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Like chess, mastering pickleball means thinking a few shots ahead. The speed-up is rarely the winner; it’s being ready to pounce on the inevitable pop-up that follows.

Eric Roddy shares three tried-and-true patterns that help him, and other top pros, score easy points by planning multiple shots ahead. Grab a pencil, kids, class is in session.

In This Issue:
— An ALW playing card worth $45K?
— CourtReserve seeks scale with $54M funding
— Why top pros are choking up on their paddles

Checkmate.

In a new industry study, 96% of advanced players said they’ve competed in at least one tournament. The number remains high for intermediate players at 73%. But here’s what got our attention: nearly half of beginners said they’ve entered a tournament. And another 43% want to.

Ever notice top men’s players like Gabe Tardio and Andrei Daescu choking up on their paddles at the kitchen line? It seems to be a growing trend among pro guys, and podcast Pickleball Effect thinks it knows why: choking up just one inch massively reduces a paddle’s swing weight. And at that level, it’s all about hand speed.

Steve Deakin has been winning PPA medals since well before most people knew pickleball existed. The 51-year-old senior pro will play his final PPA Tour event this week in Lakeland, FL. His partner? 12-year-old Elsie Hendershot. The 39-year age gap is the largest between partners in the Tour’s history.

Kaitlyn “The Voice of Pickleball’ Kerr took to X to pose a juicy question: If you had to put $100K on one PPA pro’s performance for the next year, who’s stock is rising the most? Answers came pouring in, with one guy leading the votes: Hayden “Big H” Patriquin.

[This newsletter segment was written by PPA pro Eric Roddy.]

Knowing shot patterns is the key to advancing in pickleball.

It’s not enough to hit one good shot. Much like a chess game, you need to be thinking multiple moves ahead. Here are three pro-proven shot combinations you can employ over and over to win more points.

✅ Speeding up line, covering middle. Once I get a ball I feel good about speeding up, I will take my backhand and aim for the player across from me. Then I immediately move to cover the middle of the court, as this is the most likely spot for them to counter or reset to.

📌 Pro tip: your first shot must be hit when you are stationary. Moving too early to hit the next shot will compromise the accuracy and target of your first shot, which will make it less effective.

✅ Third shot to poach. When my opponents’ return comes to me, I aim to drop or drive the third through the middle. This will allow my partner to move forward and to their right to poach the fifth shot.

📌 Pro tip: this will only work if the third shot is low, causing your opponent on the right side to have to hit a low volley or even half-volley off the ground.

✅ Going behind to set up an Erne. When I am at the net with my partner, I like to hit my volleys down the line. This will often result in our opponents hitting a reset or drop back down the line again, which is an easy opportunity to try an Erne.

📌 Pro tip: in addition to this working when all four players are at the kitchen, this also works when your opponents are in the transition zone.

Anticipation is everything in pickleball. Use these three pro-proven scenarios to read your opponents and put yourself in a position to make a high percentage, winning play.

CJ Klinger is hungry and every time he rips a backhand it looks like an eagle taking flight. That is the Adipower working in his hands. Stable, spin heavy, and ready for big moments.

TriFoam Edge Reinforcement keeps the paddle steady in fast exchanges. Raw carbon fiber adds the grip for shaping balls. And three shape options at $189 means it is a serious performance paddle without the premium price tag.

If you want to see what CJ is swinging, start here.

The court reservation software behind thousands of pickleball facilities nationwide is about to get a major upgrade.

CourtReserve founders Tim and Ashley Owens announced a $54 million growth investment from private equity firm Mainsail Partners, marking a bold new chapter in how pickleball clubs manage scheduling, memberships, and player experiences.

The new capital injection means:

This isn’t just another funding story. It’s a siren call: the tech, tools and infrastructure of our sport are evolving in a big way – and fast.

“For years, we’ve said, ‘The dream is not for sale,’” Tim said. “To serve deeper, innovate faster, and create more measurable value for clubs and players everywhere, the dream must evolve.”

Now: "The dream is to scale."

Let us be the first to say that something seems off about all this.

According to an X post from Leaf Trading Cards, “Anna Leigh Waters’ BEST ever card just sold for $45,000, a hobby record and one of the most expensive Leaf cards ever sold.”

We reached out to Leaf to verify that this is legit, which they confirmed, pointing to the transaction page on eBay. And we found the listing ourselves: Sure enough, an Anna Leigh Waters card, listed as a one-of-one, appears marked as sold for the price of $45,000.

But…we’re not fully buying it.

Who ponied up for it? Why? And how on earth was the price ever driven up this high? We may never know. But we’ll keep asking around.

In the meantime, a similar card (minus the signature) is listed for $350. Maybe snap it up just in case?

The PPA Tour Australia just named the Franklin X-40 as their official game ball. Kind of a big deal considering the level of play and how tough those conditions can be.

If it can survive that environment, it can survive your Wednesday night league.

If you need a fresh batch, we have you covered.

The PPA Tour’s second-to-last tournament of the season is underway in sunny central Lakeland, Florida.

Many top pros, having fulfilled their contract obligations by then, will elect to skip the season’s final event held December 16-21 in Daytona Beach.

That means the stakes are high for Lakeland, and the race is on for prize money and ranking points.

Already, some top men’s singles players have chosen to withdraw:

This opens the field considerably for favorites like Federico Staksrud, Hunter Johnson, and Chris Haworth. (Editor’s note: Noe Khlif upset Fed in three games in the round of 16.)

The doubles side of the draw is marked with notable new partnerships, including:

Finally, let’s not forget that Anna Leigh Waters is going for her fourth triple crown in a row.

➡️ Action begins today on Pickleballtv. Check out our full event preview.

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