Author Archives: Kevin

I have three videos for you to watch. See if you can see the difference in how pickleball was played in 2016, was played in 2019 (a key inflection point in the sport), and in late 2023. 2016 US Open Bronze Medal Match – watch the first three points: https://youtu.be/9UVG5–LzZk?t=247 2019 Nationals Women’s Championship MatchContinue reading “Evolution of the Game”

Hi #pickleball fans … I realize that 113 points is probably a small sample, but I charted the probability of holding the serving team without scoring a point based on placement of the return of serve. Don’t return medium-depth to the forehand of a player (25%). Try returning deep (obviously) and to either corner. Improving depth ofContinue reading “Returns of Serve”

Yesterday McGuffin/Sock were blown out in the first round of the PPA event in North Carolina. Here is what the “Added Value” analysis looks like: We see that Jack Sock was at -5.5 points of added value … while Jim Dobram was at +6.4 points of added value. This was ultimately the difference. McGuffin stuffingContinue reading “Here’s What An Upset Looks Like”

Ok, I’ve spent the past half-year creating an analytics method that I’ve been sharing on Instagram (@minethatdata). I call the methodology “Added Value”. The goal of “Added Value” is to demonstrate the contribution each play generates to the final score. If a team loses 11-7 / 11-7, there will be an approximate 4 points ofContinue reading “Added Value”

Here is the shot chart for 3rd shots from the Mens 4.0 35+ Gold Medal match at the 2021 Margaritaville National Championship. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c9a4w6qU0ZA The team that won the match (in two games) is shown at the top of the image. Here is the code for the image: Tell me what you see when you lookContinue reading “Mens 4.0 35+ 2021 Nationals”

Devilliers/Grechkina thumped P. Smith/Jansen last Tuesday night at The Orchard. I tracked success of third shots. There’s a lot of stuff going on there. If you look at Patrick’s stats, you can see reasons why they lost. When he hit a drive, he and Lea only won 21% of their points … Lea won 33%Continue reading “Tuesday Night Pickleball”

This image comes from a PPA Team Championships match on Saturday. I marked where the return of serve landed. Red means the team attempting the third shot lost the point, green means the team attempting the third shot won the point. An “X” means the team attempting the third shot hit a drive, a filledContinue reading “Deep Returns of Serve”

If this two-minute video doesn’t convince you to diversify your third shot arsenal, well, not much will. I shared this video during the summer, and it’s worth a quick revisit today. Watch until the 21:50 mark.

Ok, here’s the video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9JuA0PItgvM The first thing you’ll see is the power of the spin serve … going away in 2023 as I understand. Here’s the shot chart … the team that wins Gold is called “Pink Shirt” … the spin serve guy is called “Black Shirt”. Black Shirt Team won 7 serves withoutContinue reading “3.5 60+ Nationals Final: Rally Analysis”

The Johns brothers played yet another Championship Match against Newman/Wright on Sunday, winning in four games. In this match, I charted the team that won the point based on rally length. Here are the results. On the far left side of the chart, we see rally length (1 to 70). The yellow section tabulates howContinue reading “Rally Length Analysis”

On multiple occasions I’ve heard experts say that if you are going to make a mistake, make it when you are serving, because the other team cannot score. That’s a lie. Of course the other team cannot score. But when you make a mistake while on the serving team, you take away the opportunity toContinue reading “Pickleball Lies: Errors While Serving”

Here’s a link to the event last night at The Orchard (click here). I tracked a handful of metrics. After watching in-person, it seemed like there were a lot of step-backs on fourth shots off of third shot drops. So I counted ’em. 4th Shot Step Back = 25, 37% of total. 4th Shot BounceContinue reading “Tuesday Night Pickleball”

Back to our APP tournament, this is a semifinal with Patriquin/Stone … they defeated McMakin/Taylor 11-9 / 11-3 (click here to watch the match). This time, I charted drops (ending with a small p) and drives (ending with a capital D) and prefixed the letter with the number of shots it took to win/lose theContinue reading “More 3rd Shots”

The chart below is for the first game in the APP Sacramento event held over the weekend, charting Hayden Patriquin and Wyatt Stone’s 3rd shot attempts. The chart shows Drive (D) and Drop (P) attempts, red coloring means they lost the point, green coloring means they won the point. Notice where the drives happen –Continue reading “Drives vs. Drops”

Ok, this afternoon’s film study charted when players won points. This time, I split out what happens on shots 1-3 vs. shots 4-6. If you miss a serve, if you miss your return of serve, or if you hit a 3rd shot drop into the net (or a drive out the back or into theContinue reading “First Three Shots & Errors”

The hypothesis I’m developing is that points are frequently decided in the first six shots, by putting constant pressure on the opposition. Once we get to the 7th shot, things devolve into a dinking rally, and then speed up at once the first attackable ball is offered. I measured when points were won in fourContinue reading “Data Points: The Six Shot Rule”

Last weekend the PPA played in Orange County. If you want to see what “pressure” looks like in the game of Pickleball, give Burrows/Warnick vs. Newman/Wright. In case the match doesn’t load properly, go to the 2 hour 37 minute spot to begin watching the match. https://youtu.be/HFRxpJMjKIQ?t=9452 You’ll see plenty of application by Burrows/Warnick ofContinue reading “Speaking of Pressure”

Here are some notes based on what I’ve observed over five weeks of film study of PPA and MLP matches. Serves: Deep, with pace, often to a backhand, with spin. Trying to create an uncomfortable return of serve. 2nd / Return of Serve: Non-receiver positions near center line. Deep where possible. Deep keeps opposition fromContinue reading “Notes from Film Study from the Past Five Weeks”

In Major League Pickleball this morning (Saturday), Camryn Irwin (who is an absolute joy to listen to) and Adam Scott discussed serves and returns of serve. Mr. Stone wondered aloud what percentage of returns of serve are deep based on the depth of the serve. Well, that is a question that can be answered. ForContinue reading “Serves, Returns of Serve”

Let’s take a look at some of the things that Andrea Koop does well. She’s able to win with different women. She’s able to win with different men. She medals in APP tournaments, in PPA tournaments, it just doesn’t matter, she medals. And she doesn’t play full-time either, given that she has a full-time job.Continue reading “Film Study: Andrea Koop”

Things really kick off when Julian Arnold offers his first “Andiamo” exclamation after this point: https://youtu.be/eiOkPnzAmfA?t=15768. Notice how Arnold takes advantage of just about six inches of extra space in the middle of the court created by the prior ball which causes Lucy to move just a bit to her right. Ok, Jessie and JulianContinue reading “Analysis of the Best Mixed Doubles Match I’ve Ever Witnessed”

Julian Arnold / Jessie Irvine against Matt Wright / Lucy Kovalova was absolute magic on Friday. Pure pickleball theater surrounded by the highest level of mixed play you’ll ever see. Your homework assignment is to watch the match (click here). The next post will have data about this spectacular matchup.

I charted the points that CBS / Pickleball Channel chose to show us, counting the number of returns of serve hit to each player in the Men’s Gold Medal Game at the US Open. Here we go: Colin Johns = 11 3rd Shots Attempted. Ben Johns = 32 3rd Shots Attempted. Matt Wright = 8Continue reading “Returns of Serve”

It was Pickleball Night in America (again … click here). This time, I charted third shots across the four matches. Here are the results: Teams scored 47% of the time when hitting drop shots. Teams scored 47% of the time when hitting drives. No difference. Interestingly, drives were effective when paired with a “shake andContinue reading “3rd Shot Charting”

In tonight’s Pickleball Night in America (click here), played on a moist surface, I charted the percentage of times (when dinking) the team starting a gunfight won the point. Across four rally-scoring matches, I observed 51 points where a team (while dinking) started a gunfight. Of those instances, the point was won 26 times (51%).Continue reading “Starting Gunfights”

Maybe you signed up for your own DUPR account, and know that you are currently a 3.943 player. The future certainly includes some sort of standardized rating that equalizes players. If you play in tournaments, you already have a UTPR … and over time you’ve observed that playing 3.0 50-59 is a different proposition thanContinue reading “DUPR”

Our study tonight comes to us courtesy of the Auvergne/Stone vs. Wilson/Bright matchup on Pickleball Night in America (click here). Watch the first match, ok? In this match, I charted shot selection on 3rd shot / 5th shot combinations. Here is the outcome of the analysis – discussion follows. In the match, nearly 75% ofContinue reading “3rd Shot / 5th Shot”

Alright, let me show you something I am working on. I call it the “Pickleball Game Flow Worksheet”. To keep things simple, I charted the first game of the PPA Women’s Doubles Bronze Medal match in Austin this weekend between Parenteau/Irvine and Koop/Johnson. You may click here to watch the match. I may have missedContinue reading “The Pickleball Game Flow Worksheet”

Less analysis here, more opinion today. We’ve witnessed the success of Anna Bright over the past few weeks on the APP circuit (click here). We see interesting dynamics between the two professional tours. On the one hand, the PPA largely has the best players locked-up. On the other hand, if the PPA has the bestContinue reading “APP and PPA”

I charted the five-game PPA thriller at Desert Ridge, featuring Callie Smith / Lucy Kovalova vs. Jessie Irvine / Catherine Parenteau. Specifically, I recorded shot selection (Drop, Drip, Drive) … a drip being a drop shot that is essentially chest/shoulder height, allowing the opposition to play offense off of the shot. I charted whether theContinue reading “3rd Shot Importance: Desert Ridge”

We all know that dinking is an important skill. As a player progresses to higher ratings levels, dinking consumes more shots within each rally. At the recent APP tournament in Mesa, I charted the outcomes of dinks in the first game of the Gold Medal match between Tereshenko/David and Irvine/Koop. Click on this link toContinue reading “Dinking Statistics”

We’ll begin 2022 with the first tournament, the Mesa Open at Bell Bank Park. This is the first event to be held at this park, a park featuring forty-one (41) pickleball courts and a center stadium that seats 2,000 fans. Watch the APP’s YouTube Channel for coverage from Thursday through Saturday.

How nice of you to be here! My goal in launching Pickleball Analytics is to share statistics relevant to performance in the PPA, APP, and major tournaments. Obviously I’m biased toward the infinitely incomparable Jesse Irvine, and she will get her fair share of positive commentary here. But the goal is to be positive, toContinue reading “Greetings!”