- The Kitchen Newsletter
- Posts
- The story behind 11SIX24's rise
The story behind 11SIX24's rise
Breaking down a simple strategy the pros rely on
The results are in. We ran 3 different polls this week in The Kitchen Facebook Group asking one simple question: What’s your favorite paddle right now?
More than 700 people weighed in. Some of the Top 10 most popular submissions won’t surprise you, but other submissions might. Find the full poll results below.
Also in this issue:
We’re not sure how to feel about The Dinking Dance 🕺
How 11SIX24 became a major player in the paddle game 📈
Could these teams challenge Johns/Waters? 🤔
Sometimes you just need to make one more shot 👍
Send us your best highlights 🎥
Let’s get cookin’. 🧑🍳
HIGHLIGHT OF THE WEEK
The Dinking Dance is taking over
We’re not 100% sure how to feel about The Dinking Dance, which we saw for the first time this week.
On one hand, we can already hear the haters ridiculing pickleball over this.
On the other hand, it looks like these folks are having a great time, so who are we to judge?
🔗 Check out the clip on Instagram, Facebook or TikTok
SUBMIT YOUR HIGHLIGHT
Get featured on our Top 10 Amateur Highlights of the Month!
Got a highlight clip worth sharing? We’re looking for the best amateur pickleball moments to feature in The Kitchen’s Top 10 Amateur Pickleball Highlights of the Month on YouTube.
First place will receive a prize from a selection that includes:
A $500 DoorDash gift card
The Kitchen merch
Pickleball gear
HOW TO SUBMIT YOUR CLIPS
✍️ Fill out this google form. Make sure to include your email, name, location, Instagram handle, and WeTransfer video link.
🎥 Videos must be filmed horizontally.
🎬 Please limit submissions to two clips per person.
Whether it’s a clutch point, a wild rally, an insane trick shot or pure pickleball chaos, we want to see it!
GEAR
The Top 10 pickleball paddles right now, voted on by The Kitchen community
We recently asked members of The Kitchen Facebook Group one simple question: "What's your favorite pickleball paddle right now?"
The response was massive. Across three community polls and hundreds of comments from rec players, 5.0 tournament grinders, coaches and gear junkies, a clear group of paddles separated themselves from the pack.
And one thing became obvious: What players are looking for in a paddle has changed.
It's not that players have stopped wanting power, because they haven't -- the Selkirk Boomstik ran away with the No. 1 spot, and several other power-leaning paddles cracked the Top 10.
But the paddles winning the conversation right now are the ones that pair that power with something more. A bigger sweet spot. A more plush feel. Better forgiveness on mishits. Confidence in the soft game.
The phrase we saw over and over: "Power when you want it."
The era of pure rocket launchers seems to be fading. The new dream paddle does it all. Here are the paddles leading that movement, in order of how loudly the community talked about them:
Use code “KITCHEN” at checkout for a discount on all the above paddles.
THE PROS
Who could challenge the top seeds next PPA Tour season?
In men’s doubles, women’s doubles and mixed doubles on the PPA Tour, the top seeds dominated this spring. Ben Johns and Anna Leigh Waters won gold in gender doubles and mixed doubles in the final six events they played before the PPA Finals.
Then in the Finals, all three gold-medal matches in the doubles divisions were three-game sweeps, and none of the games were particularly close.
So, where does this leave us? As fans we can probably all agree that contested tournaments and close finals make for a better viewing experience. But Johns and Waters are clearly a step ahead of the rest of the field.
This week we a closer look at some different partnerships that might be able to challenge the top seeds when the PPA Tour begins its 2026-27 season in the fall.
MEN’S DOUBLES
Hayden Patriquin (left) and JW Johnson (right)
Hear us out here. Maybe Johnson is playing on the wrong side. He has the fastest hands in pickleball, and putting his backhand on the far left side of the court wastes such a powerful weapon. We don’t know if Johnson would ever be open to this. But if he is, this would be a dangerous team.
WOMEN’S DOUBLES
Paris Todd (left) and Rachel Rohrbacher (right)
This team is an interesting combination, and they had good results in the 3 tournaments they played together this spring. For our money, Rohrabacher may be the best right side player in the women’s doubles game. Her ability to anchor that side and create offense is second to none. And Todd is the best all-around women's player on the tour without Anna in her name. If this team gels so that each player clearly knows their role and can achieve top tier court coverage, they should be able to challenge the top seeds week in and week out.
FEATURED STORY
How 11SIX24 went from an under-the-radar brand to major player in the paddle market
David Groechel’s first experience with a “real” pickleball paddle wasn’t a good one.
After playing for a few months and becoming hooked on the sport, he upgraded from his cheap beginner paddle to a $225 premium paddle from one of the big brands. It wasn’t long before it snapped at the neck. So he got another one, and that one broke, too.
“Eventually I was like, ‘You know what, I’m just gonna make my own,’” he said.
He soon started selling his custom-made paddles out of his 600-square-foot apartment in Washington, D.C., with boxes of paddles and mailers and test models basically taking up the whole unit.
He sold his first 100 paddles fairly quickly in the spring/summer of 2023, and the fledgling paddle brand called 11SIX24 was off and running.
A UNIQUE NAME FOR A UNIQUE BRAND
By now you might be wondering where the name came from. It’s a simple story: Groechel once participated in a contest to guess the number of jelly beans in a jar. He guessed it exactly: 11,624.
So he named his company after the lucky guess – keeping it fun and personal, a theme that would continue when it came time to put a name on his future paddles (one model is called the Jelly Bean).
“The name had nothing to do with pickleball, but I thought it sounded cool and it was personal to me,” Groechel said. “Everything in the company is unique to my DNA. The paddle names, the model names and numbers – those are all related to things in my life or things I like.”
🔗 Learn more about how 11SIX24 broke through or shop 11SIX24 paddles here — use code “KITCHEN” at checkout for $10 off
INSTRUCTION
Win more pickleball games with this simple approach used by top pros
All pickleball players want to win more rallies, more games and more matches.
And a lot of people have advice on how to do that -- YouTube videos, instructors, your friends at the court, etc. Everyone claims to have the solution that will help you win more. That's the promise.
If it was working, you probably wouldn't be reading this. So let's try something different.
In this article, we share what will make a real difference and coach you on how you can implement a very simple strategy that almost all of the top pros have mastered -- including Ben Johns and Anna Leigh Waters.
MAKING ONE MORE SHOT
Making just One More Shot may seem over-simplistic or trite. So let’s start with the proof that it works: Ben Johns.
What is it that Johns does to win so many games? Does he attack balls off the bounce? Try to thread the needle with crazy winners? Hit other highlight reel shots? Nope.
“All” Johns does is hit One More Shot. He knows that, no matter the opponent, he can always hit one more shot than they can.
Sure, his backhand roll volley is arguably the best shot in the game. But he only uses it when the opponent gives him the opening. It is pretty much never forced. If he does not have the opening, Johns is going to dink the ball crosscourt or middle — making One More Shot.
QUICK HITS
What did you think of this week's newsletter? |