Setting goals can be extremely valuable for pickleball players. Some aspire to win a game against the local rec court legend. Others hope to finally play in a tournament. 

Louis Kobetz, who made a name for himself with in-depth paddle reviews on YouTube, recently added a new video series to his channel to share his primary objective.

It's entitled: “Can I medal in 60 Days? Pursuit of 4.0 Gold”

“I officially got beat enough in tournaments to make me have to post the road to 4.0 gold first episode,” said Kobetz in his Pickleball Pursuit podcast.

The series will document Kobetz's journey towards taking his skills - and overall game - to the next level in just two short months.

It's a bold move, of course, but perhaps putting your goals out there is helpful in terms of accountability. 

In the video, Kobetz shares his frustration about his recent tournament performance. And these feelings are extremely relatable. 

“I’m so focused on playing well and winning that I allow mistakes to bother me and lead to more errors,” he said. “The combination of knowing I’m failing and wanting to win puts me in a negative mindset where performance is the most important metric, and if I’m not doing so, I lose track of all strategic thought and the ability to play the game freely.”

Sure, there are a lot of game-related mechanics we can all improve upon like strengthening drives, better speed ups, and developing a more powerful serve, but it’s the mental and emotional aspect of competition and perfecting his craft that will keeps Kobetz's viewers coming back to see his progress.

He will focus on the following areas during this 60-day journey:

1. More consistent thirds 

2. Better backhand returns

3. Being more aggressive

4. Overheads

Kobetz also shared his strengths. In sports, it’s often easier to hyper-fixate on the things that need fixing, but Kobetz acknowledged the aspects of his game that are already solid and breed confidence.

“I have fast hands, good counters at the net, strong forehand rolls, and backhand flicks,” he confirmed. “Putaways are another great strength of mine.” 

Aside from the content, the video itself is high-quality. There’s tension, story-telling, and eye-catching edits inherent in a proper sports documentary. 

“I’m very excited about this. This is definitely more in line with the videos I like to make,” said Kobetz. “Paddle reviews are very little impact. It’s really just informing someone of something for a limited amount of time because the lifecycle of a product being intriguing and enticing is very short, especially in pickleball.

“This series has a lot more longevity and overall impact on pickleball, people, and self-development. The road to 4.0 gold is a challenge to myself before the end of 2024. I’ll be documenting that and continuing on regardless of the results.” 

What if he claims gold in his first tournament next week?

“Then I’ll do the road to 4.5 medal,” confirmed Kobetz. “There’s always a goal to strive for.” 

I'll be on the edge of my seat to see if Louis can make it happen.

And I'll be rooting for him every step of the way.