You don't need to be a pickleball pro to know the ins and outs of paddles. Don't worry about people judging your skills. It's all about honesty and research.
I've been in the production biz for over 35 years and have 24 plus years experience doing "Live" sports production. Its amazing how much goes into each broadcast. it can also be very nerve wrecking because anything can happen during a show. Glad you had the opportunity to witness the magic!
I been saying this for a while now because I come from tennis but Swingweight does not always determine how heady heavy or how the paddle will feel when it’s swung. Compare a paddle with 115 SW, 8.0oz, and a very very head heavy balance point to a paddle 130SW, 9.0oz and a very very heady light balance point. Someone looking only at Swingweight and static weight would say oh that 9.0oz paddle going to feel the most “heady heavy”. In tennis all of the control style frame are overall heavy racquet with very headlight balance points. In this way you get the stability from the overall weight but you won’t feel it as much because of the balance and that allows you to manipulate the head a ton easier. Pickleball is only scratching the surface with this. I hear a lot of people say “oh 118 is my preferred Swingweight but they’ve only ever experimented with putting weight on the head. Of course 118 is going to feel heavy if we shifted the balance point towards the head.
Removed the cap from my Ruby, super easy. Taped together four quarters which is just shy of one ounce. Put them in the cap and still had room for one more if needed. Reinstalled and put some tape around cap and handle to hold it on securely. I am not knocking the Slyce butt cap at all, I just wanted to see how the weight felt and preformed before spending $30 for something I might not like.
Yep I think that’s actual a solid idea. Make sure you like the added weight then get the clean looking item. Nobody wants to drop $30 and then hate it and have to try and staple your old cap on 💪
Interesting thing about weighting is people are generally more familiar to tennis racquets which go far heavier, balance point farther and ball heavier. So we probably have more leeway than we think.
Dura cracks frequently and gets out of round, has a ton of bad bounces. It also plays super fast under 70 degrees. But it is the best option for warm/humid weather play.
47:00 They do work, but there's no need to spend $30 when you can get the same effect with a few strips of lead/tungsten tape wrapped around the end cap. I've been doing it with my Ronbus Pulsar FX R1, and it's made my hands considerably quicker.
Weighted butt caps are just an expensive version of putting lead tape around the bottom of the handle and 2 strips along the sides of the handle. I used to do that with my paddles. I have a different set up now, so I don’t do it anymore.
That sounds great, I would love to know more about the paddle companies. I bought my first paddle a month ago and I wish I would have done more research on the company themselves, Crush works with people with disabilities and Engage just put out a paddle sponsoring Jonny Andrew’s with a camo pursuit 1 6.0 that some on the funds will be going to support the troop since Jonny is a veteran like my dad and I, not that I could afford that one, haha but just cool to know these little things.
If you can play when the room temp is 5c then it can't possibly be cheating to chill the paddles.... If the argument is they haven't been tested at that temperature then that's true for pretty much any temperature.
I enjoyed the podcast. Kyle and you provide good honest information on what is happening in the pickleball scene. I agree that with Kyle that the core could still be colder/hotter than the facing, even though the facing feels at room temperature. I agree with you both that players look dishonest/cheating by their actions like cooling/freezing their paddles, so their paddles pass testing. Those players should receive the same punishment as Daescu, because they are making the effort to cheat the system. Why is the PPA not making examples of those players? Can you test the Enhanced Pickleball SweetSpot Pro pickleball paddle. Thank you, Braydon and Kyle.
Have one on the way! I had talked to them a few months ago about that paddle and the goal wasn’t like a top tier power paddle but a very forgiving paddle that still plays great so I am interested to swing it and like the color scheme
Although pickleball is newish and doesn’t follow this model yet you don’t need to be a high level pro to understand equipment/coaching. If you look at baseball, football, golf etc it works that way. Just play and forget about others
It's true, all the pressure I'm putting on myself is just myself doing it and I'm getting better at thinking that way but it's not coming as fast I want it to. I'll get there.
The question is does the weighted speed caps actually raise your play rating or does it just feel better to some . I have a hard time believing that much extra weight in handle would actually raise a players rating and it seems like a hassle to change for each new paddle.
Another thing regarding Kyle’s point on reload being perfect for people playing with the same amped paddle for 4 years - I’d argue these are people that will care the least. You just said how they haven’t changed paddles in 4 years which clearly implies they’re comfortable with the spin loss. No way they pay 300 to solve a spin problem. I think y’all are conflating someone using the same paddle forever with them wanting to pay $300 to get replaceable sheets
@@DinkSmashMedia think that’s the argument people on discord. Product market fit seems very niche and at that price point they might be dead on arrival
@@123BV8 yeah I’m just saying let’s say they did have it at 2300 it still doesn’t change the fact you only have one paddle base to choose. If their spin is 1800 only lol forget it. Might as well pack it up now
Kyle - the difference between the labs example is that they only have 1 base paddle model which is a gen 2 hyperion eseque paddle and you’re basically paying $300 for that paddle with no loss of spin. It’s 1) unclear if most people want a $300 gen 2 thermo control paddle in that shape and 2) how good is the spin on the sheets. If it’s
I am with you on most of these points and I haven’t tried the reload paddle so I can’t speak to how I feel about how it plays. There are a lot of questions that remain because you are right at $300 you would hope the sheets do give you top tier spin. I’ll reserve my judgement until I try a paddle but I do like that they are at least trying something new. Will replaceable faces be the next thing or a very costly mistake? Let the games begin 😂
@@DinkSmashMedia yeah appreciate your response. I think reload thinks it’s akin to tennis strings but remember, tennis strings are ubiquitous to all racquets and people are buying the racquets first and foremost from their preferred brand. Right now reload base paddle has no brand equity and they only offer a sheet replacement. In the vein of their own analogy, That’s like selling new tires but you can’t pick the car you want LOL
Just spit balling here but you could try scheduling a match first thing in the morning with a team similar to you but put your money or true humiliation on the line only for you not for them. Get competition juices going. Could even be an upper level women's team.
Weighted caps are a nice new invention. I have a Spartus Apollo 9.5 oz, after 1/2 gram tungsten all around the edge guard and 1 oz cap. It was already a blocking machine and now the plow through with it is just as good as elongated. Super solid feel.
Why all the talk about Proton! You can’t even buy them, haven’t for 9 months, huge swing weight, and the surface won’t pass new standards….on the butt caps I use Pickleball Effects tungsten tape on the butt end on the outside across the butt, works great! Oh and CRBNs r+d, ever hear about Selkirks Lab Program, sounds like same same but they took it to another level and sold theirs and got customer feedback…..
I think that’s why all the talk. They are doing something different and there is a lot of buzz around it. It is terrible people were waiting on paddles for so long. Even those paddles that popped up in the pbcentral tent were orders from January which is insane.
Senior pro Jill Braverman has said Proton has been given the 18-month delist notice on their paddles too. If that's true, not sure I'd bother buying them at this point. Not sure who her source is though.
I support small business when I can. Knowing how a brand uses it's profits is important. Example... OSO pickleballs donate to Pediatric Cancer Research. Wouldn't courts that have been recently re-surfaced and surface temps affect the bounce? Nanotek (sp) is basically a PU paint right? Warm Temps would really affect that surface making it "sticky" I think. Weighting the handle is way cheaper and easier by using a "bolt". Just get a bolt in the weight you want, drill a hole into the existing end cap and screw the bolt in. Easy. Not pretty as the Slyce. Bummed that Reload went subscription route.
The Dura was the fastest ball. That’s why it was the best. It’s the most fluid, best playing ball. No ball is perfect, but I’m tired of playing with these Franklins, the Selkirks, and Vulcans.
I am not surprised that Proton failed testing. I am 100% convinced the manufacturers are sending you reviewers hand selected paddles purely for the purpose of getting better reviews and increasing sales. It's getting to the point that I am now less trusting of the reviews. Not because you guys aren't doing your jobs but because what you are reviewing is not what we as consumers are getting. I purchased a Volair Mach 2 Forza largely based on your review. What I received was nothing special and the grit wasn't even as much as my CRBN 2X paddles so I sent it back. Similar experience when I bought the original Zane ProXR in that the paddle I got did not have the grit/spin mentioned in the reviews.
Horrible take. Pretty sure you got a bad product or it's a skill issue. Tried the M2F via my doubles partner and it had great spin. Every paddle I've purchased based off reviews, 11six24 Control+/Honolulu J2K/Chorus, has been played exactly as reviewed.
@@HopWeiForever-ss4xw DUPR 4.8 but for that what does skill have to do with paddle grit? Seriously. You can feel a paddle an know how much grit it has (or does not) especially when compared against the 20+ paddles I've owned in the past 4 years but no worries. No apology needed.
Do you really think pickleball companies are Giotto go through the hassle of reengineering there paddles to create the same performance as their current paddles? No way. No company will license this product. They’re dead in the water.
