Pickleball star Anna Bright is one of the greatest doubles players in the sport. The 26-year-old is known for her fierce doubles game, elite fitness, and ability to stay composed under pressure.
Asked about the mantra behind her success, Bright said breathing exercises and twirling her paddle helped her stay firm when situations are not in her favour.
Bright, like so many pickleball players, has a background in tennis that laid the foundation for her pickleball game.
“I actually have always had some version of that with tennis. It could manifest for a few months as ball bouncing. Then I’d be twisting my paddle, so it’s kind of a remnant of that,” she said on a YouTube interview series called Fans Want to Know.
That habit becomes even more pronounced during high-pressure matches. “In MLP DreamBreakers, when it’s super high pressure, I will sometimes get a little stuck twisting the paddle. It’s a weird psychological thing, I guess,” said the St. Louis Shock player.
Bright has a habit of touching the back wall before points. Asked about that, she said it has kind of become a superstition.
“If I don’t sometimes touch the back fence or something, like something just doesn’t feel right,” she said, adding, “I touch the wall and then I’ll also touch my paddle or the ball on my left leg. Maybe in another year I’ll have added another step to it.”
Bright also said that she has no plan to change her instinct. “I’m not even thinking I need to reset myself. It’s more just if I don’t do it, something is wrong,” she added.
Off the court, she spends a lot of time meditating to increase her ability to stay focused under tense conditions. “A lot of times I’m kind of like meditating or focusing. A lot of times my eyes are even closed. You inhale for four, hold at the top, exhale for four, hold at the bottom for four, and you just kind of repeat that,” said the winner of 16 PPA Tour career gold medals.
Bright also revealed that she often gets frustrated when mistakes creep into her game. “I don’t know if I’m like cussing myself out terribly, but I’m definitely often displeased depending on the situation,” she said. “If I know that maybe I wasn’t as focused as I should have been, then I’ll be quite a lot more upset.”
