DALLAS, TX - The 2023 season is in the books. A great season of PPA, more exposure to team pickleball and MLP, and a few controversies. Let’s look back at some most notable moments of 2023 before we turn the page to 2024.

 

New faces and improved players are always a highlight of each PPA year. My most improved players of 2023 are Tyra Black and Christian Alshon. I have had Tyra pegged for stardom from her first PPA event. She has excellent power, good athleticism, and has made good progress learning the details of pickleball. Her one weakness is a tendency to pop up her forehand dinks from the right side. Right-side play is crucial for women as they will play right side all the time in mixed unless they have a left-handed partner. On the men’s side, Christian made steady improvement all year. His forehand topspin drop is a particular strength. He can use some improvement on his overall defense, especially blocking on the right side. Tyra finished #21 in gender doubles rankings at the year's end and Christian at #20. I expect both to be around the #10 mark in 2024.

 

In gender doubles, domination was the word in both men’s and women’s doubles. The Johns brothers won repeatedly, although the year was spiced up with a couple of early round upsets, each of which thrilled/stunned the pickleball world. On the women’s side, the Anna Leigh Waters/Catherine Parenteau combo proved unbeatable.

 

In mixed doubles, the ALW/Ben combo was pretty much untouchable. There tended to be a lot of shifting partnerships among other top players in mixed, which hurt teams' overall consistency. Having a steady partnership proved again and again to be an advantage.

 

Speaking of shifting partnerships, a big story of 2023 was Riley Newman moving on from Matt Wright. They had a very successful partnership, although had trouble claiming gold. Riley shifted around quite a bit in 2023, with spotty success. Will 2024 be different?

 

Money issues, for good or ill, dominated the pickleball scene for much of 2023. We had the “tour wars” of PPA vs. MLP which ended in a declared merger, with the two no longer competing for players. Revenues for MLP apparently fell well below projections, resulting in requests to players at the end of 2023 to reduce salaries in exchange for fewer days of work. The PPA Tour followed suit with its own players, albeit to a lesser extent and with significantly smaller reductions. The declining situation led to Steve Kuhn’s exit from MLP in the fall. Will 2024 bring stability?

 

A big end-of-year story is the tennis player invasion. Tennis players have steadily been joining PPA, with Sam Querrey probably being the biggest name to play in 2023. This next year brings us Genie Bouchard, Donald Young, and the biggest fish to date, Jack Sock. Bouchard is a big unknown for pickleball; how much has she played? Young has played some pickleball but does not appear to have an advanced game at this point. Sock is the big story. Sock played some limited professionals events in 2023 and has been playing pickleball for about 5 years, notably taking a gold medal with Anna Leigh Waters in mixed earlier in 2023. His talent and athleticism are apparent. Indeed, from day one, he may be the most athletic player on the PPA Tour. Can he develop the finer skills of dinking and blocking?

 

Sock will be the biggest story of 2024. His mixed pairing with Parenteau should make him a top 8 mixed player. Can they threaten for #1? In men’s, Sock has inexplicably paired with Collin Shick. Shick is a fine singles player, but he is not a top-25 doubles player. Indeed, he may not even be a top 50 doubles player; he finished the year at #52, and that seems about right when we look at his game. Shick may have been Sock's most obvious choice due to both players residing in the same part of North Carolina.

 

My prediction is that Sock will have a new men’s partner early on in 2024. Matt Wright appears to me to be the logical partner for Sock, unless Matt is tied to James Ignatowich. Other choices that make sense are Christian Alshon, Dekel Bar, Tyson McGuffin, or Tyler Loong. All would be a big step up for Sock.

 

On the topic of partnerships, Riley Newman appeared set to play 2024 with Thomas Wilson. But then MLP happened, and Riley found success with Christian Alshon. Will Riley go with Thomas or Christian in 2024? Either one is a great choice, as both Thomas and Christian are steadily improving. Both are “good guys” who make for a good partnership. I slightly favor Alshon, due to massive upside, but Wilson is a very good right side player who continues to improve. On the mixed side, Riley needs to find a steady female partner. He is the second best male mixed player, and has shown an ability to win medals with partners who are not top end. Jessie Irvine simply misses too many third shots and does not stay at the kitchen line, so that partnership isn't likely to last. Pairing with Vivienne David would make sense, but she's locked up with Thomas Wilson for 2024. What about reaching a little further and linking up with Tyra Black or Meghan Dizon? Both Tyra and Meghan are improving, power players. If they can get more consistent, they will improve their chances in mixed.

 

Turning to the controversy side, the paddle issues look likely to continue in 2024. Manufacturers will continue to push the limits on grit, spin, and power. Can MLP/PPA institute uniform standards that are accepted by all, now that a merger is imminent? Should players and/or manufacturers be punished for illegal paddles and if so, what should penalties be? I think we will see more paddle battles in 2024 as the market continues to evolve beyond the existing standards.

 

Revenue may be an ongoing issue in 2024. The PPA Tour has a strong formula with its “play where the pros play” tagline, but MLP lacks the amateur dollars and appears too reliant on finding a TV deal that pays big bucks. I foresee continued struggles for MLP, unless the NewCo merger with the PPA takes MLP in another direction.

 

Finally, I expect to see the emergence of enhanced places to play PPA events in 2024. Too often, PPA is tasked with providing pickleball events in converted tennis facilities. Even the best converted tennis facility is limited in its pickleball appeal. More and more pure pickleball facilities will open in 2024, and I expect PPA to take advantage of this trend and schedule events at these top-notch pickleball facilities. That will only help grow the interest and the game.

 

Happy New Year as we end 2023, and best of luck on improving your game in 2024. Whatever happens within the sport over the next year, it will be fun to tune in and watch.