Good morning pickleballers! Aside from more and more people transitioning to indoor play, there’s not a lot happening this week. If you are going to continue to play at the Red Bank YMCA, please make sure you pay for November at the front desk.
After this front passes through this morning, it looks to be an OK week to play outdoors with cooler temperatures until the end of the week.
Approved Pickleballs
As you may or may not know, some of our favorite balls are no longer going to be approved to play pickleball. Why? Because they bounce too high. The belief is that these balls remove the skill needed for finesse shots.
At the center of this is what many people find to be their preferred ball, the Onyx Pure 2 Outdoor ball. This ball bounces 36-37 inches (when dropped from 75″) which is higher than the 34 inches allowed for any ball on their intended surface. These balls are approved to use until 1/31/18 but require a fairly extensive “conditioning process”.
Conditioning Process: For optimal play out of the box, cup your hands with the ball between your palms. Squeeze the ball five times. Rotate the ball 90 degrees-repeat four more times.
In the meantime, it’s probably best to start preparing to play with one of the balls that are not going to be dropped from the approved list.
Two of the most popular balls are:
For a complete list of approved balls and which ones will be unapproved at the end of January, check out the USAPA Link.
Having played with the Dura Fast 40 ball at Colts Neck Racquet Club yesterday, I can tell you that it will take a while for most of us to adapt to the harder ball.
For an in-depth look at this topic, refer to this exceptional blog post by Glen Peterson: link
Tip of the Week
I get a lot of questions about what ball to play with at <pick your location>. I came across this video from Pickleball Central that tries to explain the difference between indoor and outdoor balls.
Last Week’s Poll
Last week’s poll was about warming up. A majority of people feel rushed when warming up. Since warming up is also part of getting your muscles ready to play, I suggest you try to extend warmup up to 5-7 minutes to make sure you’ve got your body ready to play. I know there is a lot of pressure to get playing, especially when others are waiting. Another suggestion is that if you are waiting with another person, warm up on the side of a court (you don’t necessarily need a net to warm up).
This Week’s Poll
Since this week has been all about balls, I figured I’d continue the theme and ask about ball preferences.
Tournament News
I know many of you are participating in the Franklin Twp, Parks & Rec tournament. Good Luck to everyone!