situations …“ How do I beat a power team that pins me deep?”“ How do I handle a player who resets perfectly?” Each session becomes a laboratory where every drill is a mini puzzle.
Video Analysis When you review film, ask deeper questions: What was the moment control shifted? What pattern repeated across multiple points? You’ re looking for repeated errors, predictable tendencies, moments where pressure created opportunity.
Mental Rehearsal
Visualize matches like chess. Before a match, ask yourself: If I were them, how would I beat us? That perspective helps you pre-solve the puzzle before the first serve. This is taking responsibility for your own development at the highest level.
9. STRENGTHENING YOUR OWN PUZZLE
The other side of this equation is building your own puzzle— one that’ s hard for others to solve. You have a responsibility not just to decode your opponents, but to become increasingly difficult to decode yourself.
Develop weapons and variety: a big serve and a loopy serve, a heavy drive and a soft drop, crosscourt depth and sharp-angle dinks, patient dinking and explosive attacks.
When you have contrast, you become unpredictable. The more complete your puzzle, the longer it takes opponents to figure it out. And often they run out of time.
Advanced players hide their patterns. They use the same preparation for multiple shots, disguise their intent until the last moment, and change rhythm unpredictably. If your opponents can’ t read what’ s coming, they’ re always a half step behind.
Building your equation also means understanding your partnership. The clearest teams— the ones who communicate, trust, and cover for each other seamlessly— are the hardest to break down. They’ ve established order within their own system, which makes them resilient against external chaos.
10. THE FINAL PIECE: AWARENESS
At the highest levels, pickleball becomes applied problem-solving under pressure. The top pros share one skill: situational awareness. They’ re constantly observing, recalculating, and adjusting mid-rally.
Your goal is to be the player who sees patterns before others do. The player who understands the invisible structure underneath the game— the flow of power, positioning, and psychology.
Awareness is the meta-skill: the ability to observe without judgment, adjust without panic, and recalculate without hesitation.
Top players notice when opponents start protecting one side, when fatigue affects shot quality, when emotional momentum shifts, when a pattern has stopped working. They see patterns forming and adjust proactively.
When you reach that level, pickleball becomes less about athleticism and more about artistry. You’ re not just playing points; you’ re composing solutions in real time.
THE WINNING EQUATION
Winning isn’ t about who hits harder or moves faster. It’ s about who solves better.
Recognize Pressure Identify what opponents use to control you.
Adjust Your Equation Change structure, positioning, and shot selection.
Think Like a Detective Gather evidence and test hypotheses.
Build an Uncrackable Puzzle Develop contrast, disguise, and partnership clarity.
Train Awareness Deliberately Solve faster through repetition and mental rehearsal.
Every rally is information. Every pattern either reinforces an opponent’ s equation or destabilizes it. Advanced players don’ t just play shots, they play structures. They impose order on chaos.
The moment you understand that you are playing against an equation, not just players, the game changes. You stop being a victim of circumstance and become an agent of your own success.
And that, ultimately, is what separates the competent from the exceptional. •
Kyle McMakin, aka The Pickleball Cowboy, is a touring pickleball professional, former Division I tennis player( UC Davis) and head pro for LevelUp Pickleball Camps. He is a two-time Triple Crown winner and a 6.0 DUPR-rated player in doubles and singles.
JANUARY / FEBRUARY 2026 | MAGAZINE 19