As pickleball grows, it was only a matter of time until tournaments began offering cash prizes, and with that comes the opportunities for excellent players to go pro. These newly minted pros of pickleball are stretching how we thought pickleball is supposed to be played. Each of these pros is searching for any advantage they can find to give themselves the edge in this highly competitive arena.
It’s an exciting time to be a fan of the sport, to watch these players show off, not just their physical abilities, but their ability to theorycraft the game. In this weeks video we dove deep into the mindset of pro pickleball player Tyler Loong, to see how he understands the game.
As a left handed player, Tyler has an opportunity to work with partners in creative ways. He employs a rarely seen tactic called switching. It is a version of stacking (check out our video on stacking to learn more about that) however, instead of stacking both players to one side, they simply switch sides after the serve is returned.
Tyler tells us that the advantages are that their team has to move less to get into position, it forces the opponents to attempt more difficult shots, and they have the opportunity to not switch if the situation calls for it.
In speaking with Tyler, he seems very confident in this style, and it is hard to argue with his results. It is not uncommon to see Tyler Loong’s name at the top of many of the big tournaments and Onix saw something in him when they picked him up. Perhaps Tyler and his partners are crafting the next must try strategy, or maybe it’s just a quirky playstyle that only works for him. Either way, it is great fun for fans of the sport who get to witness the evolution of this great game.
Want to see this switching strategy in action? Watch Tyler’s matches from the 2018 Las Vegas Pickleball Open, then let us know what you think of switching and Tyler’s read on the game by commenting below.
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I like what Tyler Loong says here. I use variations of it with both left as well as right handed partners. Not so much with ones that like to switch hands and basically not use a backhand consistently when appropriate.
In tennis we used the signals behind the back while the partner was receiving. I do the same here and believe it’s more unpredictable than traditional stacking. Stacking essentially telegraphs your intent ahead of time so I prefer switching since they (opponents) can’t tell ahead of time what we are yoto. Granted the middle of the court is better to exploit for two reasons.
First reason is, the odds of getting the ball ‘in’ are higher than going for the sidelines etc.
Second reason is, the opponents react late since they’re not always sure which one of the two of them is going to hit that middle placed ball.
So, I prefer switching but as and when we chose to do so. Cheers!