New St. Patrick's Day Rule: Pinch Everyone Who Doesn't Play Pickleball!
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Saturday DUPR Event at Hadley Tennis Indoor
22 members signed up and battled it out on Saturday at Hadley Tennis Indoor in Nashville. From 12:30pm-4pm we had a 4 court Ladder where players move up and down and split partners after they win or lose. Great times and matches where you play with different players each game! We recorded each match afterwards to DUPR to help members get an accurate player rating. More events coming this Spring so be on the look out to sign up!
Hey, You want to play Pickleball?
Neighborhood Captain Chet Hale has been on a mission in Columbia, TN and is growing his local community one invite at a time. Chet has been constantly inviting and getting a consistent group showing up weekly to play! Love the passion and momentum that he is building in Columbia! Who's next?
ACME St Paddy's Day "Pot Of Gold Tournament"
ACME Athletics in Clarksville, TN put on a fun St Patrick's Pickleball Tournament where multiple Dinkville members attended. If you want to know upcoming tournaments, make sure to check out the Dinkville Discord for more updates. Click here to join. See pictures below from the tournament.
Get To Know Dinkville Member Paul Read
Who Are You? Paul Read, I am a husband, father of three, and pickleball addict. I work for a supplier to Nissan as well as a have a few rental properties. We moved from the state of Michigan about 18 years ago and have become true Tennessean’s.
How Did You Get Started With Dinkville? I got started with Dinkville by meeting Landon in Hendersonville at an open play night. I think like everyone else, we are trying to find a way to connect with other players. It seemed everybody was doing their own thing, but Dinkville allowes a broader connection. It also allows you to connect with people of similar skill levels.
Why Do You Love Pickleball? I’ve always said that Pickleball brings the genders and the ages together. Women can dominate men and 60 year old's can dominate 20 year old's. It’s not all about power. There is also an amazing community with Pickleball. It allows you to meet and interact with people you may not have previously. Lastly, is the competitiveness of it. I love to compete and pickleball is a great outlet for that.
What Is Your Favorite Shot? 3rd or 5th shot drive that goes right down the middle. The shot that makes both opponents look at each other and just shake their heads.
What Are Your Goals This Year? Play a few more tournaments, limit unforced errors but not to a point that I’m afraid to be aggressive, and keep my rating up. I would like to reach 5.0 level within 2 years.
What Is Your Advice To New Players? 1st, don’t blindly run up to the kitchen line. Move up safely and with intent. Running up before you know the 3rd shot is good puts extra pressure on your partner and leaves you exposed. 2nd, middle and cross court shots are always more safe. Don’t go at the person directly in front of you until you have developed more skills.
Up Your Game Brought To You By The Dink:
The Backhand Counter
As far as James "Papa Jimmy" Ignatowich is concerned, he has the hardest backhand counter in the game.
In a recent video, Iggy recommends that players have both the one-handed counter and two-handed backhand counter at their disposal.
A one-handed backhand is ideal for a ball hit at your body. It allows you to quickly defend yourself and prevent taking one to the chest. The body mechanics even allow for decent power to be generated in this scenario.
When the ball travels outside of your offhand hip/shoulder, then it is ideal to add the second hand. Adding your second hand to the paddle allows you to put more power on your counter. It also allows you to add topspin which can save your ball from going long.
Some players prefer the two-handed backhand counter so much that they will shift laterally to set up their counter. A righthanded player would slide to the right so a ball that was aimed at their body is now perfectly lined up for a two-handed backhand.
Give Papa Jimmy's advice a chance and add a new weapon to your game.
Today In Pickleball Brought To You By The Dink:
Performance Enhancing Drugs in Pro Pickle?
Pro pickleball twitter seems to be hinting that performance enhancing drugs are a problem in the sport.
The pro game is rapidly morphing into a big business, so it's unsurprising that players would leave no stone unturned when it comes to improving on-court performance. Are we dealing with the pickleball equivalent of corked bats and HGH?
It seems that each week there is a new hot topic. Last week it was paddle legality, this week it's performance enhancing drugs. In both cases, it's clear that players on the pro circuit believe that at least some percentage of players are leveraging 'unfair' means to gain advantages over their competitors.
The PPA, MLP and USA Pickleball recently joined forces to improve the testing processes across the board.
But what about PEDs? Is it worth implementing testing now? When MLB famously entered its 'steroid era', it wasn't until 2003 that they implemented official testing processes, despite allegations surfacing as early as 1991.
See how the community is reacting to the suspicions here.
Dude Perfect Buys-In at $5M
Internet influencers and podcasters Dude Perfect are buying into MLP’s Premier Level team, Frisco Clean Cause.
The announcement was made during a live podcast recording with MLP founder Steve Kuhn during Austin’s SXSW festival this week.
Kuhn later commented that the franchise was valued at $5 million in the deal, Sportico reports.
“It’s unclear how much of the team Dude Perfect is buying, or how it will be structured.”
Investment from internet entertainers seems like a very modern – and very “pickleball” – occurrence. The group of guys started making viral videos in 2008 and have grown their following to over 59 million subscribers on YouTube.
They’ve also funded a variety of other entertainment ventures, including merchandise, a touring performance, a cruise, and an upcoming $100 million theme park.
From one viral sensation to another, it seems these investors are a perfect match for the game.
Pickleball's Bad Boy
The bad boy of pickleball DJ Young joins the PicklePod to discuss his run-in with the 'law'. Young is the first player to be fined on the PPA Tour.
DJ breaks the news that he won't be allowed to use his paddle at the Austin Showdown.
The guys cover USA Pickleball revamping paddle testing, Nationals' new home, and Dude Perfect joining the list of MLP owners. Plus, the winner of the merch giveaway is announced.
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Thanks,
Landon Hallam, Dinkville Commissioner, Landon@dinkville.com