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Hey, this is Shaun with the award-winning GoTennis! Podcast, powered by Signature Tennis.

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Check us out at LetsGoTennis.com, and we invite you to learn more about the award

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by following the link in the show notes.

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And as you're listening to this, please look in your podcast app where to leave a review

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and do that for us.

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We would love to earn your five star reviews.

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And now let's get into our recent conversation with Jovanni Garcia.

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Jovanni's YouTube channel, Salt and Pepper Pickleball, offers equipment reviews focused

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on pickleball paddles.

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We talk about the industry.

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He offers some advice for beginner players and shares his vision for the future.

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Have a listen and let us know what you think.

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Jovanni Garcia, we appreciate you making time to talk to us on the GoTennis Podcast.

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I will start with our most obvious question, which is Jovanni, who are you and why

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do we care?

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Well, thank you guys for having me.

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I really appreciate being here and being able to talk to you guys.

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Well, my name is Jovanni.

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I'm an ex-Tennis player, rec tennis player, who found the game with pickleball and just

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fell in love with the competition and the connection that it made.

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I play, of course, recreationally, but I do also play an tournament here and there for

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pickleball.

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And I'm always synchering with my gear.

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And I started paying attention to paddles, the way they felt.

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And then the performance, because I love how just a racket or a paddle can change your

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entire game.

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And I just really enjoy learning and sharing with the community, which is what I love about

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the pickleball community.

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You know, like we're all willing to learn and share with one another.

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All right.

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So, and you're a player, but you're also kind of a techie.

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So you're into the equipment.

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And so that's a little bit of why you're here, which is what are you working on in the

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industry?

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And just a player now, you're an expert in equipment, right?

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Yes.

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Well, I'm trying to be an expert in the equipment side.

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There's still so much to learn within the new paddle technology that's coming out every

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day.

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I mean, it's just something new to learn, you know, because you go from like, honeycomb

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cores, plastic, different sizes, different shapes that do different things for the paddle.

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You know, they open up the sweets, but they shrink it.

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They make it harder, softer, increased dwell time, decreased dwell time.

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And then all of a sudden boom, full phone came in into play.

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And then you had to like really dive into soft foam versus medium stiffness foam and then

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like hard foams that have an array of complications within themselves.

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So you know, because if you put a little bit here, a little bit there, it makes it off

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center and creates more power on one end compared to the other.

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And it's just, yeah, I love that stuff.

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And you were doing that for tennis rackets before you switched over to pickleball?

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Yes, yes, I was.

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I had always wanted to kind of start a review channel for tennis rackets.

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But I mean, it just got to the point where there was just new rackets coming out so often

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that even I couldn't keep up.

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And I really did love playing with them, adding weight here and there to see what was better,

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depending on the stiffness of the racket, how I thought in my arm, because I actually tore

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some ligaments that connect my clavicle to my shoulder.

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So I'm actually pretty sensitive to tennis rackets and the stiffness and the string.

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Same thing with pickleball paddles, like depending on how much vibration is actually coming

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through the handle, my wrist could hurt, my elbow could hurt, my shoulder could hurt.

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It's just, you know, tinkering with the paddles so much, now I know where to put certain

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things.

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And I was able to help like some people down at my local pit wall courts.

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I was able to say, hey, well, put a little bit of lead here or put a little bit of tungsten

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on this side, whatever, you know, whatever you like.

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Because then there's that whole debate about tungsten and lead and health and this and that.

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So the tungsten and lead debate, honeycomb versus foam core pickleball paddle techno.

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And that's the technology.

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Bobby, do you have any idea what he's talking about?

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A lot of this stuff for you.

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You've talked about the pain in the very, I just thought he was getting a hold.

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Oh, there's that.

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I have all those issues every day.

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So I was like, okay, it's no big deal here.

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Well, and that's the getting old part that we understand.

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But it's the expert and we've talked to experts previously.

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We have a racket tech part of our little extension of our inner circle who can personalize

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racket technology for you and say, hey, this helps your game.

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But there also is, like you said, Giovanni, the injury side, the injury prevention side.

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This just feels good or that feels good.

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And Bobby and Bobby and I are, you know, tennis first, Bobby probably preferred to be tennis

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only.

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But I know he outsources a lot of the pickleball stuff on that side, but it's really interesting

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to those of us in the racket sports world because we say, well, we know how tennis racket

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personalization works.

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We may not be experts at it, but we get, you know, put weight here.

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This makes it a little heavier there and does this and does that.

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But pickleball paddles are very different than tennis rackets.

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But the sweet spot works similarly, meaning the weights still change.

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You have the head sizes.

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That's all still similar, correct?

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Yes, that is very, very much similar.

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And just like in a tennis racket, you put weight on the four corners and you open up the

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sweet spot.

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Same thing in a pickleball paddle.

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It's pretty much the same principle.

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So and then you have this thing wants it needs as a tennis racket.

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Oh, I like head heavy.

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Oh, I like, you know, head light.

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I like even balance.

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It's pretty much the same kind of tinkering.

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That's for with a paddle.

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It's just shorter than a tennis racket.

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So you may, you might not need as much weight and you might want to like pull down the weight

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from one side, you know, a little bit further and things like that.

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So, you got it.

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And there's no restring it.

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So Bobby and I can, we can completely change the feel of a tennis racket.

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You can make it extremely different based on what you put in the middle of it.

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But with a paddle, you're kind of, the middle is the main bit, right?

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Pretty much.

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You're stuck with what you got.

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So you better enjoy it.

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Exactly.

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So, but then again, you can always, you can always choose like a, like I said, you can add a

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little bit of a, let's say you're in there and it does change the feel that you're getting

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off the paddle.

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So I mean, it's not a tennis racket, but it's close.

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Gotcha.

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So Bobby, you got any burning questions about the equipment world of pickleball?

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Well, like just a curiosity.

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I've heard that like the shelf life of a good pickleball racket in the hands of a good pickleball

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player is a year that they can break.

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Is that, is there any truth in it?

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Oh, I mean, yes, there is.

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Yes, there is.

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I know a guy at my court.

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And I mean, he smacks those balls.

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I mean, he's hitting it at 120 percent and he can snap the handle right off, which he

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has done.

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And he's only had the paddle maybe a month, two months, three months sometimes.

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So the goal and good thing is that they have really good warrant.

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Yeah, because I'm the shooter's player who warranty, right?

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Yeah, I mean, it's amazing.

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I mean, I'd up tennis player who was amazing and he literally had the ability to generate

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enough force with his hand that he could break the just a stress plate in the float.

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And then I heard that I was like, well, you'd make sense.

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It's important to see if people are swinging that hard, but it changes the dynamic of the game.

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And Sean said, we complain about having to restrain, you know, there's a $40 expense, but there's a,

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a new racket expense every six or seven months that could get it to be a pricey sport.

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Yeah, it can.

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It can like in the beginning when I first started pickleballs, like, oh, this is cheap.

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I can go on Amazon, get it Amazon paddle for $20 and then just go start playing.

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I already had shorts and clothes and, you know, to get a ball is what 10 bucks for a pack

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of three, you know, so, you know, I thought it was going to be cheap.

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But then all of a sudden I started playing and I was like, hey, I want to get better.

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And then I'm like, oh, you mean that I have to pay 200 plus?

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Oh, okay.

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Let me see what I can find for 100.

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So that's how I got to go into all the different types of paddles because I was like, well,

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okay, so I can't really afford the $300 paddle.

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Let me see what I can find at my price range.

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Yeah, exactly.

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We'll tell us and you're doing a lot of reviews now.

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So tell us about your YouTube channel.

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Yeah.

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So my channel focuses on like fun, friendly and honest paddle reviews.

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When I started getting into pickleball, I pretty much realized that there were a ton of new

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paddles and a lot of marketing height, but not much feedback from like everyday players.

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So I didn't find a lot of like rent, you know, people who were rec status that were talking

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about their paddles and whatnot.

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A lot of it was, hey, check out this $330 paddle.

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It'll do everything for you, you know?

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And I was just like, well, I'm not in that, you know, I can't afford that price range.

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So what can I find that works for me?

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So then I started looking into smaller companies like Keyley Labs, which I'm, I mean, who's

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ever heard of them, but they make quality adults.

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You know what I mean?

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And the guy's out of Michigan.

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He R&D's all his own stuff.

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He takes his time with his R&D and he puts a lot of, a lot of passion into what he does.

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And I've, I've gotten you in four of his paddles and I love every single one of them.

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And guess what?

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The most expensive one was a hundred and ten out there on the court, beating people with

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two, three, three, fifty, you know, who spent that much on their paddles.

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So that encouraged me to want to start the channel and then just try to create more of a fun,

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friendly type of review style as well.

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You say that and I, it makes me wonder, are there really boring dishonest reviews?

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Like, is that a thing?

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You have to, you have to differentiate yourself by saying this is an honest review or you're

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saying you're unpaid and you're in the market for a sponsor for some paid dishonesty.

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What's going on there?

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Hey, doing this for fun.

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Bobby, I, Bobby, I spent plenty of time reviewing and doing plenty of content realizing that

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the only reason to lie about something is if you're getting paid to lie about it.

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Otherwise, I would hope, I would hope it's all an honest review.

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Exactly.

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And that's why in the beginning, all my reviews, everyone that I did, I would always reach

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out to like an ambassador or somebody who promotes, like somebody local that promotes

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that particular brand.

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And I would say, hey, what's your discount code so I can throw it on my thing so that way

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you can make some money from people possibly wanting to get that paddle.

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So like I really am trying to be as honest as I can about my both my feedback and helping

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out others who are actually trying to make a career out of selling paddles or being in

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the pickable industry.

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Well, Bobby, let's make sure we get in all our discount codes because it sounds like

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he's just giving away money at this point.

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Well, I'm curious about one thing with the gentleman in Michigan.

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Does he manufacture in the States?

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Actually, no, he does not.

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He does get his stuff from I believe China.

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So I was going to say with tennis, it's, you know, everybody talks about, well, there's

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four probably four places that manufacture tennis racket.

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So you're going to get some incestuousness, if that's a word, in your tennis rackets.

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You know, they're getting made in the same places and they're all being made with the same

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stuff.

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So like Sean said, route to dramatically say one is better than the other.

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They're all pretty similar.

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You know, there's these weights and stuff like that, obviously, but they're similar.

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The other question real quick.

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So I feel like, well, you know, with the tennis player, I'll sit there and say, look, I want

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you to swing at least 10.4, 10.6 ounces.

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Heavy of the better.

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Is there a start or pick up all player, like I said, Sean said, I work at a place that does

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it off or pick up all.

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I have people that do it, but if they ask me the question, I have no idea.

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Is there a way that you sit there and say, this is where my starting off point is obviously

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it's going to be dictated by how much you want to spend, but these are some good specs

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to look into.

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So the question has what's a good weight?

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I mean, what would you tell somebody weights?

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Obviously, I know that they're getting different handles.

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The actual strike zone is changing.

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There's a lot going on with pick up all adults from where they started.

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Would you tell somebody, hey, this is a good entry spot.

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If I would like, for example, if I was talking to somebody coming from tennis, I would say,

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hey, you'd learn to get them elongated paddle, which is 16 1/2 inches long, and you're going

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to want them with at least be seven to seven inches, or I'm sorry, seven 1/2 inches to about

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seven six.

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Then, depending on what their style of tennis racket is, like they say they like it had

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heavy, well, then I'd be like, okay, well, this brand has a heavy elongated paddle, then

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I'd say, hey, you're tennis racket.

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Are you swinging 12 ounces?

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Are you doing 11 3?

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Are you doing 11 5?

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Are you doing 10 ounces?

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Are you just crazy in doing 9.5?

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You know?

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Because I know some people like that extra, extra light feeling, and then their tension is

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that like what, 25s, just so they don't have to swing hard, and they got to bazook them

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with strings.

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So it's kind of like that, the same thing.

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But as a general paddle for somebody coming from tennis, I would recommend 16 1/2 inches,

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seven 1/2 inches wide.

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And then, if they have a chewy, or they use a two handed backhand, I would recommend something

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that, where the handle length is 5 1/2 to 6 inches long.

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So that way you could sit both those hands on there when you're doing your backhand.

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So swing weight, I mean, you can always bump it up if you want, but generally they're all

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around 110 to 114.

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And then you're going to find that like the twist weight is going to be kind of in the

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5.5 range, two possibly six.

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So I mean, you're going to have some give and take there, but generally elongated, and then

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I would recommend a 5 1/2 to a six inch handle for somebody coming from tennis.

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Now it would kind of keep, and typically the weight of a 16 1/2 inch paddle is going to be

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around 8 to 8 1, or to 8 ounces to 8.1 ounces.

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So Bobby, I like that idea of transitioning in and saying, okay, what are you used to from

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your tennis world?

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And we'll get you into that from a pickleball perspective, get you playing a little bit, and

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then decide, okay, well, I'm going to make my adjustments as a pickleball player.

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Now that I am one, because I've been playing pickleball for 30 minutes, so clearly now I'm

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a pickleball player.

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And I can then adjust from there, but I like that idea.

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What do you use to from tennis?

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Let's get as close to as we can to that concept, get you in, then we'll get you into something

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else.

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Now we've just sold two records to the beginner, even better.

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Exactly.

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But somebody who's not like tennis based, I would always recommend like a wide body paddle.

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That's my next question.

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What about somebody who has coming from, I don't play ragged sports, you just got your

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neighbor, come on out here.

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Here's a paddle, whack the ball with it.

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The hand them like, is there a beginner paddle or is there just a beginner price point?

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I would say there's a beginner price point, because I mean, let's say, so if there are budgets

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100 bucks, I mean, there's like 50 to 60 paddles that they could choose from.

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All of them are really good, but typically I would recommend a wide body paddle just because

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it has a high twist weight, so it's not going to rotate in their hands.

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They probably don't even know what a tool is.

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So the handle is going to be five to five and a half inches.

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So they're going to play one hand everything.

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The paddle is going to be nice and wide.

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It's going to be a little bit shorter.

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So you're elongated at 16.5.

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Then your wide bodies are going to be 16 and below.

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So basically like 16 to like 15.6, somewhere in there.

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That's where you're going to find a wide body.

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It's just going to help them because you're getting so much surface area.

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It's like an oversized racket.

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Somebody who's not going to find a sweet spot all the time, somebody who's going to swing

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probably a little bit slower, not have those fundamentals, not have those mechanics.

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Then boom, you give them that nice oversized racket, tighten up the strings just a little

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bit, and hey, they're good to go.

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Sounds like Bobby's every Tuesday.

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So, I'm going to ask you a little bit about the way you're doing it.

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I'm going to ask you a little bit about the way you're doing it.

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I'm going to ask you a little bit about the way you're doing it.

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I'm going to ask you a little bit about the way you're doing it.

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I'm going to ask you a little bit about the way you're doing it.

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I'm going to ask you a little bit about the way you're doing it.

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I'm going to ask you a little bit about the way you're doing it.

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I'm going to ask you a little bit about the way you're doing it.

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Chin hair is the basis for the name.

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Yes, my wife's always like, "I love your salt and pepper.

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I love your salt and pepper."

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I was like, "Salt and pepper, pick a ball."

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There we go.

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Because before that, it was going to be like tropical pickleball channel or something like that.

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And then I heard salt and pepper.

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I was like, "Yeah, there we go."

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That's it.

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That's good.

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All right.

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Well, we need to move to the next thing.

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Bobby, what you got anything else for Giovanni before I hit him with King of Pickleball?

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All right.

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So Giovanni, I sent you this ahead of time.

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Hopefully you put some thought into this and we asked this at the end of almost all of our conversations.

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But we would like to know if you were King of Pickleball.

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So this means whether it's social pickleball, just Atlanta, where we're based or the whole world or professional.

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Any scale you can picture, any scope, if you were King of Pickleball, is there anything you would do or change?

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And if I were King of Pickball, I'd love to see more transparency and consistency around like equipment, such as like swing weight balance and specs that matter a lot to players.

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And then I'd love to see on the further community side.

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I'd like to see more courts coming out, but they're all more courts.

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So that's always the benefit.

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And then just better etiquette with conversations between players on the court.

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And just more people having fun without feeling intimidated, walking onto a court and everybody just wants to play.

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Let's clickiness, I guess, if I could do something, that would be one thing.

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But I just want the story to stay competitive.

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I just like the maintain the social vibe that makes Pickleball special.

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So I think that's what I'd do if I was King of Pickleball.

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I love it.

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All right, well, Giovanni Garcia of Salt and Pepper Pickleball.

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You can find them on YouTube, you can find them on Instagram.

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Thank you so much for making the time. I really appreciate it.

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Bobby is always. Thanks for being here.

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Gentlemen, thank you so much.

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Thank you.

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Well, there you have it.

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We want to thank reGeovinate.com for use of the studio and signature tennis for their support.

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And be sure to hit that follow button.

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And with that, we're out. See you next time.

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[Music]

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