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Over the last few years , pickleball ’ s popularity has grown at breakneck speed . And as the sport has become ever more popular in America , the number of companies wanting to join those already manufacturing USA Pickleball ( USAP ) approved equipment has increased accordingly .
Carl Schmits is USA Pickleball ’ s managing director of equipment standards & facility development . One of his key duties is chairing the Equipment Evaluation Committee ( EEC ), a three-person body tasked with developing standards for testing equipment like paddles .
The EEC works directly with National Technical Systems ( NTS ), a Maryland-based organization that handles testing to ensure that all USAP-approved equipment meets rigid standards . NTS was founded in 1961 and provides comprehensive engineering and testing laboratories for the aerospace , commercial hardware , defense and nuclear industries .
Also on the EEC is USA Pickleball Chief Operating Officer Justin Maloof and retired aerospace engineer John Anderson .
“ Our responsibility is to do the research , establishing standards and test procedures that support our board ’ s goals of maintaining the sport ’ s integrity and ensuring that the sport ’ s nature is continued ,” Schmits says .
“ The primary nature of the sport is still of finesse ,” he explains . “ The two key attributes we ’ re trying to bound ( i . e . limit ) are power and spin . Too much power would change the nature of the game , and too much spin as well .”
In the past , power and spin were measured indirectly . However , as technology has evolved , tests are becoming more direct . For example , spin was previously controlled only by limiting a paddle ’ s surface roughness ; now it ’ s determined using coefficient of friction , or the amount of friction present when a ball strikes a paddle .
As for power , the initial measure was deflection , meaning how much energy the paddle ’ s face deflects . However , deflection tests have their limits — deficiencies recently exposed with the introduction of paddles using new core technologies , where manufacturers add materials like advanced polymer , honeycomb or foam cores to increase performance . Now , a new , more direct test for power is on the horizon .
“ The test measures coefficient of restitution . When the paddle meets the ball , there ’ s a certain amount of energy returned ,” Schmits explains . “ This is a ballistic test , shooting a ball at high speed into the paddle , and measures the inbound and outbound velocities , factoring other variables like center of percussion and moment of inertia .
“ These paddles return more energy than previous configurations . They passed the deflection test , but it ’ s clear to players that the paddles generate more pace off the face .”
Per current USA Pickleball standards , five tests are conducted on each paddle . NTS runs these tests on batches of paddles so testing equipment doesn ’ t have to be reconfigured for each procedure . Between the testing process and receiving results , which sometimes require additional calculations , the process takes up to 30 minutes per paddle .
So , what is the timetable from when USA Pickleball receives a paddle to its approval , or a return to the manufacturer for changes ? Not long .
“ The service level agreement with NTS , is a four- to sixweek turnaround ,” says Schmits . “ Typical turnaround is closer to three weeks . Most manufacturers are fine with that cycle . There ’ s adequate time between submitting the paddles for testing and expected market launch dates .
“ On occasion , manufacturers may have a tighter schedule and request an expedited process with a threeday turnaround . We ’ ll pull those paddles to the front of
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SPRING 2024 | MAGAZINE 59