*Show notes:*
(0:10) The Waters explain why they aren’t sponsored by The Dink anymore
(4:10) What it’s like being “the young phenom”
(8:25) “The Dink Guy”
(10:30) The story of the Waters and Pickleball
(20:10) Drill to play ratios
(23:40) The time AL showed up to a random court and is gambling happening?
(35:10) The Waters drop and the guys weigh in on their future
(38:60) Nationals results and big news about Simone Jardim
(45:40) The guys close out the episode with recent news
It’s the game that’s suddenly everywhere, one of the fastest growing sports in America. It’s not tennis. It’s not badminton. It’s Pickleball, and it’s no longer just for retirees. More and more young people are picking up the paddle, and it’s won over celebrities from the Kardashians to Leo DiCaprio. Now, Pickleball is going professional, and a mom-daughter duo from Florida are taking the sport by storm. (NBC News Dec. 14, 2021)
Pickleball's 14-year-old wunderkind Anna Leigh Waters has officially changed the conversation when it comes to her playing prowess.
The talk used to be about how she was such a good player for being so young. Now when her name comes up the conversation is more like "Is she the best pickleball player in the world?"
Waters picked up another impressive double victory Sunday at the Margaritaville USA Pickleball National Championship held in Indian Wells. She won the women's singles title and the women's doubles with her playing partner, and mom, Leigh Waters. (Read More)
After taking gold at the Margaritaville USA Pickleball National Championships, Anna Leigh finishes the year as the #1 pro singles player in the World Pickleball Rankings!
2:10 Catherine Parenteau/JW Johnson vs Anna Leigh Waters/Tyson McGuffin
1:09:29 Riley Newman/Lindsey Newman vs Anna Leigh Waters/Tyson McGuffin
2:40:30 Leigh Waters/Dave Weinbach vs Anna Leigh Waters/Tyson McGuffin
3:21:51 Catherine Parenteau/JW Johnson vs Anna Leigh Waters/Tyson McGuffin
Leigh Waters/Dave Weinbach vs Mary Brascia/Daniel Roditi
2021 Margaritaville USA Pickleball National Championships Pro Portrait
YOUTH FOR HISTORY Pickleball’s 14-year-old phenom Anna Leigh Waters picked up another impressive double victory on Championship Sunday taking Gold in the Pro Women’s Doubles and Pro Women’s Singles divisions making her the youngest player in history to win at Nationals. Anna Leigh also won a Bronze medal in Pro Mixed Doubles to top off the week.
2021 Margaritaville USA Pickleball National Championships Pro Portrait
WATERS REPEAT Anna Leigh Waters and Leigh Waters took a straight-set victory to become back-to-back Gold medalists in the Pro Women’s Doubles division. This power mother-daughter duo shows no signs of slowing down anytime soon and will surely be back looking for the three-peat in 2022.
The Waters, joins hosts Stacie Townsend and John "The People's Champ" Davison.
Team Waters discuss defending their national championship title, winning mindsets, good days and bad days on the pickleball court, and answer 20 questions related to pickleball and life.
00:11 - Introduction to Episode #2
01:03 - First Ever Pickler The Podcast Guests
02:00 - Hi Team Waters!
03:14 - 2019 USA Pickleball National Championships Recap
04:54 - Anna Leigh Waters' Mindset on the Pickleball Court
08:00 - Winning Point at Nationals
11:45 - Good Days & Bad Days with Pickleball
14:52 - Anna Leigh Waters' Pro Journey
16:26 - Energy Is Key on the Court
22:05 - How Team Waters' Stays Motivated
27:57 - 20 Questions with Team Waters
28:16 What is the one thing you are better at than pickleball?30:00 What are you always yelling at Anna Leigh about?30:14 What is your favorite desert?30:56 What are your roles on the pickleball court?31:50 What is the biggest purchase you have made with your prize money?32:29 If you ran the PPA, what is the biggest change you would make?39:32 Is it tough to go from singles to doubles on finals day?40:28 Favorite place to play pickleball42:25 Travel tip43:35 If you are not playing pickleball, what are you doing?46:28 If you were in charge of the rules to pickleball, what rule would you change?50:00 Do you have any superstitions? 51:29 Funniest thing a fan has said to you?52:56 Best tip to take to the courts?53:48 What one question you wished we asked Anna Leigh?55:26 What one question you wished we asked Leigh?56:35 At what age you think you will be when the commentator stops saying how old you are?58:55 How does Stephen Waters (Anna Leigh's father and Leigh's husband) deal with you two playing against each other?1:02:55 MLP1:06:54 Team Waters is ...
On the first day at Nationals, Anna Leigh was the guest commentator on the below matches:
1:47:36 Kris Anderson/Natalie Bagby vs Beth Belleamy/Anna Shirley (Commentary: Mark Renneson )2:45:49 Jennifer Lucore/Alex Hamner vs Beth Belleamy/Anna Shirley (Commentary: Mark Renneson)
3:39:17 Cammy MacGregor/Jennifer Dawson vs Beth Bellamy/Anna Shirley (Commentary: Dominic Catalano)4:19:04 Jennifer Lucore/Alex Hamner vs Kris Anderson/Natalie Bagby (Commentary: Dominic Catalano)
It’s ball in the family for Leigh and Anna Leigh Waters. The mother and daughter pickleball partners—and 2019 National Champions—discuss everything from life lessons to lost Lululemon. (Photo: Beth Studenberg)
It’s been a hot minute since we have done any rankings but the people have been asking for them! After promising new rankings for a while, we are here to deliver. Over 6 months of tournaments have elapsed since our last installment of rankings and it really is fascinating to see how much has changed in that period of time, which is keeping in the spirit of the rapid evolution of pickleball. We’re splitting up our rankings into three parts just like last time- singles, mixed doubles and doubles. We have singles today, mixed doubles will be posted tomorrow and we’ll start off your Monday next week with the doubles rankings – that is what people in the business call a tease folks. So here it is, the second installment of the definitive NML PIckleball player rankings.
1. Anna Leigh Waters – The last time we did player rankings, we asked the question, why doesn’t Anna Leigh play more singles? This was after the US Open, where she had taken bronze in singles, but it was her first time playing singles this year. Since then she has competed in singles in every tournament she has played in. In her last 7 tournaments, Anna Leigh has come away with 5 gold medals and 2 silver medals, so it is safe to say she has found her stride in singles. Her rolling shots tend to keep opponents on their heels, and her great court coverage allows her to keep a lot of balls in play, forcing opponents to hit more shots than they would like to. When returning serve, I think she needs to continue to work on coming to the net consistently and forcing opponents to make difficult passing shots. #1 or not, always things to improve. (Read More)
