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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.
[00:00:00.160] - Nikki Maldonado
Hello and
[00:00:05.440] - Tony Roig
welcome to Pickleball Therapy, the podcast dedicated to your pickleball improvement with a focus on your mind. My name is Tony Roig. I am your host of this weekly podcast. This is a special episode of the podcast. For this episode, I am super happy to have with us Nikki Maldonado from Pickleball with Nikki. And from the Pickleball Joy pledge, I believe it's called a promise, which we're going to get into. Nikki, welcome to the podcast. It's great to have you with us, Tony.
[00:00:29.200] - Nikki Maldonado
I'm so excited to be here. Thank you so much for having me.
[00:00:31.910] - Tony Roig
My pleasure, Nikki. Yeah. So to give you a little backstory here, Kyleen from our team has been interacting with Nikki. They had a really nice connection. They've been talking about pickleball, and Kyleen shared a little bit of Nikki's story with me, and I thought it would be super good to have her on because, you know, a lot of this. I think Nikki is. A lot of this is. Is community, right? It's like if we understand that others are human and that we all are, you know, have some. Some of the same in everybody, you know, and that, you know, not all of us have to be like these perfect automatons the whole time. So, Nicky, let's. Let's, you know, let's dive right into the deep end of the pool, so to speak, and let's talk a little bit about how you got into pickleball and what it means to you or what it's meant to you, and then we can play from there.
[00:01:14.270] - Nikki Maldonado
Let's do it. All right. So my story kind of started. I've been an athlete my entire life. I played basketball, golf, everything. Everything. And tennis was one of my top sports. I loved it. But I only played recreationally because part of the reason with that is even as a kid, I noticed that there was a very exclusive nature to tennis. If you weren't part of the country club, you didn't have the expensive coaches, you didn't have a certain income, then you were a little left out of the club. So as much as I loved the sport, I was watching Agassiz and Sampras, all of that growing up, I never really dove into too deep. Spent the rest of my life playing all the sports. Tennis and golf were kind of the ones that stayed with me when I moved to New York about 16 years ago. It's really hard to play tennis in New York. You have to have a. You have to have a tennis partner. You have to have a place to play. It's expensive, all this stuff. And I couldn't find anyone to play with. I just wasn't jiving with anyone. And so I stopped playing.
[00:02:07.220] - Nikki Maldonado
Over time, some things happened. I became a deep workaholic. I mean, I've been going to therapy for this, trying to get me out of it. I got into a really, really dark state in my life where I was just. Couldn't get off the computer, just so focused on that. Wasn't leaving my house, not just not a good mental state. And my partner kept telling me, you got to get out. You got to do something. What about tennis? No, it wasn't working, all of that. And then she happened to walk past a bar in our neighborhood that had a sign, a flyer outside with a little QR code that said pickleball league. She texted me that picture that she said, you want to play pickleball? And I was like, what the heck is that? Do they even have that here in New York? That's like a. Like a suburb thing, right? Yeah, sign me up. Let's do it. So I decided, let's go ahead. Why not? I'll give it a try. I was terrified to try pickleball for the first time because even as a tennis player, I knew that it was a different ball, different panel, totally.
[00:02:56.260] - Nikki Maldonado
I didn't know the rules. And I was like, did I just make a mistake signing up for this league? What am I doing? So a couple of days before that, before my league started, she saw another flyer right next to our dog park that we go to every day. Mind you, we had never seen any of these flyers before. We lived there for years. This one said free pickleball lessons. And the lessons were the day before my league started. I was like, yes, sign me up. So I went to Dick's Sporting Goods that morning, got my paddle, my very first paddle, showed up for the lessons, and I haven't looked back. I was so deep and embedded into this culture instantly. I was the youngest person there playing, by the way. The ages ranged all the way up to about 80, I think 85 was the oldest player. They welcomed me with open arms. They were competitive, they were lively, they were fun and laughing. I made great friends. I still play with some of them today. And that was it. I haven't looked back. I've been deep into the trenches, and I loved it instantly.
[00:03:49.690] - Tony Roig
And. And Nikki, that's, you know, that's the story. I'm sure that there's. There's at least one, if not many of our listeners who are go, you know what that, that resonates with me. Right? That's something that, like, happened to me where it was either, like, for your situation was your partner a little bit of serendipity, right. Because your partner happened to see a flyer and then you had the lesson, too. So everything kind of, you know, lined up pretty nicely for the universe and universe came. Came together for you there. But, like, you know, for me personally, it was my wife's good friend who invited us to play, and it was a lark kind of a thing on a Saturday. And I'm like, yeah, whatever. I used to. I was playing competitive tennis at the time in the usda. And then I was like, yeah, we'll go play this silly little sport and have some lunch afterwards. It's fine morning. And then all of a sudden I'm like, wait, what is this? And I always tell player, I always think about it like it's important for, I think, a player to meet the sport and in the way that works for them, the best.
[00:04:43.290] - Tony Roig
So for you, it looks like a lot of it was, you know, that instant social connection, that welcoming that community was what got you. What got me was getting my ass kicked by the, the, the, the. The tennis and pickleball pro at the facility who happened to be there that morning, because I may not come back, but he kicked my ass and I was a pretty good tennis player. And I said, no, this. I thought this was a BS sport, but I saw it wasn't. But then there's other players who, for instance, it might just be like, getting into it more chill. Right? More like maybe players who haven't played a sport before, they need to come in a little lighter. But talk to us a little bit, Nikki, if you can, about, like, what it's meant to you in terms of. And you. You mentioned it a second ago that you were kind of in a. Maybe in a. In a weird place. Right. And then. And then pickleball was. And I may be overstating with the word instrumental, but I'm going to use the word instrumental and then you can modify it, however, is appropriate to helping you navigate from where you're at to where you got to, which was, I assume, a better place.
[00:05:38.630] - Nikki Maldonado
Absolutely. And instrumental is the exact word I would use. So I have always been a very positive, happy, outgoing person. Everything that you see, actually, from. If you follow any of my social media, you know, see this type of Persona, this is who I've been my entire life, for a fraction of my life, for a very small period, a couple of years, I wasn't that person anymore, that deep, dark state that I was talking about. I was in a really depressed state again. I wasn't leaving, wasn't social, socializing, all of that. I just didn't feel good. I was working out at home, but I wasn't really getting all of those endorphins that, you know, that you really need. And so there was definitely the social aspect of it, but there's this light that just turned back on. I always say I didn't. It didn't, like, change me to a different person. It brought me back to who I am and who I've always been. This. This person who is happy and excited and uplifting, and so I felt alive again just being on the courts. There's something about. I've always been a competitive person, but there's something about that.
[00:06:36.010] - Nikki Maldonado
This. This competition. But it's also this fun. The. The very low barrier of entry for socializing as well. You don't have to get super deep with people. You don't have to get into their backstory and their life story. Sometimes you do. Sometimes people will tell you a lot more than you even ask for, but that's. And that's okay. But you can also just talk about pickleball, and that's it. And you can just make friends where you just talk about pickleball. And it's very, very simple. So all of that, you know, started all of a sudden. I started, like, just felt myself smiling. I felt myself happy. I just felt alive. I felt like the color kind of came back to me. So, you know, I do think absolutely, there was a social element. There was a movement element. There was, you know, actually physically getting up and being active. And there's also something, like, oddly addictive about actually playing and being on the courts that makes you crave it more and more and more. You can't. And then you just get, like, this rush. You get so excited, the sound of the ball, all of these things, and you just leave.
[00:07:30.760] - Nikki Maldonado
So, so happy. You feel so happy when you're out. The rest of the world does not even matter. We're, like, in this little bubble while we're playing, and that's all that matters. And you can leave. This is why I say just leave all the other chaos. Leave everything else outside. Check it at the door, and have the best time while you're there on the courts. And that's how I felt, and that's. That's why it was so instrumental.
[00:07:51.470] - Tony Roig
Yeah, it's almost like pickleball becomes, like. Almost like a meditation area. For some of us, right. When you're in there. And I know for me, like, you know, when I look back on the. On just rec games, right? But competitive rec games with good players, and when I've played my best, I'm like in the zone. I'm just like, I'm in. I'm. I'm on the court. There's nothing else. Everything else melts away.
[00:08:09.470] - Nikki Maldonado
Yeah.
[00:08:09.910] - Tony Roig
I'm just on the court focusing on the ball. And it's. It's curious that you. You said the sound because I was gonna. I was gonna ask you about that when you were talking about the whole feeling about it, because I tell you a story. When I was in. I was in New York. I don't know, it was a few. Last summer, I think it was. And I was just. I love walking, right. And so New York, obviously is a great place to walk. So I'm walking all over the. I'm walking everywhere, right? And. And all of a sudden I'd be walking and I'd hear. I'd hear the sound. And then, you know, they've started to put these just random courts in, you know, those. I don't. They're not really alley parks, but they're like, you know, where there used to be a building or something, and there's like a tiny little park between two buildings and then pickleball court, like on the basketball court or something. And it's like you hear the Bach pocket, you have to go to it. You have to walk to it and see it, you know, and just feel the.
[00:08:54.820] - Tony Roig
The energy of it. So. No, that's all. That's awesome, Nikki. And let me ask you. So you mentioned that you have the ball Joy. Does that tie into the idea of.
[00:09:05.040] - Nikki Maldonado
Of.
[00:09:05.680] - Tony Roig
Of. I took a kind of a leap there, but I thought it might connect. So talk to us about the pickleball joy promise and how it maybe connects to some of this journey type of conversation we've been having.
[00:09:15.680] - Nikki Maldonado
Absolutely. So shortly after I started playing pickleball, I was. I was. One of the things I actually did was I. Social media is a very. Can. Can also be a very dark place. And I think that contributed to. To how I was feeling prior. And so I changed my algorithm instantly to only pickleball things. So I started learning how to play. I. Nothing but content lessons, all of that on. On. On TikTok and Instagram. And I decided to become a content creator. And I was like, I think I'm going to do this too. Not to do anything with it, but really just to kind of meet people and just kind of expand my community. And before you know it, it's turned into something significantly bigger than that. But with that in my content creation journey, I started learning so, so much more about different levels of players in different parts of the country and the world. And there's a really popular guy out there named Nico the lefty. And Nico actually posted a very popular post about the honeymoon phase and said that the first year is your happiest year of pickleball. And then after that, it dips, it plunges.
[00:10:12.760] - Nikki Maldonado
And the higher, the more advanced you get, the unhappier you get. And I saw so many people responding and commenting about how true that is. So I saw that. And then I started putting two and two together, looking around me and seeing different levels and duper, right, the duper monster. People start caring way too much about their duper. They start asking each other their dupers and judging people based on that. And I mean, just like it was getting nasty. So Nico's thing happened. I'm looking at my community, and the last piece was I was actually listening to another podcast called Pickleballers from the Kitchen, and Tyra Black was on. It was her episode. And she was talking about coming from tennis and how toxic her tennis background was and why she left and how excited she is to play pickleball even now at a pro state that she feels so much joy that for her mental health, she's playing pickleball. And this is at a pro level. She is the top of the. One of the best players in the entire world talking about her happiness on the courts, even though she. She's extremely competitive.
[00:11:09.400] - Nikki Maldonado
And I was like, okay, so what's up here? You got people in their honeymoon phase, so super, super happy. And then it dips. But even pros can be happy playing. So how do we find that middle ground for everybody else? How do we get more advanced players to feel that excitement, to feel that happiness again? How do we keep the honeymoon phase? How do we help it sustain so you don't lose it? So that was the creation process for the Pickleball Joy pledge. And so what it is, is it's a commitment. It's a pledge to paddle taps between points, uplifting your partner, congratulating your opponent. If they hit an amazing shot, call it out. Let's be. Let's, you know, get excited about your great shots. You know, don't overthink, duper, all of that. So I always say, check your ego. The Pickleball Joy pledge is all about Checking your ego at the door and bringing, like, really, really keeping that joy alive on the courts. And let's lock arms and let's do this together. So that's how the Joy pledge, the pickleball Joy pledge evolved. And very quickly, people have just connected with this. Every time I tell this story, people are like, nodding their head, like, furiously.
[00:12:13.460] - Nikki Maldonado
They're just like, yes, this is exactly right. This is what I've experienced. Whether it's a beginner who's seeing other players that way or even more so tons of advanced players say, say, yes. This is something I've experienced and it's something that I'm working through right now. So I've been able to actually help people start working through that. And it all started with a little, little pledge.
[00:12:30.340] - Tony Roig
I love it. I love it and, you know, a lot. I had an opportunity to speak to Alec Martone from Fail First Project earlier today. Actually. We did a special, taped a special episode for the podcast. And, you know, one of the, One of his concepts is the idea of, like, just take action, right? So I love the fact that I applaud you for taking action. Well, you, you took action, right? You saw a thing and you were like, you know what? I don't know if I have all the answers. I don't know if I have it all solved, but I have a pretty decent idea of what can help here. I'm going to launch it and we'll see what happens. And obviously it's been very successful. So I congratulate you on that effort and obviously anything we can do to help further the pledge, I think that's a really, really good idea. I, I'll tell you from my perspective. I think what I, what I've seen happen and I, I, you know, I think I've, I've experienced it as, you know, I've been playing for a long time now. I've been playing for over 10 years.
[00:13:16.260] - Tony Roig
So, you know, I have some, some miles on my pickleball right now. But I, I do recall there being a shift, particularly once there was expectations, right? Because, you know, when I first started playing, doesn't matter. Like, it doesn't matter. It's not my, it's not my identity, right? But then all of a sudden, you know, you win a couple of games, maybe you play in a tournament, you do well in a tournament, then everyone wants to know, whatever. And now all of a sudden, you know, you can't lose to that player and you can't lose in this situation and you can't whatever. So now you start building all this pressure on yourself. And I think that that can obviously detract from your experience with the, with the sport and with really what really matters with the sport, big picture, right, which is hopefully you need to get some exercise, you get some social interaction, you know, you get some mental challenge because it is a very challenging game mentally. And you, you know, you get. Get out of the house. I mean, so many benefits for this sport, you know, that to, to. To have a.
[00:14:15.390] - Tony Roig
What is really an inconsequential thing, which is a score impact. Your. Your reaction to the sport is. And that's, frankly, that's one of the reasons I started this podcast in 2020 was, you know, it was for myself personally. And I don't. You probably don't know this, but when I, when I started the podcast, the first few episodes, I actually say this in there. I'm like, this is for me. You know, I hope you enjoy it. I hope you come along. But I'm doing this for me because I've been reading some books and I want to just get on here and express some stuff and think through some things here. And a lot of times the longtime listeners of the podcast will remember episodes where I'm like, I'll be talking about something and then all of a sudden in the middle of podcast, I'll pivot because something will come to my mind. I'm like, hey, that's interesting. Well, what about that? And then you start exploring that and you find out that is bigger than the first thing you started doing. So, but I think it's so helpful for players to know that, to know about your story.
[00:15:07.060] - Tony Roig
Right? About what you, what you went through as an individual, as a human being. Right. And, and what you've done to add to the, you know, add to our pickleball community, add some positivity, add some joy to it, add some more balance to it with that pledge. I really appreciate that. Now, you. You mentioned social media before. What platforms are you on in case somebody out there wants to connect with you or follow you? I know we do. And we're. I know Kyleen, and, and, and you and me and whatever, we're going to be talking about doing some. Hopefully we'll do some stuff together. We'll see. That'd be amazing. But, but where can folks follow you?
[00:15:42.590] - Nikki Maldonado
Yeah, super easy. Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, and it's all just pickleball. Nikki N I K K I. That's it. And you can find the pledge@pickleballniki.com so I just made it super easy.
[00:15:52.710] - Tony Roig
Yeah, Yeah, I love it. And we'll put that down in the. In the show notes. Nikki, I. I really appreciate you coming on the podcast, sharing of yourself, sharing your experience and. And some of your heart with us, putting this together and what you're doing to. To elevate our sport and elevate the. Elevate the, you know, the. The feeling in our sport, the. The connection in our sport. So any last words, Nikki, for anybody out there listening who may be going through a rough time or something you can share with. With our listeners.
[00:16:22.080] - Nikki Maldonado
Yeah, Tony, actually, you are also, to me, you're an ultimate pickleball joy ambassador, because you have an analogy that I think may be the best analogy for pickleball joy. And you can see, actually, I see your little ice cream. Yeah, exactly. Right. Right. When you step onto the courts, this is ice cream. We're just playing pickleball. And I hate to say it, you know, this is. I'm going to admit it for myself. Most of us are not going to become pros, and some of us will. That's okay. And even as competitive as we get, at the end of the day, this is a really, really fun game that we are absolutely privileged to be able to play. It's ice cream. Let's enjoy it, and let's remember that. And we can always come with tough competition. Absolutely. I am all for great competition on the courts, but when I step off those courts, I reset. I have a great time. I, you know, paddle tap and have the best time out there. So that's what this pledge is all about. So I just want to call you out for that analogy. You are inspiring pickleball joy all over the world.
[00:17:19.020] - Nikki Maldonado
So thank you so much for that.
[00:17:20.860] - Tony Roig
I appreciate that, Nikki. And I agree with you. I'm always. I'm a. I like fudge on my ice cream, so I'm always out there fighting to get fudge on the ice cream. But if I don't get fudge, I know at least I got the ice cream because I got to play pickleball. So, Nikki, it was an absolute pleasure to have you on the podcast. Follow Pickleball Nikki on all the social platforms, and also you can go to pickleballniki.com and put in the show notes. Nikki, appreciate your time today. I look forward to collaborating more in the future.
[00:17:47.130] - Nikki Maldonado
Thank you so much. Lots more to come. Tony, thank you so much.