that says I don’ t trust you anymore— and the other player feels it instantly. Once a partnership becomes playing not to let the other one down instead of playing to win, it’ s already lost something it won’ t get back that match.
The best partners I’ ve coached have a short memory on purpose. They have a stock response for the miss— a fist tap, a“ Next ball,” a look that says we’ re fine— not because they don’ t care, but because they know the scoreboard doesn’ t move on the miss. It moves on the next point, and the next point needs both players loose— not one player scared of disappointing the other.
This is coachable. Decide before the match what your response to a partner’ s error will be, the same way you’ d decide a return position. Make it a habit, not a reaction— reactions under pressure default to the worst version.
Playing With Someone You Didn’ t Choose
MLP and league formats have quietly taught the sport something worth stealing: you don’ t always get to pick your partner, and the format doesn’ t wait for you to build chemistry the slow way.
Watch the best drafted teams operate in their first match together. They’ re not forcing a system. They’ re fast-reading— who resets, who closes, who needs the calm voice after a miss— and adjusting in real time instead of waiting weeks to sort it out. That’ s the same skill as reading a new opponent, just pointed at your own side of the net.
Practice this even with your regular partner. Play a set where you deliberately swap roles— closer resets, resetter closes— and pay attention to how fast you find a new rhythm. It sharpens the thing that actually wins matches: not individual skill, but how quickly two people become one team.
Drill Like it’ s Rehearsal, Not Opening Night
Match play and drilling should not feel the same, and one of the biggest mistakes partners make is treating every session like a contest to be won.
Think of it like theater. On opening night, the actors are competing for the audience, trying to deliver the best-possible performance in the moment. But rehearsal is different. In rehearsal, even the actor playing the villain is rooting for the whole cast to succeed— everyone studied their lines, everyone shows up wanting the other actors to hit their marks— because the entire production only gets better if everybody does.
Drilling with your partner should work the same way. Match play is where you compete to win every point, as decisive and aggressive as you can be. Drilling is rehearsal— and one of the best measures of a good drilling session is how few balls you and your partner miss, together. That doesn’ t mean playing soft. You can drill with real pace, real difficulty, real pressure. But the goal shifts from winning the point to building the rep— for both of you.
The best training partners I know have learned to pull their punches at the right moments. If you’ ve got the upper hand in a drilling point— a ball you could put away untouchable— the better rep, sometimes, is taking a little off so your partner has a real chance to get their paddle on it and stay in the exchange.
You’ re not doing your partner a favor. You’ re building both of your games at once, because a drilling session where one player dominates and the other just chases isn’ t building a partnership— it’ s just one player practicing against a wall that happens to be a person.
Chemistry is Built, Not Assumed
None of this— the roles, the patterns, the trust to leave a ball high because you know your partner will finish it— happens just because two players are talented. It gets built, the way any skill gets built: with reps.
If you play with the same partner regularly, treat that partnership like its own project. Work specific patterns on purpose— crosscourt-to-middle, poach-and-cover, switch after the lob— until you don’ t need a conversation to execute. Get practice matches against real opponents, not just drilling, because patterns that hold up in a controlled rep sometimes fall apart under real pressure, and that’ s information you want before it costs you a tournament.
Film your matches if you can. It’ s the fastest way to see your partnership the way an opponent sees it— where the coverage breaks down, which patterns you both default to under pressure, where the seams are. Most players will happily study film of themselves; fewer are willing to watch as a team and ask the harder question— not“ What did I do wrong?” but“ What did we do wrong, together?”
The best doubles players I know aren’ t chasing a bigger arsenal of shots. They’ re chasing a better partnership with the person next to them— built through reps, through trust, through knowing exactly what the other one is good at and getting out of the way of it. That’ s not a talent. It’ s a skill. And like every other skill in this sport, it’ s built one rep at a time. •
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.
SEPTEMBER / OCTOBER 2026 | MAGAZINE 25