Capital Area Pickleball Association
Serving Dane County Wisconsin

• This summer, for the first time ever, the Capital Area Pickleball Association (CAPA) organized and ran some Minor League Pickleball (MLP) leagues. This author was the volunteer in charge of organizing and running the DUPR 16 League, which played its regular season at Hitters Sportsplex in Middleton from June 18, 2025 – July 16, 2025, and had its Championship Playoffs at Hitters on July 23, 2025. The DUPR 16 League played at Hitters every week on Wednesdays from 6-8 pm. There were originally five teams in the DUPR 16 League, but only the top four were invited to play in the Playoffs for gold, silver, and bronze.

  The final results were as follows:
  

  ·      1^st Place - Gold: Electric Pickle (Michelle Hebert, Andrea Boardman, Chris Boardman, Evan Tenebruso)
  ·      2^nd Place – Silver: Day Dinking (Lindsey Gregor, Abhishek Shankar, Jill Masana, Gino Ricchio)
  ·      3^rd Place – Bronze: The Mad Picklers (Dan Parenteau, Mary Thomson, Caitlin Kantosky, Anthony Petrasko)

 The DUPR 13 League still has one more week to play in its regular   season, and its Playoffs will happen Tuesday, August 5, 2025, from 4-6   pm at Hitters. The DUPR 14 League has wrapped up its regular   season, but its Playoffs will occur on Thursday, August 14, 2025, at   Hitters from 6-8 pm. All are welcome to come and watch. Spectators   can attend for free!

Dill Dinkers private indoor pickleball courts will be opening soon on Madison’s East Side! Dill Dinkers’ address is 5004 Tradewinds Parkway, Madison, Wisconsin, 53718. The opening date had initially been set for July 31, 2025, but due to a few final construction-related adjustments, the opening date had to be pushed back. A new opening date will be announced soon.

During the first week that the facility is open, you will be able to sign up to play for free by making a reservation in the Court Reserve app under “Dill Dinkers Madison”. After that, you can become a member at Dill Dinkers at the appropriate membership level (depending on anticipated usage), and note that additional court fees of anywhere from $7-$28 per person per 2-hour session may apply. Court fees vary depending on whether you are a member and whether you are there for open play or private court rental (assuming doubles (4 players)). You can receive $100 in free membership credits using promo code BLAKE. For more information about Dill Dinkers, visit their website.

• You may recall a recent Pickleblog from May 22, 2025, entitled, “Understanding DUPR.” However, much has changed since then. In early July 2025, DUPR Inc. released an update to its Dynamic Universal Pickleball Ratings (DUPR) algorithm so that now, DUPR ratings adjust based on a player’s performance compared to his/her expected score. 

  Starting July 8, 2025, a player’s rating changes based on how he/she performs relative to how he/she was expected to perform in a given match, not on whether he/she wins or loses a game. DUPR assigns every match an expected score before it is played, based on the ratings of the players involved. ‍If you score more points than expected, your rating will go up, even if you lose. If you score less than expected, however, your rating will go down, even if you win. Under the prior algorithm, the winning team’s rating would always go up and the losing team’s rating would always go down.

  ‍According to DUPR’s website, its algorithm takes four primary components into account when calculating a player’s ranking:

•                Performance vs. Expectation: Each match has an expected score that is based on player ratings. If a player scores more points than expected, his/her rating will go up. If he/she scores fewer points than expected, his/her rating will go down.
•                Type of Match: A club or tournament match influences a player’s rating more than a self-posted one.
•                Match Recency: Newer matches have a larger impact on a player’s rating than older ones.
•                Match Volume: Each match refines a player’s rating. More match history leads to more stable and accurate ratings.‍

For more information on the update to DUPR’s algorithm, go here.

Keep pickling!

The Madtown Pickleball Open, Wisconsin's largest outdoor pickleball tournament, is scheduled to start tomorrow and will run from July 11-13, 2025. It will be played at Wyndham Hills Park, located at 675 North Heatherstone Drive in Sun Prairie. 

The tournament started in 2022 and has experienced an astonishing 65% increase in participation since its debut. The tournament is open to players of all skill levels, from beginners to professionals (skill ranges 2.5-5.0), and features men's, women's, and mixed doubles events, with age divisions for 18+, 35+, 50+ and 65+. The tournament will be played round-robin style, and each participant is guaranteed at least four games.

Registration has closed for the event, but you are welcome to come and cheer on the players! A schedule of the brackets, dates of play and anticipated start times can be found by clicking here.

On June 8, 2025, Memorial Park in Barneveld, WI, was reopened after a significant renovation, and, among other features and amenities, it now boasts a full-sized basketball court that is also multi-marked for two pickleball courts. The multi-sport court is available to the public on a first-come, first-served basis, but it can also be reserved for $10/hr. Memorial Park is located at County Hwy ID, Barneveld, WI, 53507.

Two new dedicated outdoor pickleball courts will soon be coming to Poynette. They will be built in Old Settlers Park, located at 100 Old Settlers Trail, Poynette, WI, 53955. As of early June 2025, the project had been sent out for bids, with the intention of having the work completed by the end of September or early October 2025. For more information, contact the Poynette Parks & Recreation Commission.

One of the best ways to improve your pickleball serve is through practice and repetition. Being able to bring many balls with you to use for serve practice can cut down on the amount of time you spend chasing and picking up balls. But let’s face it, pickleballs can get expensive if you want to buy them in bulk quantities at most sporting goods stores.

This is one way in which being a member of the Capital Area Pickleball Association (CAPA) can benefit you and help you save money. Specifically, if you are a CAPA member, you can buy Franklin X-40 pickleballs at a discount from certain CAPA members who regularly buy pickleballs in bulk and resell them to other CAPA members at a discount. The discounted price for pickleballs under the resale program is 3 pickleballs for $6, 6 pickleballs for $10, and 13 pickleballs for $20. (To clarify, even though the balls are being “resold,” they are, in fact, brand new!)

For a list of the individuals in CAPA from whom you can buy discounted pickleballs, click here.

 

Are you looking to play some singles pickleball? The Capital Area Pickleball Association (CAPA) will be running its first ever full-court singles pickleball league! The league is for players who are self-rated at skill levels 3.5-4.25. Scores will not be entered into DUPR. The league will play on Wednesdays at Hitters SportsPlex in Middleton from 4-6 pm and will run from June 25 through July 30. You must be a member of CAPA to play in the league. If you are not already a member of CAPA, you can join by clicking here. The cost to join CAPA is $15 per year. There is no additional cost to join the league. When you play each week, you will just have to pay Hitters the cost to use their courts. It is $11.50 for two hours with a punchcard or $15 without one.

If you would like to join the singles league, you should first download the Pickleheads app and create an account. Then click this link to join the sessions you would like to play in! Keep pickling!

When it comes to pickleball, there’s more than one way to play the game. You can play one-on-one (singles) or two-on-two (doubles). Singles and doubles games each offer unique challenges and strategies, so understanding the differences can help improve your overall skills, no matter which version you prefer. Let's delve into the primary nuances of singles versus doubles pickleball and briefly discuss how they affect gameplay.

Calling the Score

One of the key differences between singles and doubles pickleball relates to how you call the score.

• In doubles pickleball, you call the score as three numbers: my team’s score; the opposing team’s score; my server number.
• In singles, however, since you are the only server for your team, you only call the first two numbers as the score (my team’s score; the opposing team’s score).

The scoring system itself is the same, however, between singles and doubles. That is, in both types of games, a standard game goes to 11 points, and you have to win by 2 points.

Serving

Singles and doubles pickleball also differ when it comes to serving. Here’s how:

• In doubles, both players on a team get a chance to serve before the opposing team can serve (except in the very first round of a game where only one player has a chance to serve until the team loses the rally). So, in almost every round of doubles, the first server serves from the right side of the court. If their team scores a point, they switch sides with their partner and serve from the left side. When the first server loses the serve, because their team lost a rally, their partner takes over and serves from the side they happen to be standing on, and they keep serving until their team loses the rally.
• In singles, however, you serve from the right side of the court when your score is even, and the left side when it's odd. Each server only gets one chance to serve until they lose the rally. This is true in every round of the game, not just the very first round.

Strategy and Court Positioning

Singles pickleball relies heavily on speed, agility, and endurance. With only one player on your team, you have more court space to cover, so playing close to the baseline and maintaining a strong defense is crucial. Your shots must be precise, as the slightest mishit could give your opponent a scoring opportunity. You also generally want to stay in the middle of the court to be able to get shots that are sent to you anywhere on the court. However, as a general matter, you want to send shots to your opponent that are along the sidelines of their half of the court, and often to their backhand.

Doubles pickleball is more about teamwork, communication, and strategy. Court positioning is key—each player must cover their designated side, while moving in sync to create an impenetrable defense. Offensive strategies in doubles often include lobs, overheads, and put-away shots at the non-volley zone, forcing the opponents to make errors. Also, in doubles, you and your partner are often trying to send shots down the middle on the other side of the net in order to confound the opposing team. You and your partner must make sure that whomever has the forehand is covering the middle of the court on any given point, but you also have to ensure that the sidelines are covered, too.

Gameplay Dynamics

In singles pickleball, games are fast-paced and intense, as you need to return every shot and outmaneuver your opponent. Pickleball singles players often excel at shot selection and placement, keeping opponents off-balance with angled groundstrokes and volleys or strategic drops.

Doubles pickleball, on the other hand, is more about patience and teamwork. Players must work together to exploit opponents’ weaknesses, alternating between aggressive offense and strategic defense.

Conclusion

Whether you prefer the intense one-on-one action of singles or the team dynamics of doubles, pickleball offers something for everyone. By understanding the differences between singles and doubles play, you can develop the skills and strategies needed to excel on the court, no matter which version you choose.

 

The 2025 Madtown Pickleball Open pickleball tournament is scheduled to take place at Wyndham Hills Park in Sun Prairie this summer from July 11-13. The organizers of the tournament have reached out to the Capital Area Pickleball Association and to me, your humble Pickleblog writer, to ask if we might be able to provide a few volunteers to help out in various capacities at the tournament.

In exchange for your willingness to volunteer, you will receive the following perks:

•  One waived bracket fee for this year’s tournament ($15 value)
  (credited after volunteer shift completion)
• A volunteer shirt & swag bag
• Complimentary snacks and hydration

Now that I have your attention, here are the volunteer roles that the tournament organizers need help with on all three days of the tournament:

• General Float: Assist tournament directors in organizing, tracking, and executing athlete awards. Temporarily relieve court monitors for bathroom or water breaks. Deliver water and help keep water jugs full for athletes and volunteers.
• Court Monitor: Make sure scores are entered correctly and submitted after each match, provide new balls upon request, keep pace of play going by limiting excessive warm-up or standing around time, ensure athletes are on the correct courts once they arrive, etc.

To sign up for your preferred role(s) and shift(s), click this link.

Keep pickling!