Player
PROFILE
BEN JOHNS
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
ON TOP OF HIS GAME
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
By Mark Berton
At 19, Ben Johns is already leaving
his mark on the world. In both his
athletic and academic lives, Johns
is on the offensive, but in the world
of pickleball, he’s absolutely on
fire—ascending to one of the top two
singles players in the world.
Johns picked up his first tennis racket
at age 8. Since then, he’s played
nearly every racquet sport, contributing
to his offensive style of play. But when
he discovered pickleball, everything
changed.
“I struggled with it at first,” he said.
“There’s a lot of patience involved in
how you play the game. I’ve always
been aggressive in my tennis game,
but you can’t do that in pickleball.
Getting the hang of that is the biggest
challenge.”
But once he got the hang of it,
Johns took off. He medaled in every
tournament he played in 2017.
An endorsed player for Engage, he
still uses the Elite Pro racquet in all
his matches and has no intention of
changing — “It fits my game style.”
With Nationals behind him, Johns’
attention off the court is on academics.
He’s a freshman at the University
of Maryland, majoring in operations
management. He also has political
aspirations and wants to get involved
in local government. “I’d like to get
into politics at some point. I have
my mind set on it. My friends have a
half-running joke that I aspire to be
President one day,” he said. “Maryland
is close to D.C., and it’s a good area if
you want to get into politics.”
While Johns teaches pickleball on
and off, setting up pickleball nets on
local tennis courts, he doesn’t get
the chance to play much in Maryland.
“The Northeast is ‘slim pickins’ for
pickleball,” he said.
Despite the lack of local public
courts, Johns focuses on his game
and says pickleball has changed how
he thinks about playing other strategic
games, including chess and tennis. His
brother, a professional tennis player,
has taken notice. “He knew I hadn’t
been playing much tennis, but when
I came back home and we played,
he said I was so much better. That’s
because of pickleball,” Johns said.
“My focus wasn’t there [in my tennis
game]. I wouldn’t concentrate enough.
Pickleball has helped me find that
zone—not just for tennis, but in a lot of
other things.” •
JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2018 |
MAGAZINE
35