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It all comes down to this. Major League Pickleball puts a bow on its 2025 season this weekend in Central Park, NYC, featuring a marquee matchup between the sport’s two most decorated stars, Ben Johns and Anna Leigh Waters.

St. Louis Shock. Columbus Sliders. New Jersey 5s. LA Mad Drops. Who ya got?

In This Issue:
— It’s MLP Finals weekend in NYC
— Elevate your pickleball IQ with Tyra Black
— The best women’s pickleball shoes

It’s on.

We already told you about Ben Stiller stealing our name for his upcoming pickleball movie. Well, the plot has thickened. Stiller posted about it on X using the hashtag #TheDink along with some highly questionable clip art. We are offended, sir.

Guest host Nicole Byer used her air time on Jimmy Kimmel Live to roast a new dating app called PickleMatch. “Even though the app is still in development,” she joked, “they already have subscriptions from 100 of the saddest people alive.”

The APP Tour has teamed up with Selkirk and the National Intramural and Recreational Sports Association to introduce the first collegiate tour sanctioned by USA Pickleball, with $50,000 on the line at the Collegiate Championships in Cape Coral, FL. That’s a lot of ramen noodles.

When we are invited to hop on a pop-up court in the middle of Manhattan for a chance to “Beat the Pros,” you better believe we’re accepting. We may not have won all the points, but we took this one in spectacular fashion.

Effective pickleball is smart pickleball. And there is perhaps no more cerebral player on the pro tour than Tyra Hurricane Black.

She’s known for being tenacious. Her defense is second to none. But it’s her ability to read a point and anticipate her next move one or two shots in advance that’s propelled her to become a top doubles player.

Tyra recently sat down for a film session with Kyle “That Pickleball Guy” Koszuta. Here, in her own words, are five proven tips for a higher pickleball IQ.

1️⃣ Trust your partner. “I usually know where Jorja is hitting most of her shots. We have specific shots we’re going for on the court. She has really good middle drops. The second I know she's hitting the ball there, I’ll start to press forward.”

2️⃣ Lean on lobs to get out of trouble. “Me and my partner were both in no man’s land and I wasn’t sure what my opponent was going to do with the ball,” Tyra recalled of one rally. “So I just decided to give us both a little bit more time and throw the lob up there so we could both back up.”

3️⃣ Plan for the next shot. Koszuta chimed in here: "A speed-up is a setup. It's not usually going to be a winner once you get to a certain level."

4️⃣ Keep it tight. “The bigger my swing is, the less time I have to react to the next ball,” Tyra said of her transition from tennis. “I realized I had to make some adjustments."

5️⃣ Patience is everything. “I kind of want to speed everything up and just slam my way through points,” she concedes. “To go to the next level and be the top players, you really have to hone in on the soft game.”

👉 Watch the full video.

Working side-by-side with Franklin, she created the C45° Series, a paddle built to balance pop, spin, and control at the highest level.

The 13.25mm PowerFlex core gives you extra pop without losing touch, while the double-thermoformed unibody frame cuts vibration and keeps the paddle solid for the long haul. And with the 45° carbon fiber face, you’ll notice the difference in spin and precision right away.

Ready for anyone who wants to play with pro-level confidence.

In three short days, the 2025 Major League Pickleball season will be over and a new champion will be crowned.

In Premier:
→ (1) St. Louis Shock vs. (5) Columbus Sliders
→ (3) New Jersey 5s vs. (6) LA Mad Drops

The Sliders are playing with house money after beating a powerhouse Flash squad. The Shock are the #1 seed and are 2-0 in this matchup this year, but CJ Klinger wasn’t playing for the Sliders.

The 5s are 2-0 against the Mad Drops this season, but only one of those events, MLP Dallas, involved Ben Johns. There, the 5s barely eked out a win, 22-20, in a Dreambreaker. Keep in mind, too, captain Zane Navratil was anchoring the squad then but will start on the bench in NYC in favor of new addition Noe Khlif.

This matchup pits Ben Johns against Anna Leigh Waters in what is sure to go down as a top series in MLP history.

In Challenger:
→ (1) Las Vegas Night Owls vs. (2) Nashville Chefs

The Chefs and Night Owls have played each other six times this year, with the Night Owls owning the series, 5-1. The Night Owls have beat the Chefs three times in a Dreambreaker, and twice in regulation. The Chefs only win came in a Dreambreaker.

If you’re on X, follow along: @pickleball and @alexeweaver

➡️ Read our full event preview, including how to watch all the action.

Here’s a pickleball debate we never thought we’d wade into: A slew of recent Reddit posts have been taking sides on whether it’s OK to catch a ball that’s clearly going out during rec play.

In sum, one side argues that rules are rules so touching any live ball means you lose the point, while the other says give me a break, we’re all 3.5s at best and rec pickleball isn’t that serious.

You can probably tell what side we’re on. As one commenter so eloquently put it: “Literally everybody I know catches the ball in the air…”

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Ready to play with confidence? Use code DINK20 for $20 off your brace.

Amid the excitement of adding Ben Johns to their roster and advancing to the MLP Finals, the LA Mad Drops have something else to celebrate: They’ve got new ownership with some pretty deep pockets.

MLP announced Thursday that the team “sold a controlling stake at a franchise valuation of $13 million to Mad Drippin SPV, LLC.”

That valuation is the second-largest since the close of the 2024 MLP/PPA merger, right behind the Palm Beach Royals, the newest franchise to join the league at a valuation of $16 million.

The Mad Drops’ ownership group is already pretty stacked. Drew Brees, Jayson Tatum, Josh Allen, Haley Jones, Zubin Mehta, and Ryan Serhant will all reportedly remain involved.

LA, amirite?

A review from the Dink Fam...

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