the middle line, you’re most likely blocking your partner’s line of sight, so they won’t see where the serve is coming from. It makes their return unnecessarily difficult. So instead, just slide over closer to your sideline so that you’re completely out of the way.

These things might sound inconsequential, but becoming aware of small things like this can make a big difference in your value as a partner on the court.

Lock In

Focus is one of the most important skills in pickleball, but also one of the hardest to train. If you don’t have a big background in sports, then you probably find it easy to lose concentration in your game and get distracted. Once your mental game slips, everything else tends to fall apart.

So, here’s a drill to sharpen your mental strength, as well as your reflexes on the court.

What to do: Grab one other person and stand across from each other at the kitchen line. Each of you starts with a ball in hand and feeds it to the other person at the same time. The goal is to keep both balls in play by dinking back and forth.

It sounds simple, but it’s surprisingly tough because you have to stay very locked in the entire time. You literally can’t focus on anything else but hitting the ball, because the second you get distracted, you’ve missed a shot. If either of you lets a ball go at any time, stop the rally and start over with both pickleballs going at the same time.

The more you train your mental game, the easier it will become, and you’ll be a much better athlete for it.

Discounts for You