🥒 Lose Like a Winner

How you play when it isn't going your way, and why that decides who you get to keep playing with.

If you're losing, lose like a winner.

Don't slam it just because you can

Don't slam the ball in an aggressive fashion just because you can. It's the quickest way to get all of your crew game invitations revoked.

Lose like a winner

Head high, smile on your face, because you're above ground, breathing air, and playing a kid's game invented with whatever was lying around.

It really was. Pickleball was invented in 1965 on Bainbridge Island, Washington, with ping-pong paddles, a perforated plastic ball, and a badminton court.¹

Yeah, losing sucks. For complete details, see my tournament record.

But you know what sucks even more than losing? Not having the chance to play with people you know and enjoy playing with.

Same posture, every game

Done well at tournaments but losing at crew games? Same posture. Don't take it out on the friends on the other side of the net.

Got invited to a higher-level game that serves you a healthy dose of humble pie? That doesn't mean you should take it out on the weaker player on the other side.

The longer version of all this lives in Why You Play.

Sources

EBSCO Research Starters, Pickleball: created in 1965 on Bainbridge Island, near Seattle, on an old badminton court, with ping-pong paddles and a plastic ball. ↩

Not a rulebook, just what keeps the invitations coming. Not affiliated with doyouevendinkbro.com. I've spoken to him about it, but he insists we're partners. We have never been seen in the same room.