Unleash the full potential of the Shake and Bake

Pickleball's appearance at the Big Game. Heart health is crucial for better pickleball.

Author

Empower Pickleball
February 10, 2026

Put down the wings and nachos. Step away from the cheese plate. No more heating up leftovers from Sunday’s big game. We are celebrating heart health all month long.

There are plenty of small changes you can make to ensure your heart is ready for “one more game” for decades to come. More on that below.

Inside:

  • Fine-tune your shake and bake technique

  • Get a grip on who controls pickleball globally

  • The heart wants what the heart wants—and the heart wants more pickleball

🚦 The Confetti Has Cleared, Pickleball Can Resume

Photo credit @anna.leigh.waters

The biggest spectacle in sports concluded with a 29—13 win for the Seattle Seahawks over the New England Patriots. Despite what would be considered a stinker of a game from everyone outside of Seattle, no one is foolish enough to challenge the NFL’s crown jewel when it comes to viewership ratings.

But that doesn’t mean pickleball couldn’t share the spotlight with the NFL in the lead-up to the big game.

Anna Leigh and McAfee

The hottest name in sports media these days is the renegade, former NFL punter Pat McAfee. He hung up his cleats early to bet on himself as an independent football pundit. Now he has one of the biggest shows in all of sports and ESPN wouldn’t dare host an event without his presence.

On Thursday last week, McAfee put pickleball in the spotlight. Special guest Anna Leigh Waters joined the program to get a little recognition as the game’s top player and to show off her new big money endorsements from Nike and Franklin.

More Time to Play

Media day in San Francisco revealed that Patriots quarterback, Drake Maye, is a pickleball fan. It appears that court vision translates well into field vision.

After Sunday’s loss, Maye will need some time on court to shake off the defeat and raise spirits before next season.

Back in Action

Now that the game is behind us, pro pickleball is seizing the chance to recapture some viewership. The PPA Tour and APP Tour are both hosting events this week. You can catch ALW and the rest of the PPA in Cape Coral, FL.

If you’re looking for the APP, you’ll have to look a little further east… well a lot further east. Their first-ever Kuala Lumpur Open is currently underway in Malaysia.

🌎 Around the Picklesphere

🇱🇺 The world’s richest country is joining the pickleball revolution
🏆 Retro tournament at Patriot HQ raises funds for youth sports
🏃‍♀️ Add this dynamic warmup to your play session… your body will thank you
🇨🇳 Ramsports set to open their second ‘Pickleball Mega Facility’ in China

🤜 🤛 The "Shake & Bake" Deconstructed

Photo courtesy of the APP

It’s time to break down the shake and bake. But we’re not talking Ricky Bobby or chicken dinners.

The shake and bake is the perfect 1-2 punch to create offensive opportunities. It’s similar to basketball’s pick and roll, and requires the same mastery of teamwork and timing.

In the shake and bake, each player has a specific role to play.

  • Player one is responsible for hitting the drive. Their role is to hit a sharp, low drive that puts their opponent in a difficult situation. The goal is to force a pop-up that can easily be put away by their crashing partner.

  • Player two is responsible for getting into a good position to hit the next shot and hitting an aggressive volley to end the point. This requires advancing forward before they know if player one hit a good drive and putting their body at risk.

As a general rule of thumb, it’s more effective to drive the ball at the opponent who is straight ahead instead of cross-court. This is key because it cuts down on the opponents’ reaction time and allows your partner to know exactly where the ball is headed so they can poach with abandon.

👉 Get the full debrief and additional pro tips here.

🛒 Your New Favorite Place to Feed a Gear Obsession

If you’ve ever played with someone who always shows up with a fresh paddle, a new grip, and gear you somehow didn’t even know existed—that’s Pickleball Warehouse.

They stock every major brand—Selkirk, JOOLA, CRBN, RPM—plus a bunch of sleepers that deserve way more love. Free shipping over $50, a 30-day paddle trial, and a price-match guarantee make it stupidly easy to try new stuff without second-guessing every purchase.

👉 Upgrade your setup with Pickleball Warehouse

FROM THE ARCHIVES

Tennis Magazine — America’s Newest Racquet Sport

Contributed by Jennifer Lucore, Pickleball Hall of Famer and historian — author of History of Pickleball - More Than 50 Years of Fun! • Visit allpickleball.com

🌎 How Global Pickleball Governance Is Finally Taking Shape

Photo credit WPF

If you’ve ever wondered why there are so many “official” pickleball logos floating around, it’s because the sport grew fast and messy. Multiple global organizations popped up at the same time, each claiming to run international pickleball.

That’s starting to change. In 2025, the major international groups began merging toward a single, unified federation, the kind required for Olympic recognition.

  • The merger between the International Pickleball Federation and the World Pickleball Federation is one of the first dominoes to fall towards 2032 Brisbane Olympics

  • Conversations are now underway with the Global Pickleball Federation to form a true overarching governing body

This won’t affect your open play, but it raises the ceiling of the sport. Think real world championships, country versus country teams, and a legitimate Olympic pathway.

👉 Get your associate’s degree in global pickleball organizations here.

🫀 Cardio for Life: How to Train Your Heart to Play Pickleball for Decades

Most pickleball players think showing up to play is their cardio plan. That works right up until matches get longer, recovery slows, and your legs disappear in game three.

The players who look calm late in the game aren’t just “in better shape.” They built an engine outside the game that lets them think clearly, move better, and recover faster when it actually counts.

If you want to keep winning points in crunch time and still be playing years from now, this is the kind of edge that compounds.

👉 Read more before your body forces the lesson on you.

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