A pickleball match occurred this past weekend which more people need to be talking about. In the Singles Quarterfinals of the Select Medical Orange County Cup held in Rancho San Clemente, California, Connor Garnett played against Jack Sock. The final scoreline was 11-9 and 12-10. What’s not visible in that stat line is one of the most dramatic comebacks in recent PPA history.
Not included in that final scoreline was the context that Connor was down 0-7, and then 2-9 in game one which he ended up winning, and then 0-10 in game 2. That second game comeback wasn’t just improbable—it happened on a single side-out, meaning Garnett reeled off 12 straight points with no margin for error.
In the post-match interview Connor shared that he “just tried to continue to believe in himself, keep battling, keep fighting, it’s a game of runs, and anything can happen.” He added that when someone like Jack gets hot, “you just have to hang in there and not panic,” showing his awareness of momentum management in singles.
It begs the question, how did he do that? As well as what can we learn and apply to our games to try to make a comeback like this one. Part of the puzzle is certainly mental resilience and grit.
There are countless YouTube videos and articles written about pickleball about how you can improve your game but very few take the time to do a deep dive on a topic such as mental resilience and grit, even though they can largely impact the results of matches. Especially in singles, where momentum swings and unforced errors can make or break a game, the ability to reset mentally is just as valuable as a killer passing shot.
A couple possible explanations or pieces of the puzzle of how Connor made this comeback:
Staying Focused
Watching the match back, Connor was locked in regardless of the score. Jack was playing incredible to begin each game, hitting insane passing shots from the forehand and backhand sides, but Connor kept fighting and stayed focused regardless of the scoreline.
This was especially evident in his body language—no dropped shoulders, no rushed shots. He kept his tempo steady, which likely prevented Sock from getting additional psychological momentum.
We’ve all encountered scenarios where we’ve been in a big deficit to our opponent. In these scenarios it’s very easy to play differently and play to the score so to speak rather than playing out each individual point regardless of the scoreline.
Are you and/or your partner really giving your best effort regardless of the scoreline, and truly staying locked in and focused on playing one point at a time?
Not Doing Too Much
When you fall behind in a game it’s also very easy to try to hit the perfect shot, or try to hit the perfect speed-up, to try to win points fast. Oftentimes this can be counterproductive and actually lead to more errors while digging yourself into a deeper hole.
Garnett’s comeback was marked by consistency, not desperation. He didn’t over-hit; instead, he made Sock hit one more ball each time, gradually turning the pressure back on his opponent.
Capitalizing If/When Your Opponent Tightens Up
As the winning team whose lead is slowly slipping away it is very human to tense up or tighten up when your lead shrinks. In turn, anxious thoughts can creep into your mind about how you’re ‘supposed to win’, or the match ‘should be over already’.
As the losing team, if you’re down 0-10 your goal should simply be to score two or three points each time you have the serve. If you can cut the lead to 5-10 or even 6-10, expect your opponents to start experiencing some doubt or anxious thoughts and witness them start to tighten up.
In turn, they may make a couple more errors or play easier shots in hopes that you make an error. Nerves are real—capitalize on this. Sock, for instance, may have shifted from aggressive offense to tentative defense as Garnett chipped away at the lead, which is a common mistake under scoreboard pressure.
Battle and Execute
Obviously, to make a comeback as big as this one you need to execute and play at a high level, but some luck and a couple net cords never hurt either. A net cord winner could be the turning point or the thing that puts your opponent over the edge when their lead is shrinking.
Make them earn those last couple points, don’t give it to them for free. Whatever happens, give it your best effort, battle for every point, and take it one point at a time and see what happens!
As Garnett said after his Round of 16 match—where he saved five match points—it’s about fighting through adversity. He’s built a pattern of digging deep, and this wasn’t a fluke; it was the product of mental stamina and tactical maturity.
