Good mobility doesn't come from stretching

Good Mobility Doesn’t Come From Stretching

If you’ve ever felt stiff reaching for an overhead, slow getting to a wide dink, or off-balance after a quick direction change, the problem might not be your strength… it could be your mobility.

Unlike stretching, mobility is your ability to actively control movement through your full range of motion. Better mobility helps you generate more power, move more efficiently, and reduce the stress placed on your joints during fast, explosive movements.

Focus on These 4 Areas:

🦴 Shoulders & Elbows
Healthy rotation improves serves, overheads, and reach while reducing unnecessary strain.

💪 Scapular Control
Strong, stable shoulder blades provide the foundation for every swing and help transfer force more efficiently.

🔄 Hip Rotation
Good hip mobility allows you to rotate into shots, recover faster, and change direction with less effort.

👟 Ankles & Achilles
Mobile ankles improve balance, absorb force during lunges, and help you stay quick on your feet.

When your body doesn’t have enough mobility in one joint, it often “borrows” movement from another. Over time, these compensations can increase stress on your knees, back, shoulders, and elbows - common areas where pickleball injuries occur.

🎥 Watch the Full Mobility Breakdown

In this short Instagram video, Dr. Kyle Richmond demonstrates the specific mobility exercises he uses with pickleball athletes to improve movement quality, reduce injury risk, and help them stay on the court longer.

Why Do You Feel Slower in Your Second Match?

Ever notice that your first match feels great, but by the second or third, your legs feel heavy, your reactions slow down, and you need another warm-up just to get moving again?

The problem usually isn’t your fitness - it’s how you’re recovering between matches.

Research shows that active recovery (light movement instead of complete rest) helps maintain blood flow and reduce feelings of fatigue when you’re competing multiple times in the same day. In other words, your goal between matches isn’t to completely recover, it’s to stay ready. 

Here’s a simple between-match recovery routine:

🚶 Don’t Sit Too Long
It’s tempting to collapse in a chair after a tough match, but sitting for 30–60 minutes can leave you feeling stiff and slow. Get up every 10–15 minutes and keep your body moving.  

💧 Hydrate Early
Start drinking water and electrolytes immediately after your match, not five minutes before your next one. Small, consistent sips help you stay ahead of dehydration.  

🤸 Stay Loose
Light walking, gentle mobility work, and dynamic stretching help maintain blood flow and keep your muscles ready for the next match.  

🔥 Re-Warm Up Before You Play Again
Five to ten minutes before your next match, wake your body back up with lateral shuffles, split steps, arm circles, and a few short accelerations. Don’t wait until the first rally to get moving.

For more, read the full article here. 

Sleep Is Your Secret Performance Weapon

If you’re looking for a competitive edge on the pickleball court, start with your sleep.

Quality sleep is one of the most powerful performance enhancers available. It improves recovery, sharpens reaction time, helps you learn new skills faster, and prepares your body for the next day’s play. Here are 4 simple habits you can start building today:

☀️ Get Morning Sunlight
Spend at least 10 minutes outside shortly after waking. Morning sunlight helps set your internal body clock, making it easier to fall asleep at night while boosting energy and alertness during the day.  

⏰ Keep a Consistent Sleep Schedule
Aim to go to bed and wake up at roughly the same time every day, even on weekends. A consistent schedule helps regulate your circadian rhythm so you wake up feeling refreshed instead of groggy.  

🌙 Create a 60-Minute Wind-Down Routine
Give your mind time to transition into sleep mode. Dim the lights, put away your phone, practice a few minutes of deep breathing, or take a warm shower before bed. Small habits like these can make falling asleep much easier.  

🛏️ Make Your Bedroom a Sleep Sanctuary
Think cool, dark, and quiet. Keep your room around 60–67°F, block out as much light as possible, and minimize noise to help you fall asleep faster and stay asleep longer.

ACE Pickleball Club

Ace Pickleball Club has partnered with AIM7 as its exclusive health and wellness app. As an Ace Pickleball Club member at participating clubs, you'll receive FREE Lifetime Premium Access to the AIM7 app. With more than 30 indoor clubs nationwide and growing, Ace Pickleball Club offers unlimited open play, professional-grade cushioned courts, climate-controlled facilities, clinics, tournaments, and a welcoming community, all with an all-inclusive membership. This pilot marks the beginning of an exciting partnership focused on helping players of every skill level improve their game and enjoy pickleball for years to come.  Visit Ace Pickleball Club to find a participating club near you.

SLAMIT! Hydration

We’re proud to have SLAMIT Hydration as our exclusive hydration partner—and that means a big 20% discount for you.

Just use the discount code AIM7 when you check out at slamit.com

Pickleball places unique physical and mental demands on players, and SLAMIT is addressing a major performance gap with two purpose-built products designed specifically for the sport: SLAMIT HYDRATE and SLAMIT FOCUS.

Performance hydration is quickly becoming the next major differentiator in pickleball. SLAMIT was founded by exercise scientist Mady Wolfe, who partnered with world- renowned formulator Shawn Wells, MPH, LDN, RD, to build the formulas from the ground up. Shawn has developed hundreds of performance and longevity supplements and is known for creating clinically substantiated, research-driven formulations.

SLAMIT didn’t develop these products in isolation. Over the past year, professional players and respected creators helped test and refine the formulas during real match play. Players using SLAMIT include #2 PPA player Anna Bright, Kyle Koszuta (That Pickleball Guy), Tanner Tomassi, John Cincola, Shea Underwood, Danea Zeigle, and Brandon Nespong. Their feedback shaped everything from flavor to on-court performance. Interesting side note: After using SLAMIT consistently, players like Tomassi went on a winning streak earning two APP Golds and a silver over the last few months.

But SLAMIT isn’t just for elite players, 40+ players are using it to turn back the hands of time of their overall energy, focus and power output. SLAMIT HYDRATE is the foundation product. It’s a premium electrolyte hydration powder designed to keep players consistently hydrated through long sessions and tournament days. Unlike most hydration products that rely on processed table salt (like LMNT and Liquid IV), SLAMIT HYDRATE uses Baja Gold Sea Salt—an unprocessed, sun-dried sea salt harvested from the Sea of Cortez. Baja Gold contains over 90 naturally occurring trace minerals that support hydration, nerve signaling, muscular control, and sustained concentration.

SLAMIT HYDRATE also delivers double the electrolyte load of many leading brands, helping players avoid the performance drop- offs that come with dehydration.

SLAMIT FOCUS builds on that hydration foundation and adds a cognitive-performance edge. It’s an electrolyte and energy-drink alternative designed for sharper focus and faster reaction time without caffeine, jitters or crashes. Its key ingredient, Paraxanthine, has been shown in human research to improve sustained attention by 29% and reaction time by 26%. Those are big results when you’re in a close game. SLAMIT FOCUS also includes Alpha-GPC and L-Tyrosine to support mental clarity, neuromuscular efficiency, and resilience under fatigue.

Why did AIM7 choose SLAMIT?

SLAMIT stood out because of their commitment to science-backed ingredients. SLAMIT HYDRATE establishes a strong hydration baseline, while SLAMIT FOCUS adds a research-backed cognitive advantage built for fast-decision sports like pickleball. SLAMIT also offers a “Play Better Pickleball Guarantee.” If you don’t win more games, they will refund your entire purchase price. 

As a special offer for our readers only, SLAMIT is giving AIM7 followers 20% off their first order this week only. Just use the discount code AIM7 when you check out at slamit.com. But don’t delay, SLAMIT has gone viral and stock outs are inevitable.

Empower Pickleball

If pickleball is part of your routine, this is the newsletter worth reading alongside it. Empower Pickleball is a free pickleball newsletter covering the people, ideas, and conversations shaping the sport.