Kitchen Feedback

One of the reasons I enjoy listening to and watching athlete interviews is that the conversation often goes beyond results and medals.

Sometimes, it becomes a story about purpose.

That was my biggest takeaway from MadPicklers‘ recent interview with professional pickleball player Long Yufei. While in Singapore for the inaugural PPA Asia Singapore tournament, Yufei stopped by MadPicklers’ private court for a chat. The Facolos ambassador also spent time meeting lucky participants, who clearly had a blast interacting with her and walking away with prizes.

What followed wasn’t just another pickleball interview. It was a conversation about competition, growth, and why some athletes never stop searching for ways to improve.

Like many professional pickleball players, Yufei did not start her sporting journey with pickleball. Tennis came first. She competed at a high level through college and, by her own admission, reached a point where she no longer felt she was improving. The desire to compete remained, but the feeling of getting better had disappeared.

Then came pickleball.

For Yufei, the sport offered something far more valuable than another racket in her bag. It gave her a second chance to compete and rediscover the joy of continuous improvement.

As sports evolve, so do the athletes. Opponents become stronger. Strategies change. Standards rise. In pickleball, she once again found herself in an environment where every training session felt meaningful and every tournament presented an opportunity to improve.

That theme of improvement surfaced repeatedly throughout the interview.
When asked what aspiring players should focus on, Yufei’s answer was refreshingly straightforward. If your goal is simply to have fun, go ahead and play tennis, padel or any other racket sport. But if your goal is to become a better pickleball player, your time may be better spent on conditioning.

Speed. Power. Explosiveness.

The ability to react faster and move more efficiently on a pickleball court will likely produce greater returns than trying to accumulate muscle memory from other sports.

It’s practical advice from someone who has made a career out of chasing small improvements.

Perhaps the most striking part of the interview was her decision to put academia on hold.

Before pickleball, Yufei worked in medical research and spent two years building her credentials for a PhD programme. She earned admission to a top university with a full scholarship. For most people, that would have been the dream.

Then, two months before her programme was due to begin, an unexpected opportunity arrived.

PPA Asia offered her a chance to train in Arizona under a two-year commitment.

She chose pickleball.

The PhD wasn’t abandoned. It was paused.
For now, she’s having fun pursuing a professional sporting career and seeing how far the journey can take her.

What I found most relatable was her mindset towards self-improvement. Yufei keeps notes and records her observations so that she can continue learning. It is a simple habit, but one shared by many high performers across different fields.

Athletes watch film.

Lawyers annotate documents.

Musicians dissect songs.

Everyone has their own version of the same process.

The pursuit of getting better never really ends.

Interestingly, pickleball wasn’t the only sport she explored after tennis. She experimented with yoga, Pilates, basketball, surfing, climbing and martial arts before finding her way back to competitive racket sports. Yet it was pickleball that challenged her body in the most complete way, demanding strength, movement, coordination and constant adaptation. These days, she find herself reading more to keep herself mentally simulated.

And perhaps that’s why her story resonates.

This isn’t just a story about pickleball.
It’s about recognising an opportunity, taking a risk, and giving yourself permission to pursue something that makes you excited to improve again.

Not everyone gets a second chance at competition.

Long Yufei did.

And she’s making the most of it.

Many thanks to MadPicklers for contributing to this article. For more information on their 24/7 court and court bookings, head here.

View the full interview below.