It's a full house on the PicklePod this week as we hear from four special guests. First up is Erik Tice who breaks down the Max Freeman contract situation and the surprising results of the MLP keep/drop exchange.
Then Zane goes off on how he judges if a player is a bad line caller or flat-out cheater.
Next up, John Kew gives us the update on the Ronbus Ripple listing and subsequent de-listing that had paddle fans scratching their heads.
Finally, the first international signed UPA players, Tom Evans and Helena Spiridis share their journey to pro pickleball and Tom breaks down his big win over Federico Staksrud.
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Erik Tice
0:00 What happened with Max Freeman contract?
5:04 Will Howells is in a unique situation
10:22 The Hustlers dropped their ENTIRE team
13:20 60% of players will change teams in 2025
15:05 Suprised by the Kate Fahey drop
18:30 How long to turn D1 tennis player into MLP player?
21:31 Federico Staksrud in paddle turmoil
28:28 New UPA-A targeting rule debate
35:30 Retaliation will also be punished
41:45 Zane landed a new shoe deal
48:56 Searching for the best player in NYC
52:19 Zane’s glow up is in session
55:18 Cheating - just cheating
1:00:48 Is cheating a byproduct of hot paddles
1:03:35 Jay and Fed weigh in on line calls
1:12:10 A malicious nasty nelson is a wild move
1:14:39 Did we go too hard on the Collin episode?
1:18:45 Max Freeman forced to drop top partners i.e. Ben
1:28:20 Zane got nasty nelsoned by Jack Sock
1:31:45 ALW got asked to prom picture
1:33:54 Pickleheads raised 2.5mm
1:37:30 Coincidental loss for Fed in Tucson with Adidas paddle
1:40:49 Hunter are Parris dominated Super Bowl Sunday Leo Meme
1:43:05 Andrei and Alshon looked dangerous in Tucson
1:46:25 Blind ranking backhand flicks
John Kew
1:50:50 John Kew digging up bones
1:53:25 Finally back to pickleball - What happened to the Ripple?
1:56:55 There are different versions of the Ripple that hit the market
2:02:00 What motivated USA Pickleball to test a second batch?
2:05:27 All approved paddles will also get PBCoR stamp
Tom Evans and Helena Spiridis
2:09:15 Say hello to Tom and Helena
2:15:20 Tom started getting results in 2023
2:18:55 Which pros were you intimidated by?
2:20:32 Where are pickleball hubs in Australia?
2:23:38 When are making the move to the US?
2:26:18 Top 3 players in Australia
2:28:26 Signed on with UPA and eligible for MLP
2:33:42 What are the biggest differences between U.S. and Aussie pickleball
2:35:30 Tom’s big win over Federico Staksrud
2:38:50 Guess my DUPR
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