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Who stole the cookie from the cookie jar? Kyle Yates, that’s who.

One of the sport’s most under-the-radar early influencers (and coach of the USA’s winning World Cup team) explains the wizardry behind the “Cookie Jar,” the highly technical Erne variation he pioneered and made famous. Go ahead and try it, he dares you.

In This Issue:
— Anna Leigh Waters is untouchable
— How to hit the ‘Cookie Jar’
— The Dink Awards are so back

Double chocolate chunk, anyone?

There’s something about the Florida sun that has pickleball’s best showing out. From Anna Bright to 12-year-old Ella Yeh, Max Freeman to Jay Devilliers, these are the stars who wore it best at PPA Lakeland. Bonus: there’s even a rare Ben Johns sighting.

Introducing yourselves before a game in open play. Keeping any unsolicited advice to yourself. No intentional lobs directly into the sun. These are just some of the many “unwritten rules of pickleball” making the rounds on Reddit.

We rounded up the best Black Friday paddle deals from the best brands we know, love, and trust. Because nothing says happy holidays like getting yourself something nice. Selkirk, CRBN, Ronbus, RPM, Pickleball Apes, Luzz… there’s truly something for everyone. While they last.

The GOAT kept right on GOAT-ing in Lakeland, Florida: Since losing in women’s doubles in September, ALW has gone an astonishing 67-0 in match play, including four consecutive triple crowns. She now has 171 career PPA golds, the most of any player alive.

Kyle Yates is likely the most influential pickleball pro you’ve never heard of.

He’s the guy who brought Ben Johns into the sport, and won a ton of medals with him long before pickleball went mainstream. He also just coached team USA to a 2025 World Cup victory.

He’s credited with a few innovative shots, like “The Kyle,” the sneaky forehand flick top pros like Jack Sock have come to love and you’ve probably attempted once or twice yourself.

But there’s one shot he’s particularly proud of. It’s called “The Cookie Jar,” when you Erne an ATP. And it goes a little something like this:

Court geometry helps this shot immensely: the player attempting the ATP typically has a small window of space to hit into. That's where the Cookie Jar opens.

Jump to exactly that spot exactly as the ball arrives there and you’re golden. Mistime this and you’ll get your hand caught in the, well, you know…

➡️ Allow Kyle to explain.

You loved CJ’s eagle backhand last week, so we brought more flight footage. Check the ERNE liftoff and the chest-bump wingspan, because the man keeps finding air and the Adipower keeps its cool.

That is the trick. TriFoam Edge Reinforcement holds the face steady in fast hands, the raw carbon face adds real bite for shaping, and the low density core gives you dwell so pace lands where you call it.

Pick your build from Elongated 14, Elongated 16, or Widebody 16, all at $189.

And we know you spotted the red Adipower on court. Retail is gold right now. If red ever shows up, you did not hear it from us.

They're baaaaaaack.

For the fourth year in a row, pickleball's most prestigious awards program, The Dink Awards, puts the power in the hands of the community. If you're new here, The Dink Awards offers pickleball fans a chance to vote for their favorite pros, content creators, products, personalities and organizations across categories like:

With over 13,000 votes tallied in 2024 and growing at an incredible 312% since its inaugural season, The Dink Awards is gearing up for its biggest year yet.

And, there's a new twist. If you know someone who should be nominated, let us know. If you're a brand interested in partnering with pickleball's biggest digital activation of the year, we're just an email away.

Stay tuned. You, the fans, will be heard.

PPA Lakeland, the PPA Tour’s second-to-last event of the year, is officially in the books, and by all accounts it was a real banger.

The gold medalists should mostly look familiar by now, but some of the storylines that got us here were downright bananas:

— Women’s Doubles: 🥇 Anna Leigh Waters and Anna Bright def. 🥈 Jackie and Jade Kawamoto
— Men’s Doubles: 🥇 Ben Johns and Gabe Tardio def. 🥈 Christian Alshon and Andrei Daescu
— Mixed Doubles: 🥇 Ben Johns and Anna Leigh Waters def. 🥈 JW and Jorja Johnson
— Women’s Singles: 🥇 Anna Leigh Waters def. 🥈 Chao Yi Wang
— Men’s Singles: 🥇 Roscoe Bellamy def. 🥈 Hunter Johnson

The final PPA Tour event of the year goes down in Daytona Beach, Florida, beginning December 21.

➡️ More stats and storylines from Lakeland.

Pickleball’s grand Olympic dream may still be a long ways off, but it’s inching closer by the day.

At the beginning of 2025, three international federations were working independently toward that same vision:

In June, the first two orgs joined forces to form the United World Pickleball Federation (UWPF).

And just last week, news came out that UWPF and GPF have come to the table to form a taskforce to discuss merging, a tentative but critical step toward official Olympic recognition and possible inclusion.

Here’s what this means right now:

Good news, though: If UWPF and GPF do indeed come together, we’ll get another one. UGPFWTF, anyone? Just kidding, but we get it, it’s enough to make your head spin.

A review from the Dink Fam...

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