Some Ideas to Make Watching Pro Pickleball More Exciting 💯 | James Ignatowich Show 

Agreed. I'd like to see what mixed and mens doubles looks like with guys only using control/all court paddles.

Totally agree that the woman’s game is more fun to watch. Great episode James.

100% on the softer paddles. It is crazy to allow the paddle manufacturers to dictate how the game is being played which is what is happening now. Jason Aspes is trying to implement performance standards instead of the materials standards they are using now. It sounds like that will happen next year; I sure hope so. If we don't stop the paddle manufacturers like Joola and the others from making paddles hotter and hotter so they can sell more paddles then they will end up ruining Pickleball in the same way they did racketball. I promise you the manufacturers will sacrifice long term profits for short term profits; they only care about the next quarter report. The fact that they will kill their long term profits does not matter to them. I think we need clearly defined performance based standards and some really nasty fines/consequences for exceeding those standards. Also the perception of which events are most engaging seems to change over time. I remember not very long ago that people thought that singles was not worth watching. Now everybody is totally watching Fed and Ben and Conner and the rest of the really good singles guys . Oh and for the record I think the concept of a shot clock is a really dumb idea.

I agree, pickleball has joined indoor volleyball for me as the two sports where I prefer to watch the women. I agree with Zane Navratil that the professionals, particularly the men, should probably go the MLB route and only use basic wooden paddles.

I think restricting men’s paddles would be a great idea. This would also open up opportunities for women to play on the left more. Obviously if the future of PB is to have lefty righty dream teams then you will have more women playing left if they partner with a lefty male. Great idea and love the pod- keep them coming! My pickleball IQ had gotten so much better from listening to your pods!

Right/lefty duos are much tougher to lob as well.

im a rec player, i know of the top pros, occasionally catch a pro match & loosely follow the news. Your take as a pro was super interesting because it goes against my preconceptions. I really thought men dink less because, being stronger, the chance of a successful speedup is greater- higher speeds have a higher chance of overpowering the opponent's reaction time. Women- with slower speedups, would play defensively since they have more time to react to & likely counter. PB has enough trouble with paddles (changing standards/bans/[potential] outrageous approval fees) LOL. If anything there should be a mens/womens ball- have a slower ball for men's and faster for womens. its like suggesting womens hoops could be more exciting exciting by lowering their basket or making mens bball more technical by raising theirs/adopting European rules. PB needs to stop things like player-line-calls (one ump and limited replay), sticker-gate situations and live bench mikes and promote self-made players/equipment but i understand that the big bux are in ex-tennis stars and big equipment companies.

Agree. Men and women should have different paddles. would make mens and mixed better.

Good thoughts James! Regarding the boring men's games, my thoughts are: 1- Use a slower/softer ball. This is easy to implement. 2- Men use a less powerful paddle compared to women. This might be harder to implement, but it might make mixed doubles more strategic. Currently the strategy is 'target the weaker player FTW!' 3- Everyone's paddles are regulated, allowing less power. Might make the men's game more watchable. But it still keeps the disparity in mixed doubles between men and women.

Augie and the Dallas Flash just wrecked Tyler/Utah

Been hearing for awhile now that righty/lefty combos will rule the game. I never see any do well.

When you gonna play a tourny w auggie?

I love watching all the matches. Don’t have a preference on gender doubles- for me it has more to do with who is playing than whether it’s men’s, women’s or mixed. I do prefer watching doubles over singles though. Enjoy your podcasts James.

James enjoyed meeting you DC, ok using your analogy to basketball....institute a "shot clock" instead of time it's number of shots." Paddles - your example of "similar to Power Air or my Perseus" = a composite of those values is part of answer. - in my opinion and feel free to prove this wrong...I believe the women pound for pound are hitting it harder and those mechanics that produce that power off smaller body = very efficient and "more consistent". No one is talking about this so part of why it's good to look

Less power for the mens paddles is a good start and why they are it how about using a softer ball...Even at the rec play level it's becoming less about skill and finesse and becoming dodge ball lol

Serve starts the clock =1. How do they do it in basketball/football/ calling score to serve ? - same adapted to shot displayed where the action and clock are in view. - have a auditory signal when at last 10 shots..

If James played shirtless way more people would watch I garuntee

Mens doubles need to use softer and slower balls and paddles !!

I agree, womens is the best to watch. Coed kinda sucks bc the men take over, and mens doubles is too fast

A new Macbook includes a charger bro 😂

James "I have the most powerful stroke in pickleball" (#jacksockdissagrees) "and so there should be less powerful paddles." Um... you use a softer paddle BPJ, so yeah, why would you want other Pros to have paddles that bring them up closer to your pace. You're just self dealing here, but I get the argument.

One out of ten people are lefties so there will be many more top level righties getting to the top level. It will be difficult to find lefties better to have a right, left handed team

someone needs to "sweep the leg" of ALW and BJ. now that would make the game exciting.

Not a bad idea. I like your pooint of view. In my opinion, women's doubles is exiting bc the women show more emotion than the men in general. The human aspect makes it fun and interesting to watch.

well, ALW is about to win singles again. F*@K. I want some rivalries god damn it.

Make the men play with wood for a tournament or two

James great idea! I would think the reduction in power would need to be more than 10% less than the women. The only problem is when the women in a mixed doubles match start potentially destroying the men they are going to start talking way more S#!t. haha!

in the first comment: "women hit the ball slower, so they can keep the ball in play"...could this be used by all players as a strategy?

The men's and women.'s game are different. I prefer the women's game. It shows a full array of skills. Not just sheer power. Don't like mixed doubles at all. The man is covering 90% and sometimes 100% of the net. Sometimes they think the woman should just bring a lounge chair out there and watch the two guys go at it. Also watching four men at the kitchen line thinking and banging the ball back and forth virtually all the time is not exciting.

sitting here watching the san clemente mixed final, and it seems that everyone tries to "force" a win from ALW & BJ--with pace mostly. i'm thinking they should get way more creative and lob their a$$es from the kitchen way more frequently and immediately. stop waiting for the right moment. yes, i am a PB lazy boy recliner expert. hahahahaha.

I apologize in advance for what i'm about to write: to all the pro players, both female and male, GET BETTER! I don't think I'm speaking for just myself when I say...we're tired as F seeing the same two players win everything. That would be Ben Johns and ALW. That 17 year old belongs in a corner. Can someone out there please develop the skills and the mental game to teach her what it feels like to lose?! God damn it. And when it comes to BJ, I'm sure he's a nice guy and all but it really does seem like all the other pro players, with the exception of Patriquin and Johnson, are just f'ing intimidated and nervous. And it shows. Get better, please. For the sake of your fans. And one more thing...nah, I'm not gonna say it...okay i will: there's a certain female player that brings a certain B-attitude to the court, and it doesn't seem to be very helpful. In fact, her mood, seems to make her and her partner lose a lot.

I mean... "the best lefty player in the game"... you just blasted back hand slice returns like two episodes ago! 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣 Dude admitted on his own podcast like a year and a half ago that he never even drilled till then! Bro had like a 7-year head start playing profession pickleball (started 2014) before the current class of big names showed up strong. He is a dinosaur style player that never thought to evolve. Take Munro instead; he may be young (and trainable), but he doesn't have the crippling mental baggage shown at the last MLP.

Slow the game down Balls and paddles Slower the better Fire fights will still be fast to spectators Longer ralleys are better for the sport… bottom line

hi!! James strong smash!!! galaxy!!