The Pickleball Cowboy on Competing When the Stakes are High You’re in a tournament. The match matters. Maybe it’s for the gold medal, maybe it’s to avoid a drop in your rating, maybe it’s just a game against a rival you’ve never beaten. You’ve been playing solidly all day—clean serves, consistent dinks, effortless resets. Then the score hits 8-all. And something shifts. Your paddle feels heavier. Your feet slow down. You float a serve long. You pop up an easy third-shot drop.

We all want our sport to be respected. We don’t want to bring shame to pickleball as it develops into a recognized paddle sport. To honor the founding principles of the game and positively guide this development, we must work to exhibit good sportsmanship at all levels. Not only is this good for pickleball, but it can also facilitate both personal and play improvement. Be a class act on the court, the medal stand, and in life itself. Act like you have been in the winner’s cir