Major League Pickleball Format for the Win?

I recently played in my first Major League Pickleball Event. Don't ask me how it went - my team won, of course. C'mon. Vamos! It's a mental approach.

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Jokes aside, it was fantastic and I think all players should add this to their Pickleball tournament calendars and experiences.

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How it works:

This format brings together Men and Women on a level playing court. Each match consists of four 21-point games, with the first being women's doubles, then men's doubles, and the final two games consisting of mixed doubles. If a tie break is needed in the playoff rounds - then you break out into singles with all players playing four points. Lineups are determined before start.

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What I enjoy about racquet sports, particularly Pickleball, is how much MIxed doubles I play. That dynamic always lends itself to a broader community of players coming together. Truth be told, I play more mixed doubles in Pickle than I have in Tennis or Platform Tennis. My bad ladies. Ain't right.

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That said, this MLPlay format is so much fun. The teamwork that's needed is always a great value add to the play. Having four players, and being able to change partners is a wonderful component and requires little adjustments during matches that add some good drama.

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Sometimes you're not flowing with your partner in one game and being able to switch up can change that. Also, having one bad game isn't end of the world at moment because you have other tandem that can pick your team up. Just little things that make tournaments more exciting for all.

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In this particular event we wound up having to play a Singles tiebreak for the Gold medal match. Our Captain got us together and put togehter the singles line up based on what she thought would be the toughest matchups for our opponents. We ended up on the winning side, but I gotta tell you - it was so much fun. Sure, it's competitive, but it truly felt like a Team win more than any one of us doing better than the other.

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Give it a try! Just another thing Pickleball is doing right at moment.

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Vamos! 

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