dinks What’s News in Pickleball SCIENCE OF PICKLEBALL
BALL CONTACT: HOW LONG IS IT? By Joe Dinoffer
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hat does it mean when your coach says, “Hit through the ball?” Generally, he or she just means that you should lengthen your ball contact as much as possible. But is that even feasible to accomplish? The answer is no, making that instruction far than ideal. To understand this point, we need to know much time the pickleball dwells on the paddle when they meet. Since so many tennis players are now taking up pickleball, we compared both sports. From our high-speed camera work, we first learned that tennis ball contact lasts up to
4 milliseconds or up to 1/250th of a second. In actual distance as a part of the swing path, we calculated (with an average swing of 40-50 miles per hour) that the tennis ball dwell time occupies just about 2.5 inches. Pickleball is quite different. The contact dwell time averages just 2 milliseconds, which is only 1/500th of a second, and covers a distance of only 1.25 inches in length! Why is there such a difference between tennis and pickleball? There are two reasons. First let’s cover the pickleball paddle versus a tennis racquet. The tennis racquet strings compress to
increase the ball dwell time whereas the pickleball paddle is a hard surface, creating a faster rebound. Second, tennis balls are soft and compress (and then decompress) to further lengthen the elapsed time and length of contact. On the other hand, pickleball balls are hard and rebound off the paddle faster, especially considering that the paddle surface is hard also. This results in a time lapse “event” of pickleballs striking the paddle at literally half the time of a tennis ball striking a tennis racquet. All that said, there is one redeeming reason to try and lengthen your swing by trying to his “through” the ball. While you will not extend your contact length by this effort, you may be able to control the ball direction better in case you hit slightly earlier or later than you planned! • Joe Dinoffer is a master professional in the USPTA and PTR, has written 9 books, produced 22 DVDs, and has appeared on the Tennis Channel. His company www.OnCourtOffCourt.com manufactures training aids for pickleball and tennis, and he shares that experience and passion in this regular column for Pickleball Magazine.
REGIONAL NEWS
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ennessee was able to complete its NSGA state games September 20-24 in Franklin, TN—the first postCovid games. Masks were worn
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when not competing and social distancing was practiced. The players had such fun seeing each other once again, snd the competition was fierce.
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Women’s Division 60-64 From (l to r): Bonnie Ogle (bronze); Pamela Moore (bronze); Brenda Barton (4th); Marne Smith (gold); Kelly Price (Tournament Director); Susan Carson (gold); Kimberly Santiago (silver); Margaret Wilburn (silver); and Karen Thatcher.