Video suggests possible sport-altering rule change

Protect your partner without poaching. Anna Bright joins the PicklePod.

August 16, 2024

If you’re not a fan of comedy then don’t watch the following. Seriously, it is just going to make you mad and we do not want to be responsible for ruining your Friday.

Comedian Tom Segura shares his thoughts on the inescapable conversation around pickleball on the “Your Mom’s House” podcast. It’s safe to say he’s not a fan (yet). The comparison between putt-putt golf and real golf did sting a little more than expected.

Are you tired of losing to players with a strong serve? A solution might be coming soon. Find out more below.

In This Issue:

🛡️ How to protect your partner
📦 Do we need a smaller service box?
🏆 Another meeting between the best in the game

Gotta get down on Friday.

Protect Your Partner (Without Poaching)

Often in pickleball, we find ourselves playing with a partner who is, let's say, not that great to play with. This can be challenging because not only do your chances of winning go down, but the other team is likely to target the weaker player on almost every shot.

It's frustrating and can feel like you wasted your time even showing up.

Fortunately, there are a few things you can do to protect your partner in this scenario – and no, we're not saying you should poach every ball or butt bump them off to the sidelines.

No. 1 - Don't return the ball crosscourt

On the return of serve, hitting the ball crosscourt or middle is a smart play. It provides you more space to work with and can make your path to the NVZ line less challenging.

However, if your partner can't handle third shots (especially drives), you can forego your advantage and give your partner that extra time instead.

By returning it straight ahead, you’re now forcing your opponent to attack your partner from further away.

Force your opponents to attack your partner from cross-court

Since crosscourt attacks are generally less effective, your partner should have a better chance of handling them. They could decide to attack you instead, but that’s actually what you want your opponents to do.

No. 2 - Dink or drop the ball middle

The right-side player’s left foot (if right-handed) is the safest spot to hit a ball

This is mostly because it's harder to generate offense or speed the ball up from this position. So, when you're trying to protect your partner, it would benefit you to dink or drop the ball to the middle (and backhand) as often as you can.

Another reason to aim middle is that when we hit dinks or drops wide, it's easier to leave them high for our opponents to crush. And who is on the other end of that slam?

That's right, your partner.

The next time you’re on the court, try out these two strategies with lower-level partners and see if it helps you play better together.

Get a Grip, and Don’t Slip

You know that moment when you’re about to make the shot of the game, the one that’ll make your partner think you’ve been secretly training with the pros? But then, the unthinkable happens — a slip, a slide, and your golden moment turns into a flubbed shot that you’ll be thinking about all night.

Enter the HEAD Motion Pro Pickleball shoes. These aren’t just shoes — they’re your new best friend on the court. Designed by picklers for picklers, they get the demands of the game. With a grip that holds like a pro and a reinforced toe cap built for those who drag and slide, these shoes are engineered to handle the most intense matches.

Plus, the pickleball-specific outsole extends your reach over the kitchen, making those tricky shots just a bit easier. And with a sock-like fit and a DynaFoam midsole, these shoes are not only super lightweight but also incredibly responsive.

Give the HEAD Motion Pro Pickleball Shoes a try and feel the difference on the court.

Experimenting With a Smaller Service Box?

The serve is one of the most contentious parts of pickleball. Serve rules have been adjusted year after year in the USA Pickleball rulebook. Pros even follow different serve rules depending on which league they’re playing in.

  • USA Pickleball indicates that “The purpose of the serve (at the developing levels) is simply to place the ball in play and is not intended as an offensive weapon”

  • Grayson Goldin posted a video on Wednesday suggesting the PPA was testing new ways to make the serve less of a weapon

  • He zooms in on a line, four feet short of the baseline, that would be the new back boundary for serves

A change this dramatic seems incredibly unlikely, but it is a unique approach toward limiting the power of the serve without involving the server’s mechanics or the height of the ball.

It’s doubtful we see a change of this magnitude, but if it is adopted at the pro level, we could see it trickle down into amateur play. There is no official word that a rule change is in consideration but Goldin’s video certainly stirred up the conversation.

“What if we just started the point with the return?”

Zane Navratil, X

Zane provides an even more extreme take but it would basically be the same as shrinking the service box. Both options push the advantage even further toward the returning team.

Before you jump to tear down these ideas, think about how many of your points actually reach neutrality, where all four players are at the NVZ dinking. At lower levels, we would guess less than 50 percent.

Overall, it seems that most people lean in the opposite direction and think things are fine just the way they are. As Big Poppa Jimmy puts it:

Think we should stop messing with the rules of the best game ever created and just enforce the current serve rule more strictly, and make paddles 10% less powerful. Let’s see how that goes before any radical changes like the experimenting that went on today at the site.

James Ignatowich, X

Find more reactions to the serve experiments here and reply to this e-mail if you want to share your opinion.

A Meeting Between the Top Brass

The pickleball world is overdue for a meeting between the game’s best players. We will see another matchup between No.1 and No.2 on Sunday.

Fed vs Ben
Federico Staksrud and Ben Johns have faced off four times this year, with the latest meeting in May. Ben Johns has won all four meetings. Staksrud is on a mission this weekend as indicated by his 11-0, 11-0, double pickle over Quang Duong in the semifinals. The Fed vs Ben match will be a must-watch on Sunday.

Anna Leigh Withdraws
ALW was scheduled to play singles in Bristol but dropped out before play began Thursday. This opened the door for Kaitlyn Christian, who beat Anna Bright and Chao Yi Wang on her way to the finals.

Christian will face Brooke Buckner for gold on Sunday. Buckner collected big wins over Catherine Parenteau and Salome Devidze on her way to the finals. A win on Sunday would mean back-to-back titles for Buckner.

Going National
Catch a rerun of the action on National TV tonight from 9:30-11:30 pm ET on FS1 and Saturday night from 7-9 pm ET on FS1. And don’t miss the live broadcast window from 1-3 pm ET on FOX on Sunday.

Tune into mixed doubles today starting at 11 am ET on PickleballTV and PPA’s YouTube channel. You can find more key matchups and Erik Tice’s predictions for the weekend here.

A note from our sponsor…

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Should Blatant Headshots Come With a Punishment?

Anna Bright is the special guest on an all-new episode of PicklePod this week. She shares a hot take on the ALW vs Agassi hypothetical match, weighs in on the bodybag hunting trend, and reveals her favorite pro player to watch.

Plus, we had you submit your game tape. Zane and Anna try to guess your DUPR and provide some heartfelt coaching in the process. Catch the premiere of the episode now.

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