Can physics improve your pickleball?

Execute the perfect crosscourt attack. Who made the right call?

October 02, 2024

School is back in session and as expected, college pickleball is exploding across the country. The total number of active pickleball clubs at colleges went from 17 to over 130 from 2023 to 2024.

As more colleges recognize the trend and install facilities like these ones, the number of clubs and players is going to skyrocket. Instead of asking What’s your major? Kids will soon be opening with What’s your DUPR?

In This Issue:

🔀 Execute the perfect crosscourt attack
🏖️ Battle at the beach
➗ Pickleball physics explained

Happy Humpday.

Our Picks ☝️

🔁 Waivers: The MLP Waiver Period is Open

The Major League Pickleball Premier Level waivers open at noon ET today with the Challenger Level to follow tomorrow. Teams can use this time to add/drop players for the final stretch of 2024. See who’s available and which teams are likely to grab them.

💰Investing: Apparel Brand Lands Investment from 35 Capital

MUEV, a flashy new pickleball apparel brand, lands investment from MLP Chicago Slice owner 35 Capital. 35 Capital's pickleball-packed private equity portfolio includes majority and minority stakes in companies like ProXR, Paddletek, DUPR and more. MUEV it or lose it.

🪙 Bitcoin: Tournament Winners Receive Cryptocurrency Payout

The Bitcoin Peer to Pier Festival on October 18 will feature a pickleball tournament this year where the winners will receive $5,000 in … you guessed it, Bitcoin.

📸 Meme: Asking the Hard Hitting Questions

How to Execute The Perfect Crosscourt Attack

Cross-court speedups are typically a bad play because the margin for error is too small. Also, players have more time to react with a counter, and they know to let a ball go out if it’s too wide. However, over the weekend, Jill Braverman proved that a crosscourt attack can be very effective if done correctly.

Before discussing how she did it, here's what Jill’s attack looked like:

#1 - The scan

As soon as Jill sees a high bouncer coming to her forehand side that she can attack, she holds her paddle up and scans her opponent's positioning on the court.

Todd Fought (the top right arrow) is squeezing the middle - something very common in high-level pickleball, especially in mixed doubles, signaling to Jill that there is plenty of room on his left side to attack.

#2 - Deceptiveness

As Fought gets closer to the net, he moves slightly over, but (as the circle shows) there is still plenty of space on his left side.

Jill drops her paddle head and keeps it square to her opponents (bottom left arrow), accomplishing two things:

  1. It allows her to put power behind her speedup and

  2. It doesn't give away where she plans to attack

With Fought hugging the middle, Jill already knew where she wanted to attack, but her deceptive paddle position forced them to guess.

#3 - The target

Notice where Cederquist (top left) and Fought are covering. It's the space between them. Cederquist has her backhand ready for a counter, and Fought has his paddle low, ready for an attack at his body.

Instead, Jill's attack is wider than Fought was ready for, causing him to reach for the ball and hit it into the net (watch the gif again to see the shot with new eyes).

If you play against someone who likes to hug the middle or "play big," then this is an attack you should one hundred percent add to your game. Also, subscribe to Jill’s new podcast, Pickleball Breakdown - it’s awesome.

Selkirk’s Got Your Back(pack)

We all know hauling gear to the courts can be a hassle, especially when you’re loaded down with paddles, water, and extra balls.

Selkirk offers a lineup of pickleball backpacks designed for every player’s needs, available in three sizes: the Day Bag, the Team Bag, and the Tour Bag.

The Day Bag is perfect for casual play or beginners, offering just enough room for the essentials—your paddle, a couple of balls, and a water bottle. For more storage, the mid-size Team Bag can handle multiple paddles and all your accessories without breaking a sweat.

For those who need everything at hand, the Tour Bag is your go-to. It’s spacious enough to fit paddles, several balls, shoes, and extra gear, and it features a separate shoe compartment to keep things fresh.

Check out Selkirk’s backpacks and see how they can change your game.

Pickleball Physics Explained

Scientific American couldn’t resist the opportunity to inject some math into the game of pickleball. Yesterday, they highlighted some findings from the site Pickleball Science. If the calculations in the 75 Percent Rule had you scratching your head then feel free to skip this section.

What’s the fastest serve you’ve ever seen?

  • According to the calculations, with enough topspin (1,200 revolutions per minute), a serve hit 65 mph is theoretically possible

  • “At that speed, the ball takes just 0.64 second to leave the server and hit the opposite far end of the court” leaving little to no time to adjust

What fast hands really means

  • The reaction time shrinks at the kitchen line where players have a mere 0.2 second to react to shots hit 45mph from 14 feet away

  • “That’s pushing the limit of conscious human reaction time, (Reflexes can be as fast as 0.08 second, but those signals do not have to go to the brain.)”

How long does a lob hang in the air?

  • If a player “hits the ball from the baseline with an upward angle of 55 degrees and initial speed of 40 mph, with 1,200 rpm of topspin, it will reach a height of almost 20 feet and will take four seconds to drop.”

  • Add another half second for the ball to bounce back up to height and that gives you about 4.5 seconds to run from the kitchen to the baseline to field a lob

Alright, put your calculators down, enough math for now.

Here’s a scenario every player’s run into at least once if not 5-10 times in one game:

I was in the middle of a point (singles) and a ball rolls in from another court. The ball is nowhere near me and I see it’s gonna roll near the opposite edge of the court and I’m about to put the point away.

The ball doesn’t bother me and I decide to finish my point. The player from the other court yells ball and just walks right on to our court mid-point and makes the decision for me that the point is over.

I tell him in a neutral tone “wait for the point to finish” to which he replies “there was a ball that’s the end of the point- you could have hurt yourself.”

Now I understand his POV entirely, but I also thought the etiquette was that you don’t just run onto someone’s court if they’re in the middle of a point.

Control the Court

Have you guys tried the Energy Series paddles from Pickleball Apes yet?

These aren't just any paddles; they introduced raw aramid fiber to the pickleball world, offering a sturdy alternative to traditional carbon fiber.

What's to love about the Energy Series? It's all about finding that sweet spot between control and power. The unique aramid fiber surface boosts your ball's spin and speed.

What makes the Energy Series truly special is not just its performance, but the confidence it instills in players. With accolades from numerous paddle reviewers and a hassle-free 30-day return policy, choosing an Energy Series paddle means you're gearing up for success.

Battle for the Beach

Will we ever see another double-triple crown? It’s been months since the top players in the game teamed up to steal all of the gold from an event. Has the field closed the gap on Ben Johns and Anna Leigh Waters enough to prevent a clean sweep in Virginia Beach?

  • Johns is coming off an ankle injury, and the men’s singles division gets more difficult every day that passes

  • The Johns Bros topped the podium again in Atlanta but suffered a five-month drought leading up to the event

Anna Leigh Waters is almost a lock for a triple crown, but a women’s doubles loss in Atlanta could be a sign that the ‘lock’ isn’t as tight as it was in the past. Plus familiar foes could derail the hopes of a double-triple performance.

  • The Andrei Daescu and Anna Bright partnership that beat ALW/Ben in Austin is reunited in Virginia Beach

  • JW Johnson/Dylan Frazier are due for another title before the end of the year, will they be able to steal the No.1 seed back from the Johns Bros this weekend?

Today’s matchups to watch:

Men’s Singles: Donald Young vs Rafa Hewett
Women’s Singles: Dominique Schaefer vs Genie Bouchard
Mixed Doubles: Lea Jansen/Hayden Patriquin vs Kate Fahey/Quang Duong
Men’s Doubles: Rafa Hewett/Riley Newman vs Spencer Smith/Mota Alhouni
Women’s Doubles: Chao Yi Wang/Brooke Buckner vs Kaitlyn Christian/Kate Fahey

Find a full preview for this event including where to watch and podium predictions from our guy Erik Tice here.

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