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Today marked the first day of official league play. Members from groups A and B rotated partnerships to play a total of eight matches on our two edge courts.
Without further ado, let's run through some highlights!
The biggest wins
-In Group A, Andre/Carter shut out Arun/Max 11-0.
-In Group B, Owen/Isabel prevailed against Alexa/Nathan 11-2.
The closest matches
-All of the Group A matches had a significantly large margin of victory, ranging from 8 to 11.
-In Group B, Nathan/Satish defeated Owen/David 11-8.
Match A01: Arun/Carter win against Max/Andre 11-2.
Match A02: Andre/Arun win against Carter/Max 11-3.
Match A03: Andre/Carter shut out Max/Arun 11-0.
AVERAGE MARGIN OF VICTORY: 9.3
GROUP A DREAM TEAM OF THE WEEK: Arun, Carter, and Andre share this week's title; all three took home two wins and one loss each.
Match B01: Alexa/Annie win against Owen/Satish 11-6.
Match B02: Alexa/Owen win against Isabel/Anna 11-5.
Match B03: Nathan/Satish win against Owen/David 11-8.
Match B04: Alexa/Satish win against Annie/Isabel 11-6.
Match B05: Owen/Isabel win against Alexa/Nathan 11-2.
AVERAGE MARGIN OF VICTORY: 5.6
GROUP B MVP OF THE WEEK: Alexa, with three wins and one loss. Among matches she won, her average margin of victory was 5.3, just a tad closer than the group's average.
Now would be a good time to go through how league statistics will be displayed on the site.
-Each match will receive a unique identifier, using the group's letter and an incrementing number. This means that next week, the first match for Group A will be A04 and for Group B it will be B06.
-AVERAGE MARGIN OF VICTORY represents the mean point differential of a group's matches for the week, and can be used to estimate what flow-of-game might have looked like. It is neither a measure of player skill, nor of even matching.
-MVP OF THE WEEK is determined by subtracting players' total losses from total wins for that meeting only. These are their "MVP scores" and can be considered to function like a win/loss record. Partnerships will not be factored into the calculation unless individual differentials are tied. In this case, you'll see "DREAM TEAM" instead.
-As the semester continues, MOST IMPROVED PLAYER will be calculated based on fluctuations in players' MVP scores over time. At the end of the semester, total MVP scores will be used to determine overall dream teams.
MPC has an open officer position for next year, and we want you to help continue to grow our club and the game!
Responsibilities include helping with set-up and tear-down for meetings and practices, organizing meetings, and reaching out to others to help grow the club. Elections will be held in the coming weeks.
If you are interested in applying, fill out the application by clicking here. And, as always, speak with an officer or drop us an email if you have questions!
As demonstrated in some of our social matches yesterday, a good spike of the ball can catch your opponents off guard and hand you the rally. In the drill world, these are called "overhead smashes" and can be done consistently using some simple positioning techniques and a good eye. Barrett Kincheloe of Pickleball Kitchen explains:
2020 brings a few (more like 90) changes to the way competitive pickleball is played. We want to keep you abreast of USAPA/IFP's changes so you are prepared come league days.
"At the start of each game, the starting server begins the serve from the side of the court dictated by the score." Likely this rule will not affect the way most games are started; we play fair here. However, if the starting team receives a technical foul before the game begins, their opponent would get the serve and they would have a one-point advance. In this case, the starting serve would be from the left court, 1-0-1.
"Any player may now indicate "not ready" prior to the start of the score being called." Previously, only the actual server or actual receiver could indicate they were not ready to begin the rally. Now, any player, even if they are not actually serving or receiving, can give this sign, traditionally by raising their paddle above the head, until the score is announced.
"After the start of the score being called, "not ready" signals will be ignored unless there is a hinder. A player or team out of position is not considered a hinder." USAPA defines a "hinder" as any element/occurrence outside of the player's control that adversely impacts play; for example, a ball entering from an adjacent court or a pesky fly.
The only exception to the hinder rule is if the receiving team is incorrectly positioned as a result of the serving team switching their own positions. This is to prevent unfair "trick serves."
"All 'let' or 'out' calls must be made promptly; otherwise, the ball is presumed to still be in play. 'Promptly' is defined as calling 'let' or 'out' prior to the ball being hit by the opponent or before a dead ball is declared." In other words, even if the ball was actually out, you cannot call it out once you have hit it.
"Players may call NVZ [kitchen] faults and service foot faults [feet in front of the baseline or opposite the sideline] on the opponent's side of the court. If there is any disagreement among players about the called fault, a replay shall occur." When making calls in pickleball, the custom is to give the opponent the benefit of the doubt. This change, while a bit contentious among professional players, allows kitchen and foot fault calls to apply by the same principle as line calls.
"Players are permitted to quickly hydrate in between points as long as, in the judgement of the referee, the flow of the game is not adversely impacted. The referee shall call the score when play should be resumed."
Most of the other changes focus on clarifying difficult rules. You can view all the changes on USAPA's website here.