I got a phone call from an athlete I coach.
“Coach, my opponent’s talking trash to me and cheating! Every time I play this guy in practice he resorts to cheating and trash talking. Do you have any advice? It threw me completely off my game and I ended arguing instead of playing.”
First-this happened in practice. Practice is just that. I think it is great that people want to win at any costs and cheat in practice. Why? That gives you more realistic practice and puts you under more pressure. That pressure is great for tournament play. Did you know that the heart rate is slower in practice than in a tournament? The pressure of competition makes everything different. Shots that roll in practice do not in tournament play. Learning to play under pressure is a gift, not a curse!
Back to the trash thing. Focus hard on winning the next rally after a cheat or a trash talk. Then win the next one for good measure. Finally, to stick it to trash talker win a third in a row. This is the best strategy because it focuses you on the process. not the words. One more thing you should know. There is a reason this is happening. The opponent feels they cannot beat you straight up. Therefore they have to create a distraction. If you focus on the distraction you are not focusing on the action! The opponent also has probably experienced success doing the behavior described. Once they realize this strategy will not work, they will probably stop their behavior. If they do not stop, they probably need some sort of mental help from a professional or should be playing pickleball. Meanwhile, keep sticking it to them with good play rather than banter.