$9 million prize pool offered in new global event

Pickleball offered as a high school sport. MLP trades ahead of Salt Lake City.

July 24, 2024

It’s time to capitalize before the summer is over. Where do you stand on 2024 goals? Were you hoping to level up this year?

The days of summer are passing us by like a Tyson McGuffin forehand. If you're struggling to make the jump to a new level, the solution might just be a ladder league.

A ladder league is a great way to track your progress across a couple of months while having meaningful matches on a weekly basis.

Look for a local league near you or better yet, start one of your own.

In This Issue:

👊 Return of serve essentials
🏆 Pickleball offered as a varsity sport
🔄 Players on the move ahead of MLP Salt Lake City

It’s all about the climb.

Get a More Powerful Return of Serve

Collin Shick provides three game-changing return-of-serve tips

As more pickleball players come from tennis, serves are getting faster and more powerful. Naturally, this means if you want to compete, players need to develop a more effective return of serve.

According to Collin Shick, a top 20 Men's Singles player on the PPA Tour, there are three things to focus on if you want a great return of serve.

Anything deep is always best

Depth makes it harder for your opponent to hit a strong third shot (or passing shot in singles) and allows you time to reach the NVZ line.

The back 1/5th of the court is where you want your return of serve to hit. If you're not hitting this spot regularly your opponent will, and as Collin says, "win the net from you."

To hit the back of your opponent's court, you want to:

  • Aim for your opponent's feet – anything higher, and you risk the ball going out

  • Follow through on your shot – your paddle should end at your opposite ear

  • Keep your swing path forward and out – not just straight up

Reduce angles

Location is the next important part of the return of serve. Particularly in singles (but also in doubles), you want to reduce the angles you give your opponent to hit shots from.

This means if you're playing someone who can hit good passing shots (or drives) or can paint the kitchen corners with thirds, you want to aim toward the middle more often.

Defending a third from the middle is much easier than defending from a good sideline shot. It also gives you more room for error.

Return to the weaker side or opponent

Finally, if your opponent does have a weaker side – or if one of the opponents is weaker at thirds, that's the spot you should aim for.

However, it's essential to remember the first two ideas – depth and reducing angles – as your first goals in the return of serve.

Selkirk’s New AMPED Control Paddles

Hey Dink Fam, Selkirk’s back at it again with the AMPED Control paddles. They've revamped them and rolled out some impressive new features. So, what makes these paddles new and improved?

The paddles boast a new coating and a new face — Ultra Durable Coating ensures your paddle lasts longer and delivers a higher spin rate, while the FiberFlex+ Face enhances control for greater feel and responsiveness during play.

Selkirk didn’t stop there; these paddles come in five eye-catching colors: Red, Green, Grey, Purple, and Blue. Plus, they're available in three distinct shapes — Invikta, S2, and Epic — to suit every player’s style and technique.

Don’t miss out — head over to Selkirk’s AMPED Control Collection and see why everyone’s excited to get their hands on these.

Pickleball on Your Letterman Jacket

We all knew this day was coming. When school starts back up in the fall, pickleball will officially be a varsity sport, at least for a few lucky schools.

All 25 schools in Montgomery County, Maryland, are now on board. They will offer pickleball as a varsity sport to students starting in the fall semester.

This is a step up from last year, when only one school district in the county offered the varsity sport. The expansion also includes a partnership with MLP’s D.C. Pickleball Team and paddle manufacturer JOOLA.

Pickleball joins handball, bocce, and allied softball in the county’s corollary sports program. The goal of the program is to provide access to more sports for all students in the county.

We’re anticipating high participation rates in Maryland and expect it to springboard pickleball into school districts across the country.

$9 Million Prize Pool Offered in New Global Event

Watch the Pickleball World Tour launch event live from Dubai. Today’s event will outline the structure and format for the upcoming Pickleball World Tour & Series by Pickleball World Rankings.

The six Pickleball World Series events headline the announcement with a massive $9 million prize pool up for grabs. PWR also plans to sanction 500+ events across the globe as part of their world tour.

Today’s launch event also includes an exhibition match featuring Megan Fudge/Ryler DeHeart (Team USA) vs Emilia Schmidt/Mitchell Hargreaves (Team Australia).

Tune in now to see the exhibition match in the shadows of the Dubai skyline and learn more about the PWR World Tour.

Personality Hats are in

Fashion has spoken, and the personality hat is all the rage these days. You know what that means? It means it’s a great time to put your logo on a hat.

Talking about all the rage these days, you’re going to want to make it a Branded Bills hat. They make quality merch people actually want to wear.

Don’t just take it from us, see what a happy client has to say about the branded hats they just ordered:

“They're wearing them to bowling alleys, sporting events, etc.” Rebecca Ferguson, Empire CAT

If you want to make a statement with your company merch, hit up Branded Bills.

If Branded Bills look familiar, it’s probably because you’ve seen them on the PicklePod. Branded Bills has some of the best designs in the game including the State and USA Collections.

Check out all of the options for yourself or customize hats for your group or company.

Struggling Teams Strike a Deal Before MLP SLC

It was obvious after the MLP Mid-Season Tournament that roster changes were imminent. The Utah Black Diamonds, Carolina Pickleball Club, and Columbus Sliders all went 0-2 at the event and are falling behind in the standings.

These three teams moved pieces this week to help remedy the problem:

  • Utah Black Diamonds traded Jay Devilliers to the Columbus Sliders in exchange for Connor Garnett

  • Carolina Pickleball Club traded Andrea Koop to the Columbus Sliders in exchange for Brooke Buckner

Only time will tell if there were any real winners of these deals but there are some positives:

  • Columbus adds some veterans who may be better suited to play alongside Riley Newman

  • Carolina brings home Charlotte native, Brooke Buckner, who has experience playing with Collin Johns in mixed

Utah will debut their new squad in front of a hometown crowd at this week’s MLP Salt Lake City event. Ten Premier Level teams will be in action starting on Thursday. Only D.C. and the NY Hustlers are inactive.

At the Challenger Level, only the four Western region teams will be in play. It will be the Socal Hard 8’s, LV Night Owls, California Black Bears, and the new look Bay Area Breakers in play.

In other MLP news, Vulcan is now the official ball of MLP. Look for the VPRO FLIGHT this weekend and at future MLP events. Get the latest on the roster changes and a full preview of this week’s event in Utah, complete with predictions from our guy Erik Tice.

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