Tyra Hurricane Black: Five Tips to Elevate Your Pickleball IQ

Tyra's cerebral approach to pickleball has helped her transition from tennis to one of the smartest – and most dominant – pros on tour.

Tyra Black doesn’t just play pickleball, she dissects it.

The world No. 5 women’s doubles player has built her reputation on anticipation, discipline, and the ability to read the game one shot ahead. (Fun fact, her legal middle name is actually Hurricane.)

In a recent film-room breakdown with Kyle "That Pickleball Guy" Koszuta, Black let fans peek behind the curtain at how she processes rallies in real time.

What emerged wasn’t just highlight-reel defense and lightning-speed counters, but a philosophy of patience, positioning, and pattern recognition that separates top-tier pros from weekend warriors.

Here are five of Hurricane's best tips for elevating your pickleball IQ, in her own words.

1. Trust Your Partner, Know Their Patterns

For Black, doubles success starts with trust. She and Jorja Johnson of the Dallas Flash have played so much together that anticipation becomes instinct.

“I usually know where she’s hitting most of her shots,” Black explained. “We have specific shots we’re going for on the court. She has really good middle drops. The seconds I know she's hitting the ball there, I’ll start to press forward.”

For rec players, that means communication is king. If you don’t know where your partner is dropping, it’s often better to stay patient and read the shot before charging the kitchen.

2. Use Lobs as a Reset Weapon

Most amateurs panic when stuck in no-man’s land. Black? She throws a lob.

“Me and my partner were both in no man’s land and I wasn’t sure what my opponent was going to do with the ball,” she recalled of one rally. “So I just decided to give us both a little bit more time and throw the lob up there so we could both back up.”

The lob isn’t just desperation, it’s a strategy. By surprising opponents pressing the line, she can buy time, change court position, and even force errors.

3. Speed-Ups are Setups, Not Winners

Black and Koszuta both caution against treating a speed-up as a kill shot. Instead, they view it as the first punch in a longer exchange.

“When I see the ball bouncing a little bit higher, that’s when I’ll start to speed it up,” said Black.

Koszuta echoes this sentiment: "A speed up is a setup. It's not usually going to be a winner once you get to a certain level."

It’s a mindset shift many players need: Assume everything is coming back. The point doesn’t end on your attack, it starts there.

4. Compact Swings Win Hands Battles

Coming from tennis, Black had to ditch big swings in favor of compact punches.

“The bigger my swing is, the less time I have to react to the next ball,” she said. “I realized I had to make some adjustments."

For anyone stuck in chicken-wing purgatory, shortening swings and keeping the paddle in front is the quickest path to faster hands.

5. Patience Is Power

If there’s one lesson Black emphasizes, it’s resisting the urge to force a point with power.

“I kind of want to speed everything up and just slam my way through everything,” she admitted. “But you really have to work the points and wait for the right ball.”

That means embracing dinks, resets, and neutral patterns, even if it feels more fun to blast away. As Black put it: “To go to the next level and be the top players, you really have to hone in on the soft game.”

The Takeaway

What makes Tyra Black’s approach so compelling is that her tips apply far beyond the pro circuit. Whether it’s trusting your partner’s drops, throwing a lob to escape trouble, or staying patient through the soft game, these are tools any player can use to raise their pickleball IQ.

Feature image via IG