We’ve told you this before. More than once. And yet you still insist your game doesn’t need a two-handed backhand to be elite. Pop quiz, hotshot: it does.
Topspin drips from the baseline. Resets through transition. Aggressive roll dinks at the kitchen. The list goes on and on. To prove our point once and for all, we enlisted a pro to lay out the case for the modern-day twoey. Heed his advice or get left in the dust.
In This Issue:
— Preview: MLP Mid-Season Tourney
— 4th paddle brand settles with JOOLA
— Will there ever be another ALW?
In it to win it.
Our Picks 👆
🏆 T.O.: Training with the Pros?
NFL great Terrell Owens’ love of pickleball is well-documented at this point. He’s played in his share of celeb tournaments and other high-profile events. But it’s not all just show for him. He’s serious about getting good. So much so, apparently, he’s now training with pros like Gabe Joseph. Next stop: pro circuit?
🚨 Paddle Patents: Another One Bites the Dust
Volair just became the fourth paddle brand to settle with JOOLA as part of its sweeping paddle core patent infringement case. For them, that means their Shift lineup’s days are numbered. Silver lining for you, though: it’s now heavily discounted.
⚖️ Stack Hack: Diminishing Returns in Rec?
Forcing a partner to stack in rec play is often a recipe for disaster. Or at least confusion and frustration. If someone really wants to learn how, great. But if they’re uncertain or unwilling, don’t force it. It’s often more trouble than it’s worth.
🚫 It’s Time: The Grit Is Gone
It can be hard to let go of a trusty paddle. Harder still to know when it’s actually time. Sure, cores break down or edge guards come loose. But one sign you shouldn’t ignore is surface grit. In today’s game, spin is king. When the grit is gone, it’s time to move on.
Listen to a Pro: The Case for the Modern Twoey
We’ve harped on this before. Warned you about adapting or being left in the dust. And yet, still, we’re seeing loads of amateur players stubbornly go about their business without a reliable two-handed backhand.
Naughty. Naughty.
If you won’t listen to us, perhaps you’ll heed the advice of an actual pro. Below, Eric Roddy lays out his top reasons why a twoey is imperative in today’s pickleball landscape. And not just at the kitchen line, either — in every zone of the court.
✅ At the kitchen: “Firefights at the net are faster, dinks are more precise and aggressive, and off the bounce speedups are becoming harder to read and counter. As a result, the two-handed backhand has arrived and is crucial to controlling and countering the overall speed of the game at the kitchen.”
✅ Resetting from the transition zone: “Developing a twoey reset will force your paddle more in front, which will help you absorb pace and prevent the paddle from getting too far behind you, which more easily happens when you use one hand.”
✅ From the baseline: “You should develop a top spin two-handed backhand drop or drip. This will enable you to get the ball over the net and make it start dipping before it reaches your opponent, causing them to have to hit up on the fourth shot volley… which is almost impossible to do with a traditional one-handed backhand drop.”
Now do you believe us?
Summer Strawberry Won’t Last The Summer
11SIX24 just put the Power 2 in Summer Strawberry: a limited-edition colorway, and exactly as bright and warm as it sounds.
You already know the paddle: Gen 4 floating core and HexGrit face. This is just the version people look twice at across the net for as long as it's around… which won't be long.
Limited run. No restocks. When it sells out, it's gone.
All 20 MLP Teams, One Coveted Prize
Just like that, we’ve arrived at one of the best pro pickleball events of the entire calendar year: the MLP Mid-Season Tournament, the only event where all 20 teams compete against each other for the top spot.
It all kicks off Wednesday at Belknap Park in Grand Rapids, Michigan, in conjunction with what is widely accepted as the most fun, most raucous amateur event of the year, the Beer City Open.
For the uninitiated, here’s what you should know:
This year there are four new teams in the pro draw: The Collegiate All-Stars, Team Europe, Team Australia, and Team Canada
This is a double-elimination tournament, where the best a team can finish once they lose is bronze
The top eight seeds are given a first round bye
Seeding was done by regular season standings order, based on points earned per event
That all shakes out to look a little something like this.
Rounds 1 and 2 could hold some fun surprises, though it’s unlikely any of the “guest” teams prevail here. But quarterfinals is where things get serious, and quick.
Barring anything crazy, possible matchups there include New Jersey vs. Dallas, Brooklyn vs. Columbus, St. Louis vs. Texas, and LA vs. Palm Beach.
That is must-watch pro pickleball at its finest.
Why You Keep Losing
It’s fun, and rewarding, and productive to focus on how we can all win more pickleball games. But we often overlook the heart of the problem: Why we’re losing to begin with.
You know what they say about turning your own fortunes around, right? Look within.
While we won’t pretend to know everything about your game, we can tell you this: If you’re consistently underperforming on the court, it likely comes down to a few core areas:
You’re playing complacent. Your dinks are dead. Your drops sail a few inches high. You’re happy to push a ball back over the net that was high enough to attack. If you’re constantly on defense, you don’t stand a chance.
You’re not building a strategy early and looking for weaknesses in your opponents. No two games of pickleball are the same. If you’re not adapting to who’s across the net, a win is more luck than skill. And the odds are not in your favor.
You don’t actively practice new shots and skills. Yes, you should be drilling more (or at all). But you can be more intentional in gameplay as well. You know your weaknesses. Now what are you going to do to turn them into strengths?
Winning isn’t everything. But it sure is fun.
Get to the Ball You Usually Don't
Half the points you lose, you were a step late. The wide dink you watched land. The speed-up you saw coming but couldn't reach.
VKTRY's carbon fiber insoles put a little spring back in your first step. The energy you'd lose into a hard court comes back on push-off, so you're moving a beat sooner.
The test backs it up: 77 athletes, 9.3% more explosiveness. Which is just a lab way of saying your first step gets quicker.
Same shoes. Quicker feet.
Is the Next Anna Leigh Someone We Don’t Even Know Yet?
First off, with all due respect to the queen, let’s put “next Anna Leigh Waters” in heavy quotes. Because there will never be another ALW.
But the youth movement in pro pickleball is starting to crest, evidenced lately by a rash of teenagers taking over MLP courts. Most recently, 14-year-old Kelly Goodnow shot onto the scene at MLP New York, playing for the Carolina Hogs as an emergency fill-in.
She played great, even helping her underdog squad beat the Palm Beach Royals and bagging Tyson McGuffin several times in the process.
“She was electric,” the guys noted on the most recent PicklePod.
It begs the question: Why wasn’t she already on an MLP roster? And how many other teenage phenoms are just waiting to be discovered?
Headlines & Quick Hits
6 Ways to Pick Apart Your Opponents’ Weaknesses
The Overhead Smash Technique Favored by the Pros
How to Create Instant Topspin on Your Drives
Highlights
Drafting MLP teams from each continent
Telling our kids this was Roger Federer
Everyone relax, the kids are alright
Missed a recent issue? We've got you covered
A review from the Dink Fam...
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