Resist AI all you want, but there’s no denying a hyper-accurate, omniscient data model has certain favorable applications… like improving the accuracy and intuitiveness of your DUPR score.
Good news: the algorithms are improving, facilities nationwide are building the needed infrastructure, and right now, all around us, players are starting to see the difference. Your DUPR could be next. We dig deep into this brave new world, below.
In This Issue:
— DUPR enters its intelligence era
— Jack Sock wants you to slow down
— ALW moves left in Newport Beach
Giddyup.
Our Picks 👆
😬 You Judge: Is This Serve Legal?
A “friend” posted his buddy’s serve to Reddit, asking if it’s legal or not. For once, the commenters all agreed on something. Try again, champ — it’s not legal. And it’s not even close.
📉 Ben Johns Loses 17 Points in a Row
This week's PicklePod breaks down the stat nobody saw coming: Ben Johns dropped 17 straight points across a men's and mixed doubles match, a stretch he's apparently never had in his career, not in PPA, not in MLP, not even in rec play. Hear our theories on why.
👎 Not Cool: Don’t Be This Guy
PSA: There’s a difference between offering unsolicited advice and actively communicating with your partner. One is extremely annoying. One is extremely helpful. Don’t be the jerk who confuses the two, OK?
⚡ The Dallas Flash Clap Back
Fresh off clinching a semifinals spot in Newport Beach, the Dallas Flash dropped a receipts reel on X, stacking up trade digs and loss takes from this season. Their message to the haters: bad day to be a keyboard warrior, and their season isn’t over yet.
How to Deaden Pace Off a Shot at Your Feet
Handling a hard-hit ball directly at your ankles is one of the trickiest scenarios in all of pickleball.
The key isn’t hitting it at all.
When a hard ball hits a loose paddle face, the energy dissipates. When it hits a tight grip, it bounces straight back with force.
Your first job is to let the ball compress into the paddle and absorb the speed before it leaves the face.
For topspin, angle the paddle face closed. For backspin, open it wider.
Here are five other common mistakes to avoid, according to pro Jack Sock:
Adding pace: Trying to reset with any real swing speed sends the ball up. Less is more here.
Standing too tall: If you're reaching down instead of bending down, the shot has no consistency. Get low first.
Watching the ball instead of the paddle: You can't read spin or pace if you're only tracking the ball in flight. Watch your opponent's contact point.
Retreating instead of resetting: Some players back up to give themselves more time. This is usually wrong. It takes you further from the kitchen and gives your opponent more angles.
Tightening the grip under pressure: This is the most automatic mistake. When a hard ball comes at you, your hand instinctively squeezes. That squeeze kills the soft shot. Practice staying loose even when the pace is high.
Got all that?
The Sweet Spot You Asked For
If there's one thing players have been asking Six Zero for, it's a bigger sweet spot on a power paddle.
The new Boulder Opal is them delivering it: real pop and put-away power, now with a more forgiving face, so you don't have to nail the center every time to feel it.
They've placed it between the Coral Pro and the Black Opal on the power scale, so it still ends points, just with more room for error when you swing.
It's got the dense, ball-pocketing feel Six Zero is known for, a surface built to hold its grit, and it comes in their hybrid shape.
Out now.
DUPR Enters the Intelligence Era
For the entire history of amateur pickleball, the only record of your match was the score and your memory. And memory is a generous narrator.
Thanks to AI integration, it's a whole new dawn.
Starting this August, AI-powered video analysis feeds into your DUPR Rating, drawing on a roster of video partners that includes PB Vision, PlaySight, SwingVision, Save My Play, Volley, and others.
“If you play rated pickleball,” says PodPlay founder Ben Borton, “that's the most consequential thing to happen to your number since DUPR itself.”
Baseball figured this out a century ago. Now it’s our turn.
Cameras and models and algorithms and all sorts of other high-tech apparatus come together to make it happen. But here’s what it means for you:
A shot-by-shot record of the match – a box score for pickleball, which the sport has never really had.
A rating derived from how you actually performed, not from who happened to be standing next to you and across the net.
The important thing is that it’s happening. And it’s happening now.
More and more pickleball clubs, facilities, and franchises are integrating AI seamlessly into your experience.
Plug in, and “you'll get a defensible answer to ‘why am I stuck at 3.5’ instead of four conflicting opinions from the people you just played,” says Borton.
Sounds pretty good, right?
➡️ That’s just the start. Let Ben lay it all out.
The Best Players Stopped Playing by the Rules
Pickleball players collect rules like trading cards. Don't speed up off the bounce. Don't attack crosscourt. Play the percentages.
You've heard all of them, and you've probably built your game around a few.
Here's what pro Zoey Weil will tell you: the best players in the world break those rules every single match. Not by accident, and not because the old advice was wrong.
There's a reason it works, and it's not "be more aggressive." Zoey lays out what's actually going on, and what to unlearn first.
Let Anna Leigh Cook
On this week's PicklePod, Nico and Zane break down the Fives' tightest match of playoffs weekend, starting with Anna Leigh Waters and Noe Khlif losing the same mixed doubles match to Dekel Bar and Tina Pisnik for the second time in two weeks, and ending with Anna Leigh moving to the left side and making a huge comeback.
A few of our favorites:
🔥 “If I played with Anna Leigh, I'd be in permanent Ernie position and just let her cook.”
🔥 “I can't believe they don't have Anna Leigh and Federico…because if Anna Leigh’s mixed doubles isn't a complete lock, I don't think they beat the Shock.”
🔥 “Is it too risky to mess with the lineup in the finals? Maybe. But it's the Fives.”
The guys didn't stop there, though, covering:
Zane's ‘Unc of the Year’ snub
Danni Townsend's 8-0 gut punch to the Mad Drops
Nico’s horizontal hotel-bed eating habit
This one's got something for everyone.
➡️ Listen now.
Headlines & Quick Hits
3 Ball Height Rules That Tell You What Shot to Hit, When
5 Secrets from the 2026 US Open Gold Medal Match
14 Wall Ball Drills That Build Real Game Skills Fast
Highlights
MLP or bust? Reddit debates
The states leading pickleball's growth
What type of pickleball player are you?
Missed a recent issue? We've got you covered
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