I Played an Open Division Pickleball Tournament | EP 03

[Music]

In this episode of Chasing 5, you guys

are going to see me play in open

division men's and mix tournament as a

4.73 duper rated player. I learned a lot

during this training block as well as

this tournament. And there's only 89

days left in the year for me to hit 50.

So stay tuned and find out how it went.

[Music]

We hit level two first.

All right, just for some context around

this match, this was the mixed

quarterfinals. We are playing against

Alexis and Blake. We've actually played

against Alexis before. Never played

Blake, but he's a lefty, so playing mix

flipped is a very different experience.

You can also see that he's extremely

tall and can reach just about anything

in the kitchen. Uh we started out pretty

decent, but honestly, it didn't take

long before they just kind of started

dumpstering us. And the first half of

this match uh was not the greatest we've

ever played. Our initial strategy going

into this match was really just to keep

the ball away from Blake. He's a very

powerful, tall lefty. Not really someone

you want to challenge. And watching them

play a team before us, that seemed like

it was probably going to be the best

play. But Alexis can also easily hold

her own. She has a great crosscourt

backhand roll that was just rolling me

off the court constantly. So, you'll see

that later in this match. We actually

ended up making an adjustment at the

side switch. And uh we'll just let that

play out.

Oh no.

>> I got to see if I can like dink a ball

up the line. Alex is just doing a really

good job like rolling me off the court.

>> That's definitely one of her favorite

shots for sure.

>> Yeah. And I don't know like I don't

really think she's sped up the line yet.

So, it's possible that like you could

shift like half a step over and then I

can be a little closer. So, if she rolls

me.

>> Okay.

>> But otherwise, I think let's see what we

can do to get a dink or two to his

backhand. See what he does.

>> Okay.

>> I like it.

>> Let's see what happens. Let's see what

happens. Something else I decided to

change in my mindset going into this

second half was just wanting the

aggression and wanting them to start a

hands battle with me. Someone who was

giving me advice recently was saying,

"Dude, it looks like every time a hands

battle is started, you don't want it.

Like, you you want the ball to go

anywhere but you. And you literally just

need to change your mindset to I want

this ball. Like, give it to me. Like, I

want the counter." And going into this,

I was like, "Okay, I'm just going to

stop being afraid of this guy and I want

the fight. Just give it to me. Let's go.

You

>> Sorry.

Yes.

[Music]

>> Come on. Let's go.

[Music]

>> No.

[Applause]

Come on, let's go.

>> You

watch Chris, pop off, dude. Good stuff.

>> Right on.

>> Let's go.

Go.

[Applause]

[Music]

>> No. Come on.

[Applause]

>> Let's go.

>> 11's two.

>> Yes.

>> One at a time.

>> Tell 112.

You

[Applause]

>> good way to pop off. Let's go.

[Applause]

you. Nice shot.

You're fine.

>> All right.

>> Take a timeout. Let's take a time out.

>> Yeah. Okay.

>> Time out. Time out.

>> Time out.

>> Time out.

>> I just need a breather. I'm just tired.

>> Dude, you're playing out of your mind.

Keep it going. Yeah. Let's go.

>> All right. Ready?

[Applause]

[Applause]

That looks so good though.

>> Come on.

[Applause]

All good. All good. That's fine.

>> Hey, right here.

>> You

all good. All good.

>> Nice game. So good. So good. Great play.

>> A Chris, dude, you popped all

Oh, good stuff. No, no, no, man. That

was good. That was good. We were dialing

it in. We were dialing it in.

>> Hey, guys.

>> Good job. Good job.

>> Thank you.

>> Yeah, great match. That was a lot of

fun.

>> Okay, so that was the mixed

quarterfinals. While, you know, it's

obviously a bummer to go out, I'm

honestly not that disappointed with the

performance. I think had we made some

adjustments earlier in the match,

particularly with my mindset, I think we

could have potentially walked away with

that match. And to me, it just felt very

satisfying to claw our way back and see

some of the improvement that I've been

feeling from drilling and wreck games.

Now, next, what you're about to watch is

men's day. And I actually took these and

put these out of order. So, it was

actually men's day first and then mix

day. But the reason I did this is I

wanted you guys to see the difference in

body language and mental between the two

matches because throughout men's day I

was just getting frustrated so easily.

And that's not normal for me. And after

the tournament when I kind of got to sit

down and think about like why was I so

frustrated? It was really because I went

in with such high expectations. You

know, I've been putting a ton of time on

the court, far more than I have in

probably the last year and a half. And

I've been seeing the improvement in

drills. I've been seeing the improvement

in wreck games. And I was just feeling

really excited about this tournament. I

think the problem with that was when I

started missing some easy balls, I was

putting so much pressure on myself. I

was like, "Why are you missing this easy

third? Why are you missing that ding?

Like you know how to hit this down the

line counter. Why are you missing that?"

And I just kept letting it get inside my

head. Normally, I can just shake that

off and forget about it, but this time I

just couldn't. And you can watch some of

those clips here.

[Applause]

Hey now.

>> Hey, no s.

>> Hey. So easy.

>> Yeah.

Get the ball.

>> Hey. And I think the big problem that it

caused on that day is that my partner

Sergy had to basically just worry about

me all the time. Like in a bunch of

these clips, he's saying, "Hey, don't

worry about it. Shake it off." yada yada

yada. And instead of getting to focus on

his game, he's basically having to play

like this emotional support animal,

which is like, "Hey, Chris, it's fine.

Don't worry about it. We're going to be

okay." So, while it was definitely a

bummer to not perform my best on

Wednesday, I do think the silver lining

is that I kind of relearned that I

really need to learn to play loose. I

know that I play my best pickle ball

when I play loose. I can make jokes. I

don't take it that serious. And that's

exactly what happened going into mixed.

I texted me and I was like, "Hey, just

remind me there's no expectations. We're

going to go in and have fun. Doesn't

matter if we get our butt kicked. Like,

let's just have a good time." And the

body language just overall was a lot

more positive. And I think that's why

the performance in mixed was better than

it was in men's. Now, I want to be

clear. It's not like this was the worst

pickle ball I've ever played, but I do

feel like I severely underperformed what

I'm currently capable of. We ended up

going two and three on the day and the

match that you're about to watch was the

round of 32. So, anyways, enjoy the

match and then we'll have some more

notes after.

[Applause]

>> Yo.

>> Should I?

>> No. No. I needed to move quicker.

[Applause]

>> I hit my arm. Hit my arm. Hit my arm.

Hit my arm.

>> I lost it in the

>> It's okay. It's okay. Shake it off.

Shake it off.

>> All right. Now, just some context for

this match. Uh you can probably already

see it, but we're playing a righty lefty

team. And one thing that it probably

took us longer to pick up on than it

should have is the righty has a

ridiculous backhand, which you're about

to see him jam me with and then be very

frustrated. Uh, nice body language,

Chris. But yeah, he has an incredible

backhand. And obviously playing a righty

lefty combo is always tough, especially

if they know how to capitalize on it,

which they definitely did. And it really

just took us too long to realize we

probably needed to go to the righty's

forehand and the lefty's backhand. This

is an adjustment we made later in the

match. And I think it really would have

helped a lot had I been able to focus on

doing that earlier.

>> 0411.

[Applause]

>> Let's go.

141.

[Applause]

And now this is another pattern that I

didn't pick up on until much later, but

David the righty would really only speed

up with his backhand through the middle.

It I don't think he actually ever went

up the line. And this is something that

jammed us over and over. I think both of

us were just crowding the middle a

little too much. And it just wasn't

something we were able to realize during

the match. But he was definitely picking

a great spot cuz it was working over and

over and over.

[Applause]

You're good. Hey, that was fun. Yeah.

Yeah. Yeah.

>> And now, if you're wondering why that's

the second overhead I've missed in the

same match. Now, uh you can't see it on

screen here, but there's a giant window

up top near the roof of this building.

And every time they lobbed, the ball

would go right through that window, and

it was really hard to see. And uh yeah,

that was definitely embarrassing to have

a bunch of people just watch you with

two easy overheads.

[Applause]

>> Hey, you're good.

>> Yeah, you're good.

[Applause]

You

[Applause]

you

me.

[Applause]

Yo

yo

[Applause]

[Applause]

there.

[Applause]

Watch it.

271.

>> Nice. Good shot. Good shot.

>> Stay. Stay.

Let's go.

And now another thing to note is the

main reason we were stacking me on the

left these days, that's often how we

start, but we usually just play

straight, was I just wasn't playing that

great on the right. I think we had some

earlier matches in the day where I got

stuck on the right and I just felt so

uncomfortable, so out of my element. And

so, you know, with already being a

little bit frustrated, I was like, "Hey,

just let me play the side. I just feel

more comfortable right now." But

honestly, looking back at some of this

match, I kind of wish we had mixed it up

a little bit more. I think giving the

other team some different looks and

letting us cover uh the court a little

bit differently probably would have been

better, but in the moment I just felt

like I couldn't play the right.

[Applause]

>> Yeah.

All

[Applause]

[Applause]

right, I like it. I like it. Switch

sides.

>> So, at the side switch, it was actually

only 68, but I'm just recalling my

mental this day. And pretty much this

entire match, I just felt like we were

getting dunked on. Like, I felt not

great. I felt like we were getting beat

up. It didn't feel like the score was

close at all. So, it's very funny to see

that the score was 68 because in my head

it was so bad, but in reality, we were

still completely in this game. So, I

feel like if I had just been able to

flip my mental to a little bit more

positive at this point in the

tournament, we would have fared a lot

better in this match. But instead, I

just kind of sat in a mental dumpster

and was not doing so hot. So, I think

again that just reinforces why you

should try and keep a positive mindset

and like always believe you're in the

match cuz we weren't out of this. Like

we we could have been just fine had I

been able to flip a switch.

It's me. It's me.

[Applause]

>> You.

Yes.

[Applause]

No. Come on.

[Applause]

>> I like it. I like it. I like it.

[Applause]

[Applause]

[Applause]

We got this. Let's go. Hey, smile.

[Applause]

Come on, let's go. 10:14 on the one.

[Applause]

No. 1141.

Shoot.

Such a bad drop.

>> No, no, you're good. You're good. Focus

on positive. Let's go.

>> 1142.

[Applause]

[Applause]

Yeah, all good. Good point.

>> Hey.

>> Good game, guys. Good game. No, no, good

game. Good shot.

>> My bad.

>> You're doing great. Let's go. Let's go.

Hey, that's a start. No worries.

>> Yeah. Yeah.

>> So, anyways, that was the tournament.

Unfortunately, there was no duper on the

line for this tournament. A lot of the

Minnesota local tournaments don't do

duper when it's an open division

tournament because I think a lot of the

higher level players are trying to

protect their duper or they don't want

it to go down if lower level people come

up and play. So, it was a bummer to not

really gain any duper from this. But

really, I just kind of viewed this one

as a practice tournament for the

upcoming PPAs that we have. Now, before

we wrap this video up, I do want to talk

about just some stuff that I learned

during this training block that maybe

you can apply to your own game. This

training block was honestly a lot of fun

for me. I feel like I learned a lot

about my game and not even necessarily

things that were focused on mechanics. I

think mechanics are always very

important and that's basically what

everyone tries to improve. You know, how

do you hit a third shot drop better? How

do you counter better? How do you drive

better? And one of the things I found

really fascinating is someone offered to

give me some coaching advice. His name

is Zach and he actually coaches pro

player Kya Kazuda. He just messaged me

one day and said, "Hey, I'd love to

help. Send me some of your games and

I'll break it down for you." And so I've

been sending him a handful of games and

one of the things that I thought was

super fascinating was that there was

never a point in time where it was

really about mechanics. It's basically

always been about mindset and where to

place the ball and why is the intent not

here versus there. And I just thought

that was really interesting because one,

to me, it's a lot easier to make that

type of shift in my game than it is to

fix a piece of mechanics. And the

impression I kept getting from Zach was

like, dude, you have all the shots, you

have all the skills, but you're just not

applying them in the right spots or

applying them as effectively as you

could. And there were two pieces of

advice that Zach gave me that I think

made a pretty immediate difference in my

game. And of course, I can still keep

working on them. I'm not perfect at it,

but the first one was just going in with

a more aggressive mindset. I think the

way the game is shifting, you can't just

sit and be passive anymore. And that's

kind of the way that I've played for a

really long time. He was like, "Dude,

every time I'm watching one of your

games and the ball's about to be sped

up. It's like you don't want it. You

want the ball to go anywhere but at

you." And honestly, he's spot on. I

don't like being sped up at. I never

have. And he was basically like, you

just need to go in with the mindset that

you want the speed up. You want them to

do it. You want the counter. You want

the aggression. And as silly as it

sounds, it feels like it shouldn't make

that big of a difference. The second I

shifted my mindset to bring it on, like

give give me the ball. I want the

counter, it made a really big difference

in my game. And I think that is

something in the last 2 weeks I've been

focusing on a lot. And I think I still

have a ways to go, but it's helping a

ton. Now, the next thing, which was also

a pretty easy fix, was revolving around

fourth shots. So, some of the gameplay I

gave him, he's like, "Dude, every time

you get a fourth ball, you just let

people into the kitchen. you don't keep

them back unless it's, you know,

basically an overhead. But if it's net

height or even a little bit below, you

just hit them an easy ball and let them

walk into the kitchen. He's like, at the

higher levels, you can't let people do

that. You can't just let them into the

kitchen for free. And again, this is

kind of like that first tip, which is

you just need to go in with a more

aggressive mindset. Like, I'm going to

keep you back. You're not coming to the

kitchen. And honestly, this wasn't even

that hard to implement into my game. It

was basically just like every time a

fourth ball came to me, it was like,

okay, I'm going to be more aggressive

with this. Now, while I still have a

long ways to go before this skill is

like really good, I would say even

within the first session, I could see

the improvement and feel the

improvement, which is just really fun.

So, yeah, overall, Zach helping me out

has been a huge help to my game, and I'm

really excited to keep implementing some

of this stuff and see the improvement.

And then the last thing I just want to

leave you guys with is something that

I've been really grateful for lately,

which is just both of my partners. In

the four years that I have been playing

pickle ball, I don't think I've ever met

two people who are more into pickle ball

or particularly more into wanting to

improve at the game. Both Mia and Sergi

consume so much pickle ball. They're

always willing to drill. Like it's just

like I feel like I'm rediscovering an

aspect about pickle ball that I haven't

gotten to enjoy in a really long time

because you know when I got into it of

course I was improving and I was really

into it and maybe drilling more. But

then when the content started taking off

it was all about work and paddle reviews

and all of that's awesome. I wouldn't

change anything. I love this job. I want

to be very clear about that. But getting

to like rediscover getting better at the

game has been such a fun thing for me.

And doing it with people who are also

just as into it as me because in years

past I feel like if I really wanted to

improve, no one else around me did.

Maybe they'd want to drill for a week

and then they would fall off. And both

of these people, Mia and Sergi, just

love all aspects of it. Mia and her

husband Wesley came over and we

literally watched our film for like two

hours just breaking down serves and

returns. And I have not met anyone else

that is willing to do something like

that. And Sergi is always sending me

stuff on Instagram like, "Hey, we should

try this drill or we should implement

this into our game." And I just think

that's a lot of fun. And I'm really

grateful to have people to go on this

journey with because I think if I was

doing Chasing 5 just on my own, I don't

think the motivation would last or I

think it would be a lot harder to stay

motivated. But when you have other

people who are there to help push you

and you feel like you can push them, it

just makes it a much more fun

experience. And so my advice to you guys

would be to try and find friends who are

like me and Sergi that you can push,

they can push you, and everyone wants to

improve because I think pickle ball is a

lot more fun when you have other people

to go on the journey with you rather

than doing it on your own. So anyways,

thanks for watching guys. Hope you

enjoyed the video. We've only got 89

days left to hit 5o, but I'm really

excited for the rest of