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💥 When to drop, drive or survive

💥 When to drop, drive or survive

Plus, your paddle’s good...but could it be better? A secret tip pros use to apply pressure, and much more...

Brandon Mackie
August 07, 2025

Hey reader,

Welcome back to the Pickleheads Newsletter!

In this issue:

🎯 How a $15 roll of tape saved my game
🤾 Stop whiffing overheads
💥 When to drop, drive or survive
😍 A secret tip pros use to apply pressure

🎯 How a $15 roll of tape saved my game

Stephen Mijangos with Paddle Tuning Tape from Pickleball Effect

Hey Pickleheads – Stephen here 👋

I’ll be honest – there was a point I thought I might have to quit pickleball. My tennis elbow had gotten that bad. I swapped paddles, tried all the stretches, even took a few weeks off. Nothing helped. Then a friend handed me a roll of weighted tape and said, “Try this.”

I stuck a couple strips near the throat of my paddle, not expecting much. But it made a huge difference.

Most players have heard of weighted tape, but don’t really know how to use it or what it’s for. I didn’t either. That’s why I wrote this post – to share what I’ve learned, where to place it, and when it’s actually worth using.

👉️ Read the guide

TL;DR: If you’re looking for a recommendation, I use the Paddle Tuning Tape from Pickleball Effect.

🤾 Stop whiffing overheads

I’m stoked to welcome back James Ignatowich, one of the top-ranked pros in the game, for this week’s Level Up.

Hey Pickleheads readers,

The overhead is one of the most important shots in pickleball. And one of the most common mistakes I see players committing at my clinics is sailing this opportunity long…usually into the fence.

When this happens it’s usually for one reason…

👉 They make contact with the ball too far behind their shoulder.

On an overhead, making contact too far behind your shoulder puts you in a weak position. You lose power, rely too much on your wrist, and more importantly, you can’t drive the ball down.

Instead, here’s what to do:

✅ Make contact in front of your shoulder
✅ Think: “Where would I release the ball if I was throwing it as hard as I could?”
✅ That’s your power zone! Aim to make contact with the ball here

This small change helps you control your smash, add power, and stop sailing balls long.

Watch James demo the technique and explain why this one tweak makes all the difference 👇