Pickleball Therapy

In this special episode, Tony sits down with Neely Sullivan and Natasha Linton, the co-hosts of the Real Housewives of Pickleball podcast, for a conversation on how they each came to pickleball, what Neely and Natasha took away from their recent interview with Anna Bright (especially her use of the word "conscious"), and why focusing on one or two things per rec session is more useful than trying to fix everything at once. Listen in for these and more on peaks and valleys, and Tony's reframe of what a "valley" really is.

Show Notes: https://betterpickleball.com/1540-special-episode-pickleball-growth-with-the-real-housewives-of-pickleball

What is Pickleball Therapy?

The podcast dedicated to your pickleball improvement. We are here to help you achieve your pickleball goals, with a focus on the mental part of your game. Our mission is to share with you a positive and more healthy way of engaging with pickleball. Together let’s forge a stronger relationship with the sport we all love. With the added benefit of playing better pickleball too. No matter what you are trying to accomplish in your pickleball journey, Pickleball Therapy is here to encourage and support you.

[00:00:00.820] - Tony Roig
Hello and welcome to Pickleball Therapy, the podcast dedicated to your pickleball improvement. This is a special episode of the podcast. In this episode, I had the pleasure of sitting down with Nealey Sullivan and Natasha Linton, the co-hosts of the Real Housewives of Pickleball podcast, pickleball players, also pickleball entrepreneurs. Uh, it's a really interesting conversation with Nealey and Tash. I think you're really going to enjoy it. Let's dive into the podcast. Neely, Natasha, quote, quote, Tash, how are you guys doing today?

[00:00:35.640] - Natasha Linton
Awesome.

[00:00:36.220] - Nealey Sullivan
Yeah, it's doing great. Excited to, uh, be on your podcast. Thanks for having us.

[00:00:42.720] - Natasha Linton
This is our debut.

[00:00:45.460] - Tony Roig
Yeah, we're gonna do this regularly. We're gonna do this regularly, guys, because I think these things occur too infrequently. You know, it's like we'll do the podcast and it's like, well, then they're seeing the— no, there's new things, new things happen. You know, we should, we should keep the conversation going because I know I really like what you guys are doing. You know, I follow your podcast, I listen to the podcast. I highly recommend anybody listening to this podcast, Real Housewives of Pickleball. You can find it anywhere there's podcasts, just type that in and you'll find it. Uh, I like the way you guys come at the podcast, you know. Uh, you interview some very interesting folks, uh, you know, industry folks, players, content creators. Uh, you know, last 3 episodes were Pickleball with Nikki, uh, Anna Bright, obviously the number 2 player on the planet, and, um, and Ryan Reader, right, who I know I've known for years from his time down in Naples. So Really nice perspective you guys bring in. Really appreciate what you guys are doing to help grow the sport of pickleball. Will you guys share just a little bit, since we're talking about it, share a little bit about the idea of the podcast, like why you guys do it, what your thoughts are, and also if you have any, like, maybe you have this, is, is Anna Leigh coming on next week or something?

[00:01:46.340] - Tony Roig
I mean, if you have like what's going on, so tease something for us.

[00:01:49.910] - Nealey Sullivan
That's the goal. That's the goal. Well, actually, really, I told Tash, we started like, I really want to get Leigh Waters on because I'm fascinated by that mother-daughter relationship and just being a mother myself. And Tasha's a mom as well. I am— I'm just— I need to know more about how Anna Leigh was raised. Like, how did she raise this girl into being the most fearless competitor on the planet? She's so poised. She's articulate. She, you know, she has her moments, but she's only 18. And I'm just— I need to, like, pick Leigh's brain. How did you raise this? Because I have two daughters and I'm like, I want them to be like Anna Lee in a lot of ways.

[00:02:29.990] - Tony Roig
That's a great idea. Why not, why not write a, uh, uh, I mean, Lee should write a book. I mean, it would be, it would be, uh, I, I, man, my, my, my kids are already in their 30s, so I'm probably past helping them form that, that part of their life. But, uh, but yeah, for sure. It'd be a fascinating, uh, tale of, uh, also, you know, you, you wonder, like, it brings up the whole nature-nurture thing. I listen, I'm sure Lee's a, I, I love Lee. Lee's a, uh, I'm friends with Lee. Lee's a great person, but you always wonder, like, you know, I'm a parent too. I have 3 kids and how much of that was when they screw up. It was definitely wasn't me. I was, that's nature.

[00:02:59.550] - Nealey Sullivan
Well, that— no, I mean, that is a big, big part of it, is, right, is it— is she— was she just born this way, or did you nurture her and raise her in a way that brought that out? So yeah, that's a whole conversation.

[00:03:11.530] - Tony Roig
So we'll put a plug out for that. Tash, go ahead, jump in.

[00:03:14.920] - Natasha Linton
I was gonna say, it's either gonna be a really long podcast, it's gonna be a really short podcast with Lee.

[00:03:19.150] - Nealey Sullivan
True. There you go.

[00:03:19.950] - Tony Roig
All right, Tash, tell us a little bit about, like, uh, you know, you guys obviously got together at some point and and, uh, know each other. I don't know if you know each other from pickleball or outside of pickleball, and then you were like, hey, you know what, let's do a podcast.

[00:03:34.730] - Natasha Linton
I mean, pretty much. It's not nothing— it's not like a really, you know, I don't know, big story. I've known Nealey for at least a couple years, right? 2, 3 years nearly. We started playing— she played maybe a year before I started playing. We lived near each other and there was this one club that mostly everyone would go to to play. So I— that's how I got to know Neely, and also through local tournaments. And, uh, yeah, just one random day that Neely and I were gonna go play, we're just about to get on the court, and Neely said, you want to start a podcast?

[00:04:11.480] - Nealey Sullivan
Well, actually, yes, that— I had been noodling the idea of doing a podcast because I have radio and like TV kind of background. And I remember that day, Tash, and I remember just blurting, I'm like, I've been thinking about starting a podcast. And you're like, oh my God, that's a great idea.

[00:04:30.350] - Natasha Linton
Well, our conversation was kind of leading towards something like that because we were talking about starting something or doing— there was something more to the conversation before that that led into you saying, do you want to do a podcast? Because right away I was like, uh, yeah, kind of like I was You know, it was nothing really formed in my head, but it was just like an inkling inside of me that was like always wanting something more. So as soon as it was put out into the universe, I was, I grabbed right onto it just like Neely did. And yeah, here we are.

[00:05:03.300] - Tony Roig
I love it. It's, uh, Natasha's like, I have the Blue Yeti in my, in the box still. I, I gotta break it out and let's, let's, let's go. I don't know if you're, guess that's what I started with. That's what I know. A lot of podcasts are starting with Yeti or Rode or This is a shore. But anyways, it's, uh, uh, that's, that's fascinating. But I do agree. I mean, I think the thing about the universe is interesting, right? Because I, you know, I, I, as I mentioned, I follow the podcast and I listened to your podcast with, uh, Pickleball Nikki, right? Because she's such a good influence for the sport and the Joy Pledge and all that. Um, and she mentioned about like, you know, the, the way she met pickleball, right? Where like she signed up for pickleball whatever day it was, and then she was nervous the day before. And then it was like, oh, there's free lesson the day before. It must be, must be meant to be. So that kind of was natural for her. Um, let me ask you this. What did you guys, how did you guys, um, how did you guys get introduced to pickleball?

[00:05:50.480] - Tony Roig
That's something that's super interesting to me because I'm, I'm of the mind that there's, there's not a person in the world who would not enjoy pickleball if, and this is the big if, they're introduced to it correctly. And that depends on the person, right? So how, how were you guys each? And, um, maybe, uh, Neela, why don't you go first and then Tash, you can jump in. I just— Tash, take a sip of something. So jump in, Neely, and then, Taj, you tell your story.

[00:06:14.040] - Nealey Sullivan
Yeah, I, I've heard you say that before, actually, when you were on our podcast. You mentioned that about who, who introduces you to sport can kind of affect your trajectory in the sport. Um, so my father, who has literally introduced me to every sport in my life, every racket sport, starting with tennis, um, then he, you know, after college, he's like, you gotta play squash. He was, you know, obsessed with squash, and then I became obsessed with squash, and then squash kind of ended. It was too hard on my body. And then along comes the pandemic, and he's like, you gotta try this sport, it's called pickleball. And so he said, we have a tennis court at his house, and he set up the net and the lines. And at first I kind of was like, eh, but then I kept playing, and all of a sudden I realized that I'm kind of obsessed with this sport, you know. And the idea of me getting better at something. Like, there's no, you know, tennis, I'm never going to go anywhere with tennis. I'm never going to go further than my glory days of college, right?

[00:07:18.310] - Nealey Sullivan
Squash, it was, I had a good run, but pickleball was like, wow, I can just get better and better and better and better. I can be competitive again midlife. It's giving me purpose in my life. And it just took off from there. So yeah, I guess I have my dad to thank for for introducing.

[00:07:35.260] - Tony Roig
Sounds like a lot. You have a long list of things to thank your dad for, so that's good. That's awesome. That's kind of a family. So, all right, Tasha, what about you?

[00:07:43.470] - Natasha Linton
Sweet. So, um, I guess I'll start when I was playing tennis tournaments. So I live in Massachusetts, and in my— in my town, we have a local tennis tournament like every year. It was run up until COVID hit. Um, and I would play those, I would face pretty well, so I guess people kind of knew that I was a tennis player. And then after COVID, again, we live in Massachusetts, so like the whole pickleball thing started in the opposite side of the coast of the, uh, the country, and it made its way eventually like COVID time to Massachusetts. We got it really late, but after COVID, people in Massachusetts started playing, and I saw them playing in the driveway, especially, you know, during the time when we were quarantined off. And people knowing that I was a tennis player, because it, you know, seems very similar of a sport, would ask me, "Have you played? Do you play?" And I had literally never heard of the sport before. Never saw before, never heard the word pickle and ball put together.

[00:09:01.930] - Tony Roig
And it's a weird combination.

[00:09:04.170] - Nealey Sullivan
Yeah.

[00:09:06.100] - Natasha Linton
And people just kept— it just kept coming up. It just kept coming up. And I'm just like, what? Like, I was, you know, what? I need to figure this out. I need to try this, this thing and let everyone know what I think about it after. And this— I remember going to my local courts. There's the town next door, they had beautiful pickleball courts, gorgeous pickleball courts right next to the tennis courts. And there was already like open play set up, so everything was already kind of running. And I'm just like jumping into this thing, and I'm just like, oh my God, like, how does everybody know about this thing and I don't? And I jumped into open play, and there were these amazing people. There were probably at least like 12 people just like playing for 2+ hours. They taught me everything because that was— my head just was exploding with just like question marks of like, oh, what does this mean? How do I play? Like, you know, the rules. Like, and they taught me everything.

[00:10:02.950] - Tony Roig
How about the scoring?

[00:10:03.810] - Nealey Sullivan
You're like, oh my God, when you're done, Tash, I have the funniest story about scoring. So keep going.

[00:10:09.930] - Natasha Linton
The scoring is still a problem for me, but they taught me everything about pickleball. And it was just all that, everything combined, it was just magical. I was hooked from that second, you know. And it's just been amazing, all of the things that pickleball has initiated and I guess maybe resurrected from within me. And it's been like, if I think of all the things, I'm gonna start to cry, literally, because it has been an amazing past couple of 3 years that I've been playing. All the places pickleball has taken me, all the people pickleball has connected me with, all the things like this, being on your podcast, you know, pickleball has—

[00:11:00.520] - Tony Roig
and I'm gonna share, I'm gonna share a— I'm gonna let Neely talk about the scoring, but now I'm coming back, Tash, because I'm going to share a story when you and I, you, when you know I'm— you and I met at the Humana Cup thing.

[00:11:08.980] - Nealey Sullivan
So, all right guys, so like 6 to 9 months after I start playing and I'm kind of into it, my dad Uh, says, let's enter a tournament together. So we enter a tournament. I can't even remember where, somewhere in Massachusetts. The surface is, you know, back then there weren't the, uh, amount of clubs there are today. So this club, the surface was not great, and but whatever. He assured me he knew, he understood the scoring because I didn't at that point. We, I, like every match we had, We could not get the scoring right. And I was literally about to explode. And so we ended up, you know, like winning one and then losing a couple. At the end, at the, like our last match, I went to one of the referees and I broke down, broke down hysterically crying. I'm like, listen to me, I have a master's degree. I went to like one of the top colleges in the country. I have a master's degree. I cannot figure out the scoring. So she literally— and we joke about it to this day because she still refs at some tournaments around Massachusetts area— she took me into the back room, she took out a piece of paper with a diagram, and she said, okay, when it's 1-0-2, you're like— and she literally explained the whole thing to me.

[00:12:26.170] - Nealey Sullivan
And I kind of got it after that tutorial, but that was my first foray into scoring and pickleball. So yeah, I get it, it's a nightmare.

[00:12:36.770] - Tony Roig
I play, I play with, I play with, with, uh, with in a few groups. And one of the groups, a couple groups, actually there's one in every group pretty much who just can't keep track of the score. And I always tell, I always tell that player, I'm like, 'cause I, I, I, I got the score. I don't worry about the score. I'm like, but they'll like, they'll, they'll get so preoccupied with the score. They're serving and they're like, 'Is the score?' And I'm like, 'Please let's focus on the serve and where you gonna hit the third.' I, I'll take it. I got the score for us. You handle some other stuff for us. I'll handle—

[00:13:04.240] - Nealey Sullivan
I still lose track of the score. It was like where to stand and who's serving and what, like, uh, well, what's interesting is when, when players start stacking, right?

[00:13:11.430] - Tony Roig
If they wanna start stacking, yeah, they get all bogged down with the score. And I would, what I always say is like, don't, like, all you gotta worry about is where's the server or where's the returner, right? You gotta worry about the one player. You don't have to worry about the other player, right? It's like, yeah, there's no score for the other player. It's just who's returning and where do they have to stand, whether you're stacking or not. Okay. Are you, are you set?

[00:13:30.730] - Nealey Sullivan
Cool.

[00:13:31.390] - Tony Roig
Yeah, now go stack.

[00:13:32.510] - Nealey Sullivan
Yeah, right, right.

[00:13:33.890] - Tony Roig
Now have the other player go into whatever position you want them to go into.

[00:13:36.430] - Natasha Linton
So, but one more layer, one more layer into that. I'm always amazed and give major props to whoever's I'm on the court with, and they actually know that my— our opponents are out of order, you know, they're, they're not in the right spot. I'm like, that's amazing.

[00:13:52.320] - Tony Roig
I'll actually— I'll, I'll hold the ball up when I'm serving and I'll be like because we're playing doors and it's not that I could yell, but it's super loud. So I'm just like, and then they're like, I would never pay—

[00:14:04.860] - Nealey Sullivan
I never, never would look across the court and be like, you guys are out of order. And people I play with do that all the time. And I'm like, I'm just so focused on, you know, kind of the skills I'm there to work on, my mindset for the day. I'm not focused on where, who on the other side of the net.

[00:14:19.030] - Tony Roig
What we got to figure out is what, what level of consciousness is that on Anna Bright's scale? Because I love the consciousness conversation with intentionality. So You know, it's like, uh, yeah, and you know what's interesting, and let's play with that a little bit because I think it's an interesting topic, particularly for our podcast, because this is the Pickleball Therapy Podcast. It says on the wall here. And so this idea of like, like being okay with focusing on where we are right now, uh, and, and I know, um, uh, obviously I know, Tash, that you play in the Humana NPL. I don't know what it's called now, but you know, Champions thing. So you're in that group. So I know you're a very good player, and I know nearly from listening to podcasts you're a 5.0+ or, you know, You're both very good pickleball players, right? Um, but what's interesting is, you know, a lot of the players listening to this are, you know, like most players, right? 3.0 to 4-something, you know, somewhere in that range. And so I think it's, it's always interesting to hear from players like you guys and like me, right?

[00:15:07.500] - Tony Roig
Because I also play senior pro, right? It's like that we, you know, we may be in different places, but we're still also focusing on what we're focusing on. And we may not be where Anna Bright is, we may not be where somebody else is. So talk a little bit about that, like your your— what you focus on when you're playing, how it affects your mind, and how you guys manage some of those, uh, things. So if you want to kick it off, Tasha, then you can go, Neely.

[00:15:27.880] - Nealey Sullivan
Sure.

[00:15:29.000] - Natasha Linton
Yeah. Oh wow. Um, so I will say, yeah, as we were just talking about it with, uh, about, you know, someone who I see noticing my opponents on the other side if they're not in the right spot, um, I was just thinking to myself that that, that could be a hole in my game just because I'm not already— like, yeah, I don't know, they call this thing like ready golf. Like, you have your clubs ready, you're ready to go to the next, right, the next hole. Um, it almost like ready pickleball. Like, I really have to like develop this checklist, and I think that's probably one of the pieces of the checklist that I need to start really paying attention to, to get me on the court, like really be fully present. Um, you know, when I, uh, like there's always like a pre-serve ritual that I, um, so my coach Scott Fliegelman, awesome. You know Scott, right?

[00:16:26.920] - Tony Roig
Oh, Scott's a great guy. Actually, I'm breaking down our US Open match tonight at our strategy clinic that I'm working on. I played against him and Danny at the Open. They beat us in 3, but it was, it was a tough 3. It was a tough 3. Like we went pop, pop, pop, pop, pop, pop.

[00:16:40.030] - Natasha Linton
Will you send me the link? I want to watch.

[00:16:42.510] - Tony Roig
Absolutely.

[00:16:43.720] - Natasha Linton
Um, so yeah, so we go over these things, and a pre-serve ritual, which, um, I had been working on, is like paramount to just like for me starting off, um, a match or even just rec, you know, and practicing.

[00:17:00.480] - Nealey Sullivan
I agree.

[00:17:00.800] - Tony Roig
I mean, I think you gotta, you gotta take the moments that are available to you, right? To like— yeah, because in pickleball, it's not like in tennis where you have, you know, you have to play the, the game, but then once the games are over, you switch over, then you can rest and You know, we don't have that in pickleball, right? You keep playing and you get timeout in tournaments, but otherwise you just keep playing. So I used to, I used to say that, like, I thought, I, I always think pros could use timeouts better. I'm not talking about like, yeah, young pros now. Um, Anna Leigh's the best in the game at it. Um, but the, um, because she'll call a timeout at like 3-1. She's like, I don't like what's going on, you know, let's go. You know, a lot of pros wait till it's like 10-something and you're like, why are you calling it now? You should have called it at 7-2 or 7-3 or something. But, you know, I, I, I, I, I, I wouldn't say I got on Ben about it because like he's Ben Johns, right? So I'm not getting on Ben Johns about anything, but I'd be like, well, it's weird that Ben doesn't call timeouts.

[00:17:48.370] - Tony Roig
Anna Leigh calls the timeouts, right? But then, you know, I watched him a little bit more.

[00:17:51.740] - Natasha Linton
Yes.

[00:17:52.550] - Tony Roig
He's always in a timeout.

[00:17:53.850] - Natasha Linton
That's the thing.

[00:17:54.490] - Tony Roig
Like he, he takes a timeout between every rally. So he doesn't need to go to the bench cuz he already took a timeout and he just resets every time. He just resets and resets and resets every time. Probably one of the best at doing that in the game, as well as his discipline. But anyway, so Neely, what about you?

[00:18:11.190] - Natasha Linton
One more thing, case in point, like really taking advantage of every second on the court, just like what you said about Ben, how he just takes the opportunities every second that he has and actually—

[00:18:25.630] - Tony Roig
and I'm gonna toot my horn here for a second because I think like an area, because this will help players too, like if you play competitively, right, league play, tournament play, anything that's competitive, round robins, um, don't rush. Like, you know, players are out there— like, I, I— there are too many stories to share right now because, you know, I want to hear more from you guys. But like, like, I, I'm the guy that, like, I'm not, I'm not, uh, a dick about it, right? But I'm like, if the ball's over there, I'm gonna go get it. I'll, I'll be back in a second when I go get it in my normal pace and normal pace back. I'm not running to get the ball because now it negatively impacts me and my team. So Why would I do that? And I see players doing it all the time in tournaments where they're just rushing, and I'm like, you know, I, I'll like— they'll call out the score and you only have 10 seconds, so I'll be like, you know, I'll bounce the ball. Hey, Tasha, how you doing? Everything all right? Hey, what is it?

[00:19:11.020] - Tony Roig
The third shot over here. Okay, here we go. Boom.

[00:19:13.270] - Nealey Sullivan
I'm not around. One of my pet peeves actually is, um, in rec play when people serve the ball too quickly before you're actually— your feet are set and ready. That irks me to no end. So when I play against players like that when I have the opportunity of like retrieving the ball, I take it back with me to the baseline and I lob it all the way back to them. That's like—

[00:19:36.530] - Tony Roig
I'm gonna give you a better one, Neely. I'm gonna tell you what I do. I'll share with you what I do in those situations because I play with a few players like that, is I have— I, I'm pretty good about holding my paddle up, you know, as soon as I see— I like hold my paddle up. So like I'll just hold my paddle up and then I'll let it work, Tony, because the second— no, no, no, but hold on. I let them— no, no, but get set, right? So I— and they'll serve, they'll serve with your paddle up, they don't care. So they serve, I go and I grab the ball and I hit it back to them, and I go— and then they look at you and you're like— and then I'm like, okay, now. All right, all right. I mean, you do what you want to do, but it's been very effective for me. It's a little bit of a dick move, but it works.

[00:20:14.850] - Nealey Sullivan
So I'm gonna try that one. I'm gonna try that. All right.

[00:20:19.360] - Tony Roig
Tell us, Neely, what, what's going on with you, like, with the mental part? Like, sometimes when you're out there, is there something that you do or something that you find challenging, and how you— how do you manage it?

[00:20:28.240] - Nealey Sullivan
Um, well, I mean, this is really— it just, like, pertains to people who want to get better, right? Because there's plenty of rec players out there who just are out there for fun. They don't really care about improving, really. They just want to have some time with friends and hit the ball around and get some exercise.

[00:20:45.650] - Tony Roig
So I think they're not, they're not in this podcast, Neely. So you don't have to worry about that. Everybody in this podcast, we're all like, let's go. We wanna, we don't have casual listeners on this podcast.

[00:20:55.680] - Nealey Sullivan
Those are my people. Those are my people.

[00:20:57.300] - Tony Roig
Let's go.

[00:20:58.910] - Nealey Sullivan
Yeah. I, I would say for, um, for rec play, uh, I try going into rec play with, um, a sense of like purpose and intention, whether it's to work on 1 to 2 skills or 1 to 2 strategies, or maybe just like a certain mindset. And I really kind of don't care about anything else. So for instance, if I'm going in like recently, I do, and I do watch a lot of myself on film. I watch a lot back because I do think that that is a really important way in terms of getting better because you have to see what you're doing right and have an awareness of it. So, for instance, I was watching myself back one day and I noticed that I had this bad habit of when I would hit maybe like if the ball was like a little bit behind me and I was trying to kind of hit like a roll forehand dink, I would do this with my head like this, like almost like as if I was willing the ball to go over the net with my head. But it was causing me to go like the Riley Newman.

[00:22:07.760] - Nealey Sullivan
Oh, does he? Does Riley do that? Yeah.

[00:22:10.580] - Tony Roig
Riley looks like you're gonna fall over when he thinks— I'm exaggerating a little bit, but yeah, like, oh, okay.

[00:22:14.520] - Nealey Sullivan
I'm gonna have to watch him because I found for me, you know, it's what not to do.

[00:22:18.530] - Tony Roig
Watch Riley for what not to do because Riley can do it, but the rest of us, no way.

[00:22:21.950] - Nealey Sullivan
Well, that— yeah, exactly. Riley's Riley, so he gets away with it. And, you know, I'm not, I'm not missing every time I do it, but I would notice that oftentimes because I pulled my head up the ball would go in the net. And like when you watch the pros, their head— other than Riley Newman, I guess— their heads are very still and steady and they keep their head down throughout the shot. And so I, you know, for instance, the last few rec sessions I've really been focusing on— and I know like you haven't gotten to it, but I have a company where I have like stickers, the Edgard training stickers, where, you know, that help train your brain. And one of the stickers on my paddle right now is head down. And so I look at, like, for Rec Play, I'll look at that sticker frequently. It also helps with serves, it helps with so many different shots. Um, and I'll sort of like look at it, say it, and kind of like visualize in my mind's eye keeping my head down. And so I'll work on that for an entire 1.5-hour, 2-hour rec session.

[00:23:21.230] - Nealey Sullivan
And that's the only—

[00:23:22.420] - Tony Roig
oh, I feel like I should share my screen so you can see that I had it on my— I had it on my list of things to talk about. Yeah, so that, um, sorry to interrupt you, but I was like, I was excited.

[00:23:32.040] - Nealey Sullivan
I was like, No, I'm like, did I lose you? Yeah, so, so like, that's, that will be my entire focus for an entire week. And I think, you know, that's, that can be really helpful for players. Focus on 1 to 2 skills per rec session and nothing else. Focus your brain on those 1 to 2 things. And I think that's kind of the best way to, because otherwise, Tony, you know, like, you've got a million things. Oh, I want to work on this and I want to do that, da da da da, and you're, you're, you're just, your mind is overloaded and you end up leaving 2 hours later, like, what the hell did I work on?

[00:24:05.560] - Natasha Linton
Yeah.

[00:24:06.130] - Tony Roig
And particularly like you mentioned about growth, right? If you're into growth, 100%, you know, the, the idea of one thing at a time. And by the way, I, I gotta give you kudos for not getting distracted by me. I'm sorry. I didn't mean to click it right then. I was gonna share it and I set it up and I was like, oh, I clicked one too many.

[00:24:17.960] - Nealey Sullivan
Oh no, no worries. Of course.

[00:24:19.170] - Tony Roig
I was just gonna show you messing around. But, uh, uh, cuz I did wanna talk to you about the, the sticker idea, but the, um, but yeah, definitely one or two things is, is, uh, such a good way of thinking about it. Um, and, uh, one of the things I was going to point out, cause you mentioned about watching yourself, right? And I think that is so, um, so valuable. And we mentioned Scott Fliegelman earlier, friend, great coach. Um, and, uh, and so what's interesting is I was clipping for tonight's strategy clinic. I'm clipping the match, right? And I remember, I know at the last shot of the match, uh, I'm a left-handed player. Scott's a right-handed player. He was playing on the left side, so he's playing opposite me. You know, directly opposite me. And, he did it a few times during the match where he takes his forehand and he rolls it into my body. I'm a forehand-heavy player. I don't like sliding backhand. So it causes real trouble for me because I'm trying to slide to my right and the ball's coming into my body. And so it's like an absolute nightmare.

[00:25:11.790] - Tony Roig
So actually the, the, the point before match point, he did it and I don't know how I, that one I got, but I like got it on the tip of the paddle and it went over and I was like, well, whatever. But then the very last point, I, I get a, a, a bounce where he hits a nice high, uh, fifth, I think, but you know, bounces. So I come around it and I think I can get it between him and he's playing with Danny Wuerffel between him and Danny. And, uh, and then he comes and he just, he, he reads it, comes and just crushes it into me. I'm like, oh Jesus. So I was like, but, but here's the interesting thing. And at the time it happened, my brain told me that I had hit a, a, a pretty good shot. Not a terrible, not a great shot, but not a terrible shot. And Scott had just like gotten one off, like the, I thought he hit it this high off the court. But I'm watching the replay. I be, and it is still a great shot by him, but I basically like hit it into his forehand.

[00:25:59.990] - Nealey Sullivan
You hit it right.

[00:26:00.640] - Tony Roig
I laid it up into his forehand. Right. But at the moment I thought it was like, so that's why video's so powerful because like your brain says I did this. Yes. And you're like, no, no, you didn't. Not even close to what you think you did.

[00:26:12.250] - Nealey Sullivan
Right.

[00:26:12.590] - Tony Roig
Definitely the mechanical stuff, definitely way better to see it on video than trying to like remember what the, what you're doing. So yeah.

[00:26:19.150] - Nealey Sullivan
Yeah. I mean, totally. Like, I, I remember watching the, the film and I was like, what, what is that that I'm doing with my head? It was a, it's a completely unconscious habit that I was not aware of had it not been for actually watching myself.

[00:26:31.790] - Tony Roig
Yeah. We, we refer to that in our coaching as foundation. It's, it's, you know, it's the, it's the foot to shoulder connection, you know what I mean? So, and if that's not, if that's not set, you know, very difficult. Actually, the, the, one of the most exaggerated set players that I can think of is, uh, Dave Weinbach. Like if you watch him hit a third shot, he's like, he, his head goes down and he hits the ball and the ball's like halfway, it's almost bouncing and his head's still down. You know, he's like, once he gets set, he's just, uh, he just stays set until the ball's gone, which is, you know, the maximum, uh, foundation. So, um, but I do wanna share the story, Tash, if, if you don't mind about, so when, when, so, uh, we're playing Humana, was it 2 or 3 years ago? I don't remember how long it was a bit ago. And I remember that we went— I can't remember where it was, but I know it was one of the back courts where I went back there and you were, you were so gracious and friendly and you came up and you were like, Tony, you know, I'm one of your students and, and, and it's so great to meet you.

[00:27:25.220] - Natasha Linton
And just for the record, I was gracious and friendly and also like extremely nervous because that was my very first like senior pro tournament.

[00:27:33.150] - Tony Roig
So it was, it was your, it was your coming out party. So yeah, but it was, it was a— we had a really nice battle back there. I remember some— we had some good rallies. And, uh, but it was just, it was cool. And I'll tell you, I'll share with you, um, I don't know if I shared this before or not, but like as a coach, it was so meaningful, right? Because like, I, I believe in what I do and I'm, and when we're done with this, I'm gonna give a shout out to Anna Bright. Cause I think I, the word, I haven't, I've not had a chance to watch her program. I know Neely, you did her program, but you know, I, the word she was using, the way she was explaining it, I was like, I'm all in.

[00:28:03.610] - Natasha Linton
Let's go.

[00:28:04.260] - Tony Roig
Intentionality, recognition, awareness. Consciousness. I'm like, yeah, let you know, basics, the word basics, because no one uses those terms because everyone's like, Anna Bright can use the word basics because she's Anna Bright, right? I use the word fundamentals and players go like, that's for beginners. So when a player of your caliber, right, comes up to me, and Brooke also, and I can't remember Brooke's last name off the top of my head, but Brooke also came up to me in the US Open and said, you know, yeah, Buckner. And she, you know, she was also a fellow System student and, and that, you know, helped you guys. I was like, it was, it's just very rewarding to me. So I wanted to thank you for Thank you for letting me know that, uh, as a, as a coach. But, uh, yeah, let's, let's, let's talk a little bit about Anna Bright's, um, uh, your conversation with Anna Bright, because I think she's such a fresh young voice in the sport of pickleball. I think she's mid-20s, somewhere in that range. And so, you know, to have her speaking of pickleball in such a— I would submit such a mature, such a well-thought-out, well-developed way is just phenomenal.

[00:28:58.080] - Tony Roig
So why don't you guys share a little bit about, uh, what you learned from your interview with Anna? Because I thought it was—

[00:29:02.590] - Natasha Linton
there was so much—

[00:29:02.820] - Tony Roig
there's so many great nuggets in that interview. And I'll recommend, if you haven't heard the interview, go listen to the full interview as well on Desperate Housewives—

[00:29:09.460] - Nealey Sullivan
or Real Housewives. Oh man, okay, maybe that's our next generation, uh, Tash, instead of Real Housewives. Oh my God, Desperate Housewives of Pickleball!

[00:29:21.670] - Tony Roig
That'll be the— that'll be the late night show. Um, anyway, so, uh, uh, so go listen to our Real Housewives of Pickleball, the full—

[00:29:31.120] - Natasha Linton
Tony, you're turning red, you're turning red!

[00:29:34.130] - Tony Roig
I have the listeners—

[00:29:35.120] - Nealey Sullivan
Tony's beet red.

[00:29:36.770] - Tony Roig
I have the worst— I'm gonna tell you guys my Tyra Black story in a second, but let's talk first about Anna Bright, and I'll tell you my Tyra Black story. Yes, nuggets that you learned from Anna Bright.

[00:29:47.840] - Natasha Linton
Oh my God, I, I feel exactly the same way you do, Tony. Her use of the word conscious, and she said it in our interview maybe like a handful of times, it really hit home because like I am a yoga teacher, and, you know, a lot of what we practice on the mat is being present. And it's the same thing, right? Being on my yoga mat, being on the court. And to me, that's a fundamental, you know, that's just, I think, being human, right? Something that most of us want to practice and get good at, or, you know, find some kind of enlightenment in that way. And to be able to practice it on the court, I think, is just like amazing. But I really loved it that she used that word and that she used it multiple times because I think a lot of, you know, yeah, you have your feet, you have your hands, there's so many different mechanics of pickleball, but, you know, it's a human being playing this sport. And I think to get to the root of it, that might be a really good start is to check on your nervous system regulation, which then shows you how calm or not you are on the court.

[00:31:03.560] - Natasha Linton
And then obviously, hopefully, with that calmness also comes being conscious, right, of being intentional of what you're doing. So I just— I loved that she brought that out into the conversation.

[00:31:16.960] - Tony Roig
Yeah, I agree. At the end of the day, it's all about being human, right? So sorry, Neely.

[00:31:20.560] - Natasha Linton
Go ahead.

[00:31:21.200] - Nealey Sullivan
No, I just, I think it's one of the cool things about the sport of pickleball, at least right now. I mean, who knows in 10, 15 years from now, but the accessibility of that we have with the top pros in the sport. I mean, think about it, Tash, we interviewed the number 2 female player in the sport. We're just, we're just a couple of housewives from Massachusetts.

[00:31:43.830] - Natasha Linton
Desperate, I guess.

[00:31:45.260] - Nealey Sullivan
And desperate too. We're decent players. We're 5.0+ players. We're midlife. But what other sport could two people like us get the number 2 player in the world? But the other thing that I love about it is our podcast is not just about getting Anna Bright to be on the pod, but we're interviewing so many different cool people like Pickleball Nikki, Ryan Reader, who started a paddle company. We spoke with Alka Stripoli, who is a senior pro, talking about the challenges of raising a child with autism. We're talking with so many different people over the spectrum of this pickleball world, from the super famous to people 99% of pickleball world don't know, but they have interesting stories. And so that, I don't know, that's one of the cool things I think about. Squash was kind of like that. But tennis, the top 100 players, they're not going on a podcast.

[00:32:44.840] - Tony Roig
You can't even see them when you go to the tournament. Maybe on a practice court far away, But that's why I always tell players, I'm like, go to the PPA while you still can. Because yeah, like, you know, every PPA event I go to and I do some, I do commentating and I do other things, but I'm just as a guy walking around, I'm like, oh, there's so-and-so and there's so-and-so and oh, there's so-and-so. And they'll talk to you, they're super nice. You take a picture with them, they don't mind. You know, it's like, yeah, I hope it stays that way.

[00:33:08.710] - Nealey Sullivan
Do you think it's going to stay that way, Tony?

[00:33:10.400] - Tony Roig
It can't. No. I mean, I think it'll stay that way for a little while longer, but it can't. It's just normal. Actually, the, I will tell you, so I, at the Worlds, uh, it was a, it was the one that when they were together and we're still, everybody was still happy. And, um, so, um, uh, USA, you know, Nationals and Worlds were together, I guess. But, uh, I remember like, like actually Anna Leigh was, had like an escort going through the whole thing and it was, it was kind of like noticeable. Like she had like an entourage of like 8 people, like, but, but they were like, it wasn't her people. It was like people in front of her, like clearing way, you know, for her to walk.

[00:33:44.420] - Nealey Sullivan
The queen is entering.

[00:33:45.860] - Natasha Linton
Yeah, I mean, she does have a bodyguard, right?

[00:33:49.090] - Tony Roig
Oh, she has a lot of people walk around with her, so I do know that. So yeah, and you know, Annalise, you know, it's tough. I mean, she's, she's a multi-millionaire, you know, barely able to vote. So, you know, but it's got to be an interesting life. I've— I, I can't relate to it personally, so I can empathize, but I can't relate to it personally. So, so I'm going to share with you my Tara story, and then I got, I got two more things on my list and anything else you guys want to cover. So So I did a, I, I, you guys, as you guys, I think, know, I do strategy breakdowns on my YouTube channel, Into Pickles. So I, you know, I love doing them.

[00:34:17.190] - Natasha Linton
So I'm doing this whole, thank you for that.

[00:34:20.070] - Tony Roig
I'm doing this whole breakdown with Tyra and I think it's probably Georgia. And I do the whole thing, right? And push it out. And she's great. And I start getting comments. It's like, yeah, Tyra Banks wouldn't beat anybody. And I was like, what? So I go listen to it and I'm like, Yep, like multiple times I refer to Tyra as Tyra Banks, and I'm just like, but here's the thing, my last name, my grandfather's last name is Black. Like, my, my maternal last name is Black. Joseph Black is my grandfather's last name. And I'm like, so I know the name, and I'm just, and I know her name, but I, and even like when I'm at tournaments, I just, it's just like one of these things that stuck in my head and I just can't, can't stop saying it.

[00:34:58.610] - Nealey Sullivan
I got, I got a good, I got a good, I got, I'll re, I'll, I'll raise you— what's the expression of poker? I've got one and I'll raise you one for that.

[00:35:05.750] - Tony Roig
Yeah.

[00:35:05.940] - Nealey Sullivan
So, um, my pickle friend here, Randy Parker, um, he posted on Instagram some tournament met, you know, he got, I don't know, third place with his partner at some APP Senior Pro tournament. And oh, I know, you remember this, Tash? Yeah, we talked about on the pod.

[00:35:22.660] - Natasha Linton
I actually saw his name in the tournament that I'm playing in, in Cincinnati. I saw his name and I thought of this. Go ahead. Sorry.

[00:35:28.430] - Nealey Sullivan
Okay. Yes. So he's like, he tagged, he's like, oh, me and my partner, Howie Mandel, right, won this tournament. And so I, I read, I was like, oh my God, that's amazing. He played with Howie Mandel. And I was like zooming in on the picture. And it looked like I could have sworn it was Howie Mandel. So then I'm like, oh, Howie Mandel is into pickleball. Maybe we can get him on the podcast. Maybe he'll represent my business. So I go on Instagram and I message Howie Mandel and I'm like, oh, congratulations on your recent win. You know, obviously he's probably not reading any of the messages he gets on there, but just going on and on about like, that's so exciting, you're into pickleball. And so then I text Randy and I said, that's incredible. You, you, you played with Howie Mandel. How was that? And he's like, oh my God, I am an idiot. I tagged the wrong per— what was his name? Howie Mendel.

[00:36:19.450] - Natasha Linton
Mendel. Yeah.

[00:36:21.230] - Nealey Sullivan
So he played with a guy named Howie Mendel. Okay, and so then, but then, yeah, then just on a whim, I Googled Howie Mandel pickleball. Howie Mandel actually is representing a pickleball paddle company. He's really into pickleball. So it kind of, you know, kind of worked out.

[00:36:38.170] - Tony Roig
It worked out. Yeah, now you had a chance to be like, you know, the tournament, the other tournament. Yeah, yeah, I thought you played a tournament.

[00:36:43.550] - Nealey Sullivan
Oh my God, that was pretty funny.

[00:36:46.500] - Tony Roig
Uh, all right, so I have two things left on my list. Number one, Uh, Neely, is your father still with us?

[00:36:52.290] - Nealey Sullivan
Yes.

[00:36:53.410] - Tony Roig
What's his name, if I may ask?

[00:36:55.130] - Nealey Sullivan
Steve Steinberg.

[00:36:55.850] - Tony Roig
All right, shout out to Steve Steinberg. If you know Steve Steinberg, give him some love for bringing Neely into the sport, and now we have a podcast because of it. So shout out to Steve.

[00:37:04.910] - Nealey Sullivan
And then the other thing, Tony, Tony, he is always looking because he's 83 now, and he is good for 83, right? Doesn't move great.

[00:37:13.320] - Tony Roig
He's probably good for 73 too, right?

[00:37:15.350] - Nealey Sullivan
He what?

[00:37:16.310] - Tony Roig
He's probably good for 73 too.

[00:37:18.090] - Nealey Sullivan
Yeah, he could play. He could play and he could play in 70+ and win. He is always looking for partners. So if there's anybody listening right now who wants to play in some of these big tournaments, 70+, tell them to send me an email.

[00:37:30.550] - Tony Roig
I do have— we do. We actually, I actually, I do have one or two guys that have asked people.

[00:37:34.570] - Nealey Sullivan
Okay. Because he's good.

[00:37:35.940] - Tony Roig
And I'm not just saying my email address and just tell them to put Neely in the subject matter, else I'd be like, I don't know who you are.

[00:37:41.660] - Nealey Sullivan
Yeah, I'm not biased. He's good. He's very, very good.

[00:37:44.250] - Tony Roig
I, you know, I believe you. It's all good, they'll sort it out anyway. So, um, I always tell my, like, my, you know, students that are like 70 plus, I'm like, aren't you just happy you're able to get on the court?

[00:37:54.880] - Natasha Linton
If I can just—

[00:37:55.660] - Tony Roig
right, hit the ball, enjoy it. So my favorite thing, have you guys ever seen— this is, I guess, another— have you guys ever seen 90+ singles, pickleball singles?

[00:38:05.170] - Natasha Linton
Uh, no, I'm not sure I want to.

[00:38:06.790] - Nealey Sullivan
I don't know.

[00:38:07.500] - Tony Roig
Oh, you do. It's the best. It's the—

[00:38:09.760] - Natasha Linton
it's—

[00:38:10.030] - Tony Roig
no, no, it's what Pickleball's all about. Really? Singles. Yeah, they're basically like— it's like serve, return, a third. Nice shot, John! But it's beautiful, it's beautiful. These guys are out there and I, I've never seen women— women maybe do it too, but I've only seen the men, like the video I've seen of the men playing. It's, it's really— it's pickleball, it's beautiful, it's, it's beautiful. It's not, it's not a negative, it's absolutely beautiful. It's like serve, return.

[00:38:37.540] - Nealey Sullivan
That's the equivalent of like the Golden Bachelor and the Golden Bachelorette, you know, those ones where it's like They just, you know, it's like sob stories of like their partner passing away and all the ailments they're dealing with. And so now I'm thinking I'm gonna watch 90.

[00:38:49.290] - Tony Roig
No, no, no, nobody, nobody.

[00:38:51.920] - Nealey Sullivan
This is gonna be—

[00:38:52.800] - Tony Roig
it's not Faces of Death, it's just pickleball.

[00:38:56.260] - Natasha Linton
I think that's when I'm gonna make my singles run, when I turn 90.

[00:39:01.070] - Tony Roig
You're gonna be a— let's go! All right, you'll enter the tournament, Taj, it'll be like one entry.

[00:39:07.690] - Nealey Sullivan
You know what, Tash, I'll enter too.

[00:39:09.800] - Natasha Linton
Exactly.

[00:39:10.500] - Nealey Sullivan
Oh, you're only a few years older. I'll enter too, and we can play each other in the finals.

[00:39:14.200] - Tony Roig
Okay, I love it. I love it. Gold and silver. All right, and then the second thing was, you mentioned it earlier about the, the stickers. Uh, Neely, tell us about stickers and how can folks find the stickers. Uh, I'm interested in them now. So I heard about them in the podcast. I can't remember which episode you were talking about them, um, recently, but, uh, but tell us a little bit about the stickers. And because I think that positive reinforcement is something that's definitely, uh, super valuable.

[00:39:37.060] - Nealey Sullivan
Yeah, they're called Mission Sticks. Um, the website's themissionsticks.com. Um, so basically, like, if you think about the edge guard, right, there's a lot of real estate there, and there's a lot of companies that have come along to develop products— lead tape, tungsten tape, uh, you know, tape that looks pretty with patterns and colors and edge guard protectors. And I'm kind of the first to come along to offer keyword performance training stickers for your edge guard. And basically keywords, for people who don't know, they're short, purposeful phrases or even, you know, single words that help focus your attention and sort of regulate your emotions, but also that can help with executing skills and strategies. So basically like mental shortcuts. And you basically, you stick them on the edge guard and we have over 200+ preselected options for 3 different areas. There's mindset and mental toughness stickers. There are stickers that will help with your technique, and there are stickers that will help with your strategy. The best part about them is they are very lightweight, like they're 0.007 ounces. They don't add anything to your paddle, although I do have one weighted sticker that is for people who want actual weight with the phrase I belong here.

[00:40:55.470] - Nealey Sullivan
On it because I think that's super important for so many different players of all levels to feel like you belong. And you can change them up, right? One day I'm working on head down, like I was telling you, working on head down. The next rec play I'm working on watching the ball. The next day I'm working on staying low. The next day I'm working on covering middle. The next day I'm working on getting my body behind the ball. So there's a million different options. Change them up. And it's really— the idea is training your brain. So you're trying to activate a lot of neural pathways by seeing the anchor, seeing the sticker on your edge guard, saying it, and then visualizing it. And that way you're using a lot of different neural pathways that help train your brain. So during rec play, ball machine work, lessons, drilling, and if you play with them enough, it will train your brain so that those skills and those mindsets become automatic. It just becomes like a reflex. It becomes automatic so that when you're competing, you don't have to think about all this stuff. You just do it.

[00:41:55.850] - Nealey Sullivan
It's just, it's just like your body takes over. So that's kind of the concept behind it. And the reason I started it is because I started using keywords on my own paddle and it kind of like revolutionized my game in a lot of different ways and revolutionized my mindset, especially during competitive play. And I thought, if this is going to help me, This can help anyone.

[00:42:17.740] - Tony Roig
So that's so great. We need to get, we need to get a Get Past Four one. Can we get a Get Past Four one?

[00:42:23.280] - Nealey Sullivan
Well, there is a, there is a custom, there is a customization option. So you have, I've had people, because they have like, some people have really weird unique phrases they like to say to themselves. Um, and so if that's, you know, that's the weirdest. Um, I had, well, actually it's funny because one guy ordered one that's, it was Anna Bright Energy. And that was what he wanted. He wanted to see that. And then he had one was loosey-goosey for whatever reason. He, I don't know, he liked loosey-goosey. There was a, like, remember the triangle? There was all sorts of different ones. So yeah, it's one woman liked swag on for whatever reason, just from a song. So, oh, one woman was actually, this is one that I actually use for myself now. It's do the routine routinely. And I love that one because, you know, for people who want to improve, um, it's kind of boring sometimes, the drilling, the ball machines. And so whenever I'm kind of like, uh, I'm like, you know what, you got to do the routine routinely. And that sort of motivates me. Um, and I have one actually on my phone case right now, my body is strong.

[00:43:28.130] - Tony Roig
Nice.

[00:43:28.910] - Nealey Sullivan
Um, to remind me that, you know, despite being 48 that my body is strong and badass despite being injured right now, actually.

[00:43:37.830] - Tony Roig
Actually, the, the, uh, the, um, um, uh, that does also my train of thought. You mentioned the thing about the, uh, oh, the, the triangle thing might be, uh, might be system because we actually teach like the— it's a footwork thing that, that we use inside the system on getting on the triangle of your feet. So kind of interesting. But yeah, the positive reinforcement I think is so so helpful, so powerful, uh, just to, you know, remind yourself of, of things that are going to focus you on what you need to focus on and hopefully take away some distractions. So, um, all right, cool. Anything else you guys have for the good of the order? I think it's been a great conversation. And, Tash, how you feeling?

[00:44:17.490] - Natasha Linton
I, I'd like to add that I just, um, wish that everybody just plays pickleball, tries it at least once. I mean, I know all the people who are listening probably are Arty is addicted, as we all are. But just keep going. Like, I think it's a ride no matter what level you're at in terms of like peaks and valleys. But just keep riding the valleys and you'll find another peak. Just keep going. Keep getting out there. Stay in touch with all your community members and keep playing. It's— I think it's the greatest sport in the world.

[00:44:53.800] - Nealey Sullivan
Yeah, that's a great message. There will be a lot of valleys. And so how do you navigate them? That's actually something I've been thinking a lot about. And Tasha, I want to do maybe like an upcoming podcast about, you know, because those, those valleys will happen, those, those downturns, curveballs will happen. Why do you keep playing? And I think you have to go back to your pickleball whys. And I've sort of started to zero in on like 3 of my pickleball whys that I, that I need to come back to when I'm feeling like down and out, when I'm feeling like, oh, I've reached my ceiling or I plateaued. Um, you have to come back to those whys. Uh, so I think that's a great message, Tash.

[00:45:32.550] - Tony Roig
Actually, if you guys are open to it, I'll send you guys— so I would push back on valley. Um, I do agree with peak because, but I'll send you the article and then you guys, you guys like it, you guys can play around with it. But basically the idea, the way I see it is you climb the peak or the mountain right in front of you. And then you get to the top of that mountain and then behind it, there's another mountain, but you're always— you're basically— I mean, you might dip a little bit, like, to get to the— but you're never— you're not going all the way down again. So that's the only problem I have with valley, like, the idea that you're going, like, up and then all the way down, up and all the way down. It's like up and then— eh, I don't know what that's called, like, where you go over a mountain and there's like a— yeah, or something, whatever that is. I'm okay with that term, but I use the idea of, like, there's always another mountain behind you, right? They're like, you climb this one and then— and, and what, you know, what we always share with our students is like, like, enjoy and embrace that.

[00:46:21.620] - Tony Roig
Isn't that the greatest thing about pickleball? Like, you'll never exhaust it. You'll— and Anna mentioned it in the podcast with you guys where it's like, you know, she's one of the best players in the world and she's still learning. Ben Johns is still learning. You know, there's always something. I mean, I would say it's, it's not— and you're not going to exhaust it. Tennis is doing the same thing. Yeah, you look at the best players in tennis, they're playing different than they played 6 years ago. You know, the, the top players So it's, you keep moving, you keep going, and there's always something to do. Um, so yeah, so, and listen, I, I really appreciate what you guys do, um, to help, uh, the sport. I think it's a, uh, um, I think it's really important to have different voices, to have different ideas, to have different, um, and you guys are, you know, positive and, and, and, you know, bring the love to the sport, to, uh, players out there. Uh, so again, if you can follow— I don't know if it's Real or Desperate anymore, but whatever. I'm just kidding. The Real Housewives of Pickleball, anywhere that there's a little bit of that, listen Listen to, uh, Tony Roig.

[00:47:15.940] - Nealey Sullivan
I'm desperate for partners, Tony. I'm desperate for partners, for Christ's sake.

[00:47:21.170] - Tony Roig
Partners are hard to find for tournaments, I'll give you that. But, uh, but check, uh, check that, check out their podcast and follow them. And, uh, best of luck, guys, with the podcast and everything else. And we're definitely gonna do this again.

[00:47:31.170] - Natasha Linton
And yes, please.

[00:47:32.540] - Tony Roig
And I'm happy to come on your podcast whenever you want me to. So pleasure being with you guys. Awesome.

[00:47:37.650] - Natasha Linton
Thanks, Tony.

[00:47:38.700] - Nealey Sullivan
Thank you.