Mac & Cheese and Pickleball: Inside Anna Leigh Waters' New Cooking Series

Anna Leigh debuts the first episode of her new YouTube series, "In The Kitchen," with a special guest: her doubles partner, coach, and mom: Leigh.

Anna Leigh Waters just launched a new show, and it might not be what you'd expect from one of pickleball's brightest stars.

Instead of on-court breakdowns or tournament recaps, the first episode of "In the Kitchen" features Waters and her mother Leigh making their famous mac and cheese while spilling stories about their journey from doubles partners to coach-and-player.

The episode is part cooking show, part therapy session, and entirely genuine. And honestly? It reveals something important about how elite athletes navigate the messy business of family, ambition, and knowing when to step back.

The Turning Point

Here's what makes this episode different from typical athlete content: it doesn't shy away from the hard stuff.

While whisking butter and flour together, Leigh reflects on the exact moment she realized her daughter had outgrown their doubles partnership.

"When we were playing together and I got injured, I thought it was like the end of my world because I loved playing with you so much," Leigh says in the video.

"But then once I started coaching you, I realized that I think I like coaching you more than playing with you because it's less pressure."

That's the kind of vulnerability you rarely hear from competitive athletes. Most people don't want to admit that watching someone else succeed might actually feel better than competing alongside them.

But Leigh goes deeper, explaining that the real turning point came earlier, when Anna Leigh was getting roughly 70% of the balls in tournaments and winning matches almost single-handedly.

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From Doubles to Coaching: The Unspoken Transition

The conversation touches on something that doesn't get enough attention in sports: the transition from being someone's partner to being their coach. It's not just a role change. It's a fundamental shift in how you relate to someone you've been competing alongside.

When Anna Leigh asks her mother what she gets most annoyed about during coaching sessions, Leigh doesn't hesitate.

She talks about timeouts where she's trying to correct Anna Leigh's form, only to get pushback. "You're not bending your knees on your third," Leigh says. "You're very tall and you'll be like, 'I am bending my knees.'"

Anna Leigh laughs and admits she always has an excuse ready. "It's never my fault," she says. But then she adds something else:

"The thing I do that I regret sometimes when we're coaching is like she'll tell me what to do and the next point I'll do it and it doesn't work and then I like give her the dirty eyes."

This back-and-forth is the real stuff of sports. It's not the highlight reel. It's the friction that happens when you're trying to improve and the person helping you isn't just someone you've played with for years – it's your mother.

The 2019 Championship That Changed Everything

When asked about her favorite match to play, Anna Leigh doesn't hesitate. It's their first national championship win in 2019, when she was just 12 years old. They'd lost the first game, but something clicked. The crowd was massive. A song came on between games, and suddenly everything felt possible.

"Can't stop the feeling," Anna Leigh says, referencing the track that became their anthem that night. They won in three games, and at the end, Leigh started running circles around the court.

It's a perfect encapsulation of what made their partnership special. But it's also the moment, looking back, where you can see the seeds of what was coming. A 12-year-old who could carry a match. A mother who could recognize greatness and eventually step aside to let it flourish.

The Mac and Cheese Metaphor (Yes, Really)

The cooking itself becomes a metaphor for their relationship. They're making something together, but with clear roles.

Leigh guides the process while Anna Leigh executes. There's banter, there's correction, there's the occasional moment where Anna Leigh adds too much milk to the roux and Leigh has to step in.

"She likes to micromanage me," Anna Leigh jokes as her mother watches her whisk.

By the end, they're both tasting the final product. It's a 7.0 in pickleball terms, they decide.

What This Means for Pickleball

The broader story here is about how elite sports families navigate success. Anna Leigh Waters is one of the best players in pickleball, period. Her mother was instrumental in getting her there. But at some point, the student has to become the master, and the partner has to become the coach.

"In the Kitchen" suggests they've figured out how to do that without resentment or regret. Instead, there's genuine affection, humor, and the kind of honesty that only comes from people who've been through something significant together.

It's not the content you'd expect from a professional athlete in 2025. But maybe that's exactly why it matters.