Calorie Count: Can Pickleball be Your Cardio Go-to?

Stacking. Eva Longoria? MLP Draft Snubs.

What does Houston Astros pitcher Justin Verlander have in common with actress Eva Longoria? If you guessed anything pickleball-related...congratulations! You can read context clues.

That sounded snarky. We're sorry. We'll make it up to you with a great newsletter.

You won't see another Dink delivery until after the holiday. So until then: Merry Christmas & Happy Holidays to all those celebrating. Hope you receive something pickle-related in your stocking (and if you need a very last-minute gift idea, check out our pickleball gift guide).

Let's Jingle Bell Rock.

Exploiting the Stack

Stacking is a player position strategy used to keep players on their preferred side of the court.

When teams stack while returning serve, they open themselves up to a moment of vulnerability. Instead of running straight forward after returning serve, the returner must travel diagonally to the opposite side of the court.

The added distance leaves them vulnerable to a properly deployed third shot.

To exploit the stack, drive the ball at the player who returned the serve as they are trying to get into position. A ball closest to the sideline they're trying to cover will be most effective.

Watch the scenario play out here:

The idea is to catch them while they're on the move and force a pop-up or error. Make them pay for trying to stack.

To stay a step ahead, place your serve deep and towards the sideline. That way, they are covering the full width of the court between their return and 4th shot.

Everything You Need For Pickleball Under One Roof

Rhino Pickleball has paddles, balls and portable nets perfect for players at all levels. It's the best selection of training aids to support player development. Up your game with court markers, cones, and other fitness accessories that take drill work to the next level.

Burn Baby, Burn

Have you ever wondered how many calories are burned playing pickleball? Parade.com recently attempted to answer that question.

We say “attempted” because every individual body burns calories at a different rate. But according to Parade’s source, “most estimates range from 8-10 calories per minute of pickleball played.”

Let’s crunch the numbers: 8-10 calories/minute means 240-300 calories/game (assuming your game lasts about 30 minutes).

That sounds suspiciously low, particularly if you’re the type of player whose mobility allows you to run for those wide bounces and short returns.

More blasphemy regarding pickleball’s efficacy as a workout was recently published by WaPo. Why do non-pickleball media sites keep trying to define the sport by calories or step counts?

Heart rate is a much more accurate measure of exertion, and it just so happens pickleball qualifies as “high intensity” in that department. Keep moving on the court and your overall fitness will surely benefit.

Name Drop!

Major League Pickleball took name dropping to another level early in the AM yesterday. They revealed the team names, rosters, and owners for the Challenger Level of MLP.

The new owners include a variety of names sure to catch anyone's ear.

Sports fans: how about Justin Verlander, Dirk Nowitzki, Devin Booker and Larry Fitzgerald?

Prefer the entertainment industry? Try Eva Longoria, Heidi Klum, David Dobrik or Dierks Bentley. Most new teams are owned by groups of 5 or more, so the list is truly extensive.

What brought together all of this star power? Oh yeah, pickleball. There were 48 players drafted on Monday by the twelve Challenger Level teams. A surprise to most in the sport was that US tennis icon Sam Querrey was selected first overall (I guess all that lobbying worked!).

A number of veteran pickle pros were disappointed by the amount of less seasoned players receiving the nod.

Rob and Stone provide a full analysis of both drafts on the latest episode of It Feels Right. They share their unbiased (okay, a little biased) opinion that Kevin Durant's Brooklyn Aces won the Challenger Level draft.

Check that full list of teams, players, and owners here.

MLP Draft Snubs

In other MLP news: there were certainly some surprising snubs at the Premier Level draft! Looking at Real Clear Stats' Player Impact data from MLP Columbus, the 4 most surprising snubs are Rob Nunnery, Sarah Ansboury, Daniel De La Rosa, and Cierra Gaytan-Leach.

Player Impact is calculated by subtracting a player’s Unforced Errors from their combined Rally Wins (Winners + Errors Forced). Real Clear then takes the average per game for a fair comparison.

As you can see, these 4 players performed very well at MLP Columbus, with Rob Nunnery turning in the second-best performance overall behind Zane Navratil (+6.4) and tied with Dekel Bar at +5.5—meaning he won on average 5.5 more rallies per game than he lost to unforced errors.

Understandably, MLP owners should consider countless factors beyond just one weekend’s overall statistical performance, but one wonders if they are at least looking at this kind of data when making their picks.

Follow @RealClearStats for all 30 of their Top 3 lists.

The World Pickleball Tour is bringing the camp experience to a whole new level.

From February 13-16, 2023, celebrity coach Matt Manasse and the WPT team are inviting guests to the coast of Mexico for the first in a series of extraordinary experiences that have been meticulously designed for those who share our love for the sport.

This luxury tourism opportunity features a 4 day, 3 night stay hosted at the Esperanza, a seaside resort nestled into Cabo’s Punta Ballena coastline in Los Cabos, Mexico, and will be jam-packed with a top-class Pickleball camp, excursion opportunities, beach lounging, fine dining, private happy hours, and more.

Registration is now open and will fill quickly. Reserve your spot now.