^{Advertise | The Dink Home | Shop Gear | Subscribe}

Happy The Dink Minor League Pickleball National Championship week to all who celebrate. If you’re heading to Dallas to throw down, best of luck from yours truly. If you want to watch the best amateurs from around the world compete for $100,000, there’s a live stream for that. More info below.

In This Issue:
— Group plays pickleball for 45 hours straight
— Is pickleball less fun the better you get?
— How to hit the push drop

All eyes on Dallas.

After publishing an in-depth look at the counterfeit pickleball paddle market, we’ve learned the UPA-A is stepping up and taking action. They’re soliciting best practices from top paddle brands and plan to publish their findings in the coming weeks — an actionable first step toward more oversight and enforcement. We get into it on this week’s PicklePod. Stay tuned.

JOOLA just opened a glistening retail store at its corporate U.S. HQ in North Bethesda, Maryland. On hand to greet fans and sign autographs was Ben Johns, their marquee-sponsored athlete who, as fate would have it, grew up just around the corner. How very serendipitous.

Shoutout to Kaye Hansen, Chrisie Brockman, Gregg Masterson, & Jay Loegering from team “NetForce,” who put together a masterpiece of a hype video ahead of this week’s The Dink Minor League Pickleball National Championship. Special mission: Gold at Nattys.

Our buddy Nico posted a video recently with a somber message: the better you get at pickleball, the less fun you have actually playing. Sure, getting good is rewarding. But finding solid games at higher levels can be a burden, too. Watch the video, then you tell us:

Not all drop shots are created equal. There are slice drops and roll drops. Twoey drops and even drips, an increasingly popular hybrid between a drop and a drive.

The options can feel endless, which is exactly why most players overthink it.

The push drop is different. It's simple, compact, and linear, meaning even when you don’t hit it perfectly, the ball still stays low. It’s a go-to shot among top players for a reason.

Here’s how to hit it, courtesy of APP pro Richard Livornese Jr.

✅ Grip and Stance: Use either a continental or eastern grip; nothing fancy. Your stance can be open, closed, or semi-open. The footwork isn't the star of the show here, which is great because it means you don't need perfect positioning to execute the shot.

✅ Paddle Angle: You're not opening your paddle face and coming underneath the ball like you would with a slice. Instead, keep it flat and firm. Remember, this is a simple push. Don’t overcomplicate things.

✅ The Motion: There’s no backswing here. Instead, keep your paddle inside your back leg, never extending outside it. Then, as the ball comes, you push through laterally, keeping the paddle tip perpendicular to the ground. Stay low in your stance to adjust for ball height, contacting the ball around the knees whenever possible.

With the push drop, even a mediocre execution keeps the ball in play and low enough that your opponent can't attack it effectively.

➡️ See how it’s done.

Thought the paddle deals were gone? Not yet.

Our promo codes are still active and a bunch of the best Black Friday prices are carrying over into today.

So if you hesitated on pulling the trigger Friday, today is your second chance. Check which paddles are still running deals, grab the one you’ve been eyeing, and roll into December looking dangerous.

It is self care. We do not apologize.

We warned you this was coming, now here it is: the trailer for Lifetime's "A Pickleball Christmas" movie has officially dropped. And it's officially pretty cringey.

In case you forgot (and who can blame you?), the plot goes a little something like this:

Honestly, it has all the trappings of a super-cheesy and maybe kinda fun holiday rom-com.

Our only gripe? Most everyone shown swinging a paddle looks like it’s their first time. And not just playing pickleball – playing any racket sport, period. Ever heard of a body double, people?

We get it: this is for fans of easy-watching holiday romance, not diehard pickleball fanatics like us. But that doesn't mean we're not going to tune in. And judge hard.

So will it be "love at first serve"? We can't promise we'll hold on long enough to find out. But you have our word we'll try.

➡️ Watch the trailer.

Forty. Five. Hours.

A group of intrepid pickleball players just did the unthinkable: play mixed-doubles pickleball for two full days straight.

The charitable event went down over the weekend at Pickler Universe in the Dallas suburb of Carrollton, Texas.

Chong "CK" Kim, Geneva Olson, Cristobal Del Castillo, and Abla Mannarino, all members of the group Pickle Breakers, kept their paddles moving for an astonishing 45 hours straight (49 hours including brief breaks), all in an effort to raise money in support of PPA pro Thomas Wilson’s ongoing medical therapy treatments.

The Guinness World Record time to beat for longest pickleball marathon was 36 hours. If their unofficial time holds, they should be the new record-holders.

That is, if a separate group playing in Pennsylvania didn’t beat them to it, on the exact same weekend, no less.

The biggest amateur showdown in pickleball is officially underway. The 2025 Dink Minor League Pickleball National Championship hits Pickler Universe in Dallas from Dec 3 to 7, and the field is loaded. We’re talking 982 players, 318 teams, and the strongest amateur talent pipeline the sport has ever seen.

And yes, there’s $100,000 on the line.

Top squads from 35 states and across the globe are rolling into Texas after a year of grinding through leagues, qualifiers, and regional circuits. Players from 23 different home countries made the cut this year. Australia, Italy, China, New Zealand, Guatemala.

Here’s a breakdown of this week’s action:

And if you’re not in Dallas, don’t sweat it. We’re streaming it all live on The Dink YouTube so you can watch the best amateur players in the sport fight for the bag.

It’s going to be loud, chaotic, competitive, and extremely fun. Exactly how The Dink Minor League Pickleball Nationals should be. Read the full story here.

A review from the Dink Fam...

Share the best newsletter in pickleball with your friends and you’ll get free stuff. What’s not to like?

{{rp_personalized_text}}

Copy & Paste this link: {{rp_refer_url_no_params}}

If your company is interested in reaching an audience of active pickleballers, you may want to give us a shout.