Pickleball Kryptonite

One of the things that jeopardized Superman’s strength was the presence of kryptonite. Kryptonite was a mineral formed from the radioactive debris from his home planet of Krypton, which exploded due to the carelessness of his people. As a pickleball player, you are susceptible to your own carelessness and radioactive debris in the form of overly intense self-criticism. We’ve all seen players who lose a point, scold themselves out loud, and spiral for the rest of the game. That’s pickleball kryptonite in action.

Every time you chastise yourself, you put up a barrier between you and your performance. Flow only has a chance of happening when we learn to get out of our own way.

In time, Superman came to understand kryptonite, and through this knowledge he was able to take action to protect himself against it. If you want to fly around the court like a superhero, understanding your kryptonite is vital.

The first thing you need to do is accept that your aggravation might be stunting your game, while simultaneously having the desire to improve it. Once you’re in acceptance, it’s really simple—begin to recognize, and catch yourself, when you’re acting out.

See it for what it is: You are being too hard on yourself. Check in with your body at that point, or later when you get home. Does it feel good to be in that place? Do you like exhibiting that kind of behavior in front of fellow players?

Once you’re able to pinpoint your outbursts, start to replace your negative pattern with something more positive. Performance coaches call these mantras, or affirmations. And they work by replacing negativity with positive reinforcement. An example of an affirmation is telling yourself it’s OK, rather than you suck. Add one or two intentional breaths to your newfound positivity, and you have a weapon capable of obliterating the kryptonite.

It won’t happen overnight. You can’t reverse years of self-inflicted wounds with the flip of a switch. What you can do is re-dedicate yourself to your process. You can learn to maximize your potential by being more positive.

The last thing you want to do is contemplate the root(s) of your dissatisfaction and impatience with yourself. Maybe you grew up in an overly competitive family or had a coach who was especially hard on you. Or perhaps you just came to the sport of pickleball later in life, when you were already a fully formed adult, and turning into a superhero on the court in a short period was an unrealistic expectation. In that case, get back to the fun you had when you started playing the sport.

It’s the same fun that children exhibit—kids who don’t get caught up criticizing themselves. If the square peg doesn’t fit into the round hole, they typically don’t throw a tantrum, they just try again. They play for the joy of it: unburdened, unfiltered, and free. That’s your superpower, too. You just must remember where you left your cape.  •