When it comes to those people who are championing the sport of pickleball, Chris Allen and The Pickleball Show are right up there at the top.
Chris and I had a great conversation recently and it was so much fun chatting about this great sport.
And thanks to Chris for the shout out for the upcoming USAPA Great Lakes Regional pickleball tournament in Fort Wayne. Hope to see everyone there.
Registration deadline is Midnight Monday August 3rd. CLICK HERE TO REGISTER
Chris Allen and The Pickleball Show ROCKS!
Rocket – Thanks for being a guest on The Pickleball Show. I really enjoy listening to Chris’ podcast and it was nice to hear your voice in addition to reading your “ramblings”. I liked you idea on extending the rankings from the 5.0 scale to a greater range like 7.0. I do NOT agree with the change on moving the NVZ line though. Don’t you think that if the ratings system change is implemented than any “advantage” that the more athletic players have goes away since they would be rated higher and in different brackets than the less athletic? If the NVZ line is moved then the game totally changes (serve, volleying, time spent “in” that part of court). It seems to me that it would be similar to saying that a basketball hoop height needs to be changed because there are people who can dunk on a 10 ft hoop; however, the problem solves itself by the presence of “professional” basketball where essentially all players can dunk. I am interested in seeing others views on this potential change. Is there a forum or position paper on this topic? Thanks, Nick (Pickleball rocks!)
Nick, I had a great time with Chris. Appreciate the feedback and let me start by making it clear that my opinion of moving the NVZ line back a little, is just that. My opinion. I don’t know of any other conversation within the USAPA about it. But I am not talking about a major move. 6 inches might be enough. I am very cautious about doing anything that changes the original intent of the rules to keep the defense and offense balanced. But you also would probably agree that when they came up with the rules, it was for their young children and the older adults. It wasn’t created for the six foot six inch players with 7 foot reach. So they probably didn’t have today’s players in mind. It’s not just the 5.0 players so the additional rating level’s won’t fix it. It’s the long lanky players that take away the ability to get a ball into the kitchen. It you’d like to compare it to basketball, think about the fact that there is more and more talk each year about raising the baskets because players just get better and better. Not that long ago that not all of them could dunk. Would not be surprised to see the basket raised some day. And the 3 point line is different from college to NBA to different countries. So sports do adapt over time. As I said on the Pickleball Show interview, I am an old fashioned player who loves this silly sport. Let the conversation begin…. -Rocket
Rocket –
I heard this summer that there was “talk” about moving the NVZ line to 8 ft and supposedly one reason for such a change was to help players from getting stuck in “no man’s land”. Didn’t make any sense to me, people who want to hang back deep in the court are going to hang back deep in the court until they finally realize that it is very tough to win consistently from the baseline (in doubles play). Anyway because I had heard the “talk”, I think that made me overly sensitive to one of pickleballs most visible supporters (you) stating you thought that moving the line would be a good change. I too am open for discussion but I think any rule change that is a physical change (net height, lines, paddles, etc) needs significant vetting.
Nick, If you heard the 60 seconds leading up to my comment in the interview, you heard me say how careful we have to be with any change that affects the defensive/offensive balance that was put in place at the beginning of pickleball and have been very effectively kept in place over the years. So yes, I agree with you, there would have to be serious vetting done before changing the NVZ line. Keep up the great work in VA.