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Before pro pickleball gets the respect it deserves, it must squash its cheating problem. Too many players are consistently making egregiously bad line calls without any ramifications. Their opponent suffers. So does the sport as a whole.

A new anti-cheating policy aims to change that. Now, players can call for post-match call reviews. Bad actors face fines, match penalties, or full-blown suspensions. We’ve got the full scoop below.

In This Issue:
— How to hit deceptive passing shots
— MLP Draft: winners and losers
— Top pro spotted with new paddle

You ready for this?

Tomorrow at noon ET, pro pickleball enigma James Ignatowich joins the PicklePod to chat through his UPA termination status, dish on his paddle brand RPM, and run through some listener Q&A. Queue it up now — you don’t want to miss the fastest feet in pickleball.

It’s an age-old question: in rec play, is it sound strategy or just straight bullying to target an obviously weaker opponent? A Reddit thread tackling just this is popping off. General consensus: if you want to win, target away; if you want to improve, spread the love.

Friday’s MLP draft brought the fireworks. Now the trade window is officially open — and a few teams are sure to be eyeing some moves ahead of May’s season opener. The burning question right now: Will Jorja Johnson remain on the 5s or find her way back to the Flash? See the full team rosters.

Sometimes, you’ll find yourself facing off against an intimidating opponent. Like tennis legend Nick Kyrgios. You could play it safe, sure. But what’s the fun in that? One player in this exact situation decided to roll the dice and send a Nasty Nelson Nick’s way instead. Did it work? Not exactly.

Play pickleball long enough and you can tell where your opponent is driving the ball. It’s all about their footwork and shoulder positioning right before the point of contact.

To hit an effective passing shot, your hips, torso, and shoulders will snap open to face your intended target. That’s called the kinetic chain, baby, and it’s the key to effortless and consistent power in pickleball (and a whole host of other sports).

Know this and you can also manipulate it to your advantage.

Take it from James Ignatowich, who recently demonstrated just this on his YouTube coaching channel.

✅ When you’re setting up to hit a drive, hold your shoulders closed until the last possible second, rather than opening them earlier to your intended target

✅ Then, right before ball contact, snap them aggressively through your swing

✅ This late, violent motion will torque the ball cross-court when your opponent expected it to hug the line

It’s a simple nuance in strategy that can translate to more deceptive passing shots no matter where you are on the court.

➡️ Watch James demonstrate.

You’ve been paddle-curious.

Maybe it’s a new shape.
Maybe it’s a longer handle.
Maybe it’s that thermoformed thing everyone won’t shut up about.

Here’s the move: don’t pay full price.

Midwest Racquet Sports has a full lineup of sale paddles — so you can test, tweak, and upgrade without torching your wallet.

Try something new.
Find your fit.
Blame us if it becomes your new go-to paddle.

Shop Midwest’s sale paddles and use code THEDINK for an additional 15% off.

Beginning this week at PPA Newport Beach, pro pickleball players on the PPA Tour will be held to higher standards when it comes to calling their own lines during live play.

An email went out to contracted players over the weekend detailing a new anti-cheating policy put in place to increase player accountability during games and deter continued bad calls by repeat offenders — an open issue in pro pickleball.

The new rules involve in-match penalties, post-match video review, and a running tally of offenses that can culminate in league-level penalties such as greater fines and even suspensions.

In-match penalties will break down like this:

For more egregious calls, players can now appeal via email to the UPA's recently instated Fining Committee for a post-match review, relying on the streamed video recording taken from each match.

According to the league email circulated to players: “It will cost $100 for the fining committee to review the call, and if the call is unanimously agreed upon to have been inaccurate, the player making the call will be fined $250 (first offense) and the player initiating the challenge will be refunded the $100.”

For now, this remains a temporary solution while the league continues to explore additional approaches on a larger scale. The policy pertains only to courts where challenges are not available and is not applicable to Major League Pickleball matches, only those that are part of the PPA Tour.

"While outcomes will not be reversed," the email read, "offenders will be penalized, and reviews will build a record of misconduct that informs future penalties."

➡️ “A huge dent in the cheating problem in pro pickleball.”

We get it: with 20 Premier Level teams carrying six players each, keeping track of what’s going on in the Major League Pickleball offseason can feel like a lot.

To help cut through the noise, our guy Zane breaks down his winners and losers:

👍 New Jersey 5s: Snagging Jorja Johnson makes them immediate championship contenders.
👎 St. Louis Shock: Yes, they got their girl back in Anna Bright. But they paid a staggering $1.23 million to do it… a sum they’ll have to cough up for the next three years to keep her.

👍 Anna Bright and MLP: AB gets the accolade of MLP’s first “million-dollar star” while MLP gets… well, over $1M per year as a result.
👎 The Dallas Flash: They lost Jorja Johnson. And even if they have a plan to get her back, it’s going to cost them dearly to do it.

👍 New blood: A total of 17 newcomers were chosen this year, highlighting how deep the talent pool is becoming in pro pickleball.
👎 Old guard: Collin Johns, Rafa Hewett, AJ Koller… there are lots of great but older players who didn’t make the cut this year.

➡️ Check out Zane’s new power rankings, right here.

You play three, four, five times a week.

This isn’t a casual hobby anymore.
So why are you still carrying your gear in something you bought “for now”?

CRBN bags are for players who know they’re in this long-term.

At some point, you stop pretending.

Shop CRBN Bags and use code THEDINK for 10% off.

Rumors have been swirling for months that Andrei Daescu could be leaving Proton for a new paddle sponsor.

'Tis the season, after all – dozens of top pros have switched paddle brands since late last year (we see you, Anna Leigh Waters, Gabe Tardio, Rachel Rohrabacher, Dekel Bar, Zane Navratil… and the list goes on and on).

But a few major question marks remain among pros whose paddle deals are done or rumored to be done. JW and Jorja Johnson have left Franklin and appear to be free agents; they each played PPA Mesa with a JOOLA.

And then there's Andrei Daescu. The Romanian big man is ranked #5 in both men's doubles and mixed doubles on the PPA Tour, and has been a Proton loyalist for years.

Until now. We're hearing Andrei has been testing models from CRBN and seems to like what he feels. So much so, he could be officially joining the paddle brand soon.

What makes this more interesting: if true, this would make Andrei one of the very few top five PPA pros in any discipline currently maining a full-foam paddle (other examples are Chris Haworth and his Luzz Pro Blade 2 and Catherine Parenteau and her Selkirk Boomstik).

Will Andrei’s possible switch to CRBN usher in a new era of foam paddles in the pro ranks? Time will tell, but it’s a start.

➡️ Get the full story.

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