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70 decibels: is pickleball really that loud?

70 decibels: is pickleball really that loud?

Pickleballers live longer? Serving to stacked opponents.

April 07, 2023

How loud is pickleball, really? Let’s compare it to other sounds:

A school playground is 90-115 decibels
A leaf blower from 50 feet ranges from 64 to 78 decibels
A lawn mower is about 95 decibels

And pickleball? Pickleball sounds peak at 70 decibels, at least they did at a set of courts in Denver, CO before those courts were ultimately shut down.

Serve Wide to the Stack

Stacking has become ubiquitous at the pro level. Most partnerships elect for players to specialize in playing one side of the court.

When teams stack, there is a pretty simple way to cause chaos. When they’re stuck on an odd number, stuck in a stacked position, you can make things difficult for them and rack up some points.

All it takes is an adjustment on your serve. Place the priority on a wide serve as opposed to a deep one. Hug the ball close to the sideline. Make the serve returner move all the way to their sideline to return the serve.

Now you have increased the distance they need to cover in order to be in position for their next shot. They have to travel all the way across the court the receive your third.

If your serve is strong enough, the returning team may elect to abandon the switch and play the point in their less desired alignment.

An example would be a righty and lefty paired together. If you prevent them from executing the switch, you have two backhands stuck in the middle. This is a huge advantage, especially at lower levels.

So when they’re on an odd number, take advantage of the stack. Place that serve tight on the sideline. Make them work to get into the right position. You might rack up a few easy points.

Let's get Filthy

After 6 months of designs, testing, and modifications, Bread & Butter Pickleball is finally ready to launch its latest paddle.

The Filth is a Thermoformed and edge wall inject paddle that measures 16.5" x 7.375" and weighs 8.0 ounces. Bread & Butter only made 1000 paddles with this first production run, not realizing the feedback and hype that spread like wildfire in Reddit, Discord, YouTube, and beyond.

Bread & Butter has been reluctant to put the Filth on preorder but has decided to free up 500 paddles of the first 1000 to Dink-only subscribers.

This is a limited time paddle ONLY for the DINK family. Preorder here.

'This is Our Wake'

Cue the sad horns and 12 guns: today, we announce the death of another place to play pickleball due to noise complaints. The deceased: Denver area's Congress Park.

"Neighborhood complaints about noise, parking and other issues plus a sound inspector's findings led Denver's parks and recreation department to permanently close the pickleball courts..." according to a report in the Denver Gazette.

The last games were played there over this past weekend. RIP.

At least the city is using hard data to quantify this decision, unlike other parts of the country where noise complainers have won out.

The city's noise ordinance allows residential levels to reach 55 decibels from 7 am until 10 pm and 50 decibels all other times.

Unfortunately, their findings showed that the pickleball courts reached 70 decibels at homes near the courts.

We've seen pickleballers fighting back against noise complaints with lobbying and humorous mockeries of their opponents' often-ridiculous campaigns; but sometimes, they just can't win.

However, information like this is crucial in the fight for pickleball's expansion. It sets a meaningful, measurable precedent for noise levels deemed "excessive."

In order to win a legal case, establishing precedent is key.

Win a Trip to Margaritaville Island Reserve Riviera Maya, Mexico

A 5-day, 4-night trip for two could be yours. Featuring:

LandShark Brewery & Grill, serving refreshing lagers, smokehouse classics, and ongoing live music
Weekly events like TropRock-style musical performances, pop-up pickleball contests, pool parties, & more!
3 free-form swimming pools for refreshing dips in between activities

Interested? Enter the giveaway here.

Pickleballers Live Longer

Do you ever listen to someone talk, enthusiastically agreeing with what they’re saying, until just one detail slips and you’re suddenly against them?

That’s how we felt watching…whoever this guy is (it's Daniel G. Amen, M.D.).

His point was that people who play racquet sports live longer than those who don’t.

Why?

It requires: reflex, fast reflex, aerobic, strategic, & quick information processing.

Pickleball is a whole brain exercise, meaning it uses:

Cerebellum - physical coordination and thought coordination. Cerebellum is critically important, bottom part of the brain. 10% of the brain's volume but has more than half of the brain's neurons.

Frontal Lobes - always creating strategy

Parietal Lobes - they see where the ball is in space

But remember how we said that we didn’t like something about this guy? Yeah, it’s that he says table tennis is better for the brain than pickleball since it moves faster.

Table tennis? Faster? Tell that to any of the pros (or your local slammer).

Easy, Safe, Fun: Lectric

Forget the hassle of finding parking at pickleball courts.

The XP Lite is a unique eBike with easy maneuverability, a twist grip throttle option, a basket to hold your things, and five levels of pedal assist.

Learn more about this fun transportation option here.

Delamination In Full Effect

Two-time MLP Challenger Level champion, Pablo Tellez, continues his hot streak in 2023. The six seed used a favorable singles draw to his advantage and punched his ticket to Championship Saturday (still feels weird to write that).

The bigger story coming out of Utah, however, was delamination claims.

Following play on Wednesday, Travis Rettenmaier and Lea Jansen both took to social media and accused their respective opponents, Tyson McGuffin and Salome Devidze, of using delaminated paddles (we cover this in the latest episode of the PicklePod, FYI).

McGuffin and Devidze are both set to play in the singles finals on Saturday despite the claims from their opponents. Post-game paddle challenges could come into play here.

(4) Tyson McGuffin vs (6) Pablo Tellez
Bronze: Jay Devilliers
(1) Catherine Parenteau vs (3) Salome Devidze
Bronze: Lea Jansen

In mixed doubles yesterday, it was Susannah Barr and Zane Navratil who knocked off the top seed McGuffin/Parenteau. Navratil and Barr lost in a close semifinal match against Anna Bright and James Ignatowich.

In the other semifinal, Jessie Irvine and AJ Koller finally rekindled their magic to reach Championship Saturday. All it took was a brutal ankle roll from Irvine to motivate them past the team of Riley Newman and Andrea Koop.

(3) Jessie Irvine/AJ Koller vs (4) Anna Bright/James Ignatowich
Bronze: Susannah Barr/Zane Navratil

Gender doubles begins at noon today. Tune in tomorrow for a special Championship Saturday broadcast.