Harnessing their
passion for pickleball
and drive to win,
siblings Riley and
Lindsey Newman are two of the
best players in the world. Although
they picked up their first paddles
less than three years ago, they are
a well-oiled machine on the court.
Like most famous duos—think
Venus and Serena Williams—they
are the perfect pair! Pickleball
Magazine recently caught up with
the Newmans to find out why
this tenacious twosome is tough
to beat.
How did you get into pickleball?
Riley: Mark Cook, a friend
in Seattle, got us into the sport.
After only playing about a week
or two, he told us we should play
in a tournament in Oregon. Even
though we didn’t have our own
paddles, we entered into the pro
mixed doubles bracket and won!
We were hooked from then on. We
actually slept in our car the night
before the tournament in a casino
parking lot, so it was a memorable
trip for sure!
When you won that first
tournament in Oregon, is that
when you decided to become a
doubles team?
Riley: The Oregon tournament
was definitely an eye opener for
us, since we took a break from
tennis after our college playing
days. We were both looking for
that next competitive sport we
could both play together. The
timing couldn’t have been better!
We committed to each other on
that car ride home that we would
take pickleball a lot more seriously
and start practicing a lot more.
What do you like about
pickleball?
Riley: Being able to travel
around the country playing and
teaching pickleball with each
other has to be number one.
We also love how many amazing
people we’ve met playing this
awesome sport.
Where do you teach?
Lindsey: We live in Arizona,
so we do a lot of teaching
there. However, we grew up in
Washington state, so whenever
we are home, we try to do some
teaching there as well. We like
to travel though, so we will
go anywhere for an awesome
teaching opportunity.
What is it that makes you such
a strong team—what’s your
strategy?
Riley: There are a couple of key
characteristics that have brought
us success in pickleball. First is our
movement on the court. Lindsey
and I move as one, and can switch
mid-rally and know where each
other is going to be at all times.
Most teams would call “switch”
or “stay”—Lindsey and I have that
brother/sister bond where the
verbal communication is not
needed.
Second, our defense is scrappy.
We don’t give away a lot of free
points and we try to make our
opponents earn everything.
This puts pressure on them
to go for shots they wouldn’t
normally go for, because the ball
keeps coming back. Third, being
the only brother/sister team has
more advantages than people
might think.
What has been your
best moment on the
pickleball court?
Lindsey: I think one of our best
moments was getting bronze at
the 2019 US Open. We beat a lot of
teams that most people probably
didn’t think we had a chance at
beating. We beat a top team that
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AUGUST/SEPTEMBER 2020 | MAGAZINE 33