Replace Your Grit Whenever You Want!?

My thoughts on recent game improvement

I’ve been a bit more focused on improving my game lately and I wanted to share a few of my thoughts that I think people overlook.

1. Fixing my technique rather than blaming my paddle

I’ve already covered this a little bit in a recent video about why I think power paddles are overrated for (most) amateurs, but I wanted to expand a little bit more with my experience playing with a control paddle recently.

I used to try and use a power paddle to make up for my lack of offense on counters, overheads, and drives, but when I really thought about it, that just didn’t make sense.

My counters and overheads have waaaaaaay bigger fundamental flaws in my technique and I was using a power paddle to compensate. Even if I was given a ball to counter, I usually hit it terribly with a power paddle because my technique (relative to my skill level) sucked.

When I zoomed out, I wasn’t losing games because I couldn’t counter the ball or hit an overhead hard enough. When I did get the opportunity to hit those shots, I was just hitting them poorly period, regardless of paddle type.

So, I decided to if I want to hit an overhead or counter harder, I need to actually improve my technique rather than hoping the paddle can fix it for me. If pro player Augie Ge can wreck people with a Vatic Pro Prism v7, there’s no reason I can’t be beating 5.0s with a softer paddle.

So, I took lessons for both of these things with one of our local pros and after drilling counters for the last few months, there has been a big improvement in my technique and I’m hitting them much better than I ever have before.

If you have a good coach in your area, you should take advantage of it. I was always skeptical of coaching because of all the free YouTube videos online, but taking lessons has been a massive help for me.

2. Better decision making

Similar to the last section, when I zoomed out and thought about what makes me win or lose a game, it wasn’t a singular shot or piece of technique.

It’s usually because I’m making stupid decisions like:

- Attacking a ball from my knees
- Speeding up to positions that my opponent is sitting on
- Not being willing to sit in a dink rally for extended periods of time
- Poor movement or court awareness that puts me in suboptimal positions
- Choosing to hit the wrong type of shot for the ball my opponent gives me
- Not bending my knees enough

I’ve reached a point in my game where I’m not losing because of a specific shot that I lack, but primarily because of small errors I’m making throughout the game.

So, I’ve put more of an emphasis on better footwork, being in better position on the court, and being more intentional about where and why I am placing a ball in a specific spot.

Particularly choosing higher percentage shots instead of trying to be a hero or make a flashy play.

This feels like a VERY boring way to play Pickleball, but I have already noticed that my level of play is feeling stronger just from thinking more while I’m on the court.

I have APP Newport Beach with Braydon from Pickleball Effect this weekend, so I’m excited to see how it pans out in a 5.0 bracket.

I took a lesson to fix my crappy overhead

• Watch video here

Speaking of overheads, we filmed that lesson with Amrik and published it yesterday.

I knew I didn’t have a good overhead, but it blew my mind how many things I didn’t know. If you only come from a Pickleball background, you should check it out because I think you’ll pick up some great advice on improving your overhead.

I still have a long ways to go before my overhead is fixed, but I’m happy to have a blueprint of what I need to focus on. My counters took several months before I saw the payoff I wanted, and I imagine this will be similar. All worth it in the end though.

Reload Pickleball is finally here

If you haven’t heard of Reload, they were a company that approached me last year with the goal to have a paddle where you could replace the raw carbon fiber grit on your paddle whenever you want. Similar to the PIKKL skins concept, but with the regular raw carbon fiber we are used to.

I haven’t had time to do a full deep dive of Reload’s website, but I have scanned it a bit. Here are a few initial thoughts:

The dreaded subscription model…

I’m VERY skeptical of the subscription model…I need to sit down and run some numbers, but I really wish they hadn’t gone this route. They are the first company in Pickleball to do a subscription service for paddles and with a starting price of $300 for the year.

The subscription models:

• One plan:

  • $300/yr

  • 12 replacement sheets (1 sheet per side, so you reload every other month)

  • Comes with 1 paddle base

  • Additional bases (the blank paddle) $75 per paddle.

• Pro plan:

  • $540/yr

  • 24 replacement sheets (reload every month)

  • Comes with 2 paddle bases

  • Additional bases $60 per paddle

• MAX plan:

  • $996 per plan

  • 48 replacement sheets (reload every other week)

  • Comes with 4 paddle bases

  • Additional bases $60 per paddle

These prices are uhhh….a lot of money. I feel like the market already has a hard time stomaching the $250+ paddles given how good the rest of the market has gotten at lower prices.

Not to mention, my current understanding is that you are billed yearly up front, but your sheets are shipped to you at 6 month intervals. Uhhhh….what? If you’re going to bill me for the year up front, just give me all of the product.

Now I will give some credit. You can buy a Selkirk Labs, Gearbox, Joola, Engage, etc for anywhere from $250-$333. So, a paddle that has basically an unlimited (ish) warranty for the paddle bases+being able to refresh the grit (which is why most people stop using a paddle) IS a better value than the other paddles I mentioned.

But, with that being said, these prices are still a LOT to stomach for a brand new company.

I think they should have took a similar route as PIKKL. Sell the base with a set of skins, and then sell each additional skin set for $20-40. Once you have more paddles (power, control, different shapes) then you could transition to a subscription model if you see the business is viable.

Considering how fast paddle technology changes in a 6 month to 1 year span, I’m trying to figure out which type of player wants to do a subscription model for 1 type of paddle with replaceable grit.

Is it your local 3.0-3.5 from the park? I doubt it. A lot of those players don’t even care about their grit (of course some do, but most don’t) and they are perfectly fine using the same paddle for 1-2 years that they bought for $100-$150.

Is it the 4.0-5.0? Maybe? But even those people are usually chasing the latest and greatest paddle trends.

Imagine this scenario: Reload comes out in November 2022 when gen 1 raw carbon fiber paddles were all the rage. January 2023 comes along and now gen 2 comes out. Everyone flocked to it and gen 1 started to diminish in popularity.

Now you’re stuck with a 1 year subscription with replaceable sheets for a paddle type that you might not even want to use anymore.

Now, to counter this they do have language in their FAQ that says:

Notice one very specific word in that line. “You MIGHT be able to”
I’m not a fan of this type of language at all. I find when it comes to things like this, might usually ends up meaning “No”.

So to me, they need more shapes, thicknesses and types of paddle offerings before the skin concept will be adopted by mass.

I feel like Reload had a completely killer concept on their hand, and they decided to ask for too much at launch when there isn’t any consumer trust.

A brand new company that no one knows demanding a reasonably premium price and the first to do a subscription model is a tough sell.

Now of course, I don’t have the paddle and skins yet and this is just my first impression from the website. With more time my opinion might change, but for now I’m going in with a very healthy amount of skepticism.

🎙️ Latest podcast

If you missed it, this week we talked about a variety of paddles, different balls, and the most exciting topic, different paddles/balls in super slow motion. Ever wondered if a ball compresses on an overhead?

Spoiler: It does and people have been wrong about this for a long time.

Ever wondered how a Gearbox or Gen 3 Joola looks in slow motion? We have you covered. I highly recommend watching on YouTube so that you can see the footage. It is very cool to see.