A lot of intermediate players upgrade their paddles based purely on surface material (Raw Carbon vs. Kevlar) or core thickness (14mm vs. 16mm), but completely overlook Paddle Geometry.

The shape of your paddle dictates your Twist Weight (sweet spot stability), Swing Weight (speed/power), and reach far more than most people realize.

If you’re trying to figure out which shape actually fits your playstyle, here is a quick technical breakdown of the 3 major paddle shapes on the market:

1. Elongated (16.5" Length x 7.5" Width)

The Concept: Max allowable length for extra leverage and reach.

• The Good:
  • Maximum reach on desperate overheads and ERNEs.
  • Longer lever arm = naturally heavier plow-through and higher pop on third-shot drives and rolling speedups.
• The Bad:
  • Higher swing weight (often 115–125+ depending on static weight).
  • Slower reload speed during kitchen firefights.
  • Smaller, more concentrated sweet spot (lower twist weight, more twisting on off-center mishits).
• Who it’s for: Singles players, ex-tennis players who take full swings, and aggressive baseline power players.

2. Standard / Widebody (16" Length x 8" Width)

The Concept: Max allowable width for sweet spot forgiveness and lightning-fast kitchen reaction.

• The Good:
  • Massive sweet spot and highest twist weight (very stable on resets/blocks).
  • Lower swing weight = fastest hands at the net.
  • Unmatched forgiveness on dinking battles.
• The Bad:
  • Shorter reach (you lose half an inch of court coverage).
  • Less natural whip/power on deep baseline passing shots.
• Who it’s for: Control/reset players, doubles specialists who live in hand battles, and anyone coming from Table Tennis or Badminton.

3. Hybrid (16.3"–16.4" Length x 7.7"–7.8" Width)

The Concept: The modern "Goldilocks" shape that dominated 2024–2026.

• The Good:
  • Aerodynamic tapered/flared shoulders to cut through air.
  • Gives you ~85% of an elongated paddle’s reach with ~90% of a widebody paddle’s sweet spot.
  • Balanced swing weight (typically 110–116).
• The Bad:
  • "Jack of all trades, master of none"—won't give you extreme power like a pure 16.5" blade, nor the absolute mega-sweet-spot of an 8" widebody.
• Who it’s for: Modern all-court tournament players who want quick hands without sacrificing baseline aggression.

Quick Rule of Thumb:

• Struggling with pop-ups and mishits? ➡️ Go Widebody
• Struggling to finish points or generate put-away power? ➡️ Go Elongated
• Not sure where to start? ➡️ Start with Hybrid

TL;DR: Don't just buy a 16.5" elongated paddle because Ben Johns or your local 5.0 swings one. If your kitchen hand speed is lagging or your resets are popping up, moving to a Hybrid or Widebody shape will instantly improve your consistency.

Curious to hear from the sub: What shape are you guys currently maining, and did switching shapes noticeably change your DUPR rating or consistency?

Why do I find ALW stans so cringe?

I understand she’s the winningest pickleball pro of all time. I recognize that she hits the ball and plays the game in a way that is unmatched. Of course she is very impressive.

But I just can’t help but root against her.
Her logo is so corny…
Her parents look like caricatures of rich people…

A story line in which a young(er) up-and-comer like Kiora Kunimoto or an “old” dark horse like Brooke Buckner beats her is just so enticing and way more interesting than seeing her win over and over and over.
I just can’t wrap my head around why people are still cheering for her to win.

Does anyone feel the same way? Or am I just old and cynical?
Help me understand the mindset of an ALW fan and/or explain what is wrong about my mindset.

Who was rising with solar powered heat to new heights? Who was falling into the freezing abyss. And who came through when needed most. Here's this week's Hot/Cold List:

The Cold (from Blizzard to Breezy Day)

4. Lea Jansen – listen, I don’t want to beat anyone up. But this is a professional sport broadcast on tv, opening up the players to big attention, great income, great praise, and great criticism. And I make no judgments here about anything relating to Lea or any of the players on this list on a personal level. I talk about what I see on the court, and nearly every time I watch Lea she is dumping ball after ball into the net. Her play is so low quality that I can’t believe she is a top ten pick! Or that she was a starter for a playoff team this year! I’m genuinely asking: are there not enough quality women in the world that Lea still has a roster spot and is still a starter? While her play is staggeringly inconsistent, her poor sportsmanship and complaining have been remarkably consistent. The Iceberg!

5. Tyra Black – I find her to be extremely likeable. She is pure hustle, diving for the ball, extending the play. But when the Columbus Sliders go “win-now” mode and trade away two promising prospects for you, you are expected to deliver. She seemed rusty and as if the moment was too big for her. She also was unable to impact the game and when it mattered most, came up with l’s. I’m hoping she has a great 2027 campaign but for now she is in an igloo.

6. Anna Leigh Waters & Noe Khlif – uh, what did I just watch? The #1 seed 5’s #1 mixed team (say that 5 times fast) were getting beat so bad, they stacked Anna Leigh on the left. The Palm Beach Royals, after freaking out initially in reaction to the 5’s reverse stack (including the Royals, trying their own reverse stack which lasted for about 1 point), they calmed down and began to slow the pace, dinking to Noe (who was now on his weaker side) until they got a pop-up and pulled it down the line on the helpless Anna Leigh multiple times. I’m just a guy who watches this sport recreationally, but if the opposing gm’s and coaches are worth their pay, they should have the same game plan. It doesn’t look like the 5’s have an answer either. Will we see an ALW/Staksrud combo in the next round? Either way, ALW & Khlif were ice cold all weekend.

1.  Ben Johns & the Mad Drops – with great power (& praise) comes great responsibility. Ben Johns is fantastic and I believe he was the second best individual player in the entire playoff (someone else took top billing). And perhaps the rest of the Mad Drops are incredibly weak, and if we take Johns off and replace him with any other player they are perhaps not even in the playoffs. But – Johns stumbled hard on Sunday in the elimination match. So many errors, so many pop-ups by Johns himself. It’s hard to look at his individual play yesterday and say, Oh yeah, that’s a champion. Here’s an open secret that Johns seems to forget sometimes: like it or not, MLP is a team sport. If I were Johns’s best friend, I would have him watch everything he could on Tom Brady, who also played a team sport, and who viewed influencing his teammates as a vital skill that could be improved. Since the Mad Drops took a premature ice slide out of the playoffs, Johns will have some time to think and hopefully grow.

Hot List (from terrestrial fire to interplanetary blaze)

4. Anna Bright, Hayden Patriquin, Gabe Tardio: The Shock came into town, left the charred corpse of their opponent and then hit the exit. To most people, the Shock underachieved last year. Looking to make up for lost time, they are locked in and dangerous. The only reason they aren’t higher up on the Hot List is that their playoff match was one way traffic. Not a lot of excitement, just demolition, a raging inferno eating matchsticks.

5. The Flick Wizard, JW Johnson – maybe the weirdest dude in all of pickleball. But I love him for it. He has less emotion than the stoplight at the corner. He dominated Ben Johns in the match 2 dreambreaker and straight ran over him on Sunday. His lateral movement was on fire, pressure, pressure, pressure. How do other teams gameplan against him? He’s like a granite wall with hands of lightning. He’s an MLP champion but an underdog this year. Well, he just made goat soup out of Ben Johns and something tells me he is not done yet.

6. Rachel Rohrabacher – A bye would have been ideal for Rachel. Having far less than two good legs, she could have used a rest. Alas Brooklyn had to battle through the first round and then fight a weathered and dangerous Columbus Sliders team. Due to injury, Rachel was in and out of the lineup – but when it mattered most she was there playing and winning. She does a little of everything: coaching, cheerleading, defense, offense. She was clutch and seems like the glue holding this patchwork rocket together. I believe they have the potential to win it all.

7. Christian Alshon – Speaking of rockets, no one had a greater impact over the weekend. When the men were down early to the Sliders yesterday, Alshon told Riley to move over and launched them into overdrive. He drives so hard, counters so well, and makes adjustments. At times, he seemed like a more athletic Ben Johns. He then absolutely brutalized Daescu in the dreambreaker. Alshon is so mercurial, I could see him ending up on next week’s ice cold list or I could see him hoisting the champion’s cup. Breaking the other team’s back with a winner, and then pumping his hands to the crowd, Christian was straight fire.

Saw this sign at a pickleball court in Mandaluyong: “No outside drinks allowed. Corkage fee applies.”

For context, they do allow you to bring your own tumbler. This is more about bringing other drinks from outside. As someone na mahilig mag order during game. 🥲

Curious lang what everyone thinks about this kind of rule. 😅
I understand if the purpose is to encourage people to buy drinks from the court’s own café/bar or to keep the area clean. But is charging a corkage fee for outside drinks reasonable for a pickleball court?

For those who play at different courts, is this a common rule? Would you be okay with it, or do you find it a bit excessive?

Defending champs out. Mad Drops out. Ben Johns fully engaged and it still wasn’t enough.

Dream Breakers aren’t won by the better singles player ➡️ CJ Klinger beating world number one Chris Haworth proved that.

The Fives survived but ALW and Noe went winless in mixed all weekend against Tina and Dekel. Every team in New York is going to be studying that matchup.

Shock look locked in. Who wins it all?

Could RR sit the rest of the year and claim worker’s comp for her score board injury back in NYC ?

In the New Jersey / St. Louis match recently, both teams were using line reviews on balls that were not even close as timeouts. Dave Fleming praised the refs for quickly confirming the call on the court and getting back to play.

Thought: There should be a penalty for abusing line reviews. If the ball is more than a certain distance in or out, it should count towards penalty cards.

What do you all think?

EDIT: I have no problem with a situation in which a team can use up a line review as a free challenge timeout, because then it is a timeout and the refs are not trying to hustle people back into play. My beef is the way in which a ref is put into a position where they want to quash the line review ASAP because it's so ridiculous, thus it doesn't even get recognition as a timeout even if that's what the team wanted to do with it.

I got too fired up in men’s doubles against Palm Beach and crossed a line. I said some things I shouldn’t have said and reacted in a way I’m not proud of.

I’ve always believed players should compete with personality and show emotion but there’s a line, and I crossed it.

Beyond the drama, Dallas punched their ticket to San Diego convincingly, Texas survived two incredibly tense matches against Atlanta, Brooklyn needed a clutch Jackie Kawamoto performance to escape a shorthanded SoCal team, and the Slice went home.

San Diego matchup predictions are in the full recap! What are your picks?

What’s your favorite practice equipment? Looking for a gift for my sons 21st birthday, something he can use at home

What is everyone’s opinion of BEYOND THE COURTS on PBTV? Who is your favorite player on the Los Angeles Xtreme which is part of the MLP Champions Series?

New docuseries on PBTV about MLP Champions Series Los Angeles Xtreme year one what does everyone think?

Would love to hear the scoop. The screams seemed out of character for Zane (to Casey after a body bag) & blue cards were issued to both Chicago and Palm Beach.

Fives
Shock
Mad Drops
Sliders

choose:

Brooklyn
Flash
Ranchers
Royals

Who do you got playing who? I’m thinking:
Fives - PBR
Shock - Brooklyn
Mad Drops - Ranchers
Sliders - Flash

Ranchers having two top 5 women’s singles players may make Shock choose Brooklyn.

Edit: ok I was way off lol

I know, another dreambreaker post

But I’ve been watching the playoffs and mlp is really more interesting than ive thought.

People say talents is spread out, but players in general are all really good at doubles so it’s still entertaining.

The issue here comes at dreambreaker where the talent being spread out really shows.

At yesterday’s socal vs bkn, we have Meghan who is more than serviceable at doubles but just terrible at singles. Or mackinnon vs. Haworth where one point for mackinnon was a win for socal.

I guess it’s fine for building tension but as a neutral viewer it just wasn’t the best pickleball to watch.

I’m thinking possibly if they limit it to 2, maybe 3 players quality would go up.

Thoughts?