Thomas Yelloweyes PB

Thomas Yelloweyes PB You Can Learn The Pickleball Skills You Need to Play Like A Pro, Even If You're Just Getting Started

09/18/2026

Everybody watches the putaway. That’s the least interesting shot in this clip.

Boise, last week. Two shots before this, my partner and I are both
in the transition zone and we get to the kitchen line together.
Then we stay there.

That’s the whole thing. She gets the ball up because we’re both
at the line and they have nowhere to put it. I finish it because
she did that.

Most players get to the line and back off it. First hard d**k,
first ball at their feet, they retreat to where it feels familiar.
Then they wonder why they never get the ball they can put away.

You don’t get the finish if you won’t hold the line.

Next game, count how many rallies you and your partner
both arrive at the kitchen line and stay. That number is
your real rating.

Comment ASSESS and I’ll show you your floor.

Performance begins before the paddle moves.
nativeamericanathlete

09/17/2026

Success and failure are on the same path.
Failure is just an exit earlier.

Here’s what the exit looks like.
You drill the drop for three weeks. It starts working.
Then you lose two games at 9-9 trying it under pressure,
and by the next session you’re driving every third again.

You didn’t decide to quit.
You got off the path right before it started paying.

The shot doesn’t fail. The reps don’t fail.
You just leave before they add up.

Losing with the new shot is not evidence it doesn’t work.
It’s the price of it working in six weeks.

Next time you drop a game at 9-9 using the shot you’re building,
play the next game with it too.

Comment ASSESS and I’ll show you your floor.

Performance begins before the paddle moves.

I trained at 4:30am for two seasons and my rating didn't move.Not because I wasn't working. Because of what I chose to w...
09/17/2026

I trained at 4:30am for two seasons and my rating didn't move.

Not because I wasn't working. Because of what I chose to work on.

Every session started the same way. D***s felt good, so I d**ked. Drives felt good, so I drove. I never spent a morning on the third shot drop that floated on me at 9-5 and forced me back off the kitchen line.

That's Comfort Addiction. It looks like effort. It's rehearsal.

The fix wasn't a new drill. It was getting honest about what breaks first when the game gets close, then making that the session. The rep you keep skipping is the session. Not the fun one.

Comment ASSESS and I'll send you the Find Your Floor assessment. Two minutes, and it's step one.

Performance begins before the paddle moves.

Your backhand is not the problem.There are six patterns that show up in players stuck at 3.5. One of them is running you...
09/16/2026

Your backhand is not the problem.

There are six patterns that show up in players stuck at 3.5. One of them is running your game right now.

You drilled the shot. You watched the video. Then the score gets tight and something older takes over.

Invisible Ceiling. Safety Loop. Backseat Coach. Comfort Addiction. Ticket Holder. The Thermostat.

Swipe through. You will find yourself in one of them. Most players find two.

Comment ASSESS and I will send you the Find Your Floor assessment. Two minutes. It is step one.

Performance begins before the paddle moves.

09/16/2026

You’re not bad at that shot. You’re about 9,500 reps short of it.

Eight years teaching this game and I still get frustrated
learning something new.
I didn’t come from a paddle sport. I came from Ultimate Frisbee.
I think I should have it right away, and I don’t.

Most players hit a new shot fifty times, it doesn’t work,
and they go find a different shot.
Then at 9-5 they’re back to the one they already trust.

Bruce Lee said don’t fear the man who’s practiced 10,000 kicks
one time. Fear the man who’s practiced one kick 10,000 times.

When I’ve hit a shot 300 times in a session, I’m not thinking
that’s a lot. I’m thinking I’ve got 9,500 more chances to get it right.

Pick one shot this week. Count them.
Get to 300 in a session before you let yourself move on.

Comment ASSESS and I’ll tell you which shot to pick.

Performance begins before the paddle moves.
nativeamericanathlete

09/15/2026

You don’t have a ceiling problem. You have a floor problem.

Watch what happens in a long session.
First game you’re doing well at 5-5.
Third game you’re up 9-5, your drops start floating high,
so you back off the kitchen line.
Then you’re driving every third because the drop stopped being consistent.

Some players never rise to their floor.
All over the place from the first rally.

Another clinic won’t fix that. Another lesson won’t fix that.

I drill way more than I play. That’s the whole reason my game is consistent.

What fixes it is the work you don’t want to do.
The same shot, over and over, until it’s boring.
Until it’s automatic. Until it stays consistent when you’re tired.

If you’re a 4.0, you should still be a 4.0 in game three.

Comment ASSESS and I’ll show you your floor.

Performance begins before the paddle moves.
nativeamericanathlete

09/15/2026

Played a ladder Saturday. Six courts. Win and you move up a court. Lose and you move down.

Everybody in that gym had a court they kept coming back to.

Not their best court. Their normal one.

You win two in a row, you land on court two, and something changes. At 5-5 down on court four you were driving your third and crashing the net looking for the poach. Now you're up top and you're trying to drop everything, and the drops float, and you back off the kitchen line to cover it.

Your shot selection got smaller. Your strategy got safer. Your shots became conservative.

Then you lose, you slide back down, and you play great again.

That is not your third shot drop. That is your set point.

The ladder just made it visible. Six courts and a scoreboard showing you exactly where your game returns to when nobody lowers the standard for you.

Next time you move up, play the first four points the same way you played them two courts down. Same third. Same crash. Make the court ask you for the change instead of handing it over before the first serve.

Comment ASSESS and I will send you the Find Your Floor assessment so you can see where your game actually lives.

Your game doesn't rise to your goals. It returns to your thermostat.

09/14/2026

some days the win isn't a result.

today i made the decisions i could make with the information i had.
showed up for my team.
held the standard where it was yesterday.

not because we've arrived.
because we're still working.

you may not control the outcome. but there's almost always something you can do next.

i kept making the next best decision i could make.
that was the win today.

Performance begins before the paddle moves.

09/14/2026

When was the last time you got humbled?

I flew back to Boise this week to work with Susanna Barr and both of my tournament partners for the PPA Vegas Cup at the end of the month.

When I left Boise in June I felt like I had it. Ready for the season, ready to compete, no doubt in my head.

Then this week happened. Four of us, small group, nowhere to hide.

My weaknesses got exposed. Not one or two. A list. I have not been that frustrated on a court in a long time.

And that is exactly what needed to happen.

You cannot only find out what you are good at. That feels great and it teaches you nothing. You have to find the holes. The things that break when somebody good goes looking for them.

Now I know what to work on for the next two weeks. When I land in Vegas it is about dialing in to new courts and a new environment, then flipping the switch.

Thank you to Susanna and to my partners for the hours and the honest feedback.

Back to work.

09/14/2026

"If you're just hitting the ball to make a point, you're missing the whole game."

Suzanne said that after her first real lesson — not after a win, not after a highlight play. After she finally understood why she was moving, not just where the ball was going.

Most players never get taught this part. They get drills. They don't get the game.

That's the difference between playing pickleball and understanding it.

Want that shift? Comment "ASSESS" and I'll get you on the court.

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