Why Quang Duong Looks at His Dad Between Points: 'It's a Reset for His Mind'

At just 19 years old, pickleball pro Quang Duong has made a name for himself on tour for his ultra-aggressive, all gas, no breaks playing style.

It is pure intensity, start to finish. And it's earning him admiration–and big-time sponsorships–as a result.

It should come as no surprise, then, that his training regimen is similarly dialed-up. And it all flows through his his father and coach, Duc. Their bond is built on more than blood; it’s a shared obsession with performance, precision, and the pursuit of greatness.

Duc, a former tennis coach, has long applied a rigorous mentality to Quang’s development, borrowing heavily from the tennis world: multiple warm-ups per day, endless reps, and relentless mental testing.

"I would literally warm him up ten times per day," says Duc. "That's the tennis way."

The intensity they've applied to Quang's pickleball preparation is a two-way street, we learned in a recent episode PicklePod episode, and Quang is often in the driver's seat.

During tournaments, while many pros casually hit for 30 minutes before a match, Quang goes hard, mimicking the rhythm and endurance demands of high-level tennis.

Believe it or not, he says, pickleball is even more demanding. "He's got to get into a rhythm. Winning or losing is based on his warmup," Duc explains.

Find Quang, Duc and brother Bao on a practice court before a match and one thing is for sure: there's nothing casual about their drills.

But it’s not just about volume. Their system is deeply psychological. Duc designs each training session to include mental stressors, and each concludes with a "test."

Explains Quang: "Q, you're up 10-9 or 10-8, match point, third set against Ben or Fed in a Grand Slam. If I make the shot, I pass. If I don't, we keep drilling until I make the shot."

Their sessions are incredibly grueling, but always with a purpose. When Quang and Bao look too good in practice, it means they're not working hard enough. "I want them to break down" says Duc. "When they're broken down, they have to recover mentally. That's where they can perform in real matches."

It would be easy to assume Duc is the archetypal overbearing tennis dad. But that's not the case–it's Q who insists on more court time, more reps, more practice.

During his matches, Quang has become known for looking at Duc, typically after a mistake. It's not for words of encouragement or advice, explains Duc, it's more mental.

"It's a culture thing. Q trains under stress. You go into a match and you're a warrior. For Q, the more stress that comes, the better he performs. So when Q looks at me...it's more of a reset for his mind so he can focus and play the next point," says Duc.

Their approach isn’t for everyone. But in a sport where mental lapses often separate the good from the great, their intense training method is working—and Quang’s rapid ascent proves it.