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The MLP Playoff picture is starting to come into focus. And just this morning, the top four seeds chose their opponents for the next round of battle, taking place this week in Newport Beach, California. Will the favorites advance, or are upsets brewing? We take a closer look below.

In This Issue:
— Pro tips for a killer shake and bake
— The scream to end all screams
— Your biggest open play icks

Let’s have a day.

The top eight teams all advanced through MLP Dallas to play this week in Newport Beach. But it wasn’t exactly a cakewalk. We break down all the action — including the juicy new matchups that will determine the finals in NYC.

We obsess over unforced errors and third-shot drop efficacy. But there’s one stat you’re not focusing on enough, says Anna Bright: Your kitchen arrival percentage. Lock this in and watch your game get better, fast.

If you’re new to pickleball and wondering why your game is “all over the place,” it’s probably because you’re comparing yourself to players with years of experience and hundreds of games under their belt. Slow down, have fun, and enjoy the journey.

Elsie Hendershot is just 13 years old and already developing a reputation for wanting the ball in big moments. No matter the stakes or the player across the net, she’s hungry for the challenge. As the kids would say, she’s got that dog in her.

Your partner hits a killer drive. And all you do is… watch.

Stop that. Instead, move your feet, follow the ball, and punish that next shot instead of resetting it like you always do.

Welcome to the wonderful world of the shake and bake — one of pickleball’s deadliest combos if you know how to execute it.

Lucky for you, we enlisted the help of pro and coach Eric Roddy to provide some expert pointers. Listen up, class is in session:

✅ Read your opponents’ body language. The second your partner winds up for a drive, start moving in and watching your opponent. If they’re crouching low, it’s a sign that all systems are go for you to poach and crash; if they’re standing up tall, you may have to hit a reset from where you are instead of crashing.

✅ Plan ahead with your partner. Know where they’re most likely to drive the ball, favoring through the middle or down the line from whoever is driving it. Avoid cross-court drives; this opens the court up too much.

✅ Follow the drive. When you’re crashing, move with purpose directly to where the drive was hit. Time is money here — you need to be at the kitchen line quickly for this to work.

The element of surprise is on your side. But the beauty of the drive and crash is that it lives and dies by the quality of the drive that sets it up.

One more pro tip from Roddy: “Move with the paddle in a neutral position in front of your body. This will prevent the paddle from getting behind you or to one side and allow you to hit a plethora of shots.”

➡️ Shake and bake, baby.

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With Dallas in the rearview, the next round of the MLP playoff picture is set, beginning this week in Newport Beach, CA.

Here are the top four seeds: New Jersey 5s (1), St. Louis Shock (2), LA Mad Drops (3), Columbus Sliders (4).

Followed by: Brooklyn Pickleball Team, Dallas Flash, Palm Beach Royals, and Texas Ranchers.

Here’s the format for this week:

Obviously, opponent selection is massive at this point. Last year, the Columbus Sliders were slept on and ended up upsetting everyone and winning the whole thing.

The top seeds made their selections this morning:

No easy matchups or gimme games here. These are the best of the best, all vying for a spot in the NYC Finals. It is officially on. And you’ve got a front-row seat.

➡️ Here’s everything we learned from Dallas heading into Newport Beach.

We know, we know: Zane Navratil gets a lot of airtime in this newsletter.

We apologize for nothing. And trust us when we say if anyone had screamed the way Zane screamed during a match over the weekend, we’d be talking about them, too.

It was do or die for the Slice against the Royals. Zane and John Lucian Goins against Dekel Bar and Casey Diamond. Dekel speeds up at Zane, he counters with a bodybag high on Casey.

Then he proceeds to unleash not one, but two guttural assaults at Casey’s face, stepping closer to the net with each one.

It was, in a word: INTENSE. And things only got more heated from there.

➡️ Watch the moment.

At the start of last year, nobody was making full-foam paddles. Now it's rare to find a real brand without one.

The appeal is simple. Better durability, more consistent feel, and none of the tradeoffs that used to come with going all-in on power.

We rounded up full-foam paddles you should know, from a limited-run Selkirk colorway to a reviewer-favorite RPM debut.

Check out 5 paddles worth a look.

If you could ban one thing at your local courts, effective immediately, no questions asked, what would it be?

This question was posed on Reddit recently, and let’s just say the commenters are not holding back:

Anything they missed?

➡️ See them all.

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