Can You Really Breathe Your Way to Better Pickleball?

Do you feel tense and jittery to start your matches? Does one bad point ruin your match? A 60-second breathing reset can help you calm your nerves, refocus, and recover faster.

Here’s the quick science: your body has a gas pedal (sympathetic nervous system) that amps you up, and a brake pedal (parasympathetic nervous system) that calms you down. Breathwork allows you to tap into your nervous system to control your heart rate, boost focus, and help you stay composed under pressure.

Three quick breathwork drills you can use today:

• Before a match: Try box breathing — inhale for 4, hold for 4, exhale for 4, hold for 4. Do 3–4 rounds to center yourself and calm the nerves.

• Between points: Use slow belly breathing to reset your body and sharpen your focus.

• After a match: 4-7-8 breathing helps shift into recovery mode and lower stress.

Simple, quick, and powerful.

To learn more about the science behind breathwork, read the full article here.

Use the AIM7 App to Guide Your Breathing

A little guidance always helps… AIM7’s in-app breathwork tool helps you boost your energy and focus before a match, or unwind and jumpstart the recovery process after a match.

The app is free, so give it a try and see for yourself if breathwork can take your game to the next level!

When it comes to endurance training, sometimes less is more…

Think you have to go all-out every workout to see real progress? Think again. The secret to better endurance, quicker recovery, and longer rallies is slowing down.

Enter Zone 2 training—a low-intensity, high-impact method used by pros to build serious stamina without burning out. It’s all about training in the heart rate zone where your body efficiently burns fat and builds aerobic endurance.

Forget the sprints and max-effort drills every day. Zone 2 is your performance foundation. It helps you:

• Improve your endurance for open play

• Recover faster between intense points

• Build lasting energy for tournament days

Here’s how to start:

🚶‍♂️ Incline treadmill walking or brisk walking

🚲 Easy cycling on flat ground

🪜 Light stair climbing

Remember, small effort can deliver big results.

Want to learn how it works and why it’s backed by science? Explore the full Zone 2 training breakdown and start outlasting your opponents!

Stretching is good, but most people do it wrong!

Most pickleball players stretch incorrectly - often using outdated techniques or stretching too long before matches.

3 common stretching mistakes to avoid:

❌ Stretching too long before matches: If you stretch 30 mins before your match and then sit around, your muscles have time to cool down. This makes them less responsive and prone to strains.

❌ Neglecting key muscle groups: Pickleball is a total body sport which requires a total body warm up. Make sure to dynamically stretch your shoulders, chest, hamstrings, quads, glutes, calves, and trunk.

❌ Static stretching at the wrong time: Static stretches can temporarily reduce strength, speed, and explosive power. Focus on a dynamic warmup before your match, and save static stretching for after your match.

AIM7’s performance team put together a simple, science-backed stretching guide to help you stretch the right way, build flexibility, and avoid those pesky injuries.

Click here to view your stretching guide, and then comment “Stretch” to get your free stretching cheat sheet!

Do You Use a Wearable Device When You Play Pickleball? 

If you do, you have to check this out…

One of our AIM7 athletes shared his fitness stats from his last match… he burned 1,562 calories in less than 2 hours! That’s a similar caloric burn to running a half marathon - if you didn’t think pickleball was a physical sport, think again.

Want to start sharing your pickleball fitness stats? 

It’s super easy... Download the AIM7 App, connect your wearable, and start sharing!