Hello and welcome to Pickleball Therapy,
the podcast dedicated to your Pickleball improvement.
It's the only podcast with you in mind.
This is a special episode.
This week we're putting out an interview that I was able
to conduct with Pickleball Pro player Dylan Frazier.
Dylan Frazier is a fine young man who is a senior
student at the University of Missouri,
but he is also one of the top pro Pickleball players
in the world.
And I was able to sit down and chat with Dylan
for a few minutes about his journey and also about how
he approaches the game and from a mental side,
as well as from a decision making side.
I know it was the types of shots that,
that he wants to hit.
And I think it's gonna be really helpful for you to
listen to this podcast lot to learn from a player who
went from 3.5
Pickleball all the way to one being one of the top
row players in the sport and does not have a tennis
background. So if you don't have a tennis background,
you're gonna really enjoy hearing from from Dylan and how he
approaches the game.
Before we jump into the podcast,
a couple of notes.
First of all,
if you're new to the podcast and have not heard one
of our podcasts before,
I highly recommend you check out episode 1 62.
It'll give you a really good sense for what types of
podcasts you're gonna get here in Pickleball Therapy and also will
help you with your game and your perspective and how you,
how you approach the game.
It's a podcast.
It's out of the bowl of ice cream published on October
20th. Check that one out.
I'll give you a really good primer,
if you will,
into Pickleball therapy.
And at the end of the podcast,
at the interview in at the end of the interview with
Dylan, we talk about the paddle that he currently uses,
both for doubles and singles.
And it happens to be same paddle that I use.
So if you're interested in checking out more about that paddle,
I'll put a link down in the show notes where you
can get a Selkirk paddle from our friends over at Selkirk
and check out their paddles.
And then lastly,
before we get into it,
last week we had a special episode where I asked for
any phrases that you relate to the podcast.
If you still want to get involved with that,
please send us any kind of phrase that that jumps out
to you from the podcast to give you some idea.
Some of the phrases that we got were intentionality,
get past four,
and Pickleball is messy.
So those are just three of the ones that you wrote
in on.
You can send us an email at therapy at better Pickleball
dot com and let us know.
Enjoy my interview with Dylan Frazier.
Super happy to have role player top pro player.
Dylan Frazier with us on the Pickleball Therapy podcast today.
Dylan's taking some time out from his busy schedule.
He's still a full-time student in addition to being a professional
Pickleball player.
So he is.
Got a lot going on.
Dylan, how you doing today?
I'm doing well,
thanks Tony.
Thanks for having me on.
Absolutely. It's a pleasure to have you on here,
Dylan, there are some folks that listen to who listen to
the podcast who may not be familiar with your story.
Why don't you tell us a little bit about how you
got into Pickleball?
I know your mom introduced you to it,
but just give us a little bit of that story,
how you got into Pickleball.
Yeah, so my mom,
like you said,
introduced me to the sport.
She had actually played while she was attending the University of
Missouri just recreationally for fun.
And then we were visiting my grandparents in Florida one year
and we were looking for something to do and they suggested
that we go to the rec center and play Pickleball there.
So we did,
and I think like a lot of people,
we fell in love with it right away,
kind of got the bug,
you know,
played one game.
It was super easy to learn and,
and you know,
be decent at right away.
And, and so we had some competitive games with some of
the, the local Florida players there and we,
we, we were hooked right away.
So when we came back to Missouri,
we found the show me Pickleball Club and,
and which is the club based in Columbia,
Missouri, where I live.
And started playing with them and then tournaments eventually and then,
and, and,
and now we're here.
Awesome. And we're gonna get into this a little more in
detail as we go through some of your journey,
but one of the things that's,
that sort of sets you apart of some,
from some of the,
the, the other batch of pro players is you didn't really
have a,
my understanding is you didn't really have like a tennis background
coming into Pickleball.
You played other sports,
right? But not the only racket sport you played was really
Pickleball with any kind of seriousness,
right? Yeah,
that's correct.
So I played a lot of baseball.
Baseball I'd say was my,
was my primary sport.
I did a little bit of basketball and football,
but it was mostly baseball.
And I played tennis recreationally a few times,
you know,
with my mom and,
and, and some other people at the,
at A-Y-M-C-A maybe a few times,
but never competitively,
never like on a,
on a team.
My high school didn't have a tennis team,
so I never really got into tennis that much.
It was,
it was all mostly baseball.
And I think,
you know,
the reason that we point that out is,
is in part because a lot of,
a lot of Pickleball players as you know,
I mean a lot of Pickleball players into Pickleball without tennis
and then they see tennis players and say,
well, how can I compete with that?
And it'll tell you Dylan Frazier's out there battling with tennis
players week in and week out at the highest level and
is able to not only hold his own,
but but but win many of the times against him.
So that's,
that's awesome.
Let's talk a little bit about your,
your, your improvement journey,
right? Because you've been playing Pickleball,
but I did my math right,
roughly around seven years,
you know,
starting from rec to where you are now,
right? Yep.
Correct. So let's talk a little bit about,
you know,
that journey for you in terms of like when you decided
to take Pickleball more seriously,
right? Tell us a little bit about what that was like
in terms of your,
your, the work you've put in.
Are you drilling every week in that time period and now
and, and maybe a couple of tips that you can share
with players about things that kind of changed your game,
right where you went from like,
I can hold my own,
I'm pretty decent out there to okay,
now I can compete with the best players on the plat.
Yeah, so there were,
there were a lot of steps between where I started and,
and where I'm playing now.
Just I,
I mean I started at a 3.5
level first tournament I played in,
I played,
I got,
I medaled,
I got second and singles,
but in the doubles didn't,
didn't get a medal.
So I had a long ways to go from,
from where I started.
I'd say once I started playing tournaments and really got interested
in, in pursuing that,
I started to drill a little bit more and I also
just started to play a little bit more.
I was already playing a lot.
I even,
before I started playing tournaments,
I was just playing recreationally for fun 'cause I was having
so much fun with it.
But then once I started or decided that I wanted to,
to play some more tournaments and see how good I can
get, then,
you know,
the, the practices and and drill sessions became a little more
focused and,
you know,
focused on specific things I was trying to get better at.
And so really pouring a lot of time into just getting
reps at shots that I needed to develop at or be
more consistent with drilling was,
was the,
the go-to play there.
And then from,
from making it to like the four oh to,
or, or really like four,
five to five oh and then five oh to,
to pro jump,
it was playing against higher level players and getting term and
experience. I would say those were the two biggest things that
helped me grow my game.
And I played,
I went,
I've, I've traveled to Wichita earlier on,
I haven't,
I haven't as much recently,
but, but early on when I was kind of making that
jump from five other pro I traveled to Wichita a lot,
played with Jay D,
BA, Matt and Lucy,
I stayed at Patrick Smith's house and her sex there,
they've got,
you know,
a great group of players and and pros there that I
was able to practice with.
And that was super helpful for sure,
just kind of seeing what that level was like,
what shots worked,
what shots didn't work at that level.
And then,
you know,
taking what I learned from that,
going back home and drilling shots that I needed to work
on or,
or be better at.
And so yeah,
it, it was,
it was a long process,
but I'd say,
I'd say the two biggest things that helped were playing high
level players and,
and just doing a lot of drilling.
Gotcha. And let me ask you,
because you may not remember this,
but one of the tournaments I I kind of chatted you
for for a minute and I told you,
you, you're like,
we, I I refer to you a lot in terms of
my teaching because of the,
when you dink you have a very compact,
I would say simple.
And I don't mean that in a bad way.
I mean it in a,
in a,
as a compliment.
I very simple dink technique.
And so your dinks don't really break down.
It kind of reminds me a little bit of Colin too.
Like Colin has a similar kind of a,
a very simple dink technique,
but it works very well.
Can you talk a little bit about just generally like the
soft game?
'cause you know,
I think players out there,
they see Hardballs and they go,
well, it's gotta be hard.
But when I see like you and JW play,
when I see Colin and Ben play,
the reason I think you all win is because you all
are disciplined in the soft game and then you have counter
attacks too.
I recognize that.
But in terms of the soft game,
can you talk a little about the soft game and how
you think about it in terms of your,
your play?
Yeah, so the,
the soft game obviously super important.
You see the pros at the highest level thinking all the
time back and forth.
And really it's just for,
for like JW and myself,
I'm sure for Ben and Collin,
it's about having confidence in your ability to,
you know,
grind out a dink rally and,
and to be given the first good opportunity to attack.
And so not necessarily like the first chance you get to
attack is always the ball you wanna attack.
You gotta be confident in your ability to set up a,
to work the point to a spot where you get a
good look,
a good opportunity to attack and,
and, and win.
The point to your comment on how my dinky motion is,
is a little kind of more compact,
a little simple.
That's definitely intentional and it's because you need some,
or, or in my opinion or my experience,
you need something that's a little,
that's easy to replicate,
right? You don't want to take this big wide swing every
time on your dink,
just keep it simple,
keep it compact.
Something that's easy to replicate because consistency is,
I think the biggest separator across,
you know,
teams that,
and really all levels of Pickleball,
but even,
even at the pro level,
just consistency is,
is a huge separator.
It's why Ben and Colin have so much success.
It's, you know,
why all the top teams that are getting on the podium,
that's why they have a lot of success because they can,
they can execute shots more consistently than other teams.
I wouldn't say that,
I wouldn't say that any,
any player on the tour,
I mean with maybe one or two exceptions has any shot
that nobody else can hit,
right? It's not like,
it's not like,
you know,
Ben Johns is,
is out there hitting crazy and same shots that nobody else
can do.
You know,
everybody has kind of the same shots that they can hit,
but the ones that can do it nine outta 10 times
as opposed to eight outta 10 times are the ones that
are having more success right now.
I think.
I love it,
Dylan, I'm gonna quote you to all,
all of our students from here on out.
I'm gonna,
Hey, don't listen to me.
Listen to Dylan.
Dylan knows what he's talking about.
He is out there winning Gold's,
golds and Silvers,
golds and Silvers weekend and week out.
So, and congratulations by the way,
on the,
on the win this last,
last week,
the weekend before.
Thank You.
All right,
let's talk a little bit about,
let's pivot a little bit towards the,
the mental side of the game,
you know,
and, and you're still a young man and you're still growing
as a human being,
as as I would say,
I'm growing too.
I'm a little older than you,
but you know,
we're all growing,
but you've,
you've obviously,
you've come a long way in the sport of Pickleball and
let's talk a little bit about how you approach the game
when, you know,
I, I imagine there are situations out there when,
whether it's another player or a fan or whatever distractions occur
or potentially occur.
How do you deal with that when you're playing at the,
at the highest level Pickleball in terms of staying focused on
what's going on on the court?
Yeah, so just in terms of like,
like reactions from the crowds or,
or, or any interactions you might have with someone while you're
playing. I would say,
I would say,
you know,
I don't,
I thankfully I don't,
I don't notice it a whole lot.
Like once I get in the match,
I'm pretty focused and you know,
I've had like some friends and,
and family and even just some other fans come up to
me after the match and they're like,
did you hear me cheering for you?
Did you hear what I said?
Like, like I was trying to be loud.
I'm like,
well, I appreciate that,
thank you for the support,
but, but honestly I was,
I was locked in.
I didn't even notice it.
And so,
so for me,
like once you step onto the court,
it's just,
it's just you,
your partner if you're playing doubles and the other team and,
and that's all it is.
And, and I'm,
and I kind of try to have that tunnel vision.
Like I,
I'm focused on the game and,
and, and that's it.
It's like nobody's even there watching.
And that definitely has changed throughout the years I've been playing
because when I first started it was definitely a distraction,
you know,
having people standing there watching you play,
even when I was like at the,
you know,
four, five or five oh level playing in a,
in a final and just having,
you know,
like 10 or 15 people watching the matches.
Like, okay,
I, I kind of feel a Little,
a Little more pressure now with that many people watching and,
and, but,
and so I'd say the biggest thing that helps me kind
of overcome that or,
or not be concerned about,
you know,
the distractions outside the court while I'm playing is just experience
over the course of,
you know,
however many tournaments I've played now over the course of seven
years, I've,
it, it,
it was a slow and gradual process,
but eventually I got to a point where it's,
it's doesn't bother me anymore.
Like it used to.
I used to get a little bit nervous,
a little bit anxious when I was playing in front of
a crowd.
My first,
you know,
Hubble Pro tournaments and I was playing in,
in front of a crowd was a little nerve wracking,
but, but now it's,
it's, it's,
it's not a problem at all.
And it's just because I've,
I've done it so often that I don't,
I don't really think anything of it anymore.
Yeah, repetition is such a powerful tool in everything,
including that part of the,
of the game.
Talk to me a little bit or talk to us a
little bit about that,
and perhaps it doesn't affect you,
but I know sometimes it can affect players when,
you know,
when we first start out playing Pickleball,
we don't really have expectations of ourselves in terms of our
performance, our results,
and then at some point we start getting expectations because we
start winning in our groups.
Obviously for you it's a little bit different because you're now,
you're playing where you're one of the top,
you know,
3, 4,
5, however many,
you know,
players in the world.
And, and so,
you know,
talk to us a little bit about how you manage expectations
now that,
you know,
it's not Dylan from three years ago or two years ago
when if you won,
it was great if you didn't win,
no big deal.
Now again,
there's a little bit more eyes on you and things like
that. How do you manage that part of the game?
Yeah, again,
I think it,
I think just experience at having experience being in this position
helps, has helped a lot.
And yeah,
to begin with,
I, I love playing from an underdog position.
Like if I'm not expected to win the match or I
feel like I'm not the favorites going into a match,
then usually that's when I play a little bit better.
You're a little bit looser 'cause it's like what do you
having to lose?
Like if you know you lose this match,
well it was expected anyway.
So really in that situation you have nothing to lose.
You can kind of play loose and,
and and really go for the win.
And so those,
that's the situation I like being in the most I'd say
is, is kind of the underdog position.
But at the same time,
once you have established yourself as a top five player and
the expectations are there that,
you know,
you're expected to win,
you're expected to make it,
you know,
to a certain round in the tournament,
semi-finals, finals,
whatever, then it should also give you a little bit more
confidence. 'cause it's like,
hey, you know,
I, people are recognizing that,
that we're winning and making it to this,
you know,
round consistently.
And, and that,
you know,
gives you a little bit of confidence too just,
just knowing that the expectations are higher and that people will
expect more of you.
So I think,
I think that's,
it's, it's helpful in that sense that,
you know,
I'm the veteran team,
like I should be winning.
If, if I play,
you know,
good Pickleball like,
like I've,
like I have in the past or like I,
like I'm capable of,
then I'm gonna win this match,
you know,
eight or nine outta 10 times.
And, and so having that confidence helps a little bit.
And then for the most part though,
like when you're playing a team that you're expected to win
against, just making sure that nothing,
nothing changes in your game.
Like, just because it doesn't matter who's on the other side
than that,
right? If it's a team,
you're, that's gonna be tough.
That might beat you.
If it's a team that you're supposed to win against,
like, and either situation you're gonna,
you're gonna play the same way and,
and you're gonna play the ball,
right? You're not,
you're not gonna play your opponent.
It's, it's,
you know,
sticking to your strengths,
not necessarily being concerned with what the other side of the
net's doing to,
to some extent,
like, to some extent obviously different teams have different strengths and
weaknesses that you have to be,
that you have to be aware of.
But for the most part it's just,
it's just identifying what your strengths are and then making sure
that you go out and play to those strengths and,
and execute in every single match.
Awesome. Yeah,
I think sticking to the plan is so important.
And we had the opportunity to speak with Colin,
I think it was a couple years ago now for our
summit. He was on our summit and his biggest thing was
discipline. He was like,
you gotta,
you know,
you gotta stick to the,
you gotta be disciplined,
right? Whatever it's you're doing.
And I would say,
you know,
watching you and JW kind of evolve as a team.
'cause I,
I do watch you guys and I watch obviously Ben and
Colin and I would even say like,
if you watch,
you know,
I was gonna mention like,
you know,
Federico and Pablo,
you know,
they're, they're good athletes and have great hands and,
but they,
they did really start moving up until they start got more
disciplined and started saying,
okay, we're gonna grind with you guys want to grind,
we'll grind too.
And then,
you know,
that's when they've had the most success I think is that,
that sticking to the plan kind of a thing.
So that's,
that's awesome.
Lemme ask you about partner like,
because that's,
you know,
obviously you,
you and JW are I think,
you know,
just an amazing team to watch your energy so positive.
You know,
there's other players that are,
who are good players,
right? Objectively good Pickleball players,
excuse me.
But they,
they don't seem to have the same kind of rapport that
you and and JW have.
And frankly,
you guys look like you're having a great time,
which I think is amazing,
right? To be able to,
to succeed that,
that that way and play,
talk to us a little bit about like the partner energy
and how you guys feed off of each other.
And I'm gonna ask you about paddle taps in a second,
but let's talk about that a little bit.
Yeah. So for,
well for one I think it's super important to have a
partner that,
that you,
that you can play a lot of tournaments with.
I think if you look at all of the top teams
right now,
mixed doubles and,
and gender doubles that it's,
it's teams that have had a lot of experience together.
And the reason that that's helpful,
at least for in my experience playing with jw,
'cause in mixed doubles,
I switch it around a lot,
but in Vince doubles with jw,
you know,
kind of ha you're always on the same page,
you know what the other one's gonna do,
you've done it so many times together,
each player kind of takes on a specific role so that
the other player,
the other teammate knows what the other player's gonna do.
And then you kind of just develop a rhythm and,
and you know,
you have certain plays and certain spots that you like to
target on the court that the other,
your partner is aware of.
And so just kind of knowing what's gonna happen,
at least from your side of the net at all times
is, is super helpful and it really helps you get into
a rhythm,
know where to look for the ball.
And it's just the little things like that I think make
a huge difference.
And I think it's also important to have for playing with
someone that you get along with and,
and that you like as a person off the court on,
in and off the court because then you want to,
you know,
you want to,
you wanna win for them as much as you wanna win
for yourself.
And so that just,
that is important for establishing,
you know,
good chemistry,
a good,
a good connection with your,
with your partner for,
for JW and I,
we like to try to keep it light on the court.
I think,
you know,
it never hurts for,
for us to,
like they in a timeout or something,
you know,
bring up something unrelated to the match that's going on.
Just something that we encountered off the court or something that
we thought was funny and,
and just trying to keep it light because it loosens you
up a little bit,
kind of takes some of that tension and,
and, and pressure off of you.
And then you can,
you know,
if if if,
if he,
if I can get him to laugh or he can get
me to laugh,
that's always,
that's always a good thing because it means we're loose,
we're happy,
you know,
and we're gonna go out there and,
and, and have a good time and,
and, and play our best Pickleball in that situation.
And then,
yeah, so I'd say,
I'd say playing with a partner that you enjoy being around
on and off the court and then just having consi the
consistency of playing with the same person for a lot of
tournaments. I got to watch you and JW play in the
semi-finals at nationals and JWS hair was amazing.
I I told Julie his mom,
I was like that hair if,
if he can,
and if you could do the same thing with your hair
in the back where you can let it like bedhead in
the back that would look,
you guys would come out with a beautiful boy of hair
in the back.
It looks amazing.
I think it's the best favorite Pickleball I think.
But anyway,
and the other thing I wanted to mention is you,
you guys don't seem to like,
you see partners who like,
you know,
a player misses a shot and the other player either turns
away or rolls their eyes or the shoulder slumpy all the
things. I've frankly never seen you guys do that.
So talk to us a little bit about that,
like the,
how you feel.
Obviously you're gonna miss shots and obviously JWS gonna miss shots.
I mean there's no way around that,
but I've never seen you guys get on each other over
that kind of thing and,
and, and without naming names,
right? I mean maybe talk about like how you felt playing
partner again,
no names I,
we don't need names,
but, you know,
playing with a partner who doesn't support you like that,
where you know that if somebody attacks you and you miss
the, the the backhand counter punch,
it's not the end of the world,
you know,
you'll get another chance.
Yeah, I think it,
I think it,
I think it makes a little difference.
And again,
once you get,
you know,
to that,
to that highest level,
anything that makes a little difference,
you're, you're definitely willing to do because it gives you a
little bit of an edge and you're just trying to find
all those little things that might separate you from the rest
of the field.
And so this is,
I I would,
I'd consider one of those little things that you can do
to, to kinda help you and your partner out JW and
I like to,
like you said,
paddle tap pretty frequently and,
and, and it's just a form of positive reinforcement like,
hey, you know,
you missed that shot but it's okay,
I want you to keep going for it.
That, you know,
that was the correct shot,
I'm with you on that,
I'm ready for you to do that.
So, so don't hesitate to do it,
you know,
in the next few points.
And so having that positive reinforcement,
knowing that your partner's not gonna get upset for you going
for a shot and missing I think is,
is really helpful.
Some players,
some players respond differently though.
Some players I would say don't need that positive reinforcement.
They're kind of more independently motivated I guess you could say.
And, and regardless if they,
you know,
make or miss a shot or if their partner gives 'em
an eye roll or,
or gives 'em a paddle tip,
like whatever the outcome they're,
they're gonna keep,
you know,
doing whatever they think is gonna give 'em the best shot
of winning.
Other players definitely kind of feed off their partner's energy and
when they see their partner get down,
I would say,
I would say everybody to some extent,
when they see their partner get down,
kind of brings the energy of the team down a little
bit and when they see that their partner's up or,
or they're not upset,
they're, you know,
they're positive with you,
then it,
it's gonna bring the energy of the team up a little
bit. And,
and for some,
for some people that effect is greater than it is for
others. But I think in all cases,
you know,
having positive energy on the court is super helpful and,
and is one of those little things that will help separate
you from the field.
I'm gonna keep counting your paddle taps 'cause I think I
mentioned to you before we got on that I've counted three
before serve,
which again,
I applaud.
I think it's get to seven,
it'd be amazing,
but I'm gonna keep counting,
I'll let you know if I,
if I,
if I see more than three I'll let you know.
Hey, minute so and so I got one more,
one more question for you then well three more questions,
but one question about the game and then I wanna ask
you a little bit about your play.
Which paddle are you using and a little bit about,
we have a a a a friend in common in Kansas
City and we'll talk about that in a second,
but I I think I'd be remiss not to ask the
question about,
you know,
facing tennis players perhaps versus playing non tennis players.
Do you,
is there anything different when you're playing,
whether it's a,
an Arnold or a stock shooter or somebody like that,
or you're playing against like an AJ Kohler who's a hockey
background. Is there anything different that you're noticing in terms of
the tennis players coming in and what they're bringing to the
sport and having to adapt to that type of play?
Yeah, there are,
there are differences.
I'd say the differences are more subtle and doubles than they're
singles. You know,
singles, a tennis player can,
can come in,
a high level tennis player can come in and be competitive,
you know,
and, and proco ball singles a little more ease more easily
than, than you can coming from any other like high level
sports background.
And so what the tennis players are doing a lot is
they're, and,
and as the paddle technology is improving,
players are able to generate a lot more spin on the
ball. And so to begin with,
you know,
a few years ago you couldn't,
you know,
you couldn't come in and hit the Pickleball the same way
you could hit a tennis ball because the Pickleball didn't respond
the same way that a tennis ball did to a tennis
racket. Like you couldn't generate as much spin,
you couldn't,
you know,
couldn't get as much re reaction from the ball based off
what you do to it,
I think.
But now since the player or since the paddles have improved
and, and the players are getting better,
players are able to kind of do that more tendency swing
with their paddle and,
and you know,
still keep the ball in because before oftentimes it would go
out it was hard to control.
But, but players,
Connor Garnett's a really good example of someone that's coming in
and, and getting a lot of spin on all of his
shots and he's got a two handed back end while the
tennis players that are coming in,
you know,
will take their two handed back end that they had with
him from tennis and,
and, and use it in pickle wall for doubles two,
like they'll have the two ended back encounter,
you know,
the two ended backend drop.
I think that's becoming a little more prevalent in the sport.
I think players that don't have a two ended backend are,
are trying to develop one right now just because there's some
advantages in certain situations to having one and then for,
and, and doubles for the most part.
You know,
everybody's, everybody's technique is a little bit different just because,
you know,
maybe they came from tennis,
I'd say you could definitely notice a difference between the technique
of a tennis player versus a non tennis player.
But even tennis players have differences in,
in techniques that,
you know,
were different in tennis too.
And so I think at the doubles everything is a little
more similar just because,
you know,
you eliminate that big backswing that you have in that you
have in tennis and,
and obviously a lot of,
a lot of the play is at the kitchen line,
so you really have to shorten everything up and make everything
a little more compact.
And so the technique is different,
but everybody,
I think once they get to the kitchen light is try
to do the same thing,
which is kind of generate or develop a shorter compact stroke
with their,
with their paddle to keep it,
you know,
simple, easy to replicate so that they're more consistent.
And then once you start the,
you know,
the firefights,
the, the quick exchanges at the net,
then I think everybody is,
is fairly similar.
I know I,
I know AJ Kohler,
who you mentioned has a hockey background,
he kind of has a unique counter because he can get
the paddle head straight up like here and just kind of
slap it down like that.
And that's something I think a lot of tennis players don't
have just 'cause that's a little bit foreign to them.
That's not emotion that they had to do in tennis a
whole lot.
I'm kind of similar in that sense.
I don't do it quite as,
as extreme as aj but close and similar in that regard.
And so there,
there are some subtle differences once you get up to the,
to the kitchen line,
but for the most part everybody's trying to do the same
thing and so it might look a little bit different,
but the ball that's coming to you is the,
is the same off anybody's battle It sounds like strategically at
a fundamental level in doubles the game is pretty similar,
you know,
maybe the tennis players have a different looking drive on the
third or something like that.
But other than that,
I mean,
once you get into the meat of the matter it's,
it's, the strokes will feel different,
but fundamentally we're playing a similar game,
which is right,
great for non tennis players out there.
They can,
you can know that you can play a really good Pickleball
game without ever developing a tennis stroke as part of your
Pickleball game.
Lemme ask you,
I know you're playing with a Selkirk paddle,
right? And which paddle are you using and why do you
like it?
Yeah, I,
so right now I'm using the,
the O2 paddle from Soki.
I think Selkirk makes a lot of,
a lot of great paddles and,
and they're super,
you know,
one of the innovators in our sport I'd say in terms
of paddle technology,
they're always working on something new,
trying to come out with a new paddle release,
a new paddle series.
So they're keeping up with the paddle technology,
which is something that I appreciate for sure right now the
paddle that they have out there that I like the best
is the oh two paddle and I was going back and
forth between the Power air paddle and the,
and the OO two and,
and just recently I think I've decided that I'm gonna stick
with the O2 paddle has a little more power,
it's a little bit thicker,
so, so it's a little bit easier to control on,
on dinks and,
and resets and drops.
I think the Power air paddle was,
was nice though it's a little bit thinner,
it's a little more maneuverable in the air so you can,
you can do a little more risky shots with it,
which are higher risk.
But, but at the same time,
like if you can add something new or unique to your,
to your arsenal,
that's helpful to use every once in a while.
So I like the power air for that reason.
I think I might stick with the Power air for singles
as well just because for me my ground stroke is a
little bit better with that paddle than the,
than the O2.
But yeah,
Soki Soki has lots of great paddles out there.
I think the O2 and their and their Power air personally
are my favorites and I think that they best ones that
they have,
I'm gonna have to try out the O2 'cause I'm playing
with the Power Air,
but you sold me on the OO two,
I'm gonna,
I'm gonna gimme one of them and check it out.
Yeah. And then the last thing I wanted to touch base
with you on is,
I know you're in Missouri,
I know you're a,
you're, you're,
you're a senior at Nursing Missouri from,
from, from what I've been told.
So congratulations on continuing the work.
But we have a friend that started in Missouri,
the good folks at Chicken and Pickle and,
and we had the opportunity,
the better Pickleball team.
We were in Dallas,
we had the opportunity to check it out and play a
little Pickleball and get some the,
the, the food is amazing,
the food is,
the Pickleball is great,
but the food is phenomenal.
And so my understanding is that folks might see you where
sometimes, but Where,
yeah, so at the downtown North Kansas City location,
chicken and Pickle,
I'm there every once in a while,
or actually more recently than that,
I was actually at the Overland Park location in Kansas City.
So I'll go up there and do some events there or
you know,
maybe just practice every once in a while.
Yeah, Dave Johnson,
the owner of Chicken and Pickle is also a Mizzou graduate,
so we kind of had that connection.
That's how we initially got connected.
But yes,
I, I agree with you.
The the food at Chicken and Pickle is amazing.
If you're gonna eat there,
I highly recommend the pickled chicken sandwich.
I get it every time.
And then obviously they've got Pickleball courts there that you can
enjoy while you're there.
The, the only thing I'm gonna,
I'm gonna,
I have to reach out to the folks Chicken Pickle,
they gotta call it the Dylan Frazier,
you know,
pickled chicken sandwich or something,
right? I mean yeah,
get all the Selkirk,
the Selkirk Dylan Frazier paddle.
I'm gonna reach out to,
you know,
Mike and 'em say,
Hey, where's what,
where, where's the Dylan Frazier paddle?
So I give you one of them.
So awesome.
No, and it was a pleasure chatting with you.
Really appreciate love the way you carry yourself in the sport,
not just the way you play,
you're an amazing player,
but just,
you know,
you're such a positive influence for the sport and I love
what you're doing out there playing Pickleball.
Anytime you want to be on the podcast,
you let us know and good luck with the remainder of
your college year and,
and everything else on the tour.
I'll be looking out for you.
Well, I appreciate that.
Thanks for having me on,
Tony, It was a pleasure to interview Dylan for this podcast.
You know,
his perspective,
even though he is a,
he's a young man,
you know,
moving from 3.5
up to a top row player gives a player a unique
perspective in terms of how they relate to the sport and
how he approaches the sport and also the decision making,
right? The types of shots that he thinks are important or
knows are important given the way that he plays Pickleball.
As I mentioned at the beginning of the podcast,
and I'll repeat it here,
is if you want to try one of the paddles that
you heard Dylan and I chatting about,
there'll be a link in the show notes as well as
a code that you could use at checkout.
And if you haven't heard our podcast before,
checkout episode 1 62.
Again, it's a published on October 20th,
has to do with a bowl of ice cream.
I think you'll find it super helpful to you and your
journey. And lastly,
if you're hearing this before the holidays,
we have a holiday gift card.
I'll put a link down in the description below.
You can check that out there.
I hope you enjoyed the interview with Dylan Frazier.
Again, thank you Dylan,
for coming on to the Pickleball Therapy podcast and I'll see
you in our next podcast.