Order Your Custom Design Paddle

Pickleball Terry is now an ambassador for Third Shot Drop. They design custom made paddles just for you! 

 Third Shop Drop. 

Who are they?  CLICK HERE

Which Core and Why?

Currently, we offer three different types of cores: Aluminum, Nomex and Polymer. Each one has playing characteristics that suit certain styles of play.

Aluminum– (touch)

Aluminum core paddles feature advanced, lighter weight, aluminum honeycomb cores. Aluminum cores are known for their outstanding “TOUCH”. The ball comes off just a bit slower, which gives players an extra edge of maneuverability and control. This extra amount of control is due to both the soft rebound and the lightweight nature of aluminum. Players may prefer this core for their third shot drops and touch shots. However, aluminum cores do dent over time (more so with the “rubbery balls”), so are not recommended for super hard hitters. You will lose a bit of power with aluminum cores.

Polymer– (balance of power and touch)

Polymer core paddles are the most popular core currently used in pickleball paddles. The honeycomb polymer core provides power performance, yet gives soft control for the touch shots. Polymer cores have earned the reputation of being the quietest core on the market due to being slightly less deflective than the other two cores. The reduced deflection offers players a split-second longer to manipulate the ball, hence offering control.

Nomex– (power)

Nomex core paddles feature a lightweight Nomex honeycomb core that has been used in a variety of sporting and high-tech industry applications. Nomex was the first core used in pickleball paddles and is still is a popular core material. Nomex honeycomb begins as a cardboard-like material which is then dipped in resin creating an extremely damage-resistant material. They are also the loudest of the three cores. Nomex cores are well-liked for their durability and consistency. Players looking for a lot of “POWER” prefer Nomex cores. You may lose a bit of pace control due to how quickly balls come (pop) off the Nomex core.

 

Which Surface and Why

The three most commonly used surfaces for pickleball paddles are Carbon Fiber Weave, Graphite and Fiberglass Composite. Each has characteristics that, when combined with a core material, give each paddle the performance profile that suits every player’s unique style and game.

Carbon Fiber

Carbon fiber surfaces are the most expensive, most durable and lightest weight. When bonded properly to a honeycomb core, Carbon Fiber weave (it is actually fabric before being bonded to a honeycomb core) is strong, durable, high tech and very distinctive in appearance. It provides the ultimate in ball control, but can lose a bit of power compared to the other surfaces.

Graphite

Graphite paddle surfaces are very thin, about the thickness of a fingernail. Light and responsive, yet hard and strong. Players like the quick action off the Graphite face. Graphite is a bit heavier than carbon fiber and slightly less durable (and more cost effective, which is a reason many manufacturers use it rather than carbon fiber). Because of Graphite’s stiff nature, the ball does not sink into it, so it is easier to direct the ball, providing fantastic ball placement.

Fiberglass Composite

Composite paddle faces take full advantage of the latest aerospace composite material technology. Variations of composite surfaces are expanding throughout the industry, increasing their play-ability. These paddles feature an incredible combination of touch, feel, and strength. The Composite surface provides a bit more power than the other two surfaces.

Weight

Paddle weight is a hot button for players.  Many believe that the weight determines how well they respond to the ball and should be based on their size and gender.  That’s the opposite of what they need to think.  Skill determines how well a player responds to the ball.  Weight is more about what your body can cope with during play.

Very similar to baseball bats and tennis rackets, the player must first have the skill to aim, respond and direct the ball.  The weight is what lets them do it comfortably and accurately. Heavier paddles help smooth out players’ shots, making them more consistent and repeatable. Lighter paddles can encourage too much herky-jerky movement and inconsistent hits. Simple physics, Force = Mass x Acceleration, dictates that the heavier the paddle, the more power a player has with less effort. The paddle is doing the work. Players with light paddles tend to incur more wrist, elbow and shoulder injuries.

Before a player decides that they must have a certain weight based on their size or gender, they should instead be sure that: 1) their grip is properly sized, and 2) the paddle weight matches their level of strength, regardless of their stature or gender.  That combination is the most important factor in choosing a proper weight.

Also keep in mind how the weight is distributed in a paddle. The key is how a paddle is balanced, not the total weight of the paddle itself. Mitigating the scale weight so the swing weight of the paddle feels light and responsive is what separates Third Shot Drop Custom Pickleball Paddles from the rest. You can pick up two paddles with the same weight and one may feel significantly heavier due to how the paddle weight is balanced. Blind studies have shown players typically think many of our paddles weigh an ounce or more less than their scale weight.

Grip Sizing

Improper sizing will not only restrict your game, it can cause physical problems as well.

  • Using a paddle with an undersized grip causes you to use more force to squeeze the handle. This can affect your hand, forearm, and elbow, leading to fatigue and eventually tendonitis. It also restricts the fluid motion so important in the soft game.
  • Using a paddle with an oversized grip restricts your wrist’s motions, makes changing grips harder, and requires more strength to use.

  • What handle shape do you want. Oval handles can be as small as 4”, while octagonal (tennis) and square handles begin at 4 3/8”.
  • Grip tape style.  We will grip your handle to the exact size you ask.  However, if you plan to add your own over-grip, it can add 1/16” – 1/8” to your handle size.  Be sure to deduct that amount when ordering your paddle, so your final grip size is correct. We offer flat, ridged, or stitched grip tapes.

The grip size is the circumference of the handle at the midpoint.  It’s measured in 1/8” increments.  This measurement is the finished size of the handle, including any over-grip that may be added to the factory finish.  If your measurement is between sizes, step down one size and add an over grip to increase it to the proper size.

Index Finger Test

Hold your paddle in your non-hitting hand. You should be able to fit the index finger of your other hand in the space between your ring finger and palm.

DESIGN YOUR OWN PADDLE HERE

Watch the Kratos video here. 

Start playing with your own custom designed paddle. Order here.

SO, now you are armed with the truth about paddles!

Hooray for you! You are now ready to get rid of all those “not-so-good guesses” taking space in your bag and replace them with an educated decision that will improve your game, raise your confidence and make your overall pickleball experience even better!   Can’t wait to see you on the courts!

Meet Janet – a New Pickleball Enthusiast

Meet Janet. Pickleball enthusiast.

Sarasota pickleball
Janet

Janet never played racket sports before, but her neighbor told her one day to play pickleball. She tried it and loved it (who doesn’t). Soon she signed up as a member at Palm Aire and played with some much better players who told her to find something else to do. But she stayed with it and at the end of the summer she received the MOST IMPROVED award.

From Omaha, Nebraska, she moved down to Florida in 1984. Janet didn’t have time to play sports because she worked back then, but now she lives in Mote Ranch and plays at least 3 days a week.  I ran into her at Longwood Park.

Her advice is…Do not be intimidated by better players, but also you don’t want to ruin their game. Find a good in between and stick with it.

 

My Review of Pickleball at Venice Community Center

On a hot day, I drove down to the Venice Community Center located at 326 S. Nokomis Ave., Venice to play intermediate pickleball on a Thursday, 11:00am – 2:00pm. I was happy to see there was plenty of parking and a very clean facility.

If it’s your first time here, you will need to purchase a card for $20.00. It is $2.00 per play. Cards may be purchased in the office, and there is a county employee who scans it in at the door.

The room is like your old high school auditorium with a black and white floor. At first it was a little confusing but I quickly got used to the white lines on the black and white floor.

Games were to 11, win by 2, and you write your name on a white board; 4 per square. A small group of players were there so I played constantly, however, I understand that the day before they had a large crowd and wait time was substantial.

People were very friendly and games were competitive.  Great place to play pickleball on a hot, June day.

Venice Community Center
The Venice Community Center (VCC) is a beautiful 45,000 sq. ft. regional facility that serves the needs of residents and visitors in Sarasota County as well as counties to the north and south.

Monday, Wednesday, Thursday
11:00am – 2:00pm -Intermediates
2:00am – 5:00pm – Beginners
5:00pm – 8:00pm – Open Play

326 S. Nokomis Ave., Venice FL
(941) 861-1380

 

Sarasota Pickleball Venice Community Center Sarasota Pickleball Venice Community Center Sarasota Pickleball Venice Community Center Sarasota Pickelaball Venice Community Center Sarasota Pickleball

USAPA Approved Pickleballs

USAPA Reapproves Jugs Pickleballs, Clarifies Ball Conditioning Requirements for Pure 2

Jugs Indoor Pickleball

Jugs Indoor Pickleball, available in white or green

The USAPA has announced that the much-beloved Jugs Indoor Ball is back on the list of approved balls for tournament play PROVIDED they are properly conditioned. They’ve clarified that the Onix Pure 2 Indoor and Outdoor Balls need to be conditioned prior to use at sanctioned tournaments as well. This is to assure the balls bounce less than 34 inches when dropped from a 78-inch height.

Straight out of the package, the Jugs and Pure 2 Balls all bounce about 36 inches. According to Christine Barksdale, Director of Competition at the USAPA, “Effective January 1, 2018 conditioning will no longer be an acceptable method for meeting bounce height criterion.”

But there is much more to this story for any who are interested…

The Real Story Behind the Announcement

You may think this rule change is much ado about nothing. As a 5.0 tournament player, I can tell you this is not the case. Many players have expressed passionate views about the rule changes relating to balls on social media in recent months. A couple of inches of bounce height is serious stuff.

While USAPA ball rule changes have fueled much of the debate, the melee really began in 2015 with the introduction of new balls like the Onix Pure Outdoor Ball. The original Pure Ball was a yellow or orange 40-hole outdoor ball that was softer and easier to control than other outdoor balls. These are fantastic in many ways. However, because it was easier to control, many top players complained that it equalized play between lesser and better players.

Simply put, many players feel that the Pure Outdoor Ball changes the game in a way that reduces the skill needed for finesse shots. While I personally love both the newer, softer Pure Balls and the older, harder balls (like the Dura Fast 40), I have come to agree with these players’ assessments.


⇒To order Jug Pickleballsclick here 

⇒To order Onix Pure Outdoor Pickleballs…click here
⇒To order Onix Indoor Pickleballs…click here

We’re no longer dealing with mere wiffle balls; pickleballs have critical characteristics discernible by connoisseurs of the sport. Should we have one ball for pros and another for recreational players? Should there be different balls for juniors vs. adults? Should there be different balls based on the playing surface or weather conditions? Many sports have these variations.

Because some balls (like the Pure 2 and Jugs Balls) bounce higher when new, this creates inconsistent play as the ball wears over the course of a match or two.

The USAPA sought to address this issue while also addressing issues relating to the very nature of the sport. In October 2015, the USAPA  modified the bounce limit from 37 inches to 34 inches.

Their goal in limiting the bounce height was to preserve the tactical nature of the sport which rewards the patience and finesse required to succeed with a lower bouncing ball. The deadline for achieving the lower bounce was first set at May 1, 2016 and later pushed back to October 1, 2016.

Balls perform differently when used outdoors on hard surfaces compared to indoors on floating wood floors. This further complicates the situation, much like how a tennis ball behaves differently on a concrete vs. a clay or grass court. More on this later…

In response to the 2015 rule change, Escalade (the company that produces the Onix Pure and Pure 2 balls) scrambled to develop balls that bounced under 34 inches.

Their solution was to have users condition the balls prior to use or testing so that they would meet the 34-inch maximum bounce height. As with many innovations, the law of unintended consequences reared its head.

As 5.0 players, tournament directors and officials within the USAPA learned about the implications of conditioning, it started to create real-world problems, particularly for tournament directors needing balls that performed to USAPA standards without any conditioning.

The first conditioning process published by the USAPA involved squeezing each ball by hand 6 times in 16 different places, for a total of 96 manual squeezes.

For me, thumb tendinitis sets in after conditioning only 2 balls!

Imagine the problem of trying to figure out how to condition 250 balls prior to a tournament. Innovative tournament directors were faced with the challenge of addressing this with a variety of “home remedies.” I’ve heard stories of some really creative attempts to condition balls using clothes dryers for instance.

What’s the right setting? 15 minutes on the perma-press cycle? These approaches were interesting, but largely unscientific and unrepeatable.

Fortunately, the USAPA is sorting this all out. They opened up dialog with the manufacturers to put the burden of consistency and science back where it belongs—on the companies producing the balls.

Aren’t Indoor and Outdoor Balls Different?

While design differentiates indoor and outdoor pickleballs, the biggest changes in performance are determined by playing surface. Most outdoor play is on asphalt or concrete; most indoor play is on wood or carpet. More indoor facilities are accommodating pickleball on tennis courts, and outdoor balls are generally used because of the harder surfaces.

Popular outdoor balls are heavier and have 40 smaller holes. They perform better in windy conditions and on abrasive surfaces. Indoor balls are lighter and have 26 larger holes. Indoor balls perform well on smoother surfaces with no wind. But here’s the catch: Wood floors absorb more energy, resulting in a much lower bounce compared to concrete or asphalt.

The Jugs Ball is the most popular ball for indoor play, and though it bounces over 36 inches on concrete when new, on wood floors it bounces less than 34 inches. The same is true for the Onix Pure 2 Indoor Ball. This is why most of the debate underway concerns the Pure 2 Outdoor Ball used on asphalt or concrete. The Onix Pure 2 Outdoor Ball actually bounces 36-37 inches on the surface for which it is intended: asphalt or concrete.

Talking About the Dura Fast 40 (and the TOP, and the 503…)

As a tournament player involved with a retailer that sells more pickleballs than anyone else in the world, in my own unscientific sampling I found most 5.0 players prefer the original Dura Fast 40 balls for outdoor play. (In the interest of full disclosure, this same retailer acquired the Dura brand in August 2016.)

The Dura and Pure 2 Balls are made very differently, using different chemistry and materials. The Dura Fast 40 Balls are made using a seamless rotomolding process where holes are drilled after the balls are formed using a seamless production process. There is a line on the inside of the ball, but this isn’t a “seam,” it is simply the line that the mold makes during the release process. The Onix 503 and TOP Balls are made using the same process.

Dura Fast 40 Outdoor Pickleball

Dura Fast 40 Outdoor Pickleball, available in yellow, orange, white and neon.

The Dura Fast 40 Ball was developed in 1980 by Pickle-Ball Inc working closely with a family that specialized in unique high performance plastics manufacturing who had also taken an interest in pickleball. The ball was developed specifically for outdoor pickleball play on concrete or asphalt courts. The rotomolding and drilling process produces a geometrically precise ball with a smooth finish and attractive appearance.

⇔To order Dura FastOutdoor Pickleballclick here

This has been the primary outdoor ball for decades, and most players love it. But this type of ball demands real finesse. Players who have mastered this ball are recognized as deserving their 5.0 ratings. Their ability with this ball sets them apart, and they require no conditioning.

The Dura Fast 40 has always been the official ball used at the USAPA Nationals, and is now the official ball of the US Open. Alas for many, it will always be “the outdoor pickleball.”

When Pickleballs Go Sour

Many other balls have been introduced over the years. Most of them have suffered from a variety of issues including cracking, unpredictable flight patterns, a tendency to go out of round and unusual playability at certain temperatures.

Designing a plastic orb that performs after thousands of high-speed impacts with precision over time, in a variety of weather conditions, is a truly difficult scientific endeavor.

Pickleball evolved around a specific set of playability characteristics, and the USAPA is seeking to protect the integrity of the sport.

Neon Color Dura Fast 40 Ball

New Neon Color Dura Fast 40 Ball is the official ball of the US Open Pickleball Championships

Other sports have had their own issues with equipment. Golf has long suffered from issues with changes to golf balls. Aluminum and corked bats have changed baseball, and many would not say for the better. Remember “Deflategate?” Who would have thought that a half a pound of pressure in a football would have the consequences it did?

Large, well-financed companies have attempted to reproduce the magic of that breakthrough Dura Ball. For example, Wilson launched their similar outdoor ball prior to the US Open in 2015. They believed it would have similar bounce characteristics as the Dura Balls, but they found that the chemistry and manufacturing process was hard to master.

They quickly discontinued the ball due to out-of-round complaints a month prior to the US Open. Players loved the visibility of that new ball, but disliked the irregular bounces, and sometimes no bounce at all!

US Open Logo

Late in 2016, a neon green version of the Dura Fast 40 was launched. The Dura Fast 40 will be the official ball of the US Open Pickleball Championships from 2017 through 2019. Others are following suit, and there is now a neon green version of the TOP Ball.

Differences in Pickleball Manufacturing 

“Injection molding” is a different type of manufacturing process than rotational molding. The Pure 2 Outdoor and Indoor Balls and the Jugs 26-Hole Indoor Ball (aka the Jugs Bulldog) are made using an injection molding process.

The holes are not drilled but formed in the mold. Each half is molded and the two halves are glued together. The chemistry of the materials and the injection process results in softer balls that bounce higher initially.

These softer balls are easier to control for many players. However, many tournament players, 5.0 pros and pickleball purists disdain them. Tennis players generally prefer the softer balls because they are more responsive to spin.

Do we want to give elite tennis players—already dominating the sport—even more advantage?

Injection molding is a proven way for plastics engineers to create high quality predictable products. While I’m not a materials scientist or polymer engineer (though I am an engineer), what we’ve heard is that the plastic material itself has to have certain characteristics to flow into the molds.  These characteristics manifest themselves in the way the balls bounce out of the package. After stress relieving (aka conditioning), these balls bounce less.

Cosom Fun Ball

The Cosom Fun Ball was the leading indoor pickleball.

Changing the chemistry of injection molded balls to make them bounce less is simple, right? We’ll see. Remember the Cosom Fun Ball which dominated indoor play for years? In my first tournament in SeaTac directed by Mark Friedenberg in 2013, the Cosom Ball was used.

In hard play, most balls would not last a single game before breaking at the seam. The boxes of broken balls at the conclusion of the tournament would have filled a mini van! Achieving great performance and lower bounce may prove a significant challenge for Jugs and Onix.

The Future of Pickleball(s)

Where do we go from here? During my research for this blog post I’ve heard a wide variety of opinions.  I’ve had the great pleasure of speaking with dozens of 5.0 players, manufacturer’s representatives, testing personnel at the USAPA and scientists working at the epicenter of this great debate.

Some suggest the USAPA stipulate the exact materials composition and characteristic of indoor and outdoor pickleballs just like baseball does for balls, while others say that only the playability characteristics be defined by the governing body (like in golf.)

Fortunately the USAPA is taking the lead in helping clear up this controversy in an effort to maintain the integrity of the sport. To that end, they have committed to further clarifying the rules relating to ball specifications, plus they have engaged the services of a new professional engineering testing firm to assist in making sure products used in sanctioned tournament play reflect the characteristics that assure long-term success for our sport.

Ultimately the market will decide what type of balls are used. The one thing I know is this—whenever I get a new package of balls to test from some new company, I’m eager to get on the court and try them out! In 2016 I saw the introduction of several new balls from Paddletek, Gamma and others, and I had a great time getting to know these products firsthand. As a player, I say, “Let the battle for ball supremacy rage on!”

When I think about it, these aren’t just wiffle balls. They are the core DNA of our sport, and innovation in this aspect of our game is exciting and controversial stuff.

Glen Peterson is a retired engineer who spent a successful career at Caterpillar. He is a 5.0-rated tournament player who has had earned dozens of gold, silver and bronze medals at the USAPA Nationals, the US Open and other tournaments. He now works with PickleballCentral in a variety of product management roles and is sponsored by Selkirk Sports, whose paddles he uses in competition.