We think there's a healthy debate to be had about the current power levels in the sport, and we saw that debate take center stage again recently after USA Pickleball announced it would be “sunsetting” some power paddles.

That’s all well and good, but what we’ve noticed in the past year is a lot of amateurs and some pros diminishing the accomplishments of fellow competitors simply because they are using the best (legal) paddle technology on the market.

We hate to see that, and we hope players can refrain from becoming the paddle police while the governing bodies try to get a handle on our rapidly changing sport.

Much like dinking at the kitchen line: Patience is king during this process.

More on the state of paddle culture below.

Also in this issue:

• We’re on scene at The Masters

• Set your dink trap & watch it win you points

• Padel might be winning race to Olympics

• Ben Johns’ new partner

Let’s cook. 🧑‍🍳

URGENT

SoCal PPA Tour stop canceled & where to donate

The PPA Tour has canceled the Veolia Southern California Open at Los Cab Sports Village while a disastrous series of wildfires burn in Los Angeles.

The event was originally scheduled for Jan. 21-26 in Fountain City. Ticket sales & registration will be automatically transferred to the nearby Select Medical Orange County Cup — more details here.

We encourage donations to relief efforts while local organizations work to help those impacted by the fires. It’s not just those who lost their homes in need of help:

• LA Fire Department Foundation: Accepting donations to support firefighters here

• World Central Kitchen: Providing food & water; donate here

• American Red Cross: Providing shelter, medical care & food; donate here

• Both the Animal Wellness Foundation & Pasadena Humane are looking after affected pets & wildlife

HIGHLIGHT OF THE WEEK

Masters at work

We’re already amassing some impressive clips from this year’s PPA Masters over on our Instagram.

This mixed doubles point from Thursday had everything — overheads, insane defense & even a tweener from the Tweener King himself.

Christian Alshon and Tyra Black used the momentum from this point to propel themselves to a win over Tyson McGuffin and Lacy Schneeman.

We also saw some amazing singles points during Thursday’s action.

POLL

In one sentence or less: What does the perfect pickleball partner do?

Reply to this email with your answer.

INSTRUCTION

A simple strategy to exploit the weak link

In-game adjustments are crucial in tournament play, and if you don’t act fast, matches can get out of hand in a hurry.

So step onto the court with an open mind the next time you’re in a competitive setting, and don’t be afraid to shake up your approach halfway through the first game of the match if necessary.

Here’s one strategy to help you determine whether you should stack to exploit a matchup involving the opposing team’s weaker player at the kitchen line.

1. Identify the weakest dinker on the opposing team.

2. Identify the strongest dinker on your team.

3. Stack to position those two players cross court from each other.

4. Construct points that result in cross-court dinking rallies involving those two players.

5. Repeat.

This stacking strategy works because most players will choose to dink cross court. Now when their weakest dinker does that, they will be playing to your strongest dinker, falling right into the trap you have just created.

If they switch sides to try to get out of this pattern, switch with them to keep the same cross-court matchup.

🔗Read more about this dinking strategy

FEATURED STORY

Pickleball’s paddle culture problem

We don’t often veer into hot take territory in this newsletter, but one of our writers wrote an opinion column this week about a culture issue that has cropped up as a result of modern power paddles.

The debate over power was reignited recently when USA Pickleball announced that several power paddles would be “sunset” on July 1 and ineligible for USAP-sanctioned play after that date.

While there seems to be a general consensus that rolling back power levels will be good for the long-term health of the sport, the paddle debate has sometimes turned toxic.

Amateur players across the country are trying to draw their own lines for what should be considered a legal paddle and accusing others of using “cheater paddles” — even though their equipment is within the rules.

That's not healthy for the sport.

The rapid increase in power produced by modern paddles seems to have caught USAP off guard, and now they have introduced new testing and are taking some paddles off the market in an attempt to put the toothpaste back in the tube. But that process, while frustrating for some players, is going to require some patience.

In the meantime, the paddles that are on the verge of being “sunset” remain legal until midnight on June 30, and players should be able to use them in USAP-sanctioned events with clear conscience up until then.

Agree or disagree? Join the conversation on our Facebook group.

🔗Read the full opinion column

WHERE IS TEAM KITCHEN?

📍 PPA Masters

The Kitchen Team is at one of the events we most look forward to every year: The PPA Tour Masters in Palm Springs.

Main draw action started Tuesday for the pros, and we’ve already seen several big upsets.

In men’s singles Wednesday, 26-seed Julian Arnold took down 4-seed Quang Duong — who we predicted to make a big run in this event. Duong also made headlines for switching paddles between the unreleased Selkirk 008 & the Proton Series Three throughout the week, prompting a not-so-thrilled response from Selkirk.

Other notable upsets so far:

• Women’s singles: (15) Genie Bouchard def. (2) Brooke Buckner

• Men’s singles: (14) Gabriel Joseph def. (3) Hunter Johnson

• Men’s doubles: (15) Noe Khlif/Rafa Hewett def. (4) JW Johnson/Gabe Tardio

• Men’s doubles: (13) Julian Arnold/Hunter Johnson def. (3) Pablo Tellez/Dylan Frazier

There was also drama Wednesday night at after James Ignatowich and CJ Klinger won a close match over Jericho Grollman and Chiron Burl:

• Grollman disagreed with an out call on match point & let them know about it.

• Most of his outburst appeared to be directed at Ignatowich.

• The two used to be close friends — that’s apparently not the case anymore.

Catch more Masters action today and throughout the weekend at pickleballtv.com & look for a tournament recap Sunday night at thekitchenpickle.com.

PRODUCT OF THE WEEK

The Masters x The Kitchen merch

If you’re currently at The Masters, look for our merch in the Pickleball Central tent.

Not only is our usual merch available there all week, but we have extremely limited edition Masters x Kitchen hats for sale, too.

🔗 Of course, you can always rep The Kitchen here.

A couple buzzworthy stories emerged since the last time we wrote you:

→ Ben Johns chose his new men’s doubles partner: It’s Gabe Tardio, originally scheduled to play with JW Johnson in 2025. Full details here.

→ Apple just dropped a new Fitness+ training routine…specifically for pickleball! The Strength, Endurance and Agility for Pickleball program is led by top pro Catherine Parenteau & is now available for anyone with an Apple device.

DON’T MISS THIS

Who’s winning the Olympic race?

Any developing sport wants to be a part of the Olympic Games. It’s an ancient tradition; a right of passage; a way to get more eyes on your game than ever before.

But when we think about which growing racquet sport is more likely to make it first, the answer is NOT pickleball, at least not right now.

• The International Padel Federation (FIP) has its eyes set on Brisbane 2032, ticking off more boxes that the International Olympic Committee (IOC) considers essential for inclusion.

• Meanwhile, pickleball faces steeper challenges in making a similar leap.

One of the biggest legs up that padel has on pickleball: one unified global organization (the FIP).

Currently, pickle has a few of them vying to be “the one,” and that’s a no-no in the eyes of the IOC.

In short: pickleball is lagging behind in some key ways. Even if it doesn’t matter who gets there first, getting there soon DOES matter.

🔗 If you’ve never watched padel before, you’ve got to see this.

QUICK HITS

• Impressive: The most unexpected endings to pickleball points

• How-To: Incorporate the two-handed backhand at the kitchen

• Competition: We like the look of this new pickleball partnership

• LOL: You don’t have to be a man to want this cave

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