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A Seattle resident has claimed the Guinness World Record for oldest female competitive pickleball player, the same week she’s set to battle it out at the World Senior Games in St. George, Utah.

Speaking of world records, the PPA just claimed its own in Vietnam. More on that, below.

In This Issue:
— Kate Fahey’s ‘Shocking’ NJ wedding
— How Anna Bright hits killer ATPs
— Winners and storylines for PPA VA Beach

What’s your excuse?

Sofia Sewing continued her women’s singles dominance on the APP Tour, beating Shannon Pretorius 15-4, 15-8 at the APP Women’s Open in Columbus, Ohio. Podium veterans Jill Braverman and Megan Fudge took doubles over Sofia Sewing and Shelby Bates. See the full results.

About a year after securing a bag on Shark Tank, Pepper Pong — the ping-pong, pickleball hybrid — will be available at select Dick’s Sporting Goods. The game requires specialized paddles and balls, and can be played on most level surfaces. It’s “purposefully engineered to slow the pace and lengthen rallies.” Sounds familiar.

The best way to improve is to compete with better players. But in open play, this can lead to frustrated, grumpy court-mates. So how do you know if you’re biting off more than you can chew? A good rule of thumb is this: If the majority of your points are won off your opponent’s unforced errors, rather than your own skill, it’s likely not them, it’s you.

PPA pro (and recent PicklePod guest) Kate Fahey tied the knot in New Jersey over the weekend. The venue looked spectacular. The guest list wasn’t too shabby, either, including the rest of the St. Louis Shock’s starting lineup: Anna Bright, Gabe Tardio, and Hayden Patriquin.

[This segment was written exclusively for The Dink’s newsletter readers by world #2 pro Anna Bright]

Everyone remembers the joy, the elation, the absolute THRILL of hitting their first successful ATP. I definitely do! The ATP (or around-the-post) shot is one of the hardest to hit in pickleball, and when the opportunity presents itself, you definitely want to be able to capitalize on it.

Here are a few tips on how to hit better ATPs. If you want more content like this, make sure to subscribe to my newsletter:

A successful ATP is about three things: 

✅ So many players don’t hit available ATPs simply because they fail to recognize when they’ve been gifted one. Whenever you notice your opponent is hitting aggressive dinks (especially with topspin) while not threatening a speedup, start looking for an ATP opportunity. The anticipation is half the battle! 

✅ The other half of the battle is having the appropriate footwork and being PATIENT. So many ATPs fail either because people get their feet tangled or they hit the ball way too early and effectively shoot themselves in the foot.

Try to wait to make contact until the very last possible second (pro tip: keep your arm as straight as possible when you hit the ball!).

✅ For footwork, make sure 75% of your weight is on your OUTSIDE leg at contact (if you’re right-handed, for your forehand ATP, most of your weight should be on your RIGHT foot). 

Try to focus on these three things and you should see your ATP success rate skyrocket. If you’re interested in learning more about the ATP at the pro level and how it’s changed the game, I covered this in my last newsletter.

Matching fits hit different when they’re made to perform. MUEV’s plum and white combo looks just as good on the court as it feels mid-rally.

Finally, something that lets you and your partner look like a team and stay cool doing it.

➡️ Grab your matching MUEV fits and take 20% off with code THEDINK at muevbrand.com.

An incredible 7,902 spectators turned out on Saturday, Oct. 4, to witness the finals of PPA Vietnam. More than enough, in fact, to set a new Guinness World Record for “largest attendance at a pickleball event.”

For what it’s worth, many of those tickets, we’ve learned, were offered free of charge. But it’s still a testament to the sport’s growth and resonance in Asia and beyond.

The winners from PPA Vietnam:
🥇 Women’s singles: Sahra Dennehy
🥇 Men’s singles: Phuc Huynh
🥇 Mixed doubles: Alex and Jonathan Truong
🥇 Women’s doubles: Kaitlyn Christian and Chao Yi Wang
🥇 Men’s doubles: Eric Oncins and Tyson McGuffin

The previous record of 5,522 was set at the 2022 USA Pickleball National Championships at Indian Wells Tennis Garden.

Could the upcoming Pickleball World Championships in late October and early November in Dallas set the new high-water mark? Maybe surpass 10,000 in a single day? Time will tell.

➡️ Read the full article.

Speaking of world records, Seattle resident Joyce Jones just set a Guinness World Record for the oldest female competitive pickleball player.

It’s familiar territory: The 95-year-old beat the previous record of 94, set by herself last year.

Jones has competed in more than 100 tournaments across the U.S. and she’s got no plans of slowing down. She’s competing this week in The Huntsman World Senior Games in St. George, Utah.

“I’m proud that I’m still 95 and not only competing in tournaments, but winning in tournaments,” she said.

She and her husband were actually friends with Joel Pritchard, one of the sport’s original founders, back when he lived on Bainbridge Island, just across the Puget Sound from Seattle.

This should come as no surprise, but rest assured Jones is coming for the record next year as well.

“I plan on playing until I’m 100,” she laughed.

Now that we’ve got your mixed doubles fits locked in, let’s talk about what’s going on your feet.

The Montis Drop 1.0 was built by players who were tired of blowing through shoes too fast. $109 gets you a pair designed for 250 hours of play.

With a wide toe box, solid heel cup, and dense outsole, you get the lockdown and stability you need for every split step and slide.

➡️ Check them out and see why players are switching to a brand that’s built for pickleball, not pretending to be.

After the Vintage Open in Sacramento and a couple tournaments in Asia, it’s been a while since we had a full-blown PPA tournament stateside.

That changes this week with the PPA Virginia Beach Cup. With 1,500 points on the line, some rain in the forecast, and a stacked lineup of the sport’s top-ranked pros, this one promises to be a doozy.

Our pro writer, Erik Tice, is here to break it all down.

A few top storylines:

Plus, his predictions for who will win each division.

🏆 Women’s Singles: Anna Leigh Waters def. Kaitlyn Christian
🏆 Men’s Singles: Hunter Johnson def. Chris Haworth
🏆 Mixed Doubles: Ben Johns and Anna Leigh Waters def. JW and Jorja Johnson
🏆 Women’s Doubles: Anna Leigh Waters and Anna Bright def. Parris Todd and Tyra Black
🏆 Men’s Doubles: Ben Johns and Gabe Tardio def. CJ Klinger and JW Johnson

➡️ Read Erik’s full event preview.

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