r/Pickleball

A lot of people guessed DUPR pushed back the reset because they needed more time to get their shit together.

I think that’s exactly what happened.

They listened to the marketing team — not the mathematicians — and now they’re struggling to land the plane.

The issue isn’t simply that some players are going to wake up with higher DUPRs. If someone has a ton of old matches and their rating has become too hard to move, that’s a legitimate problem.

But that’s also basically DUPR admitting their algorithm wasn’t responsive enough. What a self-own.

They could have addressed that by adjusting recency bias and applying a better algorithm to the entire user base. Newer matches should matter more. Heavy-use accounts should be able to move. That’s an algorithm problem.

Instead, they turned it into a paid reset event.

And worse, they created DUPR insurance.

The problem is not really the players who get moved up by the reset. DUPR can still assign those new ratings a lower confidence/reliability score, weight future matches more heavily, and let the system correct itself over time.

Example: a 3.4 at 100% reliability becomes a 3.9 at 30% reliability. Fine. At least that number can be tested.

The real issue is the players who locked their DUPR on March 15th with high reliability.

For two months, DUPR basically gave paying users downside protection. Their ratings were paused while everyone waited for the reset. That means there is now a non-insignificant chunk of the ecosystem whose ratings are higher than where the live algorithm may have put them.

That’s the integrity problem.

What they should have done was simple:

Keep everyone’s rating live during the reset window. Let matches count normally. Then, when the reset calculation is ready, compare the reset number to the player’s live rating at the end of the period.

If the reset number is higher, move them up.

If the reset number is lower, don’t use the reset to drop them below their current live rating.

That would have protected people from being unfairly punished by the reset itself while still allowing actual matches during the reset window to matter.

Instead, DUPR sold the cleaner marketing line: “your DUPR can’t go down.”

And now they’ve created a real data integrity problem.

To make the ratings fair again, they may have to rely on some hidden ELO/MMR correction layer over time — basically quietly penalizing artificially high ratings until the system normalizes.

TLDR; the DUPR integrity issue isn’t that the reset may move people up. It’s that DUPR paused ratings for paying users, protected them from downside, and then tried to reconcile that with a rating system whose entire purpose is supposed to be accuracy.

They could have fixed this by improving the algorithm. Instead, they chose the cash grab and the marketing line.

And now their core product — accurate ratings — is the thing they’ve put at risk.

Not from USA and highest dupr in my city so nobody to learn from. If anyone considers themself good at understanding flick technique let me know and i will send a few 10sec clips.

I could try help in another aspect of pickleball in return.

My usual courts were being resurfaced so I used the wall for a few weeks. Trying new techniques on my forehand hitting drives right above the line and trying new drop techniques.

The hard drives that were just above the wall line, in the game were mostly going long, the drops I thought were neutral were traveling too far past the kitchen (to hit kitchen dinks against the wall you have to give it some speed to rebound back to you) .

The drips didn't have the right clearance/touch/distance. If you're a starting out and need coordination it's worth it but there's a lot of nuances that the wall doesn't replicate well.

I think it depends on the wall rebound too, mine are wood (not concrete) so a tennis ball rebounds ok but pickleballs need to be hit with decent force if you hit soft it takes 2 bounces to get to you and by then it's an inch off the ground but cement walls were not that much better. Possible need a different ball might help things.

got a use Apple Watch and I play a couple times a week, any apps you'd recommend to up your game?

So for context, I was at the park with my friend who's maybe 2.0-2.5, I'm 3.5, my other friend is 4.0, and his partner is maybe 3.0.

4.0 was absolutely blasting balls at 2.0 who clearly couldn't handle it, and the score was 10-0. Any pop up from her, he absolutely obliterated.

I don't mind at all if he hits hard at me or pickles me, but I feel it isn't very nice for 2.0. 2.0 was clearly not happy with the score or her performance, though I don't really feel like its her fault anyway. I was tilted and upset for my partner and played my best and we ended up winning 14-12.

After the game, I talked with 4.0, and said he needs to hit it nicer to 2.0. He said it wasn't intentional, and I said he's got the ability to control how and where he hits the ball, so he should do better. He called my feedback "borderline nitpicky" and said "Next time I'll be even more careful" as if he was careful at all.

He basically avoided most accountability and deflected fault, so I'm just wondering if I'm seeing it wrong, and if its "nitpicking" to ask someone to play nice with people of lower skill levels. Thoughts?

Update: 4.0 read my message about this post, not sure if he read the post or any comments. He said that I "genuinely dont understand who he is as a human being" and we left it at that. No discussion, no acknowledgement. Wasted breath as another commenter predicted 🥲

I am curious how people feel about ratings in regular rec play, open play, or casual local groups.

Also, I am not talking about official DUPR. I mean any DUPR-ish system where players have a rough number, level, ranking, or track record based on results over time.

I am curious where people draw the line.

Does a DUPR-ish rating system make rec pickleball better because it creates better games and helps people track improvement? Or does it make casual play too serious and hurt the community vibe?

I'm genuinely curious as to what people think about playing singles or any of the variations that are not regular doubles? (skinny singles, Australian singles, King of the Court, etc.). It seems like a fairly divisive preference per what I have seen and interactions I have had.

It's a drastic understatement to say it is most popular to play doubles. I'd also think many people have been in the position of not having exact number of people needed etc. and wanting to make time at the court worth it.

As I understand the main reasons people do not play singles include:

• Have more fun in doubles ie "if it ain't broke don't fix it"
• Physical limitation/injury/age
• Prefer having a teammate
• Don't like the playstyle
• Doesn't feel like pickleball/too challenging
• etc. etc. etc.

On the flip side reasons people do play it include:

• Fun/novel mode of playing
• More control of the court/less punished by poor teammate play
• Good way to learn varied shots/drill
• More dynamic style
• Requires less people
• etc. etc. etc.

Curious to know other peoples thoughts/perspective as there is certainly more than I listed and individual experience & background plays a strong role! Personally, I love both doubles and singles and most days it amounts to who I am with and how many people we have. I do truly think a lot of singles playing has to do with the good fortune of being able bodied enough which is real. I also feel it is just not to everyone's preference which is valid!

Has anyone found themselves playing to passively? Let me explain. I feel like I used to take too many low percentage shots, speed-ups, etc to win points. I’ve cut that out but now it seems I have gone too far the other direction. I have a consistent soft game, drops, dinks, resets. So much so that it seems I have started to rely on the other team making errors instead of being aggressive. Resetting higher balls I should attack. Not taking advantage of dead dinks. This works up to a certain level but at true 4.0, doesn’t work anymore. Anyone had this happen to them? How do I get more aggressive without being too aggressive?

A friend at our club just turned 70 and several of us have noticed he gets confused by score, who is serving, side of court... Also has deteriorating footwork so that it's getting dangerous for him and those he plays with. He often crosses court to poach well beyond one shot.

He's a great guy and was a wall street trader and CFO. What would we recommend our approach be to in spirit of kindness and concern, approach him w a message? Is it to slow down play? Only drill nor open play or doubles? Or just let it play out?

Thx as tough call. I've talked to his wife who is very kind and also concerned. He agreed to get an MRI and they found a "lump" that likely is also causing random migraines.

My father suffered from dimentia and I recognize some of the patterns.

I guess my question is would I just show up and people are playing? I am wanting to get more into pickleball and wanting to find a space to do it in and this is the closest! Sorry for the long question

Played a few great games today and I am still pretty new to the game. I am not the most competitive person. I just want to get better every game. There was a lady who could not track the ball if it was hit high. The guy I was playing with kept hitting high shots to her, and we won that game quickly. To me, it was not as fun because we were exploiting her weakness. I do not know if it was her eyesight or something else, but she clearly could not see a ball over her shoulders. Should you really play like this in rec open play? It just felt like an easy win. I am learning a lot and am generally enjoying the game.

Ordered from Enhance Pickleball on 4/27 and still no shipment update after a full month. Website mentioned in US normally takes 5-7 days when I placed the order.

At first they promised shipping by May 10, then pushed it to May 13 due to “UPS delays.” Now it’s been another week with no tracking number or confirmation.

They offered me a 10% discount code for a future purchase, but honestly, who wants to wait weeks or even months just for a 10% off coupon?

I’ve emailed multiple times and communication has been very inconsistent. At this point, this has been one of the worst online ordering experiences I’ve had.

Has anyone else experienced major delays with Enhance Pickleball recently? Did your order eventually ship?

For context: I played recreational pickleball during open play at a local tennis court where the pickleball lines are drawn in a way that leaves one side with only a few feet of space before hitting the tennis net behind you. Because of the setup, players usually just deal with it instead of replaying points.

I was up 10–3 and serving when my opponent called me out for a foot fault, saying my toe was on the line. The issue is that if I back up much more, I risk hitting the net with my paddle during my backswing.

I had played on that cramped side the entire game, and we never switched sides at 6. I also never asked for redos when I had to return deep serves landing at my feet with basically no room to back up.

I understand foot faults are part of the rules, but given the bad court setup and the fact that we had both been playing through the inconvenience all game, it felt inconsiderate to suddenly enforce that when I was serving at 10–3.

Was I wrong to feel like that call was unfair, or is a foot fault a foot fault no matter how bad the court setup is?

Hi everyone,

I've been playing pickleball somewhat seriously (multiple times a week, tournaments, drilling) for the past year and half now. Though I live in the US right now, I might be leaving/moving out soon for personal reasons. Just wondering if anyone knows other places in the world for my options as someone who is interested in dedicating time and effort towards turning pro in 2-3 years. I'm currently between 4.0 and 4.1 in DUPR (tthough it's been a couple months since I played a DUPR game).

I'm interested in coaches who work with amateurs, or academies, or tournaments for amateur players etc. anywhere in the world outside the US. Just curious what my options look like

They confirmed they will honor the outsole warranty. 69 and 78 dollars for X CT Rally v2.

My 13 year old daughter likes to get in to alot of sports. Her latest is playing pickleball in school. She really wants to play outaide of school. Not sure if this will be a passing fad, or a long term thing. I'm athletic and enjoyed tennis when i was her age. So i want to buy some equipment that wont break the bank, but wont hinder growth if we continue on. With the holiday approaching, I'd assume there might be some deals rolling. Would like a set with at least 2 paddles, balls and a bag. We're a family of 4 and might expand.

Thanks for any and all help!