As a pickleball player, I want to feel good and play without doing that at the expense of my opponent. Taking advantage of my opponent and paying attention to my opponent's negative feelings to expand my confidence should not be something to look forward to or to work towards.

The idea that our tank of confidence will be filled by our opponent's misery, them being upset at their partner or some negative thing for our opponent is way of thinking like a vampire or a parasite.

Why? Because a vampire needs the blood of a human and a parasite will need the sustenance of its host. It's a very short-sided way of thinking about the game, and not a healthy one for anybody, not just for your opponents, but for you either.

Building anything on external considerations means you're always going to be subject to whatever those external considerations and fluctuations are.

Here's the bigger picture, I don't want to live in a world where my success is built upon or relies on your failure. Now, that's different than winning and losing, right? Because I can play my best and feel good.

We can focus on making ourselves strong human beings while allowing others to do the same. We can encourage them and consider building them up rather than knocking them down.

Learn more about The Pickleball System here: https://bit.ly/4eptAZd
(if you prefer the long-version of the site link, you can use this one: https://betterpickleball.com/system/?utm_source=in2pyt&utm_medium=youtube+description&utm_campaign=sign+up&utm_id=youtube+in2p) They go to the same place.

If you want to join the clinic, send us an email at Support@BetterPickleball.com. Put "Virtual Clinic" in the Subject Line and tell them Tony sent you :).

Interview with Ford's Theatre's Kate Langsdorf