Tipbit #18 - SPIN

The use of SPIN has always been an integral part of almost all racket sports and it's clearly a part of the pickleball scene today. Paddle manufacturers first addressed the issue of adding control to their paddles, as pickleball was once a soft game, where control and finesse  were essential. Then, the trend went to increasing power.  Most recently, the focus has shifted to SPIN.
 

While many of you members, of all skill levels, have played pickleball for years without the need for or the desire to add SPIN to your games, many of you don't take advantage of its obvious values. Perhaps some of you avoid its use due to its somewhat inherent potential for introducing errors or mistakes. After all, it does require a slightly more involved stroking motion and, often times, more precise timing which does introduce more room for error. Nevertheless, SPIN has found its way into pickleball and it does add many benefits, as well as, complexities to the game. I've written many tipbits over the years about adding SPIN and its advantages.  Here are the three main advantages:

1). You can hit harder with lots of power and the forward rotation of the ball
      created by topspin produces a vacuum beneath the ball that will suck
      the ball down into play. 

 2). Your ball will have a good margin of error as it crosses the net, but then
       dips down, possibly even drastically, making for a tough volley for your
       opponents at the NVZ.

 3). When it does bounce on your opponents’ side, it tends to jump forward
       and higher forcing your opponents back deeper into their court.

            * Personally I like the topspin rotation I can generate on the ball when I execute my
                     favorite topspin lob.

 

Now, what I have never written about is the new paddle technology of adding "grit" to the paddle’s face that helps create this topspin. Watching Jack Sock play Ben Jones last week was an illustration to me of the value of adding extreme SPIN. The angles and dips Jack was able to create with extreme topspin were impressive. Due to all his spin the commentators started to discuss paddle manufacturers and how much spin each paddle is capable of adding. I immediately checked my Gearbox paddle and found out it can generate 1,272 RPM. Some paddles are in excess of 1,788 and some paddles  as low as 991 RPM.

 

Below is a link to an article discussing SPIN comparison and it lists RPM’s for twenty five current paddles on the market, perhaps yours. I think you need to consider this when purchasing your next paddle and add a little more SPIN and spice to your game.

 

https://www.theskilledpickle.com/blog/pickleball-spin-comparison

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                           I'll be seeing you on the Glen Park courts soon. President Lueck