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Ben Johns lost another bad one. During yesterday’s round of 64 at the PPA Orange County Cup, the GOAT was sent packing by 61-seed Rafa Lenhard in a tight match that ended on a controversial double-bounce — or was it?

We get into it, plus other storylines from San Clemente, below.

But before you go, we want to know 👇

In This Issue:
— Stop calling yourself a pickleball pro
— The only three serves you need to master
— ESPN’s ‘50 States’ tour will stop for MLP

Pickleball: A true underdog story.

Three players per team. Three games. No DreamBreaker. Full intensity. That’s The Dink MiLP’s new v3 format, and it could be coming to a court near you this summer. Gather your squad and register now — this is team-based pickleball, with a twist.

MLP Commissioner Samin Odhwani spoke with the Sports Business Journal about the league’s renegotiation efforts with the likes of ESPN, Fox, Tennis Channel and others. “There’s 20 million people playing pickleball,” he said, "we’re well on our way to having a massive media rights opportunity.”

The fifth annual National Deaf Pickleball Tournament descends on Baltimore this October 9-12, and people are hyped. Over 500 spots were gone in a matter of hours. You love to see it.

Pros Zane Navratil and Tyler Loong raised the stakes of their PPA singles match yesterday in San Clemente: the winner would get an uninterrupted two-minute monologue to kick off the opposing player’s next podcast.

Zane won in commanding fashion, 11-5, 11-5. So what should he do with his moment across enemy lines?

Just like your thirds or dinks at the kitchen line, the foundation of winning pickleball strategy is variation. Hit the same shot over and over and any good opponent will catch on and capitalize. Mix things up, though, and you’re in the driver’s seat.

The same goes for your serve. Master a few variations and you can keep the returner on their heels, guessing at what’s coming next rather than sitting on it.

Roscoe Bellamy, one of the game’s biggest servers, shares the three serves he relies on game in and game out.

✅ The Fastball. Hard and flat, this serve is 90% power and 10% spin. Hit deep, it gives your opponent very little time to react. Keep it low over the net and they’re forced to hit up on the return. Now target their weaker side and you’ll likely be rewarded with a weak return you can attack for a winner.

✅ The Kick Serve is a favorite among elite tennis players because its higher arch and heavy topspin make the ball jump off the ground at impact. And it’s just as effective in pickleball. Again, hit this deep and your opponent will be forced back to try and counter. Vary the location from side to side and it becomes a nightmare to try and time correctly.

✅ The Screwball is your element of surprise, a cheeky serve with heavy sidespin that’s difficult to track and unpredictable to return. Hit this as hard or as soft as you want, just keep it low over the net. You can even try dropping these shorter than your other serves, since the spin is the x-factor.

Mechanically, the power for all three of these serves starts with your legs, surges through your core and explodes in shoulder rotation and a whip-like snap of the arm and wrist.

Your serve is the only time all game where you have complete control over a single shot. Use it wisely.

You’ve got your paddle dialed in. Your crosscourt dink’s not bad either. Now fix your recovery routine.

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There’s a growing epidemic among amateur pickleball players who feel entitled to wearing the badge of a “professional” just because they entered a sanctioned tournament or two.

It’s silly when you think about it, says Dayne Gingrich, author of “Pickleball Mindset” and contributor to The Dink — an unproven player pays to play in an event, then goes around peacocking at his next open play, bragging about the “realities” of grinding on the professional tour.

He probably didn’t even medal; odds are, he got smoked early and hung around just to soak it in through osmosis.

It’s even worse in the senior ranks, says Gingrich (a bonafide senior pro), where the bar to pro-status can seemingly be as low as turning 50 and possessing a DUPR anywhere above a 4.5.

“What happened to grinding your way up, little by little, before thinking the professional tour is where you should be?” he writes.

👉 Is Dayne dead-on here or being too harsh? Leave a review below and let us know.

In the span of a few short hours yesterday, Collin Johns was dropped by his Major League Pickleball team, the Carolina Hogs, and brother Ben was controversially ousted from the round of 64 at the PPA Orange County Cup by 61-seed Rafa Lenhard. Yikes.

In other news from PPA OC, 15-year-old Cailyn Campbell beat Allison Phillips to advance to the round of 32 against the 8-seed Chao Yi Wang. Her star seems to be rising and we are seriously here for it.

A few other threads worth pulling on:

And in case you missed it, Jack Sock absolutely nuked a dude with a Nasty Nelson. Today he’ll square off against his buddy and fellow former tennis star Donald Young in men’s singles.

👉 Read our full predictions for the PPA Orange County Cup.

Been watching the Shock this MLP season? Hard to miss how sharp they’ve looked on court.

MUEV’s been behind their uniforms all season and the fits are legit. Now you can wear the same gear the team’s been rocking. No pro contract required.

Code THEDINK gets you 20% off. Grab yours before your group chat does.

For the first time in 20 years, ESPN is embarking on a highly-produced, immersive cross-country tour of the most electric sporting events in all 50 states.

Aptly titled SportsCenter: 50 States in 50 Days, the endeavor will run for seven weeks from June 27 to August 16, “featuring a mix of live on-site shows and storytelling segments from a different state each day for 50 consecutive days.”

Highlights include the Nathan’s Hot Dog Eating Contest, MLB’s Home Run Derby and Major League Pickleball’s Mid-Season Tournament in Grand Rapids, Michigan.

ESPN first debuted this concept in 2005 with SportsCenter Across America. For the full schedule of this year’s tour, head here.

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