PicklePod: Matty Pickles Joins the Show to Discuss Vegas, Illegal Serves and Bodybags
You know you're waist-deep in the pickleball world if you recognize the name of this week's guest on the PicklePod (click here to subscribe).
Matty Pickles, whose real name is Matt Klitch, proudly refers to himself as "pickleball’s number one Austin-based, sub-4.0 DUPR, right-handed nano-influencer." He’s also the host of the World's Shortest Pickleball Podcast and is the proud owner of a (pickleball) world-famous dog named Basil.
Let's dive in and get to know Matty Pickles while discussing the latest happenings from the best sport in the world.
Zane’s Take on the Las Vegas Courts
The recent PPA Las Vegas event faced a lot of criticism due to the poor condition of some courts. In fact, players were so frustrated that a few even gave the courts the one-finger salute.
According to Zane, every bounce felt about 20% “deader” than it would on a normal pickleball court, and he called them the worst he’s ever played on. Despite the subpar conditions, Zane still saw the event as a “net positive,” praising the great crowds and overall experience. It probably didn’t hurt that Zane made it to the Men’s Doubles Final.
Thomas' Takeaway from the Men’s Doubles Final
“You either die a hero or live long enough to become a villain.” Zane and his partner Dekel Bar certainly experienced both roles during the gold medal match in Vegas.
Erik Tice
Matty gave his take on watching Zane in person, while Thomas admitted that this was the most excited he’d been for a pickleball match in a long time. Catch their recap of the match and Zane’s thoughts on all the bodybags that went down.
Power Ranking Men’s Doubles Teams
Matty is known for his in-depth stat tracking, power rankings, and general pickleball knowledge (that no one asked for). In this episode, he ranks his top five men’s doubles teams, and the guys debate where Gabe Tardio stands as an individual player.
The Serve Calls Got a Little Out of Control
The number of serve faults called during the men’s doubles finals seemed excessive. The referees appeared to be targeting Dekel Bar, who has one of the biggest serves on tour and is often the target of those wanting to de-weaponize the serve.
Zane isn’t having any of it. He announced that he would give $20 to anyone who could prove that Dekel Bar’s serve is illegal. If you want to cash in, send your screenshots to Zane’s Twitter.
Lots of talk about Dekel’s illegal serve, so this should be an easy challenge: I will Venmo $10 to each person that can find me a unique instance of an illegal serve hit by Dekel bar. @Pickleball @DekelBar_pb
— Zane Navratil (@ZaneNavratil) September 5, 2024
Reply with a screenshot of dekel’s serve at the point of contact.
Is This ALW’s Most Dominant Year?
On the men’s side, there’s some debate about the top player, but there’s no question on the women’s side. Anna Leigh Waters (ALW) is having what might go down as the most dominant year in professional pickleball history.
At the Vegas event, she and her partners completely overwhelmed their opponents, recording some impressive stats:
- Women’s Doubles (with Catherine Parenteau): 4 pickles, 11-0 in games, with a combined score of 121-28 (81% win percentage)
- Women’s Singles: 1 pickle, 10-0 in games, with a combined score of 110-43 (72% win percentage)
- Mixed Doubles (with Ben Johns): 1 pickle, 11-1 in games, with a combined score of 123-59 (68% win percentage)
Overall, ALW recorded six pickles and went 32-1 in games, with a combined score of 354-130—a 73% win percentage.
Zane asks, “Twenty years from now, will we look back and say 2024 was the most dominant year in pickleball from Anna Leigh Waters?”
Guess My DUPR
You're missing out if you haven’t seen the "Guess My DUPR" segment yet. In the first one, Matty Pickles sent in a video of himself, but instead of a typical highlight reel, he took a unique approach.
Guess my DUPR #pickleball pic.twitter.com/rDVuz5XB5a
— Matty Pickles (@matty_pickles) June 23, 2023
Play along and see if you can nail the DUPR scores of the players brave enough to send in videos. If you want Matty and the guys to break down your game and guess your DUPR, hit them up on social media.
