Austin Pickleball Update - Volume 5

Hello, and welcome to Austin Pickleball Update - Volume 5!

In this volume of Austin Pickleball Update, we’ll be diving into a primer on Major League Pickleball and Austin’s professional pickleball teams, discussing drop shots, and showcasing upcoming events and tournaments.

Have any news, tips, or Austin pickleball topics to share? Reply to this email and let us know!

In this issue of APU you will find:

• MLP and Austin’s Pro Pickleball Teams

• Pickleball Strategy 101 - Drop Shots

• Upcoming Events

  • APU Paddle Demo Events

  • Tournaments

  • APU DUPR League Sign-up

• Austin Pickleball Update Social Groups

Major League Pickleball and Austin’s Pro Pickleball Teams

If you’ve been reading this newsletter (or been to any courts recently) then you already know Austin is one of the fastest growing pickleball markets in the country. But did you also know that Austin is home to two professional pickleball teams?

Indeed, Austin is such a pickleball hub that we have not one, but two stellar professional teams. These two teams, the Texas Ranchers and the Austin Pickleballers, are both a part of Major League Pickleball (MLP). 

But what is Major League Pickleball, you ask?

MLP was the biggest competitor to the Professional Pickleball Association (PPA), with the PPA Tour being the traditional, bracket-style tour format while the MLP consisted of a team-based, co-ed league format. There was a lot of messy back and forth between the two leagues in 2023, including both leagues starting a bidding war and signing pros to exclusive contracts (you can read lots of detailed information about this online). 

This culminated in the merger of both MLP and PPA into one entity at the end of last year. That said, there are still many details yet to be finalized or understood about the merger, specifically how it will affect all the players who signed exclusive contracts and don’t want to take a now-required pay cut to play.

Pickle-drama aside, how does the MLP league work? In the MLPlay format (see what they did there?), team matches are composed of men’s doubles, women’s doubles, and two mixed doubles games. All games are played to 21 points with rally scoring, and include a Dreambreaker tiebreaker, if necessary.

The league consists of 24 geographically-based teams, split evenly into two levels. The Premier Level is made up of 12 teams featuring the top 48 players drafted, while Challenger Level boasts the second set of 12 teams with the next crop of 48 draftees looking to rise in the ranks and make it into the Premier Level.

In 2024, the 24 MLP teams will play a regular season schedule and be split into six divisions of four teams each. Teams will play at least 40 matches over the course of the regular season, facing every other team at least once. Division opponents will meet three or four times, and teams will play everyone in their rival division two or three times. The two-week MLP Playoffs will follow the conclusion of the 2024 regular season.

The top four Challenger Level teams in 2024, determined by season-long results, will be promoted to Premier Level for 2025, while the bottom four Premier Level teams will be relegated for the year.

Similar to English football, this promotion/relegation structure is sure to keep the annual MLP format interesting and exciting year in and year out, and will encourage team owners to invest heavily in their teams.

You can view the full 2024 MLP schedule below:

Now that you’ve gotten a primer on MLP, where do our Austin-based teams fit in? 

The Texas Ranchers play in the Premier Level, while the Austin Pickleballers are a Challenger Level team. Despite being in different leagues, both organizations have celebrity owners and investors. 

The Texas Ranchers, founded by Tim Klitch (Chief Fun Officer of Austin Pickle Ranch) and entrepreneur Bryan Sheffield, has a star-studded ownership group, including Lil Wayne, The Kid LAROI, Sheena Melwani, Emmanuel Acho, Scottie Scheffler, Zach Bryan, Micah Parsons, Myles Garrett, and Kendra Scott, among many, many others. The stated goal of the Texas Ranchers is to be “America’s Pickleball Team.”

The Austin Pickleballers came about through the merger of two different MLP teams and also boast a notable ownership group, including MLP co-founder and Austin entrepreneur Mellie Price, ACL Festival and C3 Presents co-founders Charles Attal and Charlie Walker, and my personal favorite, New York Times #1 Bestselling author, researcher, storyteller, and podcast host, Brené Brown.

Fun fact, I listened to Brené talk about pickleball being her absolute favorite thing on her podcast years before I started playing. I thought it was silly sounding sport at the time, and now I’m here writing a newsletter about pickleball nearly a year into playing and loving the sport. I love how life works out.

Are you star struck and awe-inspired yet? As you’ve heard us say before, the future of pickleball, especially in Austin, is extremely bright. I am particularly excited at the prospect of having two Austin based teams to cheer for in the Premier Level in the future. 

Stay tuned to Austin Pickleball Update for news on the 2024 MLP seasons for both the Texas Ranchers and the Austin Pickleballers!

Pickleball Strategy 101 - Get Your Drop Shots Going! 

The drop shot is one of the most challenging shots to master in pickleball, however it is a critical tool in the arsenal of any experienced pickleball player. The goal of drop shots is to allow you and your partner to make your way to the kitchen line, where you can establish a dominant court position for the current point you are playing. 

There is a reason that the “third shot drop” is a named shot in pickleball. This shot, usually the third shot of a pickleball point (which is the second time the ball is hit by the serving team), is critical to understand and utilize effectively.

Hitting an effective drop shot will land the ball into your opponents kitchen that requires a bounce before they are able to return the shot. This provides additional time for you and your partner to set up the point in your favor while providing a non-attackable ball to your opponent. Hitting an effective third shot drop is also the fastest way to get to the dink rally to further set up your winning point. 

That said, I also want to be clear that drop shots, especially the third drop shot, are difficult to learn and challenging to hit consistently. To give you an idea of the skill rating for drop shots, USA Pickleball states that a 3.5 skill rating player is “developing the drop shot in a way to get to the net”. Most players will likely be in the 3.0-3.5 skill rating before they even start considering and working on their drop shot. 

The other challenging part of drop shots is that they have a negative reinforcement loop. If you hit an ineffective drop shot that falls short into the net, you will lose your team the point. If you hit your drop shot too high over the net, you will set your opponent up for an overhead slam or speed up, which are shots with high winning percentages, and you are likely to lose the point.

Because drop shots are easy to mess up and hitting them poorly is likely to lose you the current point, I feel like most players shy away from hitting drop shots in matches. Instead, you’ll often just see players taking a power shot for their third shot rather than a drop.

What’s the best way to learn how to hit effective drop shots? Drilling and practice will go a long way towards getting you more comfortable with your drops. I will also advocate that once you have a half decent drop shot (which will feel inconsistent at best), you should be using this shot in matches as much as possible.

While this may feel like trial by fire as you are constantly bombarded by overhead slams and short hits into your net, getting a feel for drop shots in gameplay scenarios and understanding what an over/under hit drop shot feels like (and the subsequent response from your opponents) is a great way to improve your drops. 

It may take you months of drilling and games to develop a consistent drop shot, and you may feel like it isn’t worth the effort. I promise you that the results will be worth it when you’re able to hit consistent drop shots from anywhere on the court, as this will open up and advance your pickleball game to new levels. 

If you’re looking for a great overview video of how to hit a drop shot, check out How To Hit 3rd Shot Drops from Enhance Pickleball.

To recap the video:

1. The third shot drop is the hardest shot to master in pickleball but is crucial for advancing in the game.

2. The goal of the third shot drop is to make opponents hit up on the ball, making it easier for the player to move forward and meet them at the kitchen.

3. Proper technique includes a compact swing, a loose grip, and a steady paddle. The shot should be aimed at the back portion of the kitchen.

4. It's more beneficial to err on the side of hitting the shot too far than missing it in the net.

5. Footwork is crucial for executing the shot consistently. Players should get into position early, rock forward through the shot, and catch the ball out in front.

6. Two drills for practicing the shot are gradually backing up from the kitchen while maintaining consistency, and one up one back, where the player practices responding to more challenging shots.

Good luck hitting and mastering your drop shots!

Upcoming Events

Austin Pickleball Update DUPR Events

Interested in organized DUPR events to get rated or get your rating up? Fill out our interest form here and we’ll follow-up with more information around DUPR days and leagues happening in Q1 2024. 

APU Paddle Demo Events

If you’re interested in checking out and demoing some of the latest, high-end pickleball paddles, we’ll be running paddle demo events at the below locations and times:

• Austin Pickle Ranch - Friday 1/12 - 5-7pm - PAST

• South Austin Rec Center - Saturday 2/3 - 9am-12pm - register here

• South Austin Rec Center - Sunday 2/11 - 9am-12pm - register here

• Urban Pickleball Club - Thursday 2/22 - 5-7pm - private member event

Check out our website here to see the paddles available at our paddle demo events, and to check out our local Austin paddle rental program.

Austin Area Pickleball Tournaments

7 Upcoming Tournaments! To receive ALL tournament information and updates subscribe to Austin Pickleball Update and get the information straight to your inbox!

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Look out for Austin Pickleball Update - Volume 6 on Thursday, February 1st, 2024!

See you on the courts!✌️

Phillip & Kylee Klugman - Austin Pickleball Update

P.S. Happy 4th wedding anniversary to my incredible wife, and the soul and fun behind the APU Instagram account, Kylee Klugman. I love you more than pickleball.