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You’ve heard of quiet paddles. But one seaside Massachusetts town is looking to quell the ongoing noise complaints from public parks a different way: mandating the use of special 3D-printed balls… that cost $50 apiece. What could possibly go wrong?

In This Issue:
— 5s beat Shock in instant classic
— Jack Sock teaches the scoop drop
— When rec players call you out

Grip it and rip it.

Gabe Tardio wasn’t playing with his signature Facolos paddle during yesterday’s high-stakes MLP match. Some are speculating it failed onsite testing. But it’s actually a ripple effect of JOOLA’s ongoing, wide-sweeping patent infringement case.

Regular season hanging in the balance. A playoff spot on the line. The final four points in a deciding Dreambreaker. It’s 13-year-old Elsie Hendershot against the formidable Zoey Weil. Pretty sure you see where this is going…

An intermediate rec player is in despair after her regular group started calling her trusty serve motion illegal. She thinks it’s fine. They don’t. Now what is she supposed to do — ignore them, change it, or stick to her guns?

For anyone who still questions the physicality of high-level pickleball, just show them this. That twoey dink the pros are hitting a thousand times every match? Yeah, it’s effectively a full-blown squat, at speed, under pressure. Not easy.

Watch any high-level game and you’ll see countless iterations of the same simple shot: the scoop drop.

It’s ubiquitous in the pro ranks, beloved for its simplicity and consistency. Ben Johns loves it. But he’s far from alone. Even heavy hitters like Jack Sock, renowned for his baseline power, lean on on the scoop to reliably get up to the kitchen.

Here’s what Sock focuses on:

The key feeling Sock emphasizes is that when you scoop one cleanly, you know it immediately. The ball just sits up and drops right where you want it.

Two other points of emphasis from watching Sock hit the scoop:
1️⃣ You want to maintain eye contact with the ball through contact. Popping your head up too early can cause the ball to float.
2️⃣ Master the motion and you’ll be able to hit this shot while moving in toward the kitchen, a huge advantage toward getting back to neutral with your opponent.

Sock admits finding this shot took him time, especially coming from tennis. But it’s become his bread and butter. Maybe it should be yours, too.

➡️ Watch Jack demonstrate.

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We hate to be the ones to say this, but if you didn’t catch any MLP action over the weekend, you seriously missed out.

A quick but tantalizing recap:

It was a thrill-fest from start to finish. Here’s who came out on top:

🥇 New Jersey 5s
🥈 St. Louis Shock
🥉 LA Mad Drops
🏅 Brooklyn Pickleball Team
🏅 Palm Beach Royals

The 12 playoff teams are now set: 5s, Shock, Mad Drops, Sliders, Brooklyn, Flash, Royals, Ranchers, Bouncers, Night Owls, Hard Eights, and Slice.

The first four are the top seeds and have earned first-round byes.

➡️ For storylines, stats, highlights and more from Orlando, our pro expert Erik Tice has the full event recap.

After a string of noise complaints, a town on Cape Cod, Massachusetts, has decided enough is enough.

Beginning next week, all play at outdoor public courts must be done with 3D-printed “quiet” balls.

According to residents, it doesn’t play anything like a standard ball. And many of the aggrieved still don’t think the mandate gets to the heart of the issue: ball aside, outdoor pickleball is still a noisy endeavor.

The real kicker for local players, though? Unlike the standard Franklin X-40, which costs a couple bucks, these new balls cost considerably more.

Try: $50 a pop.

➡️ Suffice to say, this little seaside town has a big pickleball problem.

Ask a righty who usually plays the left side to switch to the right, and watch them look lost.

And Gabe Tardio and Hayden Patriquin vouch: that's not in your head.

The right side is practically a different sport, with its own geometry, its own attack angles, and a lot less court to work with when someone drops one in the kitchen.

It's why pros pick a side and build their whole game around it, and why understanding the difference is one of the faster ways for a rec player to stop plateauing.

Once you see how the angles shift, your shot selection starts making a lot more sense.

Tardio and Patriquin broke down exactly what makes the right side so much harder.

See what these pros said.

Anna Leigh Waters is your 2026 Major League Pickleball regular season MVP.

In an award ceremony at MLP Orlando yesterday, Waters shined the spotlight not on herself and her own accomplishments, but on her team, support network, and ownership group that, to her, make the New Jersey 5s so special.

“There’s so much that goes into this off the court,” she said, “and I wouldn’t want to do it with any other team.”

Anna Leigh won the award in 2024 as well. It went to teammate Jorja Johnson (then on the Dallas Flash) in 2025.

➡️ Watch ALW’s full speech.

A review from the Dink Fam...

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