Paddle Testing Questions Remain Following PPA Tour’s Baffling Explanation of Red Rock Situation
This will be probably be our last follow-up on the PPA’s handling of the Red Rock paddle challenges and we bring it up as a result of Travis Rettenmaier’s latest run of podcast appearances over the past couple of weeks, including on his own ‘Tennis Sucks’ podcast and the ‘It Feels Right’ podcast with Rob Nunnery and Adam Stone. When asked about his challenge of Tyson McGuffin’s now confirmed failed paddle from Red Rock, Rettenmaier said he was told by PPA Commissioner, Connor Pardoe, that there was no challenge. According to the head referee, Rettenmaier did not challenge McGuffin’s paddle during the match and, therefore, McGuffin’s singles results would not be voided from Red Rock.
It is one of the most perplexing explanations that we could have expected to come from the PPA. Travis said there was no chance he did not challenge the paddle. He questioned why he spent 30 minutes after the match in the referees tent discussing the paddle if he didn’t challenge it. To support Rettenmaier’s point, our biggest question is why the hell they sent McGuffin’s paddle too off-site testing if there wasn’t a challenge? The explanation is completely non-sensical and we focus on it not because of the what it means to the challenge itself, but what it means for the bigger picture.
Travis Rettenmaier was political in his comments about the PPA’s transparency, saying he appreciated Pardoe’s honesty about what transpired. We’ll say what Travis can’t say, though. We don’t believe Pardoe is being honest about what transpired. We don’t believe he and the PPA are doing anything other than sweeping this mess under the rug, which they have done an incredible job of. Seriously. Credit where credit is due. Suppressing information in 2023 is hard and the PPA has made it look like a walk in the park.
The information suppression from the PPA calls into question the PPA’s entire paddle testing process. The PPA proudly posted on social media after their North Carolina event that all paddles tested “fell within legal limitations.” But how can we trust any of this? The PPA is clearly capable of providing information about paddle testing as they proclaim that all paddles were legal, but they couldn’t be bothered to make a simple statement about arguably their most prominent player and his illegal paddle.
Prior to the PPA posting about their 100% paddle test pass rate, we had received reliable information that Salome Devidze had paddles taken out of competition in North Carolina. You can understand why it was a surprise for us to see the PPA announce their 138 for 138 player success rate following that event. This past weekend, there was another situation involving, you guessed it, Salome Devidze, in her singles match against Mary Brascia during the Atlanta Open. In that match, the referee inspected Devidze’s paddle without prompting from anyone. From what we have heard, the paddle was pulled to be tested, it failed and Devidze played the remainder of the match with a different paddle instead of being disqualified. Huh?
Piecing together the circumstantial evidence on the failed Gamma paddle for Sarah Ansboury and how public the PPA was in their approach with that situation, it appears more like a targeted, hit job than ever. Gamma is not a PPA sponsor in 2023, but they were a sponsor in 2022, including being the official paddle of the North Carolina Open and Takeya Showcase. Although a contracted player, Sarah Ansboury has not been friends with the PPA in the past nor does she have the star power to affect their brand. Of course, Selkirk continues to be a major sponsor of the PPA Tour.
The Ansboury situation feels as if we are in Goodfellas or the Godfather. You mess with the family and this is what can happen. The PPA is smart and calculated in their approach by feigning to the public that they are bringing integrity and a level playing field to the sport when the reality is that they are going to do business as they always have.
Why are players so fearful to step up and discuss this Tyson McGuffin situation? The most vocal players in the sport have been silenced without the PPA having to say a word to them. The PPA’s lack of action against McGuffin is worth 1000 threatening words.
Other than the Salome Devidze information, the thoughts expressed by us here is generally speculation. As is often the case for us, this is educated speculation. However, if true, removing some of Devidze’s paddles from competition followed by an announcement of perfect paddle testing and then a failed test without a DQ is a scary thought. On the surface, there is enough of a whiff of transparency to make the general public believe the right steps are being taken. Under the surface, though, it is an ongoing pattern of deception to the public.
The PPA does not deserve the benefit of the doubt. Instead of denying or addressing any of their decisions, they are ignoring it and expect it will go away. This has already happened in this paddle debacle when we hear from Travis Rettenmaier that the PPA apparently sent Tyson McGuffin’s paddle for off-site testing despite no challenge having occurred. It is easily forgotten that Christa Gecheva’s paddle was challenged by Lucy Kovalova in Red Rock. We have it on good information that Gecheva’s paddle failed off-site testing but we also have it on good information that Gecheva was told by the PPA that her paddle passed and she had nothing to worry about.
The multiple instances of conflicting information about recent PPA paddle testing is more than concerning because it casts doubt over the entire process that the PPA has implemented in this short period of time. We have heard from multiple sources that the ultrasound testing they are using on-site is not reliable. Following the Ansboury press attack by the PPA, in hindsight, it did not make sense when Carl Schmits said that the ultrasonic test is binary, in that it either passes or fails without question.* We also have heard that the PPA refused to return and subsequently destroyed Ansboury’s failed paddle in question, which means there would be no possibility for independent, third party testing, or testing by Gamma. From a transparency perspective, this is more than problematic, if true. Given all the information that is coming out about paddles, including the testing that MLP is spearheading, it appears the PPA’s process is not as straightforward as they want you to believe it is.
When you think about concerning actions, we can’t ignore that the PPA was apparently upset with The Dink for comments that SoCal Hard Eights part-owner, Tim Parks, made about the PPA in his appearance on The Dink’s PicklePod with Thomas Shields and Zane Navratil. It upset the PPA enough that they told The Dink they could no longer post PPA content on their platforms due to Parks’ podcast appearance. While that threat must have been resolved because The Dink has been posting PPA content recently, to put it bluntly, it is communist dictatorship-like behavior from the PPA to threaten The Dink in this heavy-handed manner over some mildly negative comments expressed by an individual not even associated with The Dink.
For anyone who thought Commissioner Pardoe was joking in the introduction of his own PicklePod appearance earlier this year, you might want to think again:
The PPA still has not published any paddle testing guidelines since May of 2022, which is when they first implemented surface roughness testing. Looking back, it is borderline shocking the PPA published any written standards for the grit testing last year and it highlights how glaring of an issue it is that they haven’t done so with deflection testing. Instead, for deflection testing, they have applied an arbitrary measurement using an unreliable test without any explanation of what the measurement unit is, how the measurement threshold was derived or how the test even works beyond a surface level description. They have had plenty of time to create a temporary set of clear, written standards and are obviously choosing not to do so.
Paddle testing is hard. The PPA has brought some form of testing to their tournaments in a duct tape fix type of manner without giving any caution that the testing is far from perfect. It is a stark contrast to the PPL Report published by MLP that thoroughly explains their testing process, the results and what further testing is needed to ensure greater reliability in paddle testing. At this point in time, the PPA’s new paddle testing policy should not be commended. It is fraught with a lack of transparency, reliability and inconsistency in its implementation.
Are referees supposed to be able to inspect a player’s paddle in the middle of the match without a challenge? Why wasn’t Devidze defaulted if her paddle failed on-site testing? We don’t know because there is no policy nor is there any communication to the public about paddle testing. The fact that Rettenmaier had to come out publicly to let us know the PPA’s explanation on Tyson McGuffin’s illegal paddle is a huge issue.
It continues to be a used car dealer vibe (get it?) from the PPA as we get the Cadillac sales pitch on a 2006 Toyota Corolla. If the public isn’t in this head space already, there should be buyer beware attached to anything that is presented by the PPA. The paddle testing fiasco is not the first instance where there is a very strong suggestion of underhanded conduct on their end, and there’s no reason for us to expect it to be the last.
*this article was edited to correct the term of the PPA’s testing to ultrasonic, not ultrasound.
Agree or disagree? Let us know in the comments below or email us at nmlpickleball@gmail.com. Subscribe to our newsletter and follow us on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook as well!
Your newsletter comments are spot on regarding the PPA’s paddle testing protocol. It’s a debacle on all levels. The “suits” should be ashamed of the lack of professionalism they are displaying but deep money pockets permits this type of arrogant business behavior.
Thanks, Dawn. It is 100% unacceptable
But it is acceptable. We, the pickleball community let them get away with it. They have had these zero standards, treating players like garbage since their concept. Until players fight back, maybe a player’s union, they will continue. You don’t really think Connor Pardoe cares about what ‘we’ say?? Great article too. 🙂
Yes, even we are letting them get away with it by continuing to watch their product. He doesn’t care what we say if the money is coming in and people are watching.
You aren’t ashamed of your behavior if you don’t care about the players or the sport. And Pardoe has created these standards, nobody else.
When that joola perseus paddle comes out, we won’t ever hear about it failing any tests. wonder why ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Very unlikely
Love the independent thought here. Please never take on sponsors that would create any friction toward your ability to report freely.
Thanks, PBenson. Just trying to talk about things that matter to us and be as accurate as possible while providing our commentary
That clip of Connor’s comments to Thomas is crazy! The Dink loses any sort of credibility as a news source once hearing that. It’s also proof that the image we are getting of the PPA organization is very manufactured and a false façade. The paddle I am most interested in is ALW’s. I get she hits harder than all the other ladies but the sound that paddle makes is just so different than any other paddle being used by a pro. And I have zero confidence that the PPA is holding her to the same standards as everyone else.
Forgot to add, based on the comments Vivienne David’s family and friends made on ALW’s post game interview clip on instagram the “snarky” comment Vivienne made to her was regarding the legality of her paddle.
Yes, we had heard that. Very interesting
Drop #9: AB addressed the comment made by Vivienne at end of game 1 in their Gold match at Atlanta. AB confirmed Vivienne asked if it was legal – had it been tested. She says AL replied all my paddles are tested.
The question is whether the testing is reliable enough or sound enough to deal with something that is different than delamination. AL’s paddle would not be a delamination issue and very interesting Vivienne of all people was the one to question it.
Thomas made a joke about that after that he doesn’t want people thinking he’s Connor’s lap dog but the problem is he needs the PPA to do the business they want. The PPA wants to control people they can.
Good point on ALW’s paddle. That paddle sounds nothing like a Paddletek (saw the bantam at local courts the other day too) and nothing sounds that hollow or loud. PPA’s test might not even be able to capture what could be going on as hers would not be delam’d most likely
You have to have standards in the first place to hold anyone accountable. PPA does not have any standards.
This is a great article. I’m not privy to the same “inside” information as you, but I took a critical look at the circumstances from an engineering perspective. There are different ways that a paddle can delaminate, and I suspect that PPA is not running the appropriate test(s). I have described this in my blog post: https://pickleballscience.org/jansen-vs-devidze-revisited/
Very interesting. Thanks for sharing
This article is beautiful. Mainstream media and apparently some pickleball news outlets could learn a thing or two from NML😂 Reporting bodies should be somewhat adversarial to the people and entities they report on – not friends with them. This is peak pickleball investigative journalism lol
People like being friends with people that have power and can move them up in the world. Thanks for your comment, Javi
100% agree on your takes. The PPA is shady and will continue to let the top players get away with anything. If you speak out against them then you will be silenced and retaliation will follow. Hopefully another tour can challenge them because the APP sucks at production.
Thanks, Big J. It is troublesome
Great post with a refreshingly authentic perspective. Interesting enough, this TM Red Rocks issue may be a favorable misdirection in favor of the PPA. Who is talking about ALW’s paddle, other than Rob Nunnery – who asked AKoop if the stock Padeltek Bantam models for the general plebians are the same as the one ALW uses. She is the most prominent PPA player who should be able to get away with various levels of cheating as long as she maintains the “franchise player” status combined with the PPA’s policy of laughable transparency.
This is a fair point and one we may have to question further given what that paddle sounds like. MLP should have testing so it’ll be interesting if there is the same sound at MLP assuming they have testing
A little off topic and maybe this has been written about before….but I find this absurd….
“If a player has three unsuccessful challenges during any 180-day rolling period, such player will be suspended from the PPA indefinitely, at the PPA’s sole discretion.”
https://www.ppatour.com/ppa-paddle-compliance-testing/
This is still the rule, right? So a guy like Travis R. who has had the stones to challenge top level pros paddles and is willing to pay to do so, could be punished, at the PPA’s discretion, if he loses three challenges within 180 days? That needs to change. Now. You should be able to challenge as many paddles as you want if you pay $250. If that takes too much time for the testers, then PPA should raise the fee after a few challenges or something like that….but to suspend a player for challenging paddles is beyond unacceptable given the climate on this subject.
Last year, I was very much in favor of the PPA consolidating power over the APP so we could have Pro Pickleball Tourneys with 80% to 90% of the best Top 50 or so players in them most of the time. Now I’m having second thoughts. I get the evolving science of testing paddles is not always super easy, but I don’t necessarily buy the PPA “company line” on this and the process is riddled with conflicts of interests with their sponsored pros and the paddle companies that pay top dollar for sponsorships. Does anybody really believe that the PPA would forfeit McGuffin’s wins at the Selkirk Red Rock Open? Given he is one of the faces of the PPA and uses a $250 to $300 Selkirk paddle, it is hard for me to buy that – especially because of how the refs ruled out Travis R’s challenge on some technicality.
The explanation we would give is that the policy you refer to has nothing to do with deflection. This is not a legal opinion but not sure they could enforce this policy for deflection as it doesn’t even contemplate the current testing. But they don’t seem to be making people pay. Rafa has challenged Zane’s paddle for grit
Agregar, well thought-out & written article. The PPA’s lack of transparency & written (publicly posted) guidelines on paddle testing, referee intervention during a match, lack of player default by a match referee are all major problems that are going to come to a head, as prize money, player sponsorships & betting are introduced / continue to grow.
McGuffin should have lost his earnings & points from his Rettenmeier match, & Rettenmeier should have been remunerated financially & with ranking points.
Appreciate it. It is all concerning too
The game has changed significantly in the last 4 months with the introduction of crbn power, vatic pro and legacy pro. It has become a Banger’s delight. Players that are otherwise 4.0-4.5 are able to hit balls at tremendous speed & topspin where no human can react esp when 14ft apart. Without the above paddles, that speed or spin would not be possible. The current test for deflection is faulty as BJ pointed. BJ suggested new measures to test the speed the ball comes of the paddle. Meanwhile Pickleball has become a joke where Banger’s with 4.0-4.5 skills are able to bang away to victory. Shame on USAPA, PPA for not coming up with an accurate, scientific measure to test the speed the ball can come off a paddle.
It seems like MLP might be implementing the testing BJ suggested. That could be very helpful depending on what standard
I purchased a Legacy Pro recently and have been using it as my primary paddle. While it offers more spin and a bigger sweet spot than any other paddle that I have used, there is not any noticeable difference in power. In fact, my old school Franklin Ben Johns fiberglass paddle was just as powerful. It seems everyone believes these paddles are more powerful (I thought they were based on the comments of others), but it is not true. Perhaps people playing with delaminated versions of these paddles have given it that reputation?
We are not the experts here on paddles but we had thought you get more spin for sure and some more power, but it is possible the delam issues have changed the expectations.
Great piece. The PPA in general does not seem to be the most trustworthy organization. I mean did you guys see the email they sent out encouraging people to buy their ticket packages and then sell them at a markup to friends and family? I can’t imagine any professional sports team or organization doing that.
In a way, all this stuff happening under the surface is indicative of the fact that pro pickleball is still nowhere near mainstream, and the PPA is taking advantage of that. I mean the Christian Alshon/ALW situation would be a big, big deal in any other professional sport, but no one in pickleball seems to care.
That’s hilarious you mention the ticket thing. We did get that email. It is something that allows them to make some money while also potentially advertising hire than actual ticket sales. A classic PPA move.
The Christian/ALW situation seems more to be people are scared of what the backlash will be and no one knows how to handle one of the oddest things around to happen in pro sports.
What is the ticket package and how would that inflate sales? Do you mean the $ amount gets inflated or number of tickets sold gets inflated?
Basically they are offering packages of 20 tickets at half price and advertising them as both group sales and wholesale pricing for resellers. I think the idea is they are selling these anticipating that resellers may buy more tickets than they are able to sell, or at least more than they could sell at full price. But the PPA doesn’t care how many get resold, once they sell that package of 20 tickets, they can count it as 20 tickets sold and x amount of revenue generated, even if say, only 10 of those tickets get used and the reseller wasn’t able to make a profit or their money back.
This exactly.
If they send 100 tickets to someone at a low price for them to re-sell at “market” value, the PPA could add those 100 tickets sold even if the re-seller is able to re-sell say 25 tickets.
The ticket resale sounds horrible! How will they know how many seats have been oversold? I know from very bad experience that both “courtside” seats and “VIP” seats get horribly oversold at some venues. It is standing room only and you can hardly move for hours.
I’m interested to see what the reaction will be to Tyler Loong’s comments on his podcast. As far as I know, there hasn’t been a pro who’s openly talked about it before him, even though it seems like it’s basically been an open secret for some time.
This is the first time it has come up publicly from what we have seen. Open secret for non-pros for only those who are following pro pickleball very closely we would say. It hasn’t seemed to gain too much traction yet.
What is the Christian/ALW situation?
They are dating.
IMO, good for them. ALM isn’t your regular 16-year-old. And it is not illegal to date someone at any age. Again, IMO, none of anyone’s business.
We hadn’t discussed previously because it is more gossip, but the relationship could have an impact on pickleball very soon. Alshon is a fringe Premier player and Anna Leigh will likely be in a position to draft a guy at the end of the Premier draft in July. Alshon is a viable target there and whether their personal relationship comes into play is something to monitor.