Inside MLP Podcast Ep 35 All Things Anna Leigh Waters!

 

1:36 What keeps your passion for the sport going? 2:19 How did you get so good, so fast? 3:22 Not wanting to be bullied. 6:06 If they killed you with kindness.... 7:10 I've chirped at you.... 8:27 How much pressure do you feel to stay on the top? 10:19 How often do you meet with your mental coach? 12:45 What is it like being a pro athlete at 16 years old? School? Sponsors? College? 12:38 Travel Schedule 17:35 Let's hear your week 22:09 A week before a tournament - mostly drilling 22:30 Drilling vs Playing Games 24:01 Team ALW 27:15 MLP: You were drafted by the 5's 28:35 The 5's draft picks 30:48 San Clemente is two weeks away. 32:01 What does it feel like when you rip a winner against a Tyson McGuffin.... 33:41 Preparing for San Clemente 35:48 Jack Sock 37:44 You and him....you win.... 40:00 Did you watch his men's doubles match? 41:05 You let Jack Sock be Jack Sock.... 43:24 Playing with Ben Johns vs Jack Sock 45:23 Let's say Jack Sock goes all in for Pickleball. Who is your mixed doubles partner? 46:14 Women's Doubles? Is mom coming back at some point? 48:27 What if the 12 year old wonder kids comes along.... 49:48 Younger kids looking up to you.... 50:48 Tears

207: Unlock the Secrets of Pickleball Pros: Data-Driven Insights with Alex Spancake

 

Show Notes

• In this episode, Lynn interviews Alex Spancake, a data analyst and pickleball enthusiast who has created a platform called pklmart that uses data analysis to provide unique insights into the game of pickleball.
• Introduction – Alex talks about his background in data analytics, his introduction to pickleball, and the creation of pklmart.
• Importance of Data in Pickleball – Alex discusses how data analysis can enhance the game, from understanding your own performance to studying professional players.
• Strategy & Positioning – Alex shares findings from his analysis on return positioning, emphasizing the importance of a consistent return and the benefits of limiting the opponent’s angle.
• Skill Level Considerations – Lynn and Alex discuss the varying strategies for different skill levels, and the need for more data from 3.0 to 4.0 level players.
• Professional vs Recreational Play – Alex comments on the stark difference between professional and recreational play in terms of ball placement and consistency, which becomes evident through video analysis.
• Player & Team Analysis – Alex shares his in-depth analysis on professional player, Anna Leigh Waters, and her performance with different partners, emphasizing how the choice of partner can affect play style.
• Future of pklmart – Alex shares his vision for pklmart, including creating player profiles, team profiles, and using computer vision software to make data entry easier for users.
• Misconceptions & Insights – Alex talks about common misconceptions in pickleball and the valuable insights that can be gleaned from data, such as the optimal location for a third shot drop. 

Show Transcript Excerpt

Lynn: And I was going to ask you about the article that you wrote on The Anna Leigh Waters Decision. Most people who listen to the Pickleball Fire Podcast probably know who Anna Leigh Waters is. But with a little bit more background, normally her regular partner is her mom, Leigh Waters. But Leigh tore her ACL a while back, so she’s been playing with two other high-level players in the meantime, Anna Bright and then Catherine Parenteau. So what was the bottom line of your analysis? Because you did a really nice, in-depth, very detailed analysis, but what was the take-home points from that? Assuming that Anna Leigh Waters can’t play with her mom, who should she be playing with?

Alex: Thanks. Yeah, at a glance, that analysis basically said Anna Leigh is going to be fine either way, but the partner she chooses will dictate the kind of play style that she deploys. So when Anna Leigh played with Catherine, I think they played a little more of a traditional one-two setup where Catherine was setting Anna Leigh up, right? I think Catherine’s drop and drive, both playing with Anna Leigh and playing with other partners is extremely effective. And when you allow Anna Leigh to roam on the court, good things generally happen.

On the other hand, when Anna Leigh played with Anna Bright, they did a good job of setting each other up. It was one of those cases where either of them could really go in and dominate a firefight. But again, either decision, even if she plays with both of them, she plays with one or the other, I think Anna Leigh is going to be fine.

Read Show Transcript/Listen To Podcast

2023 PPA Atlanta Open Championship Sunday

 

Amazon Prime Live Stream Broadcast

Anna Leigh Waters/Ben Johns vs Riley Newman/Parris Todd (Highlight Reel)

JW Johnson vs Connor Garnett (Highlight Reel)

Anna Leigh Waters/Anna Bright vs Vivienne David/Jorja Johnson (Highlight Reel) (pklmart-analytics) (Pro Stats)

Ben Johnsons/Collin Johns vs Riley Newman/Matt Wright (Highlight Reel)

Anna Leigh Waters vs Mary Brascia  (Highlight Reel)

Press/Resources

Forbes: Anna Leigh Waters Continues Her Reign Atop The Pickleball World

PPA: Waters Walks It And Talks It In Atlanta

PPA: Gold Medal Stats Wrap

The Pickleball Studio EP40: Pickleball Trolls & PPA Atlanta Recap

NML Blog: 5 Takeaways – ALW’s Dominance

Sorry Not Sorry Podcast: ALW - 5th Triple Crown / Acrytech Atlanta Open Recap

The Drop Podcast: Anna Bright/Dylan Frazier Hosts

The James Ignatowich 

Tennis Sucks Podcast

2023 PPA Post Match Interview Playlist

2023 PPA Atlanta Open Doubles

 

8:54 Pat Smith/Rob Nunnery vs Anderson Scarpa/Greg Dow 1:21:12 Tyson McGuffin/James Ignatowich vs G. Bond.M. Barlow 1:52:39 Callin Dawson/Dekel Bar vs Spencer Smith/Hayden Patriquin (One Of The Most Thrilling Matches Of The Year) 3:11:58 Gabriel Tardio/Connor Garnett vs AJ Koller/Tyler Loong 4:47:36 JW Johnson/Dylan Frazier vs Spencer Smith/Hayden Patriquin 5:30:08 Gabriel Tardio/Connor Garnett vs Jay Devilliers/Andrei Daescu (Highlight Reel) (Fantastic Match) 6:41:34 Callie Smith/Lucy Kovalova vs Vivienne David/Jorja Johnson (Highlight Reel) 7:44:48 The Jorja Johnson 360 Body Swing Celebration

Amazon Prime

Tyson McGuffin/James Ignatowich vs Jay Devilliers/Andrei Daescu

Ben Johns/Collin Johns vs DJ Young/Eric Lange

Matt Wright/Riley Newman vs Travis Rettenmaier/Julian Arnold

Anna Leigh Waters/Anna Bright vs Lauren Stratman/Meghan Dizon

Ben Johns/Collin Johns vs JW Johnson/Dylan Frazier

Anna Leigh Waters/Anna Bright vs Catherine Parenteau/Parris Todd (Interview)

Gabriel Tardio/Connor Garnett vs Matt Wright/Riley Newman

Vivienne David/Jorja Johnson vs Maggie Brascia/Mary Brascia

2023 PPA Atlanta Open Mixed Doubles

5:24 Sarah Ansboury/DJ Young vs Tyra Black/Rob Nunnery 1:12:03 Dylan Frazier/Callie Smith vs Hayden Patriquin/Maggie Brascia 1:51:43 Callin Dawson/Vivian Glozman vs Travis Rettenmaier/Lea Jansen 2:28:15 Matt Wright/Lucy Kovalova vs Zane Navratil/Jade Kawamoto (Highlight Reel) 3:34:33 Sarah Ansboury/DJ Young vs Dylan Frazier/Callie Smith 4:35:37 Riley Newman/Parris Todd vs Federico Staksrud/Mary Brascia (Interview) (Highlight Reel) 5:09:58 Hayden Patriquin/Maggie Brascia vs Rafa Hewett/Lina Padegimaite

Amazon Prime Streams

Jill Braverman/ Andrei Daescu vs Judit Castillo/Eric Lange

Riley Newman/Parris Todd vs Harris/Locklear 

Jessie Irvine/Jay Devilliers vs Sarah David/Michael Loyd

Anna Leigh Waters/Ben Johns vs Dylan Fraizer/Callie Smith

Riley Newman/Parris Todd vs Tyson McGuffin/Catherine Parenteau

Anna Leigh Waters/Ben Johns vs Spencer Smith/Susannah Barr

The James Ignatowich Show Pocast: Vivian Glozman

 

0:00 - The James Ignatowich Show Trailer Episode 17 Trailer 🎬 0:26 - Vivian Glozman pickleball background 🏓 5:28 - Cal Berkley Tennis with Anna Bright 🎾 🐻 10:18 - Is Dylan Frazier as tall as he says? 📏 12:17 - Vivian making a career change 👀 15:17 - MLP Shuffle Draft final pick - Bay Area Breakers 🙌 20:09 - Vivian's pickleball training regiment 💪 24:47 - Suzie and the Air Force Academy 🛩️ 29:35 - Viv's upcoming partnerships 🫰 34:15 - Cool, calm and collected by playing on center court 😌 37:15 - James the passenger princess 👸 🚗 38:55 - James' goals for pickleball 🤑 41:30 - How James stumbled upon pickleball 🤪 43:27 - Can a Joe Shmoe turn into a professional pickleball player? 🫣 45:05 - James' love for Starbucks ☕️

Interview Part 1: Host - James Ignatowich, Guest - Vivian Glozman

[Background Music]

James: Okay, welcome to another episode of the James Ignatowich Show. We have Vivian Glozman on the podcast. Um, I've already spoken to Vivian a little bit before this podcast, and that's about it. So she's friends with Anna, she got to the semifinals of the North Carolina doubles Pro, and she's only been playing for like six months. So that's crazy. And I had like 10 people reach out to me on Instagram, Twitter, all 10 of my fans. They were like, "You gotta get Vivian Glozman on the podcast. We need to know more about her." I was like, "Okay, I'll do it." So thank you for coming on.

Vivian: Thank you. Thank you to your fans.

James: Yeah, well, you're on. So let me start by asking you. So you came from tennis, and I was told that you started playing pickleball when you were like, what was it, November of 2022, like six months ago?

Vivian: Yeah, November. Do you want me to share the story?

James: Yes, okay. 

Vivian: So me and my mom, last summer, we, like, go on walks together, and we ran into a tennis friend who lives in our neighborhood. And she was like, "Oh, what's your plan? Like, are you done with school?" You know, the ketchup when you're not that close with somebody.
Um, and I was like, "Yeah, I'm done. I'm just working, uh, earning hours now for PA school." And she's like, "Okay, that's great." She basically ignored everything I was saying. And she was like, "You need to do pickleball." And, intern, I ignored what she said, and I said, "Hey, that's great," and moved on. We just continued our walk. Um, but she was so persistent. She would not stop texting me. "Listen, you are gonna be so good. I think you have this skill set, this whatever." And I was constantly rejecting her to the point I felt so bad. But then what happened is I got so burnt out from work because I had just, like, joined the job thing from being a student. I just, like, wanted to do so much. Okay, okay, let me rephrase that. When you're new to a job, you want to do so much because it's, like, new and it's exciting and it's fresh. And I just, like, overworked myself to the point of burnout. So that's when November hit. That was, like, literally four months into me working, and I was burnt out already. And I was like, you know what? What am I doing? I'm—I was 22. I was like, I'm—I'm still young. I needed—I need to fix my priorities. So I reached back out to her. I was like, you know what? I'll give it a shot. And she was so ecstatic. I was like—I was actually shocked because sometimes when you get rejected so many times, you lose, like, you're, like, I don't care about you anymore. But she was so—she's great. So I call her my pickle godmother because she is who I owe my entire life and career to. Um, love her. She still takes care of me to this day. Um, that's how I started because of her, this one lady. Um, love her.

Okay, that's it. 

James: Thanks to that lady, unleashed Vivian Glozman on the pickleball world.

Vivian: Yes. 

James: You want to give her a shout out or no?

Host: Yeah, her name is Shufen Huang. She has two kids. One of them plays tennis. Um, I want to say Whitman. Oh my God, that's gonna sound so bad if I get it wrong. Somewhere in Washington, but far away enough. And the daughter doesn't play, but she's at UW right now. Um, great kids, great family, love them, love this lady. So, where are you from?

Vivian: I'm from Washington. That's where I currently live. Okay. I was born in Wisconsin. Randomly.

Host: Okay. How do you just randomly get born somewhere? You just spawn?

Vivian: I say randomly because it's like, I—I seriously don't know anybody from Wisconsin. I don't. I was gonna say, but—but I don't, honestly. Me neither. No. And so the only thing I know about that state is every time I say I was born in Wisconsin, everybody starts asking me about cheese, as if three-month-old Vivian is gonna know every type of cheese out there, right? No. So yeah, we moved here when I was about, like, five, six months old. So I don't affiliate myself with them Wisconsinites. I just—I mean, it's unique.

Vivian: Yeah, I'm gonna say I was born somewhere else. Um, but yeah, I grew up here in, uh, Bellevue, Washington.

Part 2

James: So you've been in Washington for most of your life. And now you've transitioned from tennis to pickleball. How has that transition been for you?

Vivian: It's been quite a journey, to be honest. Tennis has always been a big part of my life, but when I started playing pickleball, it was like discovering a whole new world. The transition wasn't easy at first because the two sports have their differences, but I quickly fell in love with the fast-paced and dynamic nature of pickleball. It's such a fun and social sport, and I've met some amazing people along the way.

Host: That's great to hear. And considering you've only been playing for about six months, reaching the semifinals of the North Carolina doubles Pro is quite an achievement. What do you attribute your success to?

Vivian: I think a big part of it is my background in tennis. It gave me a solid foundation in terms of hand-eye coordination, footwork, and overall athleticism. But I also had to learn and adapt to the unique strategies and techniques of pickleball. I've been fortunate to have supportive mentors and fellow players who have helped me improve my game. And of course, hard work and dedication have played a significant role as well.

1:14 James: So, you came from tennis and I was told that you started playing pickleball in November of 2022...like six months ago? Vivian: Yeah, November. Do you want me to share the story? James: Yes Vivian: Okay. So, last summer, me and my mom - we like going on walks together And we ran into a tennis friend who lives in our neighborhood And she was like, "What's your plan? Are you done with school? You know the ketchup when you're not that close with somebody. I was like "Yeah, I'm done. I'm just working...earning hours now for PA school." She's like "Okay that's great!" She basically ignored everything I was saying And she was like, "You need to do pickleball!" And intern I ignored what she said And I said, "Hey, that's great." And moved on We just continued our walk But she was so persistent She would not stop texting me, "Listen you are gonna be so good. I think you have the skill set." Whatever And I was constantly rejecting her to the point I felt so bad But then what happened is I got so burnt out from work because I had just like joined the job thing from being a student I just wanted to do so much James: Joined the job thing? Vivian: Okay Okay let me rephrase that When you're new to a job You want to do so much Because it's like new And it's exciting And it's fresh And I just like overworked myself to the point of burnout So that's when November hit That was like literally four months into me working And I was burnt out already And I was like you know, "What am I doing?" I was 22 I'm still young I need to fix my priorities So I reached back out to her I was like, You know what? I'll give it a shot!" And she was so ecstatic I was actually shocked Because sometimes when you get rejected so many times... You're like, "I don't care about you anymore" But she was so great So I call her my pickle godmother because she is who I owe my entire life and career to Love her She still takes care of me to this day That's how I started because of her This one lady Love her Okay, that's it James: thanks to that lady - Unleashed Vivian Glozman on the pickleball world