Pickleball collides with Tennis Pros & NBA Coaches

Zero, Zero… don’t be a hero, just serve it

Wake up!

It’s Thursday… wait a minute 🧐

That’s right. I’m sending the newsletter out on a Thursday to prep you for the big PPA tournament weekend ahead.

It’s DINKING time!

But first, I’m trying to get pro pickleballer, Christian Alshon on the Pod, but he’s challenged me to get 100 Twitter followers first. If you’re on twitter, mind giving me a follow and helping me get to 100 by the end of the weekend? Click here to follow SDC on Twitter. Bonus points if you comment on this thread and tell Christian he needs to be a guest asap 😏.

Share the newsletter, Youtube channel, or Spotify channel in any of your pickleball related text groups, Spond groups, Facebook groups, etc. and let’s grow the membership!

Listen on Spotify 🎧 | Watch on Youtube 📺

Time to Take Flight

Here’s what you need to know about the PPA North Carolina Open, happening in Charlotte this weekend.

Jack Sock is the big name drawing buzz this weekend. He lives in Charlotte and is basically playing for “fun”, but we all know this is a huge marketing push by the PPA. At the very least, you can catch him playing singles today, mixed-doubles (with Anna Leigh Waters) Friday, and mens doubles (with Tyson McGuffin) on Saturday.

And maaaaybe, we’ll catch him on Championship Court on Sunday. This guy can play pickleball.

Anna Leigh Waters is back after a few weeks off and will likely be a huge factor on the court this week. This girl literally never loses and I don’t think this weekend will be any different, as she gears up for singles and pairs up with Jack Sock and Catherine Parenteau for dubs.

We’re back on national TV baby! You can watch the full coverage across Youtube and Tennis Channel, but the Mixed Doubles Final will air Sunday at 6 p.m., on ESPN2 (booya!)

Men’s and Women’s singles kick off today (Thursday) at 10 a.m. (watch on Youtube).

Here are my predictions on how this weekend shakes out

Check out the full bracket, here.

Men’s Singles: 

• Gold: Tyson McGuffin

• Silver: James Ignatowich

But look out for Staksrud, Jack, Sherbear, Hayden, Christian, Travis, Dylan, and Collin Shick. FWIW, I have the #2 singles player in the world, Fedrico Staksrud losing to Big Poppa Jimmy in the Semis.

Women’s Singles:

• Gold: Anna Leigh Waters

• Silver: Catherine Parenteau

But look out for Lea, Salome, Hurricane Tyra Black, and Yana

Women’s Doubles:

• Gold: Parenteau/Waters

• Silver: Jones/Jansen

But look out for Smith/Kovalova and Glozman/Bright

Men’s Doubles:

• Gold: McGuffin/Sock

• Silver: Frazier/Johnson

But look out for Newman/Wright (this duo might take the podium), Devilliers/Young, Staksrud/Tellez, and Frazier/Johnson.

Mixed Doubles:

• Gold: Waters/Sock

• Silver: Johnson/Johnson

But look out for Jansen/Rettenmaier, Jones/Newman, Bright/Ignatowich, Smith/Bar, Irvine/Devilliers

Check out the full schedule, here and the bracket, here.

Would ya look at that!

If you’re a regular reader, you may remember our “Bring in the Crane” segment, which listed some of the top pickleball facility development news from around the country.

Well, we’re back with a few new jaw… (paddle?), yes, paddle-dropping pickle facilities that will have you packing your bags and booking flights.

• The Pickleball Club at Lakewood Ranch | Tampa, FL

• Pickleball Backyard | Gilbert, AZ

• The People’s Court | Portland, OR

• Project Pickle | Pensacola, FL

• The Pickle Yard | Mauldin, SC

• Bangers & Dinks | Chesterfield, VA

• The Pickleball Club | Sarasota, FL

• Dill Dinkers | Columbia, MD

• Performance Pickleball RVA | Richmond, VA

• All In Pickleball Gym | Grand Rapids, MI

• Pickleball America | Stamford, CT

• South Lakes Park | Wichita, KS

Ever taken a paddle to the dome?

Earlier this week, Denver Nuggets (NBA team) head coach Michael Malone was seen on the sidelines with a sizable cut on his forehead.

How did this happen, you might ask?

Well, it turns out that coach and his pickleball partner couldn’t decide on a 50/50 ball up the middle, so he ended up taking a paddle to the dome 😬.

Charles Barkley decided to chime in on the injury during the halftime report, stating… “Pickleball’s for old people”.

If anybody wants a good deal on pickleballs, apparently coach Malone has about 8 boxes lying around 🤣

Speed it up

Quick links you’ll want to attack (with your thumb 👍)

• Major League Pickleball Challenger League Shuffle Draft (whew, that’s a mouthful) is going down today. They’ll be tweeting the results live.

• Major League Pickleball x DUPR have announced official collegiate and junior leagues. What’s next is unclear, but what we do know is that college pickleball is here in a much bigger way.

• Looks like Ben John’s unreleased Joola paddle, PERSEUS is set to launch on June 6. Will it be worth the hype?

• Check out a quick video of the largest indoor pickleball club in the country 😮.

• Read this bio on Austin billionaire, Steve Kuhn. He owns the MLP and Dreamland.

• ICYMI, watch Connor from Enhance Pickleball discuss the 10 tips that helped on the path to 5.0

Alright folks, I’m out. It’s time to play some pickleball.

I’ll be in Charlotte watching Jack Sock this Saturday so expect some updates on the ‘gram!

If you enjoyed this week’s newsletter, share it with someone you’re dinking with later. Or better yet, send it to your entire group. Please?

Until next week, enjoy your Sunday and have a dink for me.

– “Downtown” Logan Brown