Attack from the wings for better offense

Johns Bros secure final gold. Do net faults decide the game?

January 13, 2025

Happy Monday, Dink Fam. Quick question: what’s the most unhinged spot you’ve ever tried to play pickleball?

Driveway? Classic. Beach? Nice vibe. At the airport? We respect the chaos. But guess what — you’ve officially been outdone. The pickleball takeover has now hit all seven continents. Yep, someone packed their paddle and took this game to Antarctica. More on that below.

In This Issue:

🪽 Attack from the wings to create more offense
🏆 The Johns Bros had one more in them
🥅 Do net faults predict game outcomes?

Stay warm out there.

Our Picks ☝️

👋 Goodbye: Federico Staksrud Hits the Open Market

The game’s No.1 ranked singles player is hitting the free agent market. He said goodbye to JOOLA on social media yesterday.

⏰ One Day Left: Vote Now for The Nike Dink Awards

Tomorrow is the last day to vote in The Nike Dink Awards for the 2024 season. Let your voice be heard in the fan’s choice award for pickleball and be entered to win one of ten Project 007 paddles and performance outfits from Selkirk.

🎯 Duck: Ben Johns Fires Massive Bodybag Attempt

Ben Johns sent a message to Quang Duong with an absolute rocket aimed at his body. This one shocked the crowd and had no chance of landing in.

💻 Inside the Algorithm: Want to Level Up Your DUPR?

Curious why your DUPR went down? Go inside the system with Kaitlyn Kerr on her podcast Talk Pickle to Me featuring collegiate pickleball champion, Sarah Carpenter, “The guardian of the DUPR algorithm.”

UYG

Forehands on the Outside - Attack from the Wings

One of the commonly accepted beliefs in pickleball is that having two forehands in the middle is the best alignment for a team. A righty-lefty team where both partners could have their strength in the center of the court.

But what if we’ve got that wrong? On the PicklePod, Zane Navaratil explains the benefits of attacking from the edges of the court and why forehands on the outside might be more advantageous.

  • From the edge, you have the option to attack down the line, through the middle, or cross-court. Since you’re on the sideline, you have the benefit of being able to use the full width of the court which provides more angles.

  • Your opponents across the net are also put in a difficult situation. Your opponent straight ahead has to guard the line tightly. Their partner is then forced to shift to cover the rest of the court.

  • One step too far toward the middle leaves the cross-court attack open. Failure to close the gap leaves an easy target and plenty of court to work with.

But in the current alignment, it’s difficult to take advantage of these benefits. It’s challenging to attack with your backhand so we default into the pattern of backhand dinking.

Next time you’re on the court look for opportunities to attack from edges and see if it leads to better offense.

Why Worry on the Court When You Don’t Have To?

Let’s face it: pickleball is addictive, but it’s not without its spills or thrills. That’s why the Dink team, clocking over 100 hours a week on the courts, trusts Emerge Insurance to keep the game light and worry-free.

Why sweat over injury expenses? For as little as $18 a month, Emerge Insurance has your back, covering those pesky deductibles. So if a dive goes a little sideways, you're not digging deep into your pockets.

Snap up a free quote in a flash—it’s tailored to your pickleball play. Then? Just play your heart out, knowing Emerge is watching your back. Ready to hit the courts without a second thought? We thought so.

Going Out on Top

If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it? We all know the Johns Bros plan to take some time off from playing together. But with a dominant performance over the weekend, maybe the breakup is a little premature.

A First Place Finish
Ben and Collin Johns limped their way through the second half of 2024, but in 2025, they’re technically undefeated. They had three convincing wins over the weekend to take gold in what could be their final tournament together. In the finals, they topped the incoming No. 2 team of Hayden Patriquin/Federico Staksrud in three straight games.

Triple Crown Watch
Staksrud was busy on Sunday competing in three Championship matches. He’s officially on triple crown watch in 2025. Fed added another singles title to his sterling record but it’s hard to imagine he and Catherine Parenteau will top Ben and Anna Leigh anytime soon.

Another Three for Anna Leigh
ALW locked up another triple crown in Palm Springs. She had a commanding performance in singles winning 110 pts while allowing only 26 in her 5 matches. Margins were a little tighter in women’s doubles where she and CP went to four games with The Girlies in the finals.

PPA Masters Results

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Do Net Faults Predict Game Outcomes?

Your greatest opponent on the court might not be the two players standing at the opposing kitchen line. New data suggests that it’s shots into the net that are killing your game.

Robert Cormack collected statistics from the PPA Finals that took place in December of last year. He recorded the number of net faults committed by each team. Net faults included serves, drives, dinks, volleys, or any return that hit the net, net cord, or post. His data showed:

  • Winning teams had fewer net faults in 72% of matches

  • In 88% of matches, winning teams had equal or fewer net faults than their opponents

  • No winning team committed more than one additional net fault compared to the losing team

Cormack says, “In each competitive category, the losing team committed about one-third more net faults than its winning opponent.” This means if you’re hitting the ball into the net, you might actually be beating yourself.

There’s a common saying in pickleball to “Miss high” because if you miss low, the ball hits the net and the point is over. At least on a high ball, you force your opponent to put the ball away and leave yourself a chance to recover.

Record the data on your next match and let us know if it aligns with what we’ve seen here.

Keep the Balls Bouncing

Now that winter's hit, it's wise to stock up on pickleballs built to withstand the cold.

The Pro S1s from Selkirk are just what you need—they're super durable and backed by a year-long warranty against cracking. Plus, if you order a 12-pack, you get free shipping on anything over $35.

Pickleball Conquers All 7 Continents

Pickleball has officially reached all seven continents—yes, even Antarctica! Air Force Lt. Col. Jared Wood, made history by playing on the packed snow in frigid conditions, with no net and temps near 5°F. Nothing could freeze his love for the game.

Wood first discovered pickleball when his daughters gifted him a starter set, and since then, he’s taken the sport wherever his military service sends him. While stationed in Christchurch, New Zealand, he even helped transform a tennis court into two dedicated pickleball courts, rallying with both locals and fellow service members.

Now, from the icy expanses of Antarctica to courts around the globe, pickleball is uniting players everywhere—proof that the game knows no boundaries. Read the full story here.

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