@ppatour The PPA has put this finals event together with the top 8 players from each gender qualifying to play in singles and the top 16 players from each gender qualifying to play for the doubles events. This is actually a pretty interesting event considering the partnerships have been put together through a player draft. For each gender, the #1 ranked player chooses their partner from any of the remaining qualifiers and the process repeats until the 8 teams are formed, always starting with the highest-ranked player available choosing their partner. In mixed doubles, they do the same thing a ..read more

After two consecutive PPA events, we are here to talk everything PPA. We get into some of the biggest storylines from Nationals, weigh in on the PPA changing paddle testing standards mid-tournament and even discuss the PPA’s soon to be released video game. This episode was recorded and released on Wednesday evening. You can listen on YouTube, Spotify and Apple. Use Code “Ross10” for 10% off on OneShot Pickleball Paddles and Gear: https://oneshotpickleball.com/ Use Code “NMLTEN” for 10% off on Drop Shot District Clothing merchandise: https://dropshotdistrict.com/ Timestamps: 2:28 Progressive ..read more

@lacyschneemann.pb This was the last standard PPA tournament of the year. The PPA finals thing will be at the end of the month in San Clemente, but we are officially done with full blown draws for 2023. So much and so little changes in some ways over the course of an entire year. Ben Johns and Anna Leigh Waters continue as the undisputed best players in the world while we had Championship Sunday featuring a whole bunch of tour staples like Catherine Parenteau, JW Johnson, Dylan Frazier, Callie Smith, Lucy Kovalova and Tyson McGuffin. 2024 is going to feel very different from 2024 but it may n ..read more

This is another extended stretch of pickleball for these players at the end of the year. A good chunk of time in Dallas for MLP and Nationals, and then a third event in Daytona, Florida. This one is the Hertz Gold Cup, but it just looks like a regular PPA tournament. We’ll have to see if the grind leads to any upsets. We are all tied for the year. Slim won the toss and elected to pick first. (1) Anna Leigh Waters / Catherine Parenteau (Slim)  (2) Anna Leigh Waters (Gritty)  (3) Anna Leigh Waters / Ben Johns (Gritty)  (4) Ben Johns / Collin Johns (Slim)  (5) Ben Johns (Slim ..read more

@ppatour There are a lot of complaints on the amateur side of nationals. However, a big plus this year has to be the sense that this was back to being the biggest tournament of the year. With the rapidly diminishing importance of US Open and TOC, it is important to still have at least one tournament that feels different from the rest. Despite being at Indian Wells, last year’s Nationals did not have the larger than life feel that it did for those of us around the game of pickleball prior to COVID. It actually seems anti-climatic to have any tournaments after the biggest one of the year, but t ..read more

Nationals has already started with the amateurs and split pro age brackets. It’s a shame that none of the split pro matches were streamed. That stuff is fun to watch and it seems if you are going to put those events on, you should be trying to get that content out to the masses in some capacity. It also sounds like there are a lot of very unhappy amateur tournament participants to start the week, which isn’t all that surprising considering the incredibly massive number of people registered to play. The center court streaming looks like it is going to be on the new Pickleball TV and Tennis Cha ..read more

We don’t know if Dallas will be the last MLP of 2023 nor do we really know what MLP will look like in 2024. The joint MLP/PPA schedule release that came out right before MLP gives us an idea of the changes that are coming down the pipe. Once again, we’ll have to get acquainted with a new team structure and format. All that we have learned, or think that we have learned, will have to be adapted to an MLP world where there are 24 teams drafting from one massive player pool. These events go by so quickly and there’s only so much pickleball that any reasonable human can watch over the course of 4 ..read more

After a long four days of pickleball, we recap the biggest stories of MLP Dallas. We also answer some of your mailbag questions and Producer Allissa joins the party for another segment of Girlfriend Corner. Listen on YouTube, Spotify or Apple! Use Code “Ross10” for 10% off on OneShot Pickleball Paddles and Gear: https://oneshotpickleball.com/ Use Code “NMLTEN” for 10% off on Drop Shot District Clothing merchandise: https://dropshotdistrict.com/ Timestamps:  1:00 DC vs. Orlando Rematch 10:02 Do the Best Teams Win at MLP?  21:13 Ben Johns and the Chicago Slice  25:48 Player Motiv ..read more

The PPA and MLP kicked off the Dallas two week pickle-palooza with an announcement of a jointly released 2024 schedule. There will be a combination of PPA only, MLP only and joint PPA and MLP events. With things around the merger in flux, you have to treat this as a good sign for things moving forward. There will be 34 separate events during the year, which is a lot of pickleball when you consider that there will be APP events on the side. As expected, there won’t be a Premier/Challenger distinction in MLP. There will be 24 teams split into 6 divisions of 4 teams each and teams will play 40 m ..read more

@majorleaguepb We kicked off MLP week with our Challenger preview yesterday. Today, it is the big dogs in Premier. Will Orlando repeat? Is this going to be the first time Ben Johns misses the playoffs at MLP? Will Anna Leigh Waters rebound? Lots of big questions and we will pretend to have the answers! Group A – Orlando Squeeze, Chicago Slice, AZ Drive, Texas Ranchers This looks like the group of death for Dallas, but we have to be careful about making sweeping conclusions from a few matches at one MLP event. The Texas Ranchers appear to be at the bottom of this group. However, for anyone tha ..read more