But Wait... There's More
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Spring Leagues Are Heating Up
Dinkville Spring Leagues are finishing up the 2nd week as 22 total matches have been submitted and recorded to DUPR. Updated Standings coming soon as more matches get complete. Leagues are a great way for members to have competitive matches with similar rated players, meet new members, and get more accurate DUPR player rater.
Wishful Dinking Pickleball Tournament
Dinkville' s First Annual Wishful Dinking Pickleball Tournament supporting Make-A-Wish Middle Tennessee is coming up on April 29th in Gallatin, TN. Find a partner and sign up for a fun day of Pickleball while supporting a wonderful cause. Click here to sign up! Don't have a partner? Jump in our Community Discord as other members are looking for a partner too! Click here to join!
EXCITING NEWS COMING! ARE YOU READY?
We will be making an announcement very soon so be on the look out! Hint: Save The Date Tuesday May 9th
Teach The Teacher Workshop- Stephanie Lane
Join Stepahnie Lane for Teach The Teacher Workshop on Friday April 28th. Registration is $200 with a max of 20 participants so sign up fast to secure your spot! Any questions make sure to reach out to stephanie@pickleballrocks.com.
Get To Know Your Dinkville Member Jennifer Hale
Who Are you? Jennifer Hale, Wife, mama, grandma, nurse; love my family and learning to play Pickleball
When Did you start playing? February 2023 and been hooked since!
How did you start? My husband Chet started playing and invited me to join.
Why Do You Love Pickleball? Fun, easy to do, challenging to master
What's Your Advice For New Players? Get out there and Play Play Play!
Up Your Game Brought To You By The Dink
Move Like Zane
Zane is into feet. In particular, your feet. Hold on, that came out wrong.
Zane is here to help you with your footwork. That's better.
In a new video, he explains how you can move efficiently at the kitchen line.
According to some, you should avoid a crossover step. Zane says that is only half true.
When hitting a backhand dink, a crossover step actually increases your reach. It should be used to field short dinks in the kitchen and those close to the sideline.
On the forehand side, this is not the case. A crossover step does not add to your reach on this side. You're better off shuffling in the forehand direction and lunging if needed.
Proper footwork eliminates more errors than you’d expect. Move more efficiently with this tip from one of the most agile players in the game.
Today In Pickleball Brought To You By The Dink
One Pro’s Case Against Singles
Pro Lea Jansen recently shared her hot take regarding singles play in the pro scene on Twitter:
As you might imagine, she had lots to add in the comments in support of her claim.
Here are her main points:
The PB singles format is really taxing on the body. Unlike pro tennis players, who only play one match a day spread over 1-2 weeks, pro picklers typically have to play in another event the next day.
“[Three to seven] single[s] PB matches in a day does not compare to tennis one match,” Jansen says in a tweet reply.
Doubles pickleball is more interesting to watch. “PB is different than tennis, doubles is main event/most interesting to watch,” she says. “No one outside of the PB community will gravitate to pickleball to watch for leisure.”
When we reposted this on our own Instagram account, Federico Staksrud was gracious enough to leave his thoughts:
“If we eliminate singles then mixed doubles has to go as well!” he said, to which Lea agreed.
Then, our comments section turned into a sounding board for pros’ opinions on the state of professional play:
We want to hear from you. Do you think Lea Jansen makes a good point? Keep in mind, she’s only talking about pro singles, not rec play.
Leave your comment here and keep the conversation going.
PPA Red Rock Preview
Snow. No Ben Johns. No Anna Leigh Waters. Wednesday Start. Championship Saturday. This week's Red Rock is unlike any other PPA event on the calendar.
Snow flurries greeted pros as they arrived in Utah. We're in for some low temps to start the event in St. George but luckily no additional precipitation is in the forecast.
Friendly reminder that Easter is on Sunday. The holiday and Utah tradition push the tournament schedule ahead a day. Pro singles matches begin today at 12 ET and Championship Sunday becomes Championship Saturday.
The door is open in men's doubles with Ben and Matt Wright both skipping the event.
Collin Johns is matched up with new LV Night Owls teammate Dekel Bar. James Ignatowich will fill the role of Wright playing alongside Riley Newman.
Newman will garner extra attention in a debut partnership with Andrea Koop. The pair are favorites in the mixed doubles field.
Federico Staksrud takes over as the one seed in men's singles. He will have a slightly lighter load than usual with no JW Johnson and no Dylan Frazier in the event.
Catch the live stream starting shortly and we will update you with results on Friday.
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Landon Hallam