Dinkville Winter Happenings
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Hey Dinkville Community,
The holiday season is officially here — and we’re kicking things off in a big way at the brand-new Dinkville Under Broad at Nashville Yards!
Bring your friends, family, or your whole crew and enjoy a full lineup of festive fun:
✨ Ice Skating Rink – Rink Under Broad
✨ Pickleball Courts
✨ 9-Hole Mini Golf
✨ Open Wraparound Bar; Naughty & Nice Bars
✨ Food + Drink Vendors
✨ Pictures with Santa and Holiday Movie Nights
✨ A full holiday experience right in the heart of Nashville
Dinkville Under Broad at Nashville Yards
You don’t want to miss this. The holiday vibes are unmatched — cozy lights, great music, amazing energy, and something fun for everyone.
Click the link below to explore all upcoming activities and events, and make your reservations today!
Dinkville Winter Classic Jan 24-25!
We’re starting 2026 the right way — with a big, high-energy Dinkville tournament weekend! The Winter Classic is officially open for registration, and we want YOU on the courts.
🎾 Bracket Options for Everyone:
• Saturday Jan 24th Men’s Doubles and Women’s Doubles
• Sunday Jan 25th Singles and Mixed Doubles
Whether you’re a first-time tournament player or a seasoned competitor, there’s a bracket ready for you. Grab your friends, find your division, and get ready for two days of fun, competition, and community.
✨ Why You Don’t Want to Miss This:
• Kick off the new year with a bang
• Play at one of the best indoor facilities in Middle Tennessee
• Meet new players and level up your game
• DUPR Rated Games
Secure your spot today and be part of the first big Dinkville event of 2026.
We can’t wait to see you battling it out on the courts!
📲 Sign up now and lock in your bracket!
DINKVILLE WINTER CLASSIC PICKLEBALL TOURNAMENT JAN 24-25
Dinkville is proud to be sponsored by Selkirk, and we highly recommend their exceptional products and strong commitment to the future of pickleball. Make sure to use code ADV-LHALLAM at Checkout to receive a FREE GIFT!
Today In Pickleball Brought To You By The Dink
The New Rules for Beating Bangers
Unless you’re new here, you should already know the golden rule for beating bangers at their own game: use their power against them.
Zane Navratil doubles down on this mantra in a new video, stressing the point to the max: "If you start out with the mentality of slowing down the banger, you've already lost to the banger."
Nobody likes a bully. We get it. But Zane’s got a few new rules that build on this strategy. Now the next time you’re facing a flame-thrower, you’ll be ready to fight fire with fire.
✅ Keep your paddle poised above the net line. To handle pace, you want to hit a return flat or down at your opponent’s feet. If your paddle is hanging down by your waist, you're forced to swing upward on hard shots. That's a recipe for disaster.
✅ Don’t let your paddle leave your sight. You don’t need to hit this shot so much as redirect it. If your paddle leaves your field of vision during your swing, you've already taken too big of a backswing. Keep it short and compact.
✅ Full-circle, rapid reload. If you're following through all the way across your body, you'll be out of position for the next ball. Instead, think about finishing your swing right back where it started, at your ready position.
Read those three tips again. Stand up. Pretend you’re at the net preparing to face a huge drive from the midcourt. Now play it out. Chances are good you’re not following one of those rules. Maybe even all three.
Chances are also good you look like a crazy person right now. Totally worth it.
➡️ Here, let Zane demonstrate.
The Counterfeit Paddle Epidemic
If you don’t think the counterfeit paddle epidemic affects you, it’s time to think again.
Fake paddles have become so ubiquitous throughout the industry, brands big and small are now spending tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars every year trying to protect the innovations they so laboriously bring to market.
Consider this:
- Six Zero spent years and gobs of money innovating a new approach to surface texture
- Within weeks of launching both their Black Opal and Coral paddles, counterfeits were littered across sites like Temu and Alibaba
- All appear authentic, but they’re shoddily made from inferior materials and selling for a fraction of retail price
And yet, consumers seem happy to snap them up.
The ripple effect is enormous.
✅ Targeted brands are required to allocate staff towards protecting their IP through regulatory Whac-A-Mole — precious resources diverted away from customer service, marketing, or making the next great paddle.
✅ Amateur tournaments are infiltrated with unregulated paddles, many of which play far hotter than is allowed.
✅ All the while, overseas companies profit by selling dupes of real innovation.
It’s reached the point where the UPA-A, the governing body of pro pickleball, has stepped in to try and regain some control. As we speak, they’re compiling best practices from paddle brands across pro and amateur pickleball, and plan to publish their findings soon.
It’s the first step in a multi-pronged counter-attack against counterfeit paddle companies.
➡️ Will it work? We discuss on this week’s PicklePod.
The Unwritten Rules of Rec Pickleball
Pickleball has a ton of rules. Spin serves. Headhunting. Nasty Nelsons. Hindrances. And let's not even get into the Non-Volley Zone.
Complicating matters still is they're all subject to change. At seemingly any moment. But at least these are all written down… somewhere.
One Reddit thread is dealing with a different set of pickleball rules entirely: the unwritten ones.
Posted just a couple weeks ago, this simple query has elicited more than 300 responses. Here, in no particular order, are a few of our favorites:
- "The best unwritten rule my coach told me about was to not give anyone any advice on the court unless they ask for it."
- "If you do not see it clearly it should go to the other side. No question, no redo."
- "I try not to bodybag old people."
Here at The Dink, we’re playing pickleball all the time just like you are. So we added a few. Like this hot take: is it time to normalize not apologizing after a bodybag or a net cord?
What did we miss? Reply to this email with your own unwritten pickleball rules; we’ll add the best ones to the article.
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Please reply to this email and say hey as I would love to get to know you and learn how we can continue to grow pickleball in our community!
Thank you,
Landon Hallam
Dinkville Founder/CEO