Pickleball helps you sleep better?

New UCLA Study: Pickleball + Daily Wellness Tracking Improves How Players Feel

Can a few minutes of daily self-monitoring improve your pickleball experience and overall wellness?

Researchers from UCLA’s Joe C. Wen School of Nursing partnered with AIM7 to find out. Over three months, regular pickleball players used the AIM7 app to track six simple wellness metrics: stress, soreness, sleep quality, energy, mood, and motivation.

The results were impressive.

📉 22% less stress
😴 32% better sleep
💪 24% less soreness
⚡ Higher energy and mood
🎯 29% more motivation

Participants weren’t elite athletes—they were everyday pickleball players averaging about 150 minutes of play each week. The only added habit was taking a few seconds each day to check in with how they were feeling.

Why does that matter? Research has consistently shown that self-monitoring helps people recognize patterns, make better recovery decisions, and build healthier habits. This study suggests that combining those simple daily check-ins with regular pickleball may help players feel better both on and off the court.

If you’re already playing, why not get more out of every session?

Download the AIM7 app for free to start tracking your recovery, energy, sleep, soreness, mood, stress, and motivation—and see how your body responds over time.

Use code AIM7VIP for FREE premium access

Your Tournament Fueling Plan (Most Players Get This Wrong)

Ever feel great in your first match, then sluggish by the third? It probably isn’t your fitness—it’s your fueling.

Most pickleball players think about breakfast before a tournament but forget that what you eat between matches often determines how you play later in the day. Small nutrition decisions can help maintain energy, sharpen reaction time, and keep your legs fresh through every round.

Here’s a simple game plan:

⏱️ 15–30 minutes until your next match?
➡️ Eat quick carbohydrates like a banana, applesauce pouch, pretzels, dried fruit, or an electrolyte sports drink.

⏱️ 30–90 minutes?
➡️ Pair those carbs with a little protein, such as Greek yogurt and fruit, a protein shake with a banana, or half a turkey sandwich.

💧 Hydrate all day—not just when you’re thirsty. Sip fluids consistently and add electrolytes during long tournament days or hot conditions.

Tournament Bag Essentials

• 🍌 Bananas

• 🥨 Pretzels

• 🥤 Electrolyte packets (we prefer Slamit!)

• 🍎 Applesauce pouches

• 🍇 Dried fruit

• 🥛 Protein shake

• 🍪 Fig bars

The best tournament nutrition isn’t complicated—eat small amounts often, prioritize carbohydrates, add protein when time allows, and stay ahead of hydration.

Read the full science-backed guide here.

The Tournament Week Checklist Every Player Needs

Tournament preparation doesn’t start the night before your match — it’s built during the week leading up to it!

Too many players either train too hard right before competition or show up underprepared. The best tournament performances come from balancing practice, recovery, nutrition, hydration, and sleep in the days before you step on the court.

That’s why we created our FREE Weekly Tournament Prep Guide—a day-by-day plan that takes the guesswork out of tournament preparation.

Inside you’ll find:

🎾 What your practices should look like each day

💪 When to strength train (and when not to)

💤 Sleep goals leading into competition

🥗 Nutrition and hydration recommendations

🧘 Recovery strategies to help you feel fresh on tournament day

🏆 A complete schedule from Monday through match day

Whether you’re chasing your first medal or competing at the highest level, this guide helps you arrive on the court feeling confident, recovered, and ready to perform during tournament season.

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.