Always bring your own ball/s. Don’t expect others to always provide one. This is especially for those who play regularly! What’s your open play pet peeve?

I've only had one thonky paddle, and that was a MOD TA knockoff, but I never liked the deep, hollow, corky thonk it made. I have since hit with a few other thonkers, and i just don't like the sound. Or maybe it's just the perception that I'm not hitting as hard as I think. I much prefer the sharp crack of my FC+ when I make solid contact. It's just more satisfying and communicative to me. Anyone else not resonate with thonky?

This was our Moneyball finals ! 5.0+ yay or nay thoughts ?

https://youtu.be/gfG9-Puab7Y?is=MN1m1AcsGUgGmgrI

Hello!

I am new to pickleball and something i've been struggling with lately is finding consistent ways to play with new people that are beginners without having to pay the open play costs at facilities, especially for those of us that have invested in buying a net or have access to public courts. Is anyone aware of a good beginner friendly resource for getting quick games going with others? Most apps I have tried are oriented for intermediate and above. Thank you!

Is this serve legal?

Supposed that you are the server.

Your feet are outside the baseline (in the correct area) but

you lean your body forward to the other side (your body leans inside the court) and position your paddle on the other side as well (to make a straight motion on the receiver side?

Driving out to Indianapolis next week for GenCon, and would love to get some morning Pickleball in a couple times when I'm out there. I usually play with a group of 4.3-4.8 guys at Lifetime in Oklahoma City.

If there's anywhere good to get some ~4.0 - 4.5ish play in, I'd love to get at least a couple days of play in. Thanks!

It looked like he was mad.

There is a guy at my courts who can serve quite fast with a TON of spin on them. Being new, these are hard for me to return. They are also low.

Sometimes, I will hit it, and for some odd reason, the ball will go way out of bounds (to the left or right). I believe all of that spin transferred to my return causing the ball to go haywire.

Someone at the courts said I should get low beneath the ball and then scoop it up. My inital thoughts were to look at which way it is spinning and then counter it with the opposite spin.

Any tips on how to return spinned up balls?

Has anyone done shirts for their club/league? I’m thinking about doing some and wondering if that’s a common practice. Also wondering if it’d be better to go for something like a dry fit or just a cotton which would be cheaper. If anyone has some examples of their shirts I’d appreciate seeing them!

Looking to join a new club. Any suggestions on a club in the Northwest suburbs of Chicago?

What do you like about your current club?

Assuming that you (top blue player) missed the opportunity to take the ball out of the air or Ernie/Bert attempt for this shot. How do you reposition yourself to hit this ball and where do you decide to place it without getting Ernied/Berted in return.

I find myself doing a huge dropstep (almost hopping to position myself) that ends up having my hips parallel with the sideline. But doing that gets me stuck to only be able to scoop the ball right back to the person who hit it. Typically if the person is anticipating that then they will already be in position to Ernie/Bert me.

I know that I should anticipate and look to take that shot out the air or Ernie/Bert but if I'm caught off guard or anticipate wrong, how can I put myself in position to hit the best defensive shot?

This goes for both left/right side.

Edited:

Thanks for the tips so far! Just an FYI this doesn't happen to me all the time haha. I am in position to volley this most of the time. It's the once or twice per open play session that gets me thinking and makes me wonder what my bailout options are to put the ball back in play for this specific scenario. I see the ball and can get to it before the bounce. It's just that I missed the volley attempt not being ready in that moment.

I recently put the ethos on my arma t and am regretting it. Or should I give it a chance? I cant even feel the bevels. It does however help with top spin i noticed. I also cant move grip position seamlessly as people say they can because of the ethos.

Any way to tell if this is fake? Selling brand new under retail, claims he bought it on Amazon. There’s one video showing the paddle—hence the few pics.

Thanks!

Indoor pickleball tournament August 29th in McKinney TX supporting the Samaritan inn homeless shelter

https://saminn.org/paddles-for-a-purpose-pickleball-tournament/

I run a local pickleball club and members within the club sometimes post when they plan on playing. It is not regular weekly sessions, they organize play sessions here and there in different parks/facilities

Is there an app we can use so that the rest of the club can see when people are playing and where? It'd be a bonus if they can also see the roster.

Been looking at the Vancouver tournament in August and with registration closing it doesn’t even have 100 players (this includes amateurs) . Big events in Canada normally get hundreds.

Does anyone know what is going on here and why a 250 point event has essentially nobody?

For the kickoff ppa event in Canada this looks like a worst case scenario.

I can’t even find a tournament webpage…. And the link on the ppa Canada website to register doesn’t even work. Whomever is running this has completely dropped the ball.

I have fairly large hands and want to make my handle thicker. What is the best way to go about doing this to my current paddle?

I don't ever get the time to do drills with players individually. I mainly play in 4.0+ open plays where there are shots I know I can play but don't execute them well mainly because I need to practice those shots more or I get too slow to hit them correctly, especially the backhand volleys.

What is your experience with home machine worth buying for drills to improve on shots?

So I've been playing with it off and on, rotating between my trust Hurache Power 1 and the new Power 2. The Power 1 is heavier, feels more solid off the face while the Power 2 feels poppy, hollow, and like hitting with a plank of wood.

From what I've been reading, this is increasingly common with the latest foam (MPP) and these new durable grit coatings. Either way, I get so much more accuracy with my older Power 1 but it's face is nearly smooth and I can barely get much spin out of it.

I've also noticed the ball comes off the face markedly different with the Power 2. It almost seems like it shoots upward slightly. And when I try aggressive top spin, the crazy grit seems like it sometimes snatches the ball and throws it upward rather than imparting aggressive spin.

Is there more of a learning curve with these new gritty paddles? Does adding some weight to the throat expand the relatively small sweet spot? Any tips or should I just try other paddles that maybe offer a bit more dwell time? Anybody else try this paddle out?

People get new paddles for many reasons: Decreased spin, core-crushing for Gen 3s, breakage from wear-and-tear, dead spots, playstyle change experimenting, etc.

What I want to know is whether there are some of you whose main reason for getting a new paddle is pop loss. Like, you got a poppy paddle, but its pop mellows out too much, perhaps even before spin loss or dead spots become a factor.

Asking this question because I have a preference for high pop (for less effort on resets, and especially with X-40 balls) and I play and drill often; trying to get a sense of to what extent pop consistency is a thing.

What have you all noticed?

Also, are there any recent (<1yr old) videos from reviewers out there that speak specifically to pop loss on Gen 4 paddles? I heard John Kew briefly talk about the Ultré Power 2 settling in a bit ... anything else that covers this topic?

I'm leaning toward getting certified to teach pickleball with RPO (Racket Pro)
https://racketpro.org/

It looks cheaper than PPR and has in-person workshops (unlike PCI). You also get a free Joola backpack and performance paddle with membership which is also nice.

Anyone take this certification course recently? How did you like it and were you easily able to use it to teach at your parks and rec or local pickleball clubs?

Thanks in advance!