The chalk results from the week in California demonstrate one big thing - the key to being good, to being the best, to having staying power at the top of anything, is consistency. This is true at both a macro and micro scale. After Hayden and I’s huge win in Mesa, the pickleball world was ablaze - talking about us, Hayden in particular, as if we were the second coming. And coming, we are, but it will take time for us to approach the unbelievable level of consistency that Ben and Anna Leigh bring week in and week out.
If you want an inside look at my week (there was a LOT going on), check out my vlog from PPA Newport!!! I had a lot more anxiety than is normal for me this week and may or may not have broken down…
What separates you from the people just a bit better than you?
I think a lot in terms of floor versus ceiling (Erik Lange pointed this out to me LOL), and I think everyone tends to place too much importance on the ceiling. Most of us will have a truly average day and think we were poor, which is a phenomenon I find funny.
As it relates to pickleball, I think a great question to regularly ask yourself is “what separates me from the people/teams that are just a bit better than me?” There’s no point comparing yourself to people an entire DUPR point better than you - in that case the answer would typically be “everything”. Like if you compared yourself to me!
When I ask myself this question, there’s not many people that I view as better than me, but as it relates to Ben and Anna Leigh, it’s two things: they are more consistent, and they have more variety - more ways to win matches at their disposal. They’re also just so much more battle-tested as a team than Hayden and I are. I bet my answers are not much different from yours.
My advice to you would be to decide what improvement phase you’re in as a player. Do you honestly need to improve your floor (work on being more consistent and countering), or do you need to add to your ceiling? Ceiling developments applies when you feel you’re as consistent as the people you play with, but just aren’t creating pressure or advantages often enough. That’s when adding to your bag might be more worth your time. Most people though, IMO, should be focusing on floor development, even if it’s more boring.
The best teams in pickle are REALLY good right now
This is good for those of us at the top (effectively Ben, AL, Gabe, and myself), and tough for the rest of the field. The contenders are currently tasked with chasing after teams that one could argue are doing everything in their power to catapult themselves further and further ahead of the field. Ben/AL as a team have probably looked the most vulnerable this year, but their record is still insane, and it’s on Hayden and I to rebound after Newport, and we still have absolutely no shortage of work to do to separate ourselves from everyone else.
If you had to guess who would lose first between Ben/Gabe and AL/I, who would you choose? It’s an interesting question. As we’ve said in some recent interviews, Anna Leigh and I are kind of starting to be a well-oiled machine, especially with our commitment to me playing a lot of right side. We are starting to move together super well which is creating new openings and opportunities for us that didn’t exist at the start of our partnership. It’s a really fun thing to be a part of.
I haven’t watched much of Ben/Gabe this year, but they also seem to be in a class of their own. Hayden/Christian look like the team with the best chance of beating them, but even so, one has to wonder if it could ever be done as more than a one-off. It feels like they continue to have chances but fail to capitalize. I wonder if Federico was actually a better partner for Hayden when it comes to challenging the goats. On Hayden’s right, Federico completely embodied the mindset of “let Hayden cook”, which as one of his partners I am a big believer in. Christian is far more creative and I would consider him to be a “better” right-side player, but I wonder if he is a better fit for H?
Other stars of the weekend
There are a few more performances from the week that simply can’t go undiscussed. One of which is of course Len Yang and Collin Johns’ (COLLIN IN A SEMI🚨) semifinal run in men’s doubles. Len doing this in only his second PPA tournament is insanely impressive, and honestly, I was impressed with Collin as well. Consistency is key (has any phrase better described Collin’s playing philosophy?)! The emotion these two shared after beating JW and CJ was super cute, and I’ll be curious if they can replicate this performance in the future. Len’s game is super unique and was largely modeled after Ben’s, so him and Collin finding success does make sense. We love a shakeup! (As long as it doesn’t impact me, of course!!!).
The other stars of the weekend are Tina Pisnik and Eric Oncins. I joked on my social media that I only lost to them on Friday because I didn’t want to play mixed on international women’s day (good one by me if I do say so myself), but they truly had an unbelievable week. They earned a silver🥈 in mixed and Tina also won bronze🥉 in women’s with Lacy while Eric gave Hayden/Christian all they could handle alongside Dylan. They are both currently playing at a really high level and are doing some interesting things very well.
Stay tuned for a YouTube video I will be doing soon breaking down their play and what you can learn from it - I want to highlight Tina in particular as I think what she does at her age is sooo impressive. Make sure to subscribe to my YouTube channel if you want to stay fully up to date with all the things going on in my ecosystem (:
That’s all for this edition folks, I’ll see everyone in Texas!!!
Dink big, dream bigger! Your internet bestie, Anna xoxo🫦♥️