KT Academy Pickleball, Mooloolaba Tennis Club

We know you’ve all been curious! 👀 So here are a few more updates from the construction of our new 8 pickleball courts.

A lot has changed since the beginning of the project, and every week we can see the courts coming to life more and more!

What are you most excited about? 👇🏻

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This project was proudly funded by the Queensland Department of Sports, Racing and Olympic and Paralympic Games.

Supporters:
State Government Capital Grant:
Department of Tourism and Sport (Sport and Recreation)

Sunshine Coast Council Mayor Rosanna Natoli

Councillor Christian Dickson

Sunshine Coast Council

Mooloolaba Tennis Club

🏓 The Sunshine Coast Pickleball Open is back! ☀️

We’re doing it again! Join us 23–25 October 2026 for an epic weekend of competition, great vibes, and plenty of pickleball.

🎾 Singles | Doubles | Mixed Doubles
📍 Sunshine Coast

🔥 Registrations are NOW OPEN!

👉Register now via the link in our bio or go to Pickleball.com
Tag your pickleball partner and we’ll see you on the courts! 💙

SunshineCoast

Thursday night turned into party night, celebrating Hannah’s birthday 🎂 Cake and pizza fuelled the team until the rain got us AGAIN😭

We’re incredibly proud to announce that Graeme Clemett and Karen Denman from KT Academy have been selected to represent Australia in the 60+ Australian Squad at the 2026 Pickleball World Cup! 🏓👏

They will proudly represent Australia and the Sunshine Coast at the 2026 Pickleball World Cup, showcasing the talent and passion of our local pickleball community on the international stage.

Congratulations, Graeme and Karen! The entire KT Academy community is cheering you on! 🇦🇺💙

Learn more about the Pickleball World Cup here: https://thepickleballworldcup.com/

It was a cracker weekend down on the Gold Coast for the QPT event, great numbers, great games and great people!! This is what makes our pickleball community so amazing!! Congratulations to all that competed, those that came home with medals and those that didn’t, we are super proud of you all! Here’s a few pics from the weekend, thanks to everyone that share their photos🤩👏👏

KonecT Blog 03 | The Evolution of the Addicted Athlete
What makes pickleball so incredibly sticky?

By Graeme Clemett, KT’s Academy Pickleball Coaching Development & Liaison

If you spend any time around the courts on the Sunshine Coast, you have probably noticed a shift in who is playing. What usually starts as a casual invitation to try a new sport quickly morphs into a five-day-a-week obsession. It is happening across every age group, but it is hitting competitive people the hardest, especially those who thought their days of intense athletic progression were behind them.

The obsession comes down to a specific loop. Pickleball is famously easy to pick up, but it is brutal to master. Unlike tennis or golf, where technical barriers can take years to overcome just to get a fluid rally going, pickleball gives you immediate success. It hooks you early, and then it quietly reveals layers of tactical frustration.

For a competitive person, that frustration is the exact point where the sport takes over your life. Moving past the stage of simply hitting the ball back and forth requires a completely different mindset. You have to unlearn the urge to just smash the ball and start learning court geometry, spin variation, and paddle-face control.

The trouble is that real improvement does not happen if you just play the same social sets with the same four people every Tuesday night. You eventually hit a ceiling. True progression requires treating the sport like a proper discipline. It means signing up for specific drills clinics, breaking down your mechanical mistakes, and putting yourself in high-pressure match play where your flaws actually get exposed.

With the local tournament calendar picking up, the players who are accelerating past the pack are the ones who are treating their practice sessions seriously. Progression is the real driver of enjoyment in this game. If you are chasing a higher rating or trying to clean up your unforced errors, the goal should be to find a group of players and coaches who match your exact level of competitive intensity.

At KT Academy, we design our drills around live game pressure. We help you read the transition zone and pick the smart shot, so your game holds together when the match gets tight.