The surprising stat that determines victory

You should thank your planning board.

April 19, 2023

We’re calling it now: 2023 will be pickleball’s biggest year yet in terms of expansion. How do we know this?

Forget the enormous player count numbers, we’re talking community planning.

In Q1 of 2023, our sport was mentioned over 16,000 times in community budget hearings & planning meetings across the country…and the year isn’t even half over.

Consider that high-speed internet was discussed only 169 times in Q1. Priorities, people. PRIORITIES.

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In today's issue:

  • An overlooked key to winning more games

  • Communities are planning for PB

  • Dude Perfect an official MLP owner

  • Team Kawamoto: signed

Let’s go!


Speedups are Mission-Critical

One of the best parts about playing pickle is finding a foursome of players who are all at the same level. Everyone can play at full capacity, creating a challenge for all.

When playing matches of equal skill level, the margin between wins and losses is thin. Really thin. So what is the biggest factor in separating the winners from the losers?

According to another phenomenal post from Jim Ramsey, a major indicator of success is speedups that are initiated and won.

He tracked “rally-ending speed-ups: instances when a potential or regular dinking rally was accelerated, and the ensuing hands-battle led directly to the end of the rally.”

This seemingly obscure stat actually turned out to be influential. The scenario occurred in 44% of the points he studied.

He found that “When one team performed more than five percent better than their opponent at initiating speed-ups that led directly to winning a rally-ending hands-battle, they also won the match 88 percent of the time.”

That means that just a slight edge in those hand-speed battles can have huge impact on your win percentage.

Are you being precise and timely in your attacks? Or are you a little too trigger-happy in your approach?

Remember: when you’re looking to attack, it’s important to wait for the right ball. When you see one, be intentional with your target. Aim for the paddle-side hip or shoulder to force a mistake from your opponent.

Do this over and over and you should be on the positive side of this statistical breakdown. Visit Jim’s post for more specifics on the data.

Athletic Wear Designed for Pickleball Players

AVI is elevating Pickleball by creating exceptional athletic wear. They believe everyone — from professional athletes to casual enthusiasts — deserves well-constructed, expertly designed clothing made just for their sport.

With pockets created specifically to hold pickleballs, comfortable fabrics, and ultra-lightweight feel, AVI is elevated performance wear for both on AND off the court!

More Courts Incoming

Across the United States, communities are speaking up about the need to accommodate the ceaselessly-expanding number of pickleball enthusiasts.

FiscalNote tracked the minutes and agendas of Q1 budgetary and community planning meetings across the country. Their findings documented 16,389 mentions of the sport in over 1,414 communities.

“These discussions mainly focused on court construction, park development, and events,” their report says.

If these statistics remain consistent, that means by the end of 2023, over 5,500 communities across the country will consider pickleball’s place in their budgets.

We’re sure many of those meetings involved the inevitable noise complaint issue at established courts.

Still, pickleball’s frequency in discussions beat out other issues whose head start in community planning spans years. The report found that expanding access to high-speed internet only received 169 mentions across 76 communities in Q1.

Hmmm, high speed internet or more pickle? Decisions, decisions…

Consistency, Game After Game

The official ball of both the Amateur Pickleball Association & the Southern Pickleball Association offers enhanced flight, bounce, and playability.

Designed for competitive and tournament play, these high-speed pickleballs are USA Pickleball approved, have a firmer feel off the paddle, and are exceptionally durable, game after game.

Learn more here.

Dude Perfect: Official MLP Owner

YouTubers Dude Perfect are now a Major League Pickleball co-owner in the Premier Level team, Frisco Clean Cause.

Their channel’s 59.3 million subscribers were entreated to a video this week in which the content creators confirmed their previously-announced deal is official, celebrating with what can only be described as a chaotic array of pickleball trick shots.

Very few details of the deal were released when the group initially announced the deal at SXSW in Austin, Texas last month. MLP’s Steve Kuhn later commented that the franchise was valued at $5 million in the deal.

In the video, the Dude Perfect guys insinuate that they’ll be able to change the name of the team. As such, they are currently fielding new team name suggestions.

Ok, boys, here’s our suggestion: Team Perfect. It writes itself, and sets a high expectation for players on your roster. But the catch is that you have to credit The Dink.

Hunting Season at the US Open

Unlike most events in pickleball, the US Open is an extended weeklong party. The week includes split-age competition where pro players are paired with senior pros.

It was no surprise to see the top seed Andrei Daescu and Dave Weinbach take gold in men’s. Where we did see the surprise was the 18-seed Sheri Courter and Mari Humberg fighting their way onto center court.

In game three of the finals, Courter and Humberg were down 2-9 against top seed Beth Bellamy and Parris Todd. The underdogs sparked an unbelievable comeback scoring 9 unanswered points to win the match.

When asked what fueled the comeback Courter explained “I told her (Humberg) to start hunting!” Both players are new to the pro game and are finding their style. It appears the ‘on the hunt’ mentality could be the winner.

Men’s Split Age Champions: Andrei Daescu / Dave Weinbach
Women’s Split Age Champions: Sheri Courter / Mari Humberg
Mixed Split Age Champions: Simone Jardim / Jaime Oncins De Oliveira

The pro action continues on Friday with men’s and women’s doubles. The conclusion of the event is on Saturday with the pro mixed doubles draw.

Let's get Filthy

After 6 months of designs, testing, and modifications, Bread & Butter Pickleball is finally ready to launch its latest paddle.

The Filth is a Thermoformed and edge wall inject paddle that measures 16.5" x 7.375" and weighs 8.0 ounces. Bread & Butter only made 1000 paddles with this first production run, not realizing the feedback and hype that spread like wildfire in Reddit, Discord, YouTube, and beyond.

There are just a few left to order here. Shipping kicks-off May 15th!

Wake Up in the Morning Excited About Pickleball

From tennis to pickleball. The former number 11 ranked player in the world is officially a pickleball guy. Sam Querrey joins It Feels Right to talk about how pickleball has taken over his life.

New pickleball ventures pop up for Sam on the daily and he is still finding ways to grow with the game. Rob and Stone check in on Sam’s pro adjustment and set expectations for the year.

Watch here or listen here.

Team Kawamoto Joins Team Selkirk

Selkirk locked in two more top pros in the women's game. Jade and Jackie Kawamoto are former D1 tennis players that are a threat every time they hit the court. Powered by some of the best defense in the game, the Kawamoto's collectively have APP titles and an MLP title under their belt.

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