Think what you’re doing with the post match analysis is great. Being able to have a spectators view and then able to find things to work on. Definition of an athlete that lives their craft.
I don't think anybody doubts your skill, talent, or athleticism, Christian. You made it to the finals which is better than anyone else did in men's singles (besides Ben). And there were some really strong players in the draw. Getting to the finals and getting a Silver is super impressive. You've beaten Ben before, I have no doubt you'll do it again.
Ben was just on fire and made very few mistakes. Think you were pressured into taking high risk shots that you normally make but you missed. Congrats on second. First championship Sunday. You have a lot to be proud of.
well done Christian! it takes guts to review a tough loss like this and show yourself processing it in front of your audience. I respect that a lot. I think the mental aspect was the difference as your game, skills and athleticism are far better than what you showed on this match. Ben also put on one of his finest performances that I've seen which is a testament that he not only prepared for you but also that he had the motivation to beat you since you are one of the few guys that have beaten him in singles. Congratulations on getting silver and also doing the post-match psycho-emotional work, you will win gold soon no doubt !!!
You already know what you need to do. Ben’s strength is his mental approach to the game. He is able to stay calm & relaxed in the moments of the game, which sharpen your instinct & anticipation. With a mental outlook free of anxiety you can manipulate space/time. The balls coming won’t startle you. Your in (self) control. Things move at the pace of your perception. Stop putting too much unnecessary pressure on yourself. Don’t over-complete, don’t worry about the score, don’t worry about winning or losing, don’t worry about the ability of your opponent. Just breathe and be in the moment. The breathe is the key to playing loose, free, and efficient. You made some great shots & defensive stands in that game. You have everything needed to beat John already. Shrug the loss off, and move forward in gratitude that only one person could beat you that day. Go forth without doubt and unleash greatness. Looking forward to seeing you become champion.
This was one of many finals that you are going to be in and a bunch of them are going to have a different result. :) Great post-match analysis - you're really showing how to deconstruct one's play (and prep) with the intent of improving it. Glad I came across your channel, can't wait to see what the future holds for you!
To your point, Ben had 3 matches (none back to back) to warm up. You learned a bunch this past weekend. Find some partners in doubles to help you make it to Sunday and things might turn out differently next time you make it to a singles final. Also, you are absolutely correct that Ben has unbelievable instincts and anticipation. His cross court misdirected winners are unmatched by anyone else. However, there's lots of reasons he's #1.
Here’s some free unsolicited pointers to extract more tennis out of your game and make it more pickleball specific. 1/ Make your strokes more compact - focus on follow through and minimum backswing all the while staying more square to the net or the location of the ball 2/ Contact the ball more often then not underneath it, striking it in front of you and playing through the ball (i.e., not around, under, across: very direct striking, with emphasis less on spin though it is present but more on direction - determined by follow through - and good contact with the ball 3/ No matter what happens, hit the ball in front of you, never let it get past you 4/ Stay loose, avoid muscle tension for power and make your strokes more effortless, with power being only an effect of swing speed. This will help you stay clear, react faster, and last longer 5/ Watch and emulate Ben, from strokes mechanics to energy/mental/emotional management… Once you have your mechanics and movement figured out, then it’s how you can get yourself in the zone and stay in it, if only for the key moments. Good luck and don’t give up.
Something I think it’s good to be reminded of is that no matter how good you are sometimes you just have a bad day. It happens to the best of us and that’s one of the hardest things to realize but just sometimes through no fault of your own it’s just not your day. I think it was pretty clear in this game that you were just out of your comfort zone. You play a very athletic explosive game which is hugely reliant on timing and when things are just feeling a bit odd and your timing is just a little off it’s really hard to recover. Like what you say about your serves, they were always going too short or too long. Just viewing that from the last time you played Ben when you were putting the serve within six inches of the back line every single serve. I think that goes for a lot of your volleys too. So many right ideas that just hit the tape. I personally think that’s honestly just the fact that your preparation was so thrown off by the different schedule and no warmup and it just being your first Sunday. Props to you man for going out there and trying and playing with heart.
Christian -- thanks for the doing the analysis! Its tough to allow all of us to see you not having your best day and being vulnerable to this situation living through the match again. Chin high young man. You're a wonderful pickleball player and coming into your own. I can see you're well on your way to being great! EVERYONE has an off day where it doesn't it look like yourself playing. You're learning from it. His anticipation is the top in the game -- by a long way. As you stated, he is not more athletic than you are. He did not make mistakes and was on the offensive virtually every point of the match so you were having to defend and didn't get into the flow of your offense. BTW, I am certainly no expert so take this with a grain of salt -- on that cross court forehand he, he is hitting the ball far more steep than a typical forehand and he's also hitting that ball almost b/w 2 and 3 o'clock rather than 5 or 6 o'clock which produces that every heavy topspin that dives hard. Seriously -- great job and great job looking to be the best you can be!
He got angles on you quick, bro! "Give an inch and he'll take a mile" comes to mind when I watch BJ, if he's in position he'll instantly get you out of position, even a stud athlete such as yourself. That's what's cool about the sport, guys like Ben who have extremely analytical minds can dismantle opponents who may even have the athletic edge. I think it's his mind, preparation and years of experience that make him the total package. Keep grinding man!
Christian already BEAT Ben bro - WTF R U TALKIN ABOUT ….. Christian had some opportunities - Christian already said that he didn’t perform at his higher level - Ur comments make it seem like Ben can’t be beat - Christian already beat him … Cmon my man
All you can do is continue to learn. Gaining the experience is so crucial. You are putting in the hours now and it will pay off in the future. First time to Championship Sunday and it wont be your last. Ben has a couple more years if experience with this and knows what works for him. Keep it up, and keep working on tht mental side of things! Its inspiring to see you though this journey
Hey Christian, I think overall you have everything to win a gold medal, I have watched all of your games of that tournament and something that I kinda noticed was that your rhythm feeds off your opponent if that makes sense to you, what I mean I guess is that you might wanna work more on imposing your game and pace. I heard you are working on your soft game and on a lot of plays it is very effective but I think some of your volleys are not quite clean and aggressive when they need to be. But you are definitely on the right path of becoming one of the best, keep up the hard work!!
appreciate your insight...as someone struggling to go from 3.0 to 3.5, it feels the same. I got second in a tourney, and then 2 weeks later didnt win a single game. felt like i had never played. i like the ideas of telling them your weakness so you can get better...great feedback.
Your my favorite player on the tour. I too play with the Warrior Edge. Ben Johns was making a point against you. He knows you are a threat to beating him more often. My one suggestion against him is to play more unpredictable patterns. Obviously deep serve and return. But then go behind him more. Hit a second shot back at him instead of the open court. Just be purposely unpredictable. Develop your backhand more.
In life, we learn from our mistake and get better. Or, stay in the rut. You are on the right track. Ben holds/pauses the paddle during the swing better/differently than anyone. Thanks for the analysis.
I enjoy watching your breakdown of your video's. I love playing singls. Your analysis of when Ben John's hit that ridiculous cross court shot off of your cross court shot was correct. His wrist is more rigid. I use to drop my paddle head down thinking I would generate more topsin but my shots were not as consistent. I changed my wrist position to be more rigid and my shots became incredibly more consistent, I had more control hitting balls down the line and crosscourt and my topspin is ridiculous.
The cross court forehand looks closer to a table tennis shot than a tennis shot. Doesn't drop the paddle head and follows through straight up and over the head instead of across the body.
what i see is no winners and lots of unforced errors. looks like you were trying to keep up, not like you were in control. great video. thanks and good luck on the court.
Alshon..always a huge fan...thank for sharing...tough to swallow, but as you know you got to lose to win. If you are not losing, you are not growing. Seattle will be the Alshon show!
Go back and watch how you beat him the last time. You mentioned it in the 1st part of the video; you ARE more athletic (No disrespect Ben), but you are! From the first match you were hitting more up the line shots and scoring. Also, as mentioned, stop running around your back hand and drive that up the line as well (extremely effective). Running around it puts you way out of position from center court. You are also right in that to beat Ben consistently you need to take as many balls out of the air as possible. This creates accelerated pace and requires GREAT athleticism to reset. Love your passion and commitment.......really enjoy you matches!
In addition to warming up...think about playing some games before a match (at least 2 maybe more). Gets the nerves out and gets your mind thinking PB strategy. 5:08 'good return' WTF if you think a return just over the kitchen is good return, this is why you lose. Then you hit 3 volleys right back at him like you are warming up. On the forehand cross court just rotate your hips faster, so you are pointing left or try chipping it with back spin. I got injured so all I could do is watch pickleball for days and days. I learned allot about strategy, also of course get a ball machine 500 balls in the morning, 400 balls in the evening...:).
Thanks for sharing. I play 3.5-4.0 level singles and had this same thing happen the other day. Lost 11-0, 11-1, 11-4 to someone who I normally beat. I just couldn’t put anything together. We move on and learn!!
First thing Ben was really on so you were going to have to play flawless to win. Things I think that can help since you asked: 1. You were hitting your shots very short, which is allowing him to always have a ball to attack or have a better angle. It’s just like how they tell us serve long and return deep. You didn’t do a great job of hitting deep balls or angles and you definitely were tight and not loose from sitting for so long. Your energy was also very low you weren’t always ready for Ben to return his shots you kind of expected shots to not come back for some reason and they definitely were because you hit them either really high a lot and you hit a ton into the net. I’m a fan. Keep fighting
I just got into pickleball but I do have experience in needing to be in zone or focused when performing. From what it sounds like it may be beneficial to create different routines of varying lengths to get locked into games. Something that involves warming-up but also something outside of the game itself like going on a run, reading a book, listening to music. The mental game is a whole other beast when it comes to performing.
You have nothing to be ashamed about, youre young and taking on the GOAT. At your level its all about not making mistakes, and he really let you beat yourself on so many unforced errors due to nerves, and inexperience. You will learn and you will be better. Ben is the Tom Brady of Pickleball dude. Hang in there, keep doing what youre doing.
Tough one man…appreciate you reviewing this. It looked like Ben was fired up from the last match you beat him. It does look like you need to develop some more offense from your backhand side. I think if you did that you’d be unstoppable, just my opinion. Keep up the work man, our toughest losses improve is the most!
Christian, don't be quite so hard on yourself. Look at the amount of time some of the pro players that you play have been playing the game compared to the amount of time that it's taking you to rise to where you are right now. You will get to where you want to get to, just have to understand it'll take a little bit more time and work which you are putting in of course. My only thought on the Ben forehand shot is that he's breaking his wrist holding it firm and hitting the outside of the pickleball almost like a ping pong-esque type shot. As a college tennis coach at the NCAA DIII level, I understand the principles of turning your body and hitting behind the ball squarely and changing the direction of the ball, but I also understand a little bit of a snapped wrist and hitting the right outside part of the ball to add extra angle and sometimes be incredibly deceiving for people to see.
He probably started with him and probably his brother analyzing video of you and looking for strengths and weakness, and your pattern play, and your tells. Then devised the plan to beat you. He also pushes you to the limit of your reach, you are oftenly having to take a big step and reach for a shot. He also shows up with a couple new shots each tournament that we haven't seen before. Sometimes you see him keep winning and he becomes stagnant in his creativity and he will lose a match. After he loses a match he shows up to the next tournament at a higher level to dominate again. His footwork is also different. He also uses a lot of small steps compared to big steps. It's interesting to see him at the net and he does like a crab walk sideways with a lot of steps. His feet are almost always planted keeping him in balance.
I wonder if that small-step footwork is partly to avoid telegraphing his intentions. It would make sense given how attentive he is to footwork to predict returns.
Respect for doing it on this loss as well and thanks for putting this out there. I'd love to see more though. I'd watch a video that's much longer and be much more engaged if you paused and replayed parts to analyze more deeply but instead it feels like you analysis is usually cut short because you let the video keep playing. I see you have a pencil but don't see you using it much so I'm guessing you're doing your deeper analysis off cam, maybe show a bit more of that? But I understand if you don't want to reveal too much of your plans. - Whenever your analyses starts getting deeper and you say more, it ends up being you talking over the next point and the commentators since you're talking for longer without pausing, I think it would be much better if you paused the video so you have more time to analyze more deeply because that's the most important part for both of us I think. I came to hear those nuggets but it's distracting with the next point happening and commentators talking. - Rewind / replay critical shots / sequences more. You did this a few times and it was great to see you dissecting a critical moment more, that's what I try to do a lot when I watch tape to learn and it's been so helpful, but I want to see what a pro sees and what I don't. I'm assuming you are on mobile / a tablet, but if on a computer watching on youtube you can also pause and press < or > to move one frame at a time which is pretty awesome to get the closest look at something small, but on mobile or tablet at least you could slow motion some times like: pause, discuss, rewind + slow motion, pause briefly for final thoughts on that, then proceed. Some specific examples where I'd love to see more: - 7:17 you are reflecting on a previous point mistake and you say you think it was just the footwork, it would have been great to see you show that footwork in slow motion and point out specifically what could have been better about it - 8:21 you say "missing a return out of a time out, like.. what is that? At the moment I felt relaxed." But then since the video keeps playing it seems like you often don't finish thoughts and analysis. If it's just a one-off random mistake that doesn't warrant more then ok, but if not, I'd love to hear you work through this thought more and I'm sure it would help you. Pause and expand on what it could be and how you plan to try to reduce the chance from it happening again. It would be awesome to hear some of your thoughts about the mental game here - 9:17 "See there I popped the drive up." Why? footwork, stance, swing form, yips, did you change your mind mid swing? You then start analyzing what happened after that but cut yourself off as soon as the announcer started talking, I didn't come here for the announce, I'm here to hear you! - 11:25 you discuss Ben's sick cross court forehand grip (cross court cupping? outside in? looper? idk what it's called) but it would have been much more helpful when you talk about it if you either went back and slow motioned it then paused it to point out what made it good, or take 2 steps back from the camera and stand up and use a paddle to show it. Instead of learning from what you're saying here I had to rewind and slow motion the shot - 13:47 "How is he ready for that?" I would excitedly watch you replay this 5x in a row and use slow motion if I knew you were going to dive into trying to find that out. I can tell you from going frame by frame on it he does a perfectly timed split step and at the moment of contact is when he commits to lunging left, it looks like your right leg is blocking your right arm (better view at 14:11) and maybe he intuitive noticed that so knew a sharp cross court was extremely unlikely b/c you had to lift your arm up to clear your leg and the ball was too far away to use only a wrist flick to go sharp cross - 21:07 "I wish I could see a different angle of this shot... it's hard to tell." You gotta use 0.25x slow motion, it's much clearer, or on computer use < > keys to go frame by frame then pretty clear: his wrist trails back a bit early in the swing like he's doing a normal drive (for telegraphed deception, natural feel / muscle memory, or changing mind probably) but then he brings his wrist back to neutral (possibly slightly cupped) and locks it as he swipes up more towards the bottom outer side of the ball
This was an excellent analysis Christan, but I think you were too hard on yourself, and I would love to see the games where you beat Ben. I’ve looked for them, but haven’t been able to find them. I think the only way to beat Ben is in to create a comprehensive multi faceted analysis of all of his games and how he responds. I am with you. I honestly don’t know how he reads a return shot so well as if he knows it ahead of time I think if someone can read the return as well as he does they will have a better chance. Win or lose, I enjoyed watching you play. Thank you.
Disagree about how to beat Ben. I don't think they are close enough in skill that preparation and study will close the gap. Once they are trading games and points, then it will be time for hyper-specific preparation. Until then, better to simply get better at the game (imo).
Had to add after listening to the end: As the match progressed, felt that you lost the mental edge. At that point, one feels like ' I Gotta Do This', then the adrenaline kicks in, timing is infinitesimally affected. Look at your 'get outa jail free card'. I call this my shot mechanics when I am in the trouble zone - balance is off especially long reaches. Tone down the adrenaline.
If you find out the ideal warm up do share. I am an incredibly slow starter and just haven't found the play and non-play warmup that makes me feel on like I do after a couple of matches.
Great video. Baring the hard truth and pain of a loss to the better player that day. Key is that day. Takeaways.. get more games in when waiting for a big match; work on the skills you need to solidify, e.g. the firmer wrist forehand roll; and get a good coach, or set of coaches! Who though?! You played with John Cincola? K-Mac? Briones? Who has good eyes on games? Elite athletes need great coaches and great training partners. Keep working at it. And remember it's about fun. One U of C grad to another.
Great you take the time to share w us a review of your play. I played against a good lady olayer the other day....I am taller, faster,stronger but she has more experience and control of shots puts me on defense with just better placement, shot selection and I push so shots go into net, out or pop up and Game Over. Different Level (pro) but similar. Keep working I look forward to you winning a Sunday against Ben
You beat a lot of guys to get to that championship game. Just know that even though you are disappointed on how you played, you earned the right to be there on Sunday. And your shorts looked fine.
If you look at body language..Ben looks much more calm and relaxed..to me you look like you were more tension in your body from the start of every point…find that calmness ..what was your grip tension on your paddle at the start of every point…a bigger grip helps to calm your body..and helps get to the core muscles and helps you relax…check bens grip video…try squash replacement grip and 1 or two overlaps..you’ll feel a difference 👍👊🏻…congratulations on first final👍👏😊
Listen, dude, nobody is going to be more athletic than you. You're kinda a freak like that. That's a good thing. Ben has a very high intellectual and emotional I.Q., which is a big advantage over the field. be patient with yourself. Study the mental aspect of the game as much as you train your body. Also, Ben has much more experience under pressure than you. Love the grind, Christain!!!! You have the physical talent to be #1, experience, and mental preparation will make that a reality I know it. All the best this year!
I can’t give you any tips for your game but I can tell you since you mentioned it, your shorts aren’t too short, they are too tight. Did you not check your outfit in that huge mirror behind you or did you not dress until you got to the venue? Way to get to the gold medal match though!!
Your swing path on your forehand crosscourt pass is only 45 degrees and your follow through ends up across your left shoulder like in tennis. In Pickleball with the shorter court your swing path needs to be more extreme and your follow through needs to end up near your head or even up near your right ear. Swing path dictates topspin and flight arc of the ball.
6:31 seems like going down the line would have been a better option. Returning cross court aims into him, almost guaranteeing a successful return for which you'll be totally exposed. You basically had to pray for an unforced error. Returning down the line, either fate smiles and you sneak it past him, or he volleys--but it seems like you have a chance of returning the volley. If going down the line felt like a guaranteed failure, possibly a dribble over the net would have slowed the point down enough to recover? I was just surprised that you agreed with your shot in hindsight. All that said, don't kick yourself for not playing at your peak. Tournaments and mental game are their own skill and there's no shame in needing time to develop them. It was obvious that you brought a lot of skill to the table and you'll have more chances to hone your ability against great players. Edit: Just got to the end and saw your conclusion. Love your ethos. Play to learn, not to win. Here's my 2 cents: There are diminishing returns on closing up your weaknesses. They become more and more niche and net you fewer and fewer points. Unforced errors aside, you lost most points because you didn't capitalize on Ben's weakness (in that rally), giving him space and options--and he's the last person in the world you want to give space and options. How do you train differently to address that? Develop superhuman skills. Ben is preternaturally at reading opponents. Everybody that plays him gives up points because they were sure they'd just won the point... and then he returns it. I don't know if that comes naturally to him or if/how he trained that. But you need weapons like that in your arsenal. I'm not sure how you'd built that particular skill. In an ideal world you'd have time to call every shot at contact--angle, height, bounce point, spin. I'm not sure doing that while watching footage would help in real life? Maybe. But either way, if that's not your forte, it's probably not best to build a worse version of somebody else's superpower. Instead you might put very small (smaller the better) squares of colored paper on the opposite court for a drill. Your partner returns the ball and calls a location ("red!") and then you return to that precise location. Developing that precision all over the court would be a superpower. Especially if you, for example, hit to the baseline every time. Find something in your skillset--ideally making use of your reach and athleticism--that you can supercharge. Find something to make your opponent afraid of. Sometimes the best defense is a good offense.
The forehand shot you’re talking about is a ping pong shot. You aim for the bottom right side of the ball and your wrist is a little cocked. Just pull up some videos on YT on ping pong you ll see it a lot. Cheers man.
Ben had the perfect warm up before this match with all those doubles he played so that made this match extremely difficult. It looks like you just think too much when you play and its slowing you down, like the score is in the back of your mind distracting you and being down several points is affecting you too much. I know it happens to everyone but sometimes you just have to go out there, clear your mind and play loose. Also I noticed you return to the corners a lot, but I remember someone saying its better to hit in the middle in singles so u cut off their angles. I think it was ALW in an interview or something I cant remember, but that could be something to keep in mind or try out.
You only hit 2 backhand slice returns and won both points the points. You even commented after the first that it wasnt a great return but he made an unforced error into the net. You never really tried to mix it up or give him a different look. So he was in rhythm the whole time. Also, check the match you won against him, you were hitting a lot of drops rather than trying to drive everything and blast him off the court. You setup soo many points in that match with drops. Dont forget he's human. 1 , 0 in the first and he's talking to himself after missing a forehand... he had some nerves at the start. The forehand cross court he's hitting is a table tennis forehand loop. UA-cam the technique. Most importantly don't lose sight of the fact you had a really good tournament.
Maybe if you're really getting killed like that in the future, you could just totally change it up, throw in some fun shots or gets super aggressive and take some chances that you wouldn't normally take. Anything to disrupt the rhythm of his play at that point. Even ending the points sooner with riskier shots could maybe take him a little bit out of his flow.
Agreed, a change the rhythm is KEY when you are down in a match. Against Ben specifically, dictate the speed more on your drives to get the returns even deeper (1ft from baseline). Drive to the body cutting off his angles. Also, move around your returns & drive your 2nd shots more so he can't anticipate your shots...rewatch your last match when you BEAT Ben, you dictated points more after when you were driving your 2nd shots. Play our game and stay focused on executing your strategy. You have the skills & talent to beat every player on tour! Play your game, bro!
I think the obvious next step for your game is what the John's brothers do, look for the patterns and start prepping for those habits. Especially for his forehand crosscourt shot, what is he seeing from you that makes him think he can pull that so hard? Now, can you set that up so he thinks it's there?
Did Ben win his first ever Sunday? I have no idea. But you got there. You seemed really loose in the beginnings. But like you mentioned I think once he saw you running around your backhand that gave him ideas. Anyway man great job getting that far. Incredible.
Look for some of Ben’s tells. He studies your tells - body position and movements to anticipate your next shots. Take more chances at anticipating and guessing his shots when you serving. Assume a loss of the point on your serve and do t worry about making a wrong guess. Try to eliminate your tells and even throw in some variations, like corner lobs off dinks. Great videos
Good point. If someone is reading your tells, be less predictable. Hitting the "perfect shot" every time can be a weakness. You probably can't eliminate tells, but you CAN leave your options through your setup position. Footwork is the worst way to give away your shot because it's the first piece of information they get. If your feet are perfectly placed, they can be perfectly read. Force him to read the paddle face; practice shots that partially obscure the paddle with your body. Johns isn't psychic, just great at reading patterns ridiculously quickly.
I expect that you will likely have a much higher skill ceiling than most pro pickleball players. This isn’t to take anything away from Ben John’s but you were a top 5 national tennis player as a junior which is far beyond the level of most picklers when they played tennis. Sam Querrey also lost a pickleball match recently but you and he will dominate the scene once you adapt to the nuances of the game.
DM’d you this but in case you haven’t seen it, here it is again (bottom of this comment). The conference Brené Brown is speaking at is art and design-centric, but applies even more literally to sports. Driving down to Colorado Springs after watching the match, I wondered if I’d get home, an hour later, before you left your chair. I think I may have. I also wondered if you’d do a match analysis or simply delete your UA-cam account and go hide in a cave somewhere. So kudos for being vulnerable enough to do one and for the match itself. Yeah, you were beaten handily. It was painful to watch but can’t imagine how painful it was to experience. This too shall pass. One thing I have noticed about pickleball which is probably true of plenty of other sports as well is that a very slight improvement can make a seismic change in the outcome. That is to say, if you work on a couple of your weaknesses like you talked about, just getting 10% better at them might result in a win over an opponent you’d lose to otherwise. Back to the video: I think I mainly wanted you to reframe your own self-criticism. That is to say, don’t beat yourself up too much. Realize that you have achieved much in a short period of time just to be on the court on a Sunday, and that you have plenty of time to continue improving. ‘Nuff said. Except what Brené says: ua-cam.com/video/8-JXOnFOXQk/v-deo.html
Think what you’re doing with the post match analysis is great. Being able to have a spectators view and then able to find things to work on. Definition of an athlete that lives their craft.
Christian, happy to subscribe! Watching this with you was equal parts painful and encouraging! Thanks for being real with us!
I don't think anybody doubts your skill, talent, or athleticism, Christian. You made it to the finals which is better than anyone else did in men's singles (besides Ben). And there were some really strong players in the draw. Getting to the finals and getting a Silver is super impressive. You've beaten Ben before, I have no doubt you'll do it again.
Ben was just on fire and made very few mistakes. Think you were pressured into taking high risk shots that you normally make but you missed. Congrats on second. First championship Sunday. You have a lot to be proud of.
well done Christian! it takes guts to review a tough loss like this and show yourself processing it in front of your audience. I respect that a lot. I think the mental aspect was the difference as your game, skills and athleticism are far better than what you showed on this match. Ben also put on one of his finest performances that I've seen which is a testament that he not only prepared for you but also that he had the motivation to beat you since you are one of the few guys that have beaten him in singles. Congratulations on getting silver and also doing the post-match psycho-emotional work, you will win gold soon no doubt !!!
You already know what you need to do. Ben’s strength is his mental approach to the game. He is able to stay calm & relaxed in the moments of the game, which sharpen your instinct & anticipation. With a mental outlook free of anxiety you can manipulate space/time. The balls coming won’t startle you. Your in (self) control. Things move at the pace of your perception. Stop putting too much unnecessary pressure on yourself. Don’t over-complete, don’t worry about the score, don’t worry about winning or losing, don’t worry about the ability of your opponent. Just breathe and be in the moment. The breathe is the key to playing loose, free, and efficient. You made some great shots & defensive stands in that game. You have everything needed to beat John already. Shrug the loss off, and move forward in gratitude that only one person could beat you that day. Go forth without doubt and unleash greatness. Looking forward to seeing you become champion.
This was one of many finals that you are going to be in and a bunch of them are going to have a different result. :) Great post-match analysis - you're really showing how to deconstruct one's play (and prep) with the intent of improving it. Glad I came across your channel, can't wait to see what the future holds for you!
To your point, Ben had 3 matches (none back to back) to warm up. You learned a bunch this past weekend. Find some partners in doubles to help you make it to Sunday and things might turn out differently next time you make it to a singles final. Also, you are absolutely correct that Ben has unbelievable instincts and anticipation. His cross court misdirected winners are unmatched by anyone else. However, there's lots of reasons he's #1.
Was waiting for this! It was great watching you this tourney! You’re the man!
Here’s some free unsolicited pointers to extract more tennis out of your game and make it more pickleball specific. 1/ Make your strokes more compact - focus on follow through and minimum backswing all the while staying more square to the net or the location of the ball 2/ Contact the ball more often then not underneath it, striking it in front of you and playing through the ball (i.e., not around, under, across: very direct striking, with emphasis less on spin though it is present but more on direction - determined by follow through - and good contact with the ball 3/ No matter what happens, hit the ball in front of you, never let it get past you 4/ Stay loose, avoid muscle tension for power and make your strokes more effortless, with power being only an effect of swing speed. This will help you stay clear, react faster, and last longer 5/ Watch and emulate Ben, from strokes mechanics to energy/mental/emotional management… Once you have your mechanics and movement figured out, then it’s how you can get yourself in the zone and stay in it, if only for the key moments. Good luck and don’t give up.
I think the takeaway here is that Ben really is just insanely good compared to the field right now.
Something I think it’s good to be reminded of is that no matter how good you are sometimes you just have a bad day. It happens to the best of us and that’s one of the hardest things to realize but just sometimes through no fault of your own it’s just not your day.
I think it was pretty clear in this game that you were just out of your comfort zone. You play a very athletic explosive game which is hugely reliant on timing and when things are just feeling a bit odd and your timing is just a little off it’s really hard to recover. Like what you say about your serves, they were always going too short or too long. Just viewing that from the last time you played Ben when you were putting the serve within six inches of the back line every single serve. I think that goes for a lot of your volleys too. So many right ideas that just hit the tape.
I personally think that’s honestly just the fact that your preparation was so thrown off by the different schedule and no warmup and it just being your first Sunday. Props to you man for going out there and trying and playing with heart.
Christian -- thanks for the doing the analysis! Its tough to allow all of us to see you not having your best day and being vulnerable to this situation living through the match again. Chin high young man. You're a wonderful pickleball player and coming into your own. I can see you're well on your way to being great! EVERYONE has an off day where it doesn't it look like yourself playing. You're learning from it. His anticipation is the top in the game -- by a long way. As you stated, he is not more athletic than you are. He did not make mistakes and was on the offensive virtually every point of the match so you were having to defend and didn't get into the flow of your offense. BTW, I am certainly no expert so take this with a grain of salt -- on that cross court forehand he, he is hitting the ball far more steep than a typical forehand and he's also hitting that ball almost b/w 2 and 3 o'clock rather than 5 or 6 o'clock which produces that every heavy topspin that dives hard. Seriously -- great job and great job looking to be the best you can be!
Wow, much respect to you for making this review Christian. Good job.
He got angles on you quick, bro! "Give an inch and he'll take a mile" comes to mind when I watch BJ, if he's in position he'll instantly get you out of position, even a stud athlete such as yourself. That's what's cool about the sport, guys like Ben who have extremely analytical minds can dismantle opponents who may even have the athletic edge. I think it's his mind, preparation and years of experience that make him the total package. Keep grinding man!
Christian already BEAT Ben bro - WTF R U TALKIN ABOUT ….. Christian had some opportunities - Christian already said that he didn’t perform at his higher level - Ur comments make it seem like Ben can’t be beat - Christian already beat him … Cmon my man
All you can do is continue to learn. Gaining the experience is so crucial. You are putting in the hours now and it will pay off in the future. First time to Championship Sunday and it wont be your last. Ben has a couple more years if experience with this and knows what works for him. Keep it up, and keep working on tht mental side of things! Its inspiring to see you though this journey
Hey Christian, I think overall you have everything to win a gold medal, I have watched all of your games of that tournament and something that I kinda noticed was that your rhythm feeds off your opponent if that makes sense to you, what I mean I guess is that you might wanna work more on imposing your game and pace. I heard you are working on your soft game and on a lot of plays it is very effective but I think some of your volleys are not quite clean and aggressive when they need to be. But you are definitely on the right path of becoming one of the best, keep up the hard work!!
appreciate your insight...as someone struggling to go from 3.0 to 3.5, it feels the same. I got second in a tourney, and then 2 weeks later didnt win a single game. felt like i had never played. i like the ideas of telling them your weakness so you can get better...great feedback.
Ben seemed to have ton of time to hit his shots. His foot works and anticipations are unmatched by anyone.
Your my favorite player on the tour. I too play with the Warrior Edge. Ben Johns was making a point against you. He knows you are a threat to beating him more often. My one suggestion against him is to play more unpredictable patterns. Obviously deep serve and return. But then go behind him more. Hit a second shot back at him instead of the open court. Just be purposely unpredictable. Develop your backhand more.
I watched it live and was waiting for this breakdown. If we won all the time there would be no drive to be better. you got it king
In life, we learn from our mistake and get better. Or, stay in the rut. You are on the right track. Ben holds/pauses the paddle during the swing better/differently than anyone. Thanks for the analysis.
I enjoy watching your breakdown of your video's. I love playing singls. Your analysis of when Ben John's hit that ridiculous cross court shot off of your cross court shot was correct. His wrist is more rigid. I use to drop my paddle head down thinking I would generate more topsin but my shots were not as consistent. I changed my wrist position to be more rigid and my shots became incredibly more consistent, I had more control hitting balls down the line and crosscourt and my topspin is ridiculous.
Keep your head up man! I met you in Denver and you took a pic with us! ❤
The cross court forehand looks closer to a table tennis shot than a tennis shot. Doesn't drop the paddle head and follows through straight up and over the head instead of across the body.
Subbed with Bells on my man! I learned a new shot to try from watching this too (Johns crosscourt forehand)
Question. How do you handle the mental parts when you feel off? Any suggestions?
Wishing you grace. Humility makes you wiser.
At 11:27, would love to hear you further break down what you're saying about his grip and swing.
what i see is no winners and lots of unforced errors. looks like you were trying to keep up, not like you were in control. great video. thanks and good luck on the court.
Alshon..always a huge fan...thank for sharing...tough to swallow, but as you know you got to lose to win. If you are not losing, you are not growing. Seattle will be the Alshon show!
Go back and watch how you beat him the last time. You mentioned it in the 1st part of the video; you ARE more athletic (No disrespect Ben), but you are! From the first match you were hitting more up the line shots and scoring. Also, as mentioned, stop running around your back hand and drive that up the line as well (extremely effective). Running around it puts you way out of position from center court. You are also right in that to beat Ben consistently you need to take as many balls out of the air as possible. This creates accelerated pace and requires GREAT athleticism to reset. Love your passion and commitment.......really enjoy you matches!
In addition to warming up...think about playing some games before a match (at least 2 maybe more). Gets the nerves out and gets your mind thinking PB strategy. 5:08 'good return' WTF if you think a return just over the kitchen is good return, this is why you lose. Then you hit 3 volleys right back at him like you are warming up. On the forehand cross court just rotate your hips faster, so you are pointing left or try chipping it with back spin.
I got injured so all I could do is watch pickleball for days and days. I learned allot about strategy, also of course get a ball machine 500 balls in the morning, 400 balls in the evening...:).
What brand of shoes are you wearing during this match ?
Thanks for sharing. I play 3.5-4.0 level singles and had this same thing happen the other day. Lost 11-0, 11-1, 11-4 to someone who I normally beat. I just couldn’t put anything together. We move on and learn!!
Hang in there kid keep working hard
LI appreciate your honesty and humility, and I enjoy your show. I have subscribed.
Really enjoyed this video, well done
What shorts are those? I checked diadem website but can’t seem to find them. Is it the “scales solid volley shorts”?
keep fighting. every loss is a lesson. youve beat johns before in a 2/3 match. you can do it again. thanks the vlogs and breakdowns.
Keep getting it! You got this!
First thing Ben was really on so you were going to have to play flawless to win. Things I think that can help since you asked:
1. You were hitting your shots very short, which is allowing him to always have a ball to attack or have a better angle. It’s just like how they tell us serve long and return deep. You didn’t do a great job of hitting deep balls or angles and you definitely were tight and not loose from sitting for so long. Your energy was also very low you weren’t always ready for Ben to return his shots you kind of expected shots to not come back for some reason and they definitely were because you hit them either really high a lot and you hit a ton into the net. I’m a fan. Keep fighting
Is the paddle on the wall the one you beat Ben with? Are you planning on putting all the paddles you beat him with on the wall?
Too funny made me laugh. Keep working hard.
I just got into pickleball but I do have experience in needing to be in zone or focused when performing. From what it sounds like it may be beneficial to create different routines of varying lengths to get locked into games. Something that involves warming-up but also something outside of the game itself like going on a run, reading a book, listening to music. The mental game is a whole other beast when it comes to performing.
Good point. Creating a short routine that cues your mind and body that "it's game time!" it a really powerful tool.
You have nothing to be ashamed about, youre young and taking on the GOAT. At your level its all about not making mistakes, and he really let you beat yourself on so many unforced errors due to nerves, and inexperience. You will learn and you will be better. Ben is the Tom Brady of Pickleball dude. Hang in there, keep doing what youre doing.
That forehand crosscourt where you don't come over it, is more like a ping pong shot
anyone else try to skip the ad at 4:53
Tough one man…appreciate you reviewing this. It looked like Ben was fired up from the last match you beat him. It does look like you need to develop some more offense from your backhand side. I think if you did that you’d be unstoppable, just my opinion. Keep up the work man, our toughest losses improve is the most!
Christian, don't be quite so hard on yourself. Look at the amount of time some of the pro players that you play have been playing the game compared to the amount of time that it's taking you to rise to where you are right now. You will get to where you want to get to, just have to understand it'll take a little bit more time and work which you are putting in of course. My only thought on the Ben forehand shot is that he's breaking his wrist holding it firm and hitting the outside of the pickleball almost like a ping pong-esque type shot. As a college tennis coach at the NCAA DIII level, I understand the principles of turning your body and hitting behind the ball squarely and changing the direction of the ball, but I also understand a little bit of a snapped wrist and hitting the right outside part of the ball to add extra angle and sometimes be incredibly deceiving for people to see.
He probably started with him and probably his brother analyzing video of you and looking for strengths and weakness, and your pattern play, and your tells. Then devised the plan to beat you. He also pushes you to the limit of your reach, you are oftenly having to take a big step and reach for a shot. He also shows up with a couple new shots each tournament that we haven't seen before. Sometimes you see him keep winning and he becomes stagnant in his creativity and he will lose a match. After he loses a match he shows up to the next tournament at a higher level to dominate again. His footwork is also different. He also uses a lot of small steps compared to big steps. It's interesting to see him at the net and he does like a crab walk sideways with a lot of steps. His feet are almost always planted keeping him in balance.
I wonder if that small-step footwork is partly to avoid telegraphing his intentions. It would make sense given how attentive he is to footwork to predict returns.
Thanks for sharing. Best of luck next time
Respect for doing it on this loss as well and thanks for putting this out there.
I'd love to see more though. I'd watch a video that's much longer and be much more engaged if you paused and replayed parts to analyze more deeply but instead it feels like you analysis is usually cut short because you let the video keep playing. I see you have a pencil but don't see you using it much so I'm guessing you're doing your deeper analysis off cam, maybe show a bit more of that? But I understand if you don't want to reveal too much of your plans.
- Whenever your analyses starts getting deeper and you say more, it ends up being you talking over the next point and the commentators since you're talking for longer without pausing, I think it would be much better if you paused the video so you have more time to analyze more deeply because that's the most important part for both of us I think. I came to hear those nuggets but it's distracting with the next point happening and commentators talking.
- Rewind / replay critical shots / sequences more. You did this a few times and it was great to see you dissecting a critical moment more, that's what I try to do a lot when I watch tape to learn and it's been so helpful, but I want to see what a pro sees and what I don't. I'm assuming you are on mobile / a tablet, but if on a computer watching on youtube you can also pause and press < or > to move one frame at a time which is pretty awesome to get the closest look at something small, but on mobile or tablet at least you could slow motion some times like: pause, discuss, rewind + slow motion, pause briefly for final thoughts on that, then proceed.
Some specific examples where I'd love to see more:
- 7:17 you are reflecting on a previous point mistake and you say you think it was just the footwork, it would have been great to see you show that footwork in slow motion and point out specifically what could have been better about it
- 8:21 you say "missing a return out of a time out, like.. what is that? At the moment I felt relaxed." But then since the video keeps playing it seems like you often don't finish thoughts and analysis. If it's just a one-off random mistake that doesn't warrant more then ok, but if not, I'd love to hear you work through this thought more and I'm sure it would help you. Pause and expand on what it could be and how you plan to try to reduce the chance from it happening again. It would be awesome to hear some of your thoughts about the mental game here
- 9:17 "See there I popped the drive up." Why? footwork, stance, swing form, yips, did you change your mind mid swing? You then start analyzing what happened after that but cut yourself off as soon as the announcer started talking, I didn't come here for the announce, I'm here to hear you!
- 11:25 you discuss Ben's sick cross court forehand grip (cross court cupping? outside in? looper? idk what it's called) but it would have been much more helpful when you talk about it if you either went back and slow motioned it then paused it to point out what made it good, or take 2 steps back from the camera and stand up and use a paddle to show it. Instead of learning from what you're saying here I had to rewind and slow motion the shot
- 13:47 "How is he ready for that?" I would excitedly watch you replay this 5x in a row and use slow motion if I knew you were going to dive into trying to find that out. I can tell you from going frame by frame on it he does a perfectly timed split step and at the moment of contact is when he commits to lunging left, it looks like your right leg is blocking your right arm (better view at 14:11) and maybe he intuitive noticed that so knew a sharp cross court was extremely unlikely b/c you had to lift your arm up to clear your leg and the ball was too far away to use only a wrist flick to go sharp cross
- 21:07 "I wish I could see a different angle of this shot... it's hard to tell." You gotta use 0.25x slow motion, it's much clearer, or on computer use < > keys to go frame by frame then pretty clear: his wrist trails back a bit early in the swing like he's doing a normal drive (for telegraphed deception, natural feel / muscle memory, or changing mind probably) but then he brings his wrist back to neutral (possibly slightly cupped) and locks it as he swipes up more towards the bottom outer side of the ball
5:52 dude, did you make "any" backhands in the game. :-)
This was an excellent analysis Christan, but I think you were too hard on yourself, and I would love to see the games where you beat Ben. I’ve looked for them, but haven’t been able to find them.
I think the only way to beat Ben is in to create a comprehensive multi faceted analysis of all of his games and how he responds.
I am with you. I honestly don’t know how he reads a return shot so well as if he knows it ahead of time I think if someone can read the return as well as he does they will have a better chance.
Win or lose, I enjoyed watching you play. Thank you.
Disagree about how to beat Ben. I don't think they are close enough in skill that preparation and study will close the gap. Once they are trading games and points, then it will be time for hyper-specific preparation. Until then, better to simply get better at the game (imo).
Had to add after listening to the end: As the match progressed, felt that you lost the mental edge. At that point, one feels like ' I Gotta Do This', then the adrenaline kicks in, timing is infinitesimally affected. Look at your 'get outa jail free card'. I call this my shot mechanics when I am in the trouble zone - balance is off especially long reaches. Tone down the adrenaline.
If you find out the ideal warm up do share. I am an incredibly slow starter and just haven't found the play and non-play warmup that makes me feel on like I do after a couple of matches.
Great video. Baring the hard truth and pain of a loss to the better player that day. Key is that day. Takeaways.. get more games in when waiting for a big match; work on the skills you need to solidify, e.g. the firmer wrist forehand roll; and get a good coach, or set of coaches! Who though?! You played with John Cincola? K-Mac? Briones? Who has good eyes on games? Elite athletes need great coaches and great training partners. Keep working at it. And remember it's about fun. One U of C grad to another.
Great you take the time to share w us a review of your play. I played against a good lady olayer the other day....I am taller, faster,stronger but she has more experience and control of shots puts me on defense with just better placement, shot selection and I push so shots go into net, out or pop up and Game Over. Different Level (pro) but similar. Keep working I look forward to you winning a Sunday against Ben
I'm watching this cuz I'm new to the game keep going brotha...
Alshonskii ima see you at the top 🙏🏽🙏🏽
You beat a lot of guys to get to that championship game. Just know that even though you are disappointed on how you played, you earned the right to be there on Sunday. And your shorts looked fine.
If you look at body language..Ben looks much more calm and relaxed..to me you look like you were more tension in your body from the start of every point…find that calmness ..what was your grip tension on your paddle at the start of every point…a bigger grip helps to calm your body..and helps get to the core muscles and helps you relax…check bens grip video…try squash replacement grip and 1 or two overlaps..you’ll feel a difference 👍👊🏻…congratulations on first final👍👏😊
I would learn how to do some table tennis forehand drive. You are asking how does Ben do his fh. It's a table tennis fh drive.
It might be painful but this is how you get better and I have no doubt that you will.
When he’s pulling that far ahead of you and you know he isn’t giving you unforced errors, you should go for more winners
I watched the match, don't feel bad. Ben pretty much wiped everyone out. You defeated Federico Staksrud in the semi-final, how can I see that match?
Listen, dude, nobody is going to be more athletic than you. You're kinda a freak like that. That's a good thing. Ben has a very high intellectual and emotional I.Q., which is a big advantage over the field. be patient with yourself. Study the mental aspect of the game as much as you train your body. Also, Ben has much more experience under pressure than you. Love the grind, Christain!!!! You have the physical talent to be #1, experience, and mental preparation will make that a reality I know it. All the best this year!
I’m so glad there’s no video evidence of my gameplay to agonize over. Lol
That was the most UE's I think I have seen you have. Just not your day bud, it's all good.
I can’t give you any tips for your game but I can tell you since you mentioned it, your shorts aren’t too short, they are too tight. Did you not check your outfit in that huge mirror behind you or did you not dress until you got to the venue? Way to get to the gold medal match though!!
100% improvement from game 1 to 2 in points scored when you changed out of XS shorts :)
Your swing path on your forehand crosscourt pass is only 45 degrees and your follow through ends up across your left shoulder like in tennis. In Pickleball with the shorter court your swing path needs to be more extreme and your follow through needs to end up near your head or even up near your right ear. Swing path dictates topspin and flight arc of the ball.
6:31 seems like going down the line would have been a better option. Returning cross court aims into him, almost guaranteeing a successful return for which you'll be totally exposed. You basically had to pray for an unforced error. Returning down the line, either fate smiles and you sneak it past him, or he volleys--but it seems like you have a chance of returning the volley.
If going down the line felt like a guaranteed failure, possibly a dribble over the net would have slowed the point down enough to recover? I was just surprised that you agreed with your shot in hindsight.
All that said, don't kick yourself for not playing at your peak. Tournaments and mental game are their own skill and there's no shame in needing time to develop them. It was obvious that you brought a lot of skill to the table and you'll have more chances to hone your ability against great players.
Edit: Just got to the end and saw your conclusion. Love your ethos. Play to learn, not to win. Here's my 2 cents:
There are diminishing returns on closing up your weaknesses. They become more and more niche and net you fewer and fewer points. Unforced errors aside, you lost most points because you didn't capitalize on Ben's weakness (in that rally), giving him space and options--and he's the last person in the world you want to give space and options.
How do you train differently to address that? Develop superhuman skills. Ben is preternaturally at reading opponents. Everybody that plays him gives up points because they were sure they'd just won the point... and then he returns it. I don't know if that comes naturally to him or if/how he trained that. But you need weapons like that in your arsenal.
I'm not sure how you'd built that particular skill. In an ideal world you'd have time to call every shot at contact--angle, height, bounce point, spin. I'm not sure doing that while watching footage would help in real life? Maybe. But either way, if that's not your forte, it's probably not best to build a worse version of somebody else's superpower.
Instead you might put very small (smaller the better) squares of colored paper on the opposite court for a drill. Your partner returns the ball and calls a location ("red!") and then you return to that precise location. Developing that precision all over the court would be a superpower. Especially if you, for example, hit to the baseline every time.
Find something in your skillset--ideally making use of your reach and athleticism--that you can supercharge. Find something to make your opponent afraid of. Sometimes the best defense is a good offense.
Seattle loss : You are playing tennis again. When you beat someone with strategy is the day you start winning consistently.
The forehand shot you’re talking about is a ping pong shot. You aim for the bottom right side of the ball and your wrist is a little cocked. Just pull up some videos on YT on ping pong you ll see it a lot. Cheers man.
Ben had the perfect warm up before this match with all those doubles he played so that made this match extremely difficult. It looks like you just think too much when you play and its slowing you down, like the score is in the back of your mind distracting you and being down several points is affecting you too much. I know it happens to everyone but sometimes you just have to go out there, clear your mind and play loose.
Also I noticed you return to the corners a lot, but I remember someone saying its better to hit in the middle in singles so u cut off their angles. I think it was ALW in an interview or something I cant remember, but that could be something to keep in mind or try out.
He’s reading your paddle
He also just has the best court sense.
You got some skills, I bet you'd do pretty well in a 3.0 or 3.5 tourney
You only hit 2 backhand slice returns and won both points the points. You even commented after the first that it wasnt a great return but he made an unforced error into the net. You never really tried to mix it up or give him a different look. So he was in rhythm the whole time.
Also, check the match you won against him, you were hitting a lot of drops rather than trying to drive everything and blast him off the court. You setup soo many points in that match with drops.
Dont forget he's human. 1 , 0 in the first and he's talking to himself after missing a forehand... he had some nerves at the start. The forehand cross court he's hitting is a table tennis forehand loop. UA-cam the technique.
Most importantly don't lose sight of the fact you had a really good tournament.
Maybe if you're really getting killed like that in the future, you could just totally change it up, throw in some fun shots or gets super aggressive and take some chances that you wouldn't normally take. Anything to disrupt the rhythm of his play at that point. Even ending the points sooner with riskier shots could maybe take him a little bit out of his flow.
Agreed, a change the rhythm is KEY when you are down in a match. Against Ben specifically, dictate the speed more on your drives to get the returns even deeper (1ft from baseline). Drive to the body cutting off his angles. Also, move around your returns & drive your 2nd shots more so he can't anticipate your shots...rewatch your last match when you BEAT Ben, you dictated points more after when you were driving your 2nd shots. Play our game and stay focused on executing your strategy. You have the skills & talent to beat every player on tour! Play your game, bro!
And for the love of Buddha can we chip in on and buy this man YTpremium so there are no ads?
Ben is ready to hit his shot sooner, probably due to anticipation. Ask him how he does it.
At least you know how much you have to improve to beat him , he,s the very best.
Ben Johns is a dawg !!!!!!!! Favorite player on tour
I think the obvious next step for your game is what the John's brothers do, look for the patterns and start prepping for those habits. Especially for his forehand crosscourt shot, what is he seeing from you that makes him think he can pull that so hard? Now, can you set that up so he thinks it's there?
Did Ben win his first ever Sunday? I have no idea. But you got there. You seemed really loose in the beginnings. But like you mentioned I think once he saw you running around your backhand that gave him ideas. Anyway man great job getting that far. Incredible.
this is greattttttttt. thanks
How about you do match analysis for your amazing semi-finals match. You stayed super calm and composed and played your best.
We all have games like this. Learn from it and you’ll come back stronger. I know you will.
I use that paddle!.. maybe I can play as well lol 😊
Hey I coach at east bank club, we should set up a pickleball clinic if your back in town!
Look for some of Ben’s tells. He studies your tells - body position and movements to anticipate your next shots. Take more chances at anticipating and guessing his shots when you serving. Assume a loss of the point on your serve and do t worry about making a wrong guess. Try to eliminate your tells and even throw in some variations, like corner lobs off dinks. Great videos
Good point. If someone is reading your tells, be less predictable. Hitting the "perfect shot" every time can be a weakness. You probably can't eliminate tells, but you CAN leave your options through your setup position. Footwork is the worst way to give away your shot because it's the first piece of information they get. If your feet are perfectly placed, they can be perfectly read. Force him to read the paddle face; practice shots that partially obscure the paddle with your body. Johns isn't psychic, just great at reading patterns ridiculously quickly.
Dude, pay youtube their $12 a month for no ads.
adblockers are free.
christian - try cross training in a boxing gym to learn how and what it takes to defeat an individual opponent - eugene from kelowna bc
I expect that you will likely have a much higher skill ceiling than most pro pickleball players. This isn’t to take anything away from Ben John’s but you were a top 5 national tennis player as a junior which is far beyond the level of most picklers when they played tennis. Sam Querrey also lost a pickleball match recently but you and he will dominate the scene once you adapt to the nuances of the game.
championships should be best of 5
How do you beat Novak-ish of pickle ball? I think your constructive criticism of matches to work on your weakness will get you there.
28:38 It’s history brutha just learn from it and move on. Keep developing more shots and look forward to the next opportunity to execute better.
DM’d you this but in case you haven’t seen it, here it is again (bottom of this comment). The conference Brené Brown is speaking at is art and design-centric, but applies even more literally to sports. Driving down to Colorado Springs after watching the match, I wondered if I’d get home, an hour later, before you left your chair. I think I may have. I also wondered if you’d do a match analysis or simply delete your UA-cam account and go hide in a cave somewhere. So kudos for being vulnerable enough to do one and for the match itself. Yeah, you were beaten handily. It was painful to watch but can’t imagine how painful it was to experience. This too shall pass. One thing I have noticed about pickleball which is probably true of plenty of other sports as well is that a very slight improvement can make a seismic change in the outcome. That is to say, if you work on a couple of your weaknesses like you talked about, just getting 10% better at them might result in a win over an opponent you’d lose to otherwise. Back to the video: I think I mainly wanted you to reframe your own self-criticism. That is to say, don’t beat yourself up too much. Realize that you have achieved much in a short period of time just to be on the court on a Sunday, and that you have plenty of time to continue improving. ‘Nuff said. Except what Brené says: ua-cam.com/video/8-JXOnFOXQk/v-deo.html