These articles address various aspects of pickleball motion such as velocity, acceleration, displacement, and time, considering impact dynamics, momentum, and aerodynamics.
Your ideal serve will consistently land in-bounds and will arrive in your opponent’s court at the desired location and velocity. Discovering your ideal serve may require several hours of experimentation, practice, and training to determine what works and what does not. Once we are satisfied with our serve, we will normally “lock it in” so […]
Improving Serve Accuracy with Topspin Read More »
In a previous article, “How Many Games will a Pickleball Last?”, we determined that the stiffness of the ball is not the primary factor that governs the height to which the ball will bounce. Therefore, balls of different stiffness can meet the USAPA bounce height standard of a 30-34” rebound from a hard surface when
Why Do New Pickleballs Have More “Pop”? Read More »
We all know that as we play, pickleballs start to wear, become soft, lose their ability to bounce, and eventually crack. What causes a worn pickleball to bounce less? How often should the balls be replaced? Let’s look at the science for answers to these questions. Why Do Worn Balls Bounce Less? The straight-forward answer
How Many Games Will a Pickleball Last? Read More »
In previous articles, we mentioned that balls hit at greater heights can result in greater speed; however, what exactly is the relationship between contact height and speed? Can increasing the contact height of a serve increase its speed? In this article, we will apply the equations of motion to find out. First, let’s look at
Why Does Height Equal Speed? Read More »
The topic of pickleball topspin seems to be a little contentious. On one hand, there are bloggers and players who claim that putting topspin on the ball has little effect on speed or direction. On the other hand, there are several videos, blogs, and professionals teaching topspin, and numerous racquet companies touting the spin capabilities
Can Topspin Enable a Faster Serve? Read More »
Aerodynamic drag is always present in pickleball, and is dependent on numerous variables, including the speed, mass and surface condition of the ball. In this article, we develop a mathematical model of aerodynamic drag and use it to predict the maximum speed of a pickleball serve. In our article, “Pickleball Equations of Motion“, we introduced
How Does Aerodynamic Drag Affect a Pickleball? Read More »
A well-hit pickleball will contact the paddle at its “sweet spot” and the paddle face will be properly positioned so that it is perpendicular to the intended direction of travel of the ball. This is especially true for volleys at the net, and is applicable to ground strokes, dinks, overheads, and serves. Throughout the course
Avoid Pickleball Mis-Hits Read More »
The serve and return are perhaps the two most important shots in a game of pickleball. On the serving side, a fast and well-placed serve can be played for an outright winner, or it can put the receiving team at a significant disadvantage by forcing them deeper behind the baseline or by making them hit
How Fast is a Pickleball Serve? Read More »
Although there are several forces acting on a pickleball while it is flight, gravity is prevalent. It is considered to be the great equalizer because it acts on everything equally, and there is no way to avoid it – gravity always wins in the end. This is the second article in a series describing Pickleball
Pickleball Equations of Motion Read More »
It is important for you to be able to predict the path or the trajectory of the pickleball so that you can better orient your racquet or position yourself on the court to return the ball in the direction you intend. The field of Kinematics addresses various aspects of pickleball motion such as velocity,
Pickleball Kinematics Read More »