Pickleball

The amount of time a pickleball paddle lasts varies greatly, depending on the specific paddle and the player using it. Top players may go through a paddle every 1-2 tournaments, while others may have the same paddle for years. The core will eventually break down, producing dead spots, and the amount of friction used to produce spin may wear off quickly for some paddles.
 
Transcript: "There's a pretty huge range when it comes to how long, a pickleball paddle last. Depending upon the specific paddle and the player been John's. For example, the number one, male player in the world says that he goes through a paddle, every one or two tournaments. So that's only a couple of weeks. I've had players who have the same paddle in their hand for two plus years and only realize that it might be time for a new one when we give them a demo, you know, of a new paddle to try most paddles. These days come with a polypropylene Honeycomb Core, which is great for producing power and control some amount of sound deadening, but that core doesn't last forever. It'll start to break down, you'll get dead spots and you go to hit a ball and you think it will go over the net and it doesn't because you're just not getting the response from the battle in the core that you had previously, that would be a, you know, a good time to go ahead and get a new pal, another rather new Tell when it comes to paddle longevity, is the amount of friction or grit or how much the paddle service can grab a ball in order to impart spin. Some paddles. That's amount of friction last for quite a while. Other paddle manufacturers, that is only a short-term application on the surface of the paddle and wears off rather quickly. If you like that, feeling of a producing spin, you might go through paddles a little bit more quickly, if that's not a Big deal. Then you'd probably enjoy the use of the paddle until you reach the end of the life cycle of the core. Thanks for your question. Brett, look, forward to seeing you out there on the court."

Pickleball has a reputation for causing injuries due to the influx of new players who may not be physically fit and lack proper technique. The most common injuries are orthopedic, such as thumb, wrist and head injuries from falling backwards. To reduce injury risk, players should get instruction on proper footwork and become more physically fit.
 
Transcript: "Pickleball gets a little bit of a bad rap for producing a lot of injuries. I think one of the reasons for that is the number of newer players were coming. You know, from a sedentary background, they weren't doing much. They might not be all that physically fit and in combination with that pickleball is really fun. So they end up playing for 3-4 hours at a time like a little bit fatigued and lose a little bit of coordination. So the injuries are mostly Orthopaedics. Thumbs wrists, you know from falling backwards. Hopefully not too often they hit their head on the court from falling backwards. Some of that is a technique issue because we really shouldn't be backpedaling on a pickleball court. So I think, you know, once players get accustomed to the game, they get a little bit fitter, they get some instruction as far as footwork goes, you don't see, you know, a whole lot of injuries from there."

Serve deep and place the ball strategically to put pressure on your opponent.
 
Transcript: "So, what is the best strategy for serving? Obviously, you want to get the ball in the court. So the two in order to score, you have to serve the ball in the court. So obviously that's the first one. The second one is depth. You want to keep the ball deep as possible to put pressure on your opponent. That puts more pressure on their third shot, drop their fifth shot, drop, whatever that may be, but it puts pressure on your opponent. And finally, placement is the third. If they have a weaker backhand, you a Aim to their backhand. If they struggle with light easy serves that are deep, you give them a light easy serve or if they struggle with the slice serve, then you get them a slice serve, forcing them to come forward and pop a ball up. So again number one, get the ball in the court. Number two is depth, and number three is placement."

The most significant decision I have made in my life, particularly in regards to pickleball is to move to Florida and train eight months out of the year. This has been a tough decision to make because it means being away from family and friends for a large part of the year, but it has been an amazing journey and has helped me reach my goals and enjoy playing the game.
 
Transcript: "So what is the most significant decision that I have made in my life? So, thus far, and I'm assuming this is in regards to pickleball, so the toughest decision that I have made, now that I'm an empty nester, I have decided to move to Florida and train eight months out of the year. And I have moved away from my family, we have bought a house in Florida, so I spend the majority of my time alone, training six days a week. So that's a significant decision and very tough To spend so much time away from my family and friends, but that is the commitment that I have made to myself to Chase my goals, and my dreams to compete on the Senior Pro or champions tour. Now it's known as torso. Yes, that is a significant decision, not only financially, but from a mental and emotional being that I'm alone so much but it's been one of the most amazing Journeys. Has thus far and successful. Because every day, I am reaching my goals and just having a blast playing pickleball."

To find partners for doubles and mixed pickleball, we reach out to people and network ourselves to get our names known on the tour. We also like to play with people that we know their style and game. To do this, we can play a lot of games with people on the rec court, or partner up with them in advance before the tournament.
 
Transcript: "So how do we find partners for doubles and mixed? That's the hard part, finding a partner that you can play with consistently. And also one that's willing to travel to take on the expenses, is the hard part for pickleball. So as we reach out and network ourselves and we get more known on the tour. Now our name is out there and it gives us some more availability to find Partners to play with. We like that consistency. It's nice to play with somebody that you know. Know their style, you know, their game. So when you go to a tournament, we generally play a lot of wrecks games with people. So you get to know whether or not you're a fit. Generally, I go into Partnerships and I do not know them. You walk in blind and it's really tough to play with somebody that you've never played with before. So, moving forward, I am attempting to find people that I have at least played with on the rec court or one that we have set up in advance and we have partnered with And practiced with before the tournament. So that's how we find our partners."

My number one pointer when it comes time to pick out a new pickleball paddle is to try a bunch of them. Head to the courts and ask your friends and fellow players for a demo or check out a local or online pickleball retailer that has a generous return policy or a great demo program. At a minimum, spend $75 on a quality paddle that will last you a year or two.
 
Transcript: "My number one pointer, when it comes time to pick out a new pickleball paddle is to try a bunch of them, a couple different ways you can do that head to the courts. If you're already a player and hit up some of your friends and fellow players at the course, most of them are really happy to let you try their battle, you know, for 45 minutes or maybe, even the whole game next would be either a local or online pickleball retailer. Somebody like pickleball central.com that either has a nice generous return. Policy and or a great demo program where maybe you can get three or four paddles in your hands for a week or so and then just go ahead and pick the one that you like best. I would suggest at a minimum spending $75, get yourself a quality paddle that will last you a year or two. Ed, thanks for your question. You are more than welcome to try my paddle next time. I can get you out there on the course."