USA Pickleball Certified continued
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VALERIE THOMPSON :
QUEEN of SPEED
World ’ s fastest female motorcyclist joins nation ’ s fastest-growing sport
PUT THE BALL AWAY WITH A BACKHAND SLAP
THE ART OF THE PUMP FAKE
EXCLUSIVE ! BEHIND THE SCENES WITH BEN JOHNS
Recognized by USA Pickleball as the “ Official Magazine ” of Pickleball
MAGAZINE
JULY / AUGUST 2021
AT PICKLEBALLMAGAZINE . COM
The Sports Engineering team at NTS in Baltimore , Maryland , with Ben Johns and Sara Aiken , next to a high-speed camera capable of 303k fps .
All manufacturers are invited to remotely witness testing done at NTS , or even just pay a visit . Recently , Eastport Pickleball ’ s Sara Aiken and University of Maryland engineering student Ben Johns ( currently the sport ’ s top-ranked male player ) visited NTS to see how these tests are done . We even shot 1,000 fps video of Ben ’ s crushing overhead ! ( More on that in a future article !)
These efforts are intended to continue to improve USA Pickleball ’ s support and direction to the pickleball ecosystem in delivering consistency in equipment performance to a rapidly growing market . Additional personnel have been put in place to support these developments , including :
Carl Schmits – One of the original members of the Equipment Evaluation Committee ( EEC ), Carl is currently Director of Equipment Standards , and functions as the EEC chair . In this role , Carl serves as our primary liaison with the manufacturers on all testing matters and works directly with the lab to ensure that our testing process and protocols for new products are optimal . Carl ’ s training was in industrial engineering , with careers in racket sports ( including product development ), information and communications technology , robotics and renewable energy .
Donn Paben – A certified referee , Donn joined the EEC in 2020 as Director of Equipment Compliance . In this role , he handles all aspects of the Compliance program .
John Anderson – John is a founding member of the EEC , and was previously chief engineer at a leading manufacturer in the aerospace industry .
We continue to work closely with the manufacturing community to ensure that our standards and testing are state of the art , enabling your favorite paddle or ball maker to get you ready for your best match yet – the rest is up to you !