Great gameplay analysis. There is so much to take from this video that could help anyone of any level (except Ben of course) improve their game. Love it.
Sup Christian 🤙 I hope things for you have been well. Great analysis on this match and fantastic advice, as always. When it comes to high level gameplay, Ben is great at dictating opponent reaction. Based off of Ben's shot, he knows that Fed has a couple of options including shot selections; typically down the line or cross court. Ben just has to prep his body movement to react to either shot that Fed makes. That's the true essence to anticipation. As difficult as it is to do real time during an intense match, if I was playing against a Ben Johns/Fed Staksrud tier player, I'd have up to 4 different shot options no matter what ball comes my way. The 4 shots would be down the line topspin drive, cross court hook drives, drop shots, and lobs. I believe drop shots and lobs are extremely underutilized during singles play and if players utilized these shots more often in singles play, that would make the opponent have a harder time anticipating what shot you'll do. Also, it's been 1 week using the Paddletek Bantam TKO-C 14.3mm. I'm loving it 💪🏓 Plenty of my buddies are saying my gameplay instantly improved shortly after my initial use of the paddle, so I'm evolving closer and closer to 4.5 level with your signature paddle.
I like the play by play analysis. personally I like to watch the play/clip through (real time), then with commentary (think maybe commentary over slow-mo might be preferred). but thanks for taking the time to plot it out before hand. I watch this guy, Eric Shoji, doing volleyball commentary and I think it goes fairly smoothly. I forget how long his videos run. he does end up scrubbing back and forth over a single play (sometimes multiple times bc he is so mesmerized by what his team or his opponent, or two teams are doing). with both of you guys, I definitely get some insight that I might not be seeing in real time just watching it... my sense of Ben (without deep visual analysis) is that I feel like he reads the ball contacts like 2-4 contacts out, like he senses patterns so well from having gathered data about a player's tendencies... he is like the chessmaster or the puppeteer
"real ones know." Very valuable this, thank you. And I send you healing wishes/vibes re your stomach issues. As someone who's been in a similar situation, I can relate. Anyway, onwards and picklewards!
Great vid! Nerdy quick tech pro tip for you: there’s a keyboard shortcut (if you’re on a Mac) to slow down the video: (Shift + ,) and (Shift + .) to speed up. Each click is a step up/down. That’ll save you some mouse clicks! 🤓
Great analysis Christian. I think you’re right on point. I do think that Fed is doing something that is tipping Ben off as to what Fed’s next move might be. If he was just guessing, he should be just right half the time. In many of Ben’s post game interviews, Ben states that it sometimes takes him a little time to understand new opponents to see what works against them. Ben sees that faster than anyone else and that’s one of the reasons he is so successful.
I love you vlogs it inspired me to be a pro teen pickleball play I am a 3.75 and I won a paddle giveaway and paddle Tek never got back to me keep doing what your doing your my inspiration
Got the Bantam TKO-CX 12.7! It’s really good. The sweet spot is a little tighter than Gen 2+ paddles, and it is a little head heavy. But those are minor gripes for how good it feels. Really plows through the ball, very nice pop and power. Nice long handle. And an underrated part is that it makes a great sound. Somehow it’s closer to the sound the Gen 3s were making. Loud, hollow and low pitched.
REAL ONES KNOW. Christian, thank you for being an inspiration for junior players. We, Pravak brothers, subscribed today. If we win, we need 3 paddles :) 🏓
Real ones know. Fed looked pretty frustrated this match. For some reason Ben just has his number right now. He'll figure it out, though. To me it looks like Ben is leaving the cross court shot open because it's a more difficult shot to make. Out of the 3 times you show Fed go cross court, he only gets 1 of them. The first goes out and the second pops up enough for Ben to volley.
I think it's not just "prediction". Ben can read Fed's body position and movement to know where Fed is most likely to hit the ball. When Fed hit cross-court forehand wide, he made a mistake because he was getting ready to hit down the line, but saw Ben sitting on backhand and changed his mind in the last moment, hence the error.
Real ones know - loved the breakdown. Do you think the new scoring makes it harder to comeback in games like these? It looked like Ben was winning the mental game early and Fed never really gained a foothold there.
A big takeaway for me is how far apart his legs are. He is able to cover so much of the court just by leaning because of how spread out his feet are. I really have to practice this. Well, I am new to pickelball so I need to practice everything. Lol. This is for sure something I need to force myself to do. Good video.
PS: I'd also say a major factor is Fed's mental state, and the automatic pressure he feels from losing virtually every match to Ben before. i.e., Ben starts out ahead every game on that basis alone.
Well actually: 1. Have a strategy going into a match (this may change as the match progresses) 2. Serve deep and return deep ( if you can do this every point you will win) 3. The deep serve and return with the strategy will allow you to anticipate your opponents shot.
In a youtube video format, i think its better for you to hold off on the 3 key things in order to retain viewers. Just my two cents. keep it up love the videos and the new paddle.
much love, good vid, but get right into the video. Ppl don't care abt your bio, your ranking... earn credibility by providing good, interesting information. That'll pull more people in right off the bat. No beating around the bush. "Hi guys, Christian Alshon here-- the best players do 3 things that set them apart from everyone else. First:" and just jump in. Thanks!
Thank you for the great analysis! Enjoyed your video!
Great gameplay analysis. There is so much to take from this video that could help anyone of any level (except Ben of course) improve their game. Love it.
Would be good to see him pick apart some leaks from amateur fans filming their game and sending to him
Great vid and format! Appreciate the pre-editing 👍
Sup Christian 🤙 I hope things for you have been well. Great analysis on this match and fantastic advice, as always.
When it comes to high level gameplay, Ben is great at dictating opponent reaction. Based off of Ben's shot, he knows that Fed has a couple of options including shot selections; typically down the line or cross court.
Ben just has to prep his body movement to react to either shot that Fed makes. That's the true essence to anticipation.
As difficult as it is to do real time during an intense match, if I was playing against a Ben Johns/Fed Staksrud tier player, I'd have up to 4 different shot options no matter what ball comes my way.
The 4 shots would be down the line topspin drive, cross court hook drives, drop shots, and lobs.
I believe drop shots and lobs are extremely underutilized during singles play and if players utilized these shots more often in singles play, that would make the opponent have a harder time anticipating what shot you'll do.
Also, it's been 1 week using the Paddletek Bantam TKO-C 14.3mm. I'm loving it 💪🏓 Plenty of my buddies are saying my gameplay instantly improved shortly after my initial use of the paddle, so I'm evolving closer and closer to 4.5 level with your signature paddle.
I like the play by play analysis. personally I like to watch the play/clip through (real time), then with commentary (think maybe commentary over slow-mo might be preferred). but thanks for taking the time to plot it out before hand. I watch this guy, Eric Shoji, doing volleyball commentary and I think it goes fairly smoothly. I forget how long his videos run. he does end up scrubbing back and forth over a single play (sometimes multiple times bc he is so mesmerized by what his team or his opponent, or two teams are doing). with both of you guys, I definitely get some insight that I might not be seeing in real time just watching it... my sense of Ben (without deep visual analysis) is that I feel like he reads the ball contacts like 2-4 contacts out, like he senses patterns so well from having gathered data about a player's tendencies... he is like the chessmaster or the puppeteer
Great analysis~
"real ones know." Very valuable this, thank you. And I send you healing wishes/vibes re your stomach issues. As someone who's been in a similar situation, I can relate. Anyway, onwards and picklewards!
Great analysis! Thanks for sharing your expertise and knowledge! Please explain more about strategies . Thanks
Great video 🎉
Real ones know. Thanks for the great analysis. Love the in-game analysis format.
Thank you for your time and posting. Hope you are healed up. Best of luck at Orange County.
Holy moly paddles. Send me just one!
Informative video!
Great vid! Nerdy quick tech pro tip for you: there’s a keyboard shortcut (if you’re on a Mac) to slow down the video: (Shift + ,) and (Shift + .) to speed up. Each click is a step up/down. That’ll save you some mouse clicks! 🤓
Well done Christian!
Great analysis Christian. I think you’re right on point. I do think that Fed is doing something that is tipping Ben off as to what Fed’s next move might be. If he was just guessing, he should be just right half the time. In many of Ben’s post game interviews, Ben states that it sometimes takes him a little time to understand new opponents to see what works against them. Ben sees that faster than anyone else and that’s one of the reasons he is so successful.
I love you vlogs it inspired me to be a pro teen pickleball play I am a 3.75 and I won a paddle giveaway and paddle Tek never got back to me keep doing what your doing your my inspiration
Got the Bantam TKO-CX 12.7! It’s really good. The sweet spot is a little tighter than Gen 2+ paddles, and it is a little head heavy. But those are minor gripes for how good it feels.
Really plows through the ball, very nice pop and power. Nice long handle. And an underrated part is that it makes a great sound. Somehow it’s closer to the sound the Gen 3s were making. Loud, hollow and low pitched.
Cheers Alshon. Paddle positioning seems to be a big tell... harder to predict with more backswing
REAL ONES KNOW. Christian, thank you for being an inspiration for junior players. We, Pravak brothers, subscribed today. If we win, we need 3 paddles :) 🏓
It's like Game of Thrones over here with those paddles
Yep , ben is from another level anticipating
Real ones know.
Fed looked pretty frustrated this match. For some reason Ben just has his number right now. He'll figure it out, though.
To me it looks like Ben is leaving the cross court shot open because it's a more difficult shot to make. Out of the 3 times you show Fed go cross court, he only gets 1 of them. The first goes out and the second pops up enough for Ben to volley.
Awesome observation, it is definitely a lower percentage shot
more excellent content bro
I think it's not just "prediction". Ben can read Fed's body position and movement to know where Fed is most likely to hit the ball. When Fed hit cross-court forehand wide, he made a mistake because he was getting ready to hit down the line, but saw Ben sitting on backhand and changed his mind in the last moment, hence the error.
real ones know
Also, phenomenal breakdown Christian. Look forward to more of these!
Real ones know - loved the breakdown. Do you think the new scoring makes it harder to comeback in games like these? It looked like Ben was winning the mental game early and Fed never really gained a foothold there.
A big takeaway for me is how far apart his legs are. He is able to cover so much of the court just by leaning because of how spread out his feet are. I really have to practice this. Well, I am new to pickelball so I need to practice everything. Lol. This is for sure something I need to force myself to do. Good video.
Real ones know🫡
Coach me 🥲
I need that free paddle please I can’t use gen 3 anymore!
PS: I'd also say a major factor is Fed's mental state, and the automatic pressure he feels from losing virtually every match to Ben before. i.e., Ben starts out ahead every game on that basis alone.
Real ones know 🔥🔥🔥
Ben reads body position and paddle face better than anyone else and Fed was a bit off that day.
too many paddles back there lol
Well actually: 1. Have a strategy going into a match (this may change as the match progresses) 2. Serve deep and return deep ( if you can do this every point you will win) 3. The deep serve and return with the strategy will allow you to anticipate your opponents shot.
Real ones know!
real ones know - that's the truth
"real ones know"
real ones know!
I'd say here we see more the bad game from Federico than great from Johns. definitely not Federico's best game
Real ones know
Real ones know 🧐
real ones know
Real ones know.
Real ones know. Lol
Toto
real ones know :)
Tpp
Too much verbiage
In a youtube video format, i think its better for you to hold off on the 3 key things in order to retain viewers. Just my two cents. keep it up love the videos and the new paddle.
disagree, the important meaty part is how he unpacks them - otherwise they mean little..
I, like most viewers, hate that -I appreciate that he didn’t do that
much love, good vid, but get right into the video. Ppl don't care abt your bio, your ranking... earn credibility by providing good, interesting information. That'll pull more people in right off the bat. No beating around the bush. "Hi guys, Christian Alshon here-- the best players do 3 things that set them apart from everyone else. First:" and just jump in. Thanks!
Real ones know
real ones know
Real ones know.