USAP extinguishes 'Fire' paddle

How to spot a cheater. Stop playing 'keep away'.

February 21, 2025

The UPA-A’s new targeting rule was already put to the test. In the very first tournament after announcing the rule, we saw it come into play. A Hayden Patriquin body bag on former partner Wyatt Stone was higher than ref Don Stanley was comfortable with.

Big H was slapped with the first violation of the targeting rule in real-time, but the call was reversed after determining that the ball hit Stone’s shoulder and not his head.

Unfortunately for Marcela Hones, she had no shot of avoiding the headshot on this one.

In This Issue:

🤔 Stop playing ‘keep away’
🎲 Shuffled partnerships create uncertainty in Mesa
🎙️ Zane tells you how to spot a cheater on the PicklePod

Make sure pickleball is in your weekend forecast.

Our Picks ☝️

🛳️ Dream Getaway: This Dream Can be Your Reality in 2025

What’s the one thing a luxury yacht vacation is missing? You guessed it … pickleball. Well, not anymore. You can play on a floating court surrounded by crystal-clear waters with this luxury 12-day journey aboard the M/V Aretha.

🩼 Recovery: Bringing Healthcare to the Pickleball Court

PURE Pickleball & Padel in Scottsdale is teaming up with HonorHealth to make sure your pickleball obsession doesn’t land you on the injured list—at least not for long. Their new Scottsdale mega-facility will feature a 3,000 sq. ft. sports medicine center, so you can dink, dive, and recover like a pro.

🏥 Hospital: Bringing a Pickleball Court to Healthcare

Duke Health and WakeMed are opening a 52-bed rehab hospital in Cary, NC, but the real headline? It’s getting a pickleball court. This facility will help patients recover from strokes, injuries, and surgeries—because nothing says "back in action" like a perfectly placed dink.

👔 Gear: The Daddies Strike Back

Anna Bright and Rachel Rohrabacher took over pickleball merch with ‘The Girlies’ sweater. After feeling just a little left out Danny Jensen and Craig Johnson came back with an inspired ‘The Daddies’ sweatshirt of their own.

Keep Your Opponent Honest

What’s the best way to deal with a dominant left-side player? You might think that ‘keep away’ is your best bet, but that can limit the amount of court you have to work with and actually allow them to be more aggressive.

When your opponent has a tendency to creep into the middle, it’s important to keep them honest with a ball hit behind them. Kevin Dong illustrates how this can be done with a dink or even a speedup from the right-side player.

  • After a couple of dinks cross-court you’ll likely see the opposing left-side player creep further into the middle of the court

  • Instead of letting them put pressure on your dinks, keep them honest with a dink or speedup down the line

  • Be sure to hide your true intention until the last second, try not to change your body language from your last dink, just open the paddle face late to send it down the line

Ideally, you sneak a winner past them down the line. If they do recover in time you still get the benefit of them being out of position and having to hit a backhand while on the move. Look to finish the next shot down the newly opened middle.

An Evil Paddle?

Am I the only one who thinks Selkirk’s new 2025 innovation looks downright sinister?

My Project 008 brings the beast out of me on the court. If you’re looking for power, control, and aggression for your competitive play, it's worth a test drive.

Hats off to Selkirk LABS who have clearly moved the needle once again with this PureFoam core paddle.

Use code “INF-thedink” to earn a $30 giftcard if you choose to join the dark side.

Another Popular Paddle Gets Delisted

Chorus is the latest paddle brand to feel the sting of a USA Pickleball paddle delisting, joining the ranks of JOOLA, Ronbus and Gearbox, among others.

In what can only be described as a communication breakdown between USAP and its independent testing arm, two variations of the Fire HX paddle, the EX and SX, were thought to be approved but subsequently “failed to meet the PBCoR standards.”

Both paddles have since been removed from the USA Pickleball Approved list. The Chorus Fire HX paddle will be sunset as of July 1, 2025.

Chorus founder Matt Cox appears to be taking the news in stride; he’s offering refunds for eligible Fire owners. Additionally, he said, “returned paddles will be donated to under-funded local schools and charitable causes.”

Be sure to check if your paddle is still legal here and keep an eye out for the kids hitting rockets with these bad boys.

🤔 Newsletter getting clipped? Click ‘view entire message’ or click here to read online

Things Are Heating Up in Mesa

There are great matchups everywhere you look in Mesa. It feels like someone hit the randomize button when you compare these draws to what we saw in 2024.

When the dust settles, we will probably see Anna Leigh Waters holding three medals, but in the men’s draws, it’s anyone’s game.

The Old Fed
Federico Staksrud is back to his winning ways with a JOOLA paddle in hand. He’s through to the quarterfinals in all three categories.

Collision Course
JW and Jorja Johnson are one of the only teams to ever upset Ben Johns and ALW, and they did it right here in Mesa. As the No. 2, seed the sibling duo is on a collision course to meet the champs in the final.

Arizona Andrei
Andrei Daescu is playing at an elite level in 2025. He and Christian Alshon are a dangerous duo who are looking to go back-to-back in Arizona. Daescu’s also benefitted from a little partner musical chairs and is a real threat in mixed with Tina Pisnik.

Top Matches to Watch
MS: (3) Connor Garnett vs (7) Jaume Martinez Vich
WS: (4) Lea Jansen vs (6) Kate Fahey
MXD: (1) Ben Johns/Anna Leigh Waters vs (5) Tyra Hurricane Black/Christian Alshon
MD: (4) Christian Alshon/Andrei Daescu vs (12) CJ Klinger/Quang Duong
WD: (3) Tyra Hurricane Black/Parris Todd vs (6) Jorja Johnson/Vivian Glozman

Another big upset from Cason Campbell threw a wrench in the predictions but most of the semifinalist picks are still intact. Check out the event preview and predictions here. Tune into the action on PickleballTV starting at 1 pm ET.

We Were Skeptical…

The average pickleball will sit in a landfill for 100 years.

Komodo’s BioBall™ breaks down in just 3-5 years and lasts 5x longer on the court.

The secret? A proprietary acceleration additive.

We got our hands dirty play testing it over the last few weeks and we are confident in its tournament-level performance.

6 Months, 6 Prototypes, Zane’s Favorite Shoe

Zane Navratil has signed a multi-year shoe deal with SQAIRZ, a popular brand in professional golf and baseball footwear. But his involvement went far beyond just signing on the dotted line.

Over the course of six months, Zane and the SQAIRZ team went back and forth. Zane would play-test the latest prototype, then get on the phone with SQAIRZ CEO and founder Bob Winskowicz to talk about his likes and dislikes.

The goal was to create a shoe fit for a pro but accessible to players of all levels. Enter the XRZ™.

"While Zane is one of the best pickleball players in the world—he’s also a true student of the game," says Winskowicz. "His passion for performance and firsthand experience with the demands of the sport made him an invaluable partner in developing the XRZ™."

The XRZ™ boasts a physical feature to enhance every possible interaction between a player's shoe and the ground — a roomier toe box improves performance; lateral outriggers enhance stability; a patented heel and arch support system locks the foot in place.

"They listened to the specific requirements of pickleball," says Navratil of the collaborative design process. "I feel like we've got an exceptional shoe."

Nasty Nelson Revenge From Jack Sock

We’ve got a packed house on this one. Thomas and Zane address the rampant cheating that has no end in sight. Zane recaps his Nasty Nelson payback from Jack Sock at the PPA Tucson Open.

Then, John Kew joins the pod to explain what exactly happened with the failed Ripple release. Finally, Tom Evans and Helena Spiridis, the first international players signed to the UPA, share their journey to pro pickleball and break down Tom’s big upset over world No.1 Federico Staksrud.

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