​Hey Reader,​
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Another one of the the great sessions from World Pickleball Summit 2 features Sarah Ansboury - professional player, world-class coach, and Managing Director of the Professional Pickleball Registry, where she oversees coach certification across more than 50 countries.

I asked her what she sees most often when she watches recreational players that they don't see themselves.

Her answer was immediate: the non-dominant hand.

Most players treat it like dead weight. It sits at their side during rallies, hangs there during dinks, drops during volleys. Nobody teaches it. Nobody trains it. And it's quietly affecting almost everything happening on the other side of the body.

Here's what Sarah said:

When your non-dominant hand drops, your dominant hand follows it down. That's why drives go into the net. That's why contact feels late. That's why the ball comes out sideways when you were trying to go cross court.

The non-dominant hand is also what creates the spacing your paddle needs to swing freely. Without it, players get jammed... paddle pulled in, no room to generate anything, forced into defensive positions they didn't need to be in.

And here's the one Sarah pointed out that surprised me most: when someone attacks your body and you can't counter it, it's often not a reaction problem. Players drop their non-dominant hand and pull the paddle closer in response to pace. That collapses the spacing that would have let them counter attack. The non-dominant hand is what keeps that space open.

^🎯️ Try this in your next match. Pick one rally and pay attention only to your non-dominant hand. Where is it when you make contact? Is it in front of your body, contributing to rotation? Or is it behind you, hanging at your hip, doing nothing?

Most players, the first time they look, are surprised by what they find.

Sarah goes deep on this in her full session, including specific solo drills you can do alone on any wall or court that train the non-dominant hand into the kinetic chain automatically. It's part of a complete solo practice toolkit she put together for players who want to improve without relying on finding a hitting partner.

If you'd like access to the full World Pickleball Summit 2 recordings, including Sarah's complete session, Zach Kramer on breathing performance, Cathy Redifer on Pilates for pickleball longevity, and more than a dozen other expert conversations, just reply to this email and let me know. I'll get you the details.

And if you want the strategic framework to put behind the technical skills you're building:
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(30-day money-back guarantee · 1-year access · Live Q&As with Helle & Trey)​
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Go play well,
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Trey

P.S. Sarah coaches some of the highest level players in the game, and she still runs non-dominant hand drills with them regularly. Not because they're beginners. Because it's the thing that most often unlocks the next level of control, rotation, and spacing that technique alone can't teach. Worth five minutes of attention the next time you're on the court.

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