The Dink Newsletter: 2022 Dink Awards Winners, Conquer the Soft Game, and Media's Take on Pickleball

You know what's great about online-only awards? Nobody can hog the mic in their acceptance speech.

Although, come to think of it, we'd love to see the attire?Tyson McGuffin would sport at a red carpet event. We'll have to re-tinker our events budget for next year...

Keep reading to see the results of this year's Dink Awards, the "People's Choice Awards of pickleball."

Let's jump in!

The Winners of the 2022 Dink Awards

The people have spoken. The winners of the 2022 Dink Awards are here! Thousands of pickleball fanatics voted on their favorites in America's fastest growing sport.?

Here are?some of this year's honorees:

• Player of the Year (W)?Anna Leigh Waters, (M)?Ben Johns
• Event of the Year:?Major League Pickleball - Austin
• Match of the Year:?Matt Wright/ Riley Newman def. Ben Johns/Collin Johns?- PPA Tournament of Champions
• Senior Player of the Year: (W)?Julie Johnson, (M)?Dave Weinbach

Our partners at Selkirk Sport - We Are Pickleball wanted to hook up some of the best in the game with a little seed money for 2023

• Content Creator of the Year:?The Pickleball Studio?- $2000 Grant
• Ava Lee Women's Most Improved Player:?Anna Bright?- $1000 Grant
• Selkirk Labs Men's Most Improved Played:?Dylan Frazier?- $1000 Grant
• Selkirk TV Best On-Air Personality:?Dave Fleming?- $1000 Grant

We'd like to thank all of our industry supporters this year — Major League Pickleball , PPA Tour , @Association of Pickleball Professionals, USA Pickleball , Selkirk Sport - We Are Pickleball , and PicklePlay — for celebrating pickleball's historic year.

Check out?our blog?to see the full list of this year's winners.

7 Ways to Conquer the Soft Game

The most frustrating players to play against are the ones who beat you in the soft game.?Mark Price?has?7 tips?to make sure you come out on top when the game slows down:

• Create pressure with your positioning?- Squeezing tight to the kitchen line can make the NVZ look smaller. If you're picking balls out of the air, they will have less time to react and recover between shots.
• Connect in front?- Keeping the ball in front of you is ideal for consistent, controlled dinks.?
• Keep it simple?- Speaking of consistency, limit your motion when possible to a swing from the shoulder, which is all that is required in many situations.
• Small back-swing?- It's pickleball, not golf. No trophies for distance here.
• Light grip pressure?- I'd move this to number one in my book. When the pressure is on, the tendency is to tighten up and SQUEEZE the paddle. Keep it loose and breathe.
• Stay focused?- ADHD can take over in a long dink rally. Try to stay patient and wait for a time to strike.
• Learn slice- Slice is a weapon in the dink game. Adding spin to the ball makes life difficult for your opponent. It changes how the ball bounces and how it reacts off their paddle.

There you go, 7 tips for the price of one. Write them on your water bottle or put them on an armband like Peyton Manning. Just don't forget them next time you hit the courts.

DUPR Goes to College

Slide your paddle into your backpack, DUPR is going to college. The DUPR Collegiate National Championships are back in 2023 with an extended competition schedule and increased scholarship money.

This year DUPR will host 12 regional tournaments and two National Championships, one for teams and one for individuals.

The events will include scholarship money for the winners:

• DUPR Regional events $4,000
• DUPR Collegiate Individual National Championship 4/14-4/16 $22,000
• DUPR Collegiate National Championship 11/17-11/19 - $31,000

It's never too late to go back to school.?Click here?for more details on how to enter.

The Media on Watching Pickleball

A writer for Tennis Channel recently attended the Major League Pickleball event in Mesa, Arizona, and found that there were?some key differences?between attending a large tennis tournament and attending a pickleball event.

“In many ways, it was giving off college tennis vibes. But it had a bit of a bigger feel, as the production at these tournaments is top notch,” the author says.?

One major difference they note is that unlike the US Open , you can watch pro pickleballers practice during these events.

“...There weren’t any fences obstructing my views. If it’s something that interests you, there was also the option of reserving some of the courts and playing directly next to some of the pros. You won’t experience that anywhere else.”

Overall, they praised the relaxed, open atmosphere of the event.?

Meanwhile, another headline about spectating pickleball recently popped up on our feed; this time, an imposing article from The 纽约时报 boldly asking, “Will Pickleball Be as Fun to Watch as It Is to Play?” (paywall).

A Smith College professor is quoted in the story with that same tired line we keep hearing:?pickleball looks too easy,?particularly when viewers watch it on television. The point is then made that because it’s much more engaging to watch the game in person than on TV, its popularity is doomed to plateau.

Our response: isn’t that true of?any?sport? Take baseball for example: it can be brutally boring to watch on TV, but actually being at the park is a different experience. And don’t get us started on soccer…

We're surprised to be saying this, but we think the 纽约时报 could take a beat from Tennis Channel .

Headlines & Quick Hits

• Find your?next indoor game
• A great?energy bar?to toss into your pickleball bag
• Pickleball is Changing,?So Should Your Game
• New York's Pickleball Fans Are Fighting for Their Own Courts -?Curbed
• State grant to be requested for tennis, pickleball courts -?Shelbyville Times-Gazette

Share The Dink Newsletter

Up your game and stay in the know. Sign up for our free Pickleball Email newsletter.