Hot Takes from our Pickleball Pros

Pickleball is one of the fastest-growing sports in the world. And with so many new players come new perspectives. There is nothing wrong with opinions that differ from our own. Hearing and learning from people who think differently is what helps us grow. Maybe while reading this blog you'll pick up a new idea or think differently about pickleball. The goal of these hot takes is not to be different. The goal is to make you think.

Without further ado, here are some hot takes from a few of our pickleball pros:

Daniel Mergener: The paddle doesn't matter as much as people think

At face value, this sounds like it can't be true. Surely the paddle is important. Ultimately, the answer depends on the level of the player holding it. As a beginner, your paddle doesn't matter much. At this stage, it is more important to work on the fundamentals. As a player moves toward intermediate, the paddle matters slightly more, and playing with one that doesn't suit your style can start to hold you back. Even then, the purpose of the paddle matters more than its overall quality. But at the advanced or pro level, the paddle starts to matter a great deal. At that point, inches matter. Being able to hit the ball slightly harder with slightly more spin makes a real difference.

So is this a valid hot take? We think so.

Albert Fernandez: Gone are the days of the dink; the drive is here

This is a fascinating hot take. Several factors have come together to make a statement like this viable. First, the evolution of the paddle has created players who can use their strength more effectively. Despite what we just said about paddles mattering less than people think, in this case they matter quite a bit.

The best players determine the direction a sport's playstyle takes. Watch a match on the PPA Tour and you'll notice the players no longer favor the dinking style of the past few years. That leads to the second reason the drive is so popular: the players entering pickleball prefer it. The sport has taken off with younger crowds like college students, and they would rather play fast, exciting points than grind out slow dinking exchanges. Many of the best pickleball players also come from tennis. With the strength those players bring, they prefer to play, and win, at a higher pace.

Blad Hernandez: Pickleball is easy to start but hard to master

Trying a new sport can be intimidating. And yet something has allowed pickleball to become one of the fastest-growing sports in the world. Is it ease? Is it access? We think it is both. There are pickleball courts everywhere and the barrier to entry is low. Starting pickleball requires three things: a paddle, a ball and a net. Because of this, it is easy to start.

But is pickleball hard to master? With such a large player base, mastering the sport should be easy, right? Not exactly. The same simplicity that gets you on the court is what makes the ceiling so high. Anyone can rally on day one, but the rules quickly punish the instinct to swing hard at everything. Winning has less to do with power and more to do with placement, patience, and waiting for your opponent to make the first mistake. Pickleball lets everyone in the door. Staying in the room is the hard part.

Three takes, three very different arguments. One says the paddle in your hand matters less than you think. Another says the game is moving toward power and speed. The third says the easiest sport to pick up is one of the hardest to actually play well. You don't have to agree with any of them, and you may find yourself arguing with all three the next time you're on the court.

That's the point. Pickleball is growing fast enough that nobody has the final word on how it should be played. The strategies that won last season are already being questioned, and the players walking onto the court for the first time this week will have opinions of their own soon enough. So take these ideas out there and test them. See what holds up. And if you end up disagreeing with every one of them, we'd call that a win too.