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"Hell no" - anti pickle protestors

"Hell no" - anti pickle protestors

Tyson flips one. Fake ‘em on the 3rd return.

Brace yourselves. When MLP & PPA battled to sign players, we called it a metaphorical land grab. Now, it’s a literal one.

MLP just announced it has landed in Australia via an agreement with the Pacific Pickleball League, where that league’s team format will rebrand as MLP Australia (more details here).

Not to be outdone, PPA has news of its own: they just signed Genie Bouchard, a tennis pro with one helluva (tennis) resume:

Wimbledon final 2014
Australian Open semis 2014
French Open semis 2014
Highest tennis rank #5
2.4m followers on IG

We break down PPA’s tennis signee strategy here.

In This Issue:

🧠 Fake ‘em on the 3rd return
🐦 Tyson flips one
🪧 Anti-pickle protests

Ina keen! (“Let’s go!” in Somalian)

Freeze Them at the Baseline

When you hit a third shot drop, do you know it’s good as soon as it leaves your paddle?

If you’re like most of us, you probably need a little feedback from your opponent to know it’s safe to come forward.

You want to see if they’re going to unload on the ball or if it will safely land in the kitchen. The ability to read their body language gives you a head start on moving forward.

When you’re on the receiving end, you should do your best to hide your intentions.

This simple trick can keep them back at the baseline for another shot and give you a leg up:

When a third comes your way, get in position to take it out of the air, even if you plan to let it bounce
Bend your knees and extend your paddle in front
Open the paddle face and track the ball as it approaches
Do everything the same as you would if you were going to volley the ball

If you do choose to let the ball bounce, you will have plenty of time adjust.

If you execute it correctly, your opponent will be frozen at the baseline for an extra second. They will have to attempt another drop from deep in the court and the positional advantage will remain in your favor.

Healthy Hydration

Drinking enough water isn’t just about keeping your blood pumping or your body properly hydrated.

You literally need water to stay smart and strong on the court. If you’ve ever asked yourself if you’re drinking enough water, the answer is: probably not.

Click here to find the best water bottle for you. Their bottles keep fluids cool all day, whether you’re practicing with friends or competing for gold.

Angry Birds at the Cincy Open

In case you all forgot, betting on pickleball is a thing now. We decided to go all in yesterday and bet on every available match. You can see the results of that experiment here.

The men's division saw all four top seeds reach the semifinals. The chalk results continued as the top two seeds advanced to Championship Sunday.

Men's Singles Final
(1) Ben Johns vs (2) Federico Staksrud
Bronze: (4) Tyson McGuffin

McGuffin's favorite win of the day came over Tyler Loong in the round of 16.

After the three-game battle, Tyson shared an in-person, 1-star review of Loong's podcast and added a little sign language to drive home the point.

In women's singles, upsets and withdraws cleared the path for (22) Rachel Rohrabacher and (12) Ava Ignatowich to reach the semifinals. The top two seeds dropped the axe in the semis and will face off for gold on Sunday.

Women’s Singles Final
(1) Anna Leigh Waters vs (2) Catherine Parenteau
Bronze: (22) Rachel Rohrabacher

Nearly the full slate of big names made it to Cincinnati despite the Tour Wars standoff. You can see a full doubles preview here.

APP Releases 2024 Calendar

The APP Tour was first to release their schedule for 2024. The 20 dates listed include 12 traditional tour stops, 5 signature events, and 3 Next Gen events.

The 4 Majors of the year include:

Miami - Mar 20-24
New York City - May 22-26
Southern California - Oct 23-27
Ft. Lauderdale - Dec 4-8

To kick off the year the tour will host their first ever APP Collegiate Championships Jan 3-7. Find more on their plans for 2024 here.

Johnson Returns in Jersey

This week, the APP Tour is in Avalon, NJ for the New Jersey Open, their third straight event in three weeks.

Returning from injury was the men’s top seed Hunter Johnson. Johnson made his comeback in a big way. He ran through the winner’s bracket and will have the advantage on Sunday.

Johnson will face Eduardo Irizarry in a rematch of the winner’s bracket final.

Men’s Singles Final
Hunter Johnson vs Eduardo Irizarry
Bronze: Yates Johnson

A withdrawal from Parris Todd made it smooth sailing for Salome Devidze yesterday. She will face Megan Fudge in another winner’s bracket final rematch.

Chao Yi Wang lost a tight second-round match vs Todd early in the day. She plowed through the loser’s bracket to end the day in third.

Women’s Singles Final
Salome Devidze vs Megan Fudge
Bronze: Chao Yi Wang

Tune into the event starting Saturday at 12pm ET on APPTV.

Investing, the Fun Way

It’s no secret we’re a fan of returns…you know who else is? Vint. They’re an investment platform that makes it possible to diversify your portfolio with real assets, like fine wine and rare spirits.

The ultra-wealthy have been turning to real assets like art, real estate, and even wine for hundreds of years.

Why? The historically low correlation between these assets and traditional investments like stocks and bonds helps build a more diversified portfolio, plus the track record of stable returns.

Make your money work as hard as you do on the court and diversify your portfolio today on Vint.co.

“Hell No, We Won’t Go!”

“...This pickleball has got-to-go!” – is what we jokingly imagined the protesters at Aventura, Florida City Hall would be shouting when we first read a headline about them and their vehement feelings against the installation of new courts in town.

In fact, their chant wasn’t far off: “Save our parks!” “Save our parks!”

To some extent, we can understand their pleas. According to one protester, the local commission did not consult residents about converting green space at a local park into pickleball courts.

Then again, only 30% of the space allotted will be for pickleball. The rest will go to tennis.

Cue this retort from the mayor:

“As a commission, we have to do what’s best for the entire city – we’re only 3.2 square miles and we don’t have any place for kids to play tennis. We owe that to our taxpayers.”

Meanwhile, one of the protesters said in a CBS interview that she’s “happy to have it constructed somewhere else” …just not right there.

One thing the CBS report failed to mention: how close these courts will be to homes. In their video, it doesn’t seem like they’d be dangerously close. And no one they spoke with in the interview explicitly complained about potential noise.

So is this just a classic case of “not in my city?” Because if it is, too late: there are already courts in Aventura. These are just being built to meet increased demand.

While a lawsuit has been filed against Aventura opposing the park’s construction, officials say it’s still slated to open in early 2024.

VIP Experience in NYC

No courts have been photographed more than CityPickle’s installment in Central Park. Now’s your chance to play underneath the NYC skyline and experience VIP living.

One pickleballer will receive entry into the CityPickle Classic, two nights at a 5-star hotel, two Selkirk paddles of your choice, and more. Learn more here.