Blog: Order On The Court — Paddle profiles personality

Paddle type says a lot about a person's personality

I’m in the middle of a passionate relationship with my newest Selkirk Sports buy — their new and sexy SLK Halo — a carbon fibre, Kevlar paddle.

She does have a mind of her own, however, and can fly off the handle with a mis-hit, unless she is respected and in the right hands.

Contacting her sweet spot helps.

Notice I said middle, because, yes, it’s inevitable; I will eventually be wooed by another new offering by Selkirk and the Halo will be relegated to a growing collection of some 16 high end models. You can see photos of my collection on my website page here. 

This habit has been enabled as the company’s Ottawa advocate, and I’ve grown as a pickleball player using their paddles. 

Lots of great paddles by other manufacturers out there, and their fans swear by them also. I’ve only just played with Selkirk and it’s worked for me.

I am a bit fickle when it comes to paddles and I like to experiment with the newest models. I’m taking a break from my first high end model, the sassy gold and white Tyson McMuffin Vanguard Invikta Power Air. 

I figured, correctly, any paddle with a name that long had to be something special and it really is. Quite an intimidating paddle to play with; it’s bone china hardness combined with the most spin control I’ve every played with, sounding like an angry Mastodon smashing its tusk into a prehistoric tree trunk. I’m not exagerating by saying it’s probably banned under some municipal bylaw. 

I love it because the TM makes me feel like a bad ass when I’m using it. Nice weapon for the warrior player in you.

I always wear my nicest Lululemon Tie Dye pickleball t-shirts when I play with the Luxx Comfort, because it’s a high society paddle. Great for when you want to get asked out for a boat ride on the lake, because it’s got class. It hits smoother than Grand Mariner, and has that lovely bite to it when you hit a clean hit. 

What’s not to like? Well, cost for one. Luxury comes at a price.

But if I was on a deserted island, surrounded by hungry sharks, on a pickleball court with only one ball and no fence, the Luxx would be the control paddle I would pick. Sounds like a nice getaway doesn’t it. 

This blog is about paddles because I’m teaching an Introductory class to new pickleball players, and they wanted to try out the latest Selkirk paddles to help them with their first paddle buy today.

Full disclosure: Selkirk Advocates don’t get paid to sell their paddles unless they have a retail agreement — which I don’t. I get demo paddles to try, and a discount on new paddles for purchase. 

I used the morning lessons to hold a blind test for the students. Which I think is pretty smart because they don’t have any reference for comparison purposes aside from the dreadful supplied paddles — possibly the worst manmade object, I’ve ever held in my hand. A relic from the past, made out of something resembling angry black formica. 

You see the issue here. New students, holding their first paddle and it’s something early Man would throw back into the fire and try to make fish hooks out of. 

I started the class working the basic forehand groundstroke. Low to high, contact point in front of the body, Eastern Forehand Grip, nice and easy, moving weight forward through the stroke, bent knees…and they’re using a supplied meat cleaver. 

Hitting net cords, backwalls, no control because no sensation of feel or hit with the paddle through the grip.

I rummaged through my bag and handed out half a dozen of my demos, Luxx Control, Power Air, S2 Vanguard, S2 Amped, Invikta Vanguard; really nice, high end paddles for Intermediate to Advanced players, and the SLK Halo. 

I didn’t introduce any of them, just put them in the students’ hands and let them hit forehands over the net. 

The difference was immediate, and striking. The raw carbon surface on many of the paddles gripped the balls, enabling the students to develop a top spin stroke very quickly. Frustration turned to smiles, turning to happy whoops with exclaims of, “Big difference. “Much better.” Or my personal favorite, “This paddle makes me feel happy when I hit the ball with it. Just happy.”

I couldn’t have said it better myself.

New paddles, new technology, consistency, control, accuracy, power, spin. Play to win pickleball.

Turning to the blind test, with no coaxing, the Halo emerged as the overall winner. The students liked how it hit. How it made it easy to control and develop the arc necessary to clear the net and bring it down inside the baseline. Lighter than some of my heavy hitting paddles, with a solid, harder hit than the lovely smooth hit power of the Luxx , another personal favourite.

New students to the game, but no preconceived ideas or bias either. 

And yes, the paddles mentioned are expensive $200 - $350 CAD models, but the Halo retails for $150 U.S. and I think it’s a bargain at the price.

We should do more paddle reviews with new students to pickleball and listen to what they have to say about their paddle discoveries. It’s very interesting.

And yes, it was hard prying the Halo back out of my student’s hand when the drill was over.

P.S. If you’re in the market for a new paddle and money is tight, check out Costco. They’re selling a Red Selkirk Slk Prime and it felt nice. It won’t have a durable carbon skin, and the abrasive painted surface might only last for a year, but it seems like a good choice for a price.

Blog: Order On The Court: Taylor Swift drops by to say hi…

Taylor Swift takes time out from her busy concert schedule to check in on Play To Win Pickleball and book a lesson.

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It’s been a busy week with the launch of www.playtowinpickleball.com and my initial Blog, Order in the Court. Search engine optimization has resulted in unexpectedly strong growth with international interest from as far away as Germany, Ireland, the Philippines and of course Canada and the United States.

After ruling out the most obvious explanation for such a strong showing; I have relatives I didn’t know about, clicking with a show support from around the world. I can only put it down to the phenomenal world-wide interest in pickleball.

 Which brings me to share with you for my end-of-the-week blog, an interesting chat I had this morning with an avid pickleball player – Taylor Swift.

I can’t share with you our entire conversation, NDA, and all, but it went something like this.

 “Hello, is this Doug@ playtowinpickleball.com

 “Yes, who is this?” I replied glancing at the 5 a.m. time on the beside clock.

 “It’s Taylor, Taylor Swift.”

 “Who?” I typed.

 “Taylor, THE Taylor Swift. Maybe you’ve heard of me…283 million followers, $1.3 billion net worth….”

  “Yes, sorry, I don’t really listen to your music, but you seem nice. What can I help you with Taylor?”

 “Well, funny story, I was finished my concert the other night, and my assistant showed me your new website, playtowinpickleball.com. And, well, I am a huge pickleball fan… I love playing when I’m home in Nashville, and I read your blog, Order in the Court.

 “ It made me think about all the chaos I’ve been having with those darn MAGA people, after endorsing Kamala.

 “It really spoke to me, Doug.  I’m thinking about using it as the basis of a new song I’m writing….Chaos, Chaos, It’s Everywhere! Even in the Court….”I could hear an acoustic guitar in the background and Taylor started humming the lyrics to the new song.

 “It’s Chaos, Chaos, Chaos in my court, and I’m going to take that little ball of yours and smash…”

 “Ah, Taylor,” I replied wearily, stopping her.

 “It’s 5 am and I have to get up and teach a new class of pickleball players in a City of Ottawa class today…can we continue this conversation another time…”

 “Sure Doug. I just wanted to say how much I loved the new site, and if you have any suggestions on how I can build my followers base, I’d love to hear them.”

 “Ok, Taylor. Sure…”

“Oh, and Doug, can I book you to teach me how to beat Travis at pickleball? I could sure use some pointers from a professional, such as yourself.”

 “Anytime, Taylor. Just remember to fill out the Book an Appointment page and we’ll get back to you….It’s, um….$100 an hour…US”

 “Great Doug. Awesome. I’m going to go off and finish the song now while I drink my coffee. You’ve really inspired me.

 Disclaimer: The above may or may not be totally true. It was generated by the new Microsoft AI feature I’m adding to my site. It came up when I typed the term, “How to optimize a new website to attract new followers quickly. 

 Teaching Taylor Swift how to play pickleball was the number one answer.