How Fed Staksrud's Right-Side Gamble Paid Off — & Reinvented a Winning Doubles Team
Hayden Patriquin is one of the most dangerous players on the planet. Everyone knows this. But he was being neutralized by a system that didn't let him be himself.
Federico Staksrud had a problem. His doubles partnership with Hayden Patriquin was stuck in neutral, and the team that had won three straight tournaments the year before was suddenly fighting just to stay relevant.
They were part of the "big four" everyone kept talking about, alongside Ben Johns and Gabe Tardio, Christian Alshon and Andre Daescu, and JW Johnson and CJ Klinger.
But honestly? They were feeling like the fourth wheel at times.
The losses kept piling up. Hayden was getting frustrated. And Federico knew something had to give.
So he made a decision that seemed almost reckless at the time: he'd move to the right side. Full-time. After years of dominating the left, after building his entire game around that position, he was going to learn a completely different role in less than a month and somehow make it work at the highest level of professional pickleball.
Spoiler alert: it worked. And not just worked — it led to a PPA World Championship men's doubles title.
The Slow Death of a Partnership
Sometimes the best partnerships need to evolve, even when they've already proven they can win.
Federico and Hayden had that pedigree. Last year, they won three out of three tournaments together with Federico on the left and Hayden on the right. It seemed like the formula was locked in.
But formulas break down.
The 2025 season started rough. They lost early at the first tournament, and what felt like a fluke in March started looking like a pattern by summer. Christian and Andre were playing lights-out pickleball, climbing the rankings and taking that number two seed. Meanwhile, Federico and Hayden were watching their ranking slip, their confidence eroding with each loss.
Thomas Shields
The real issue? Hayden wasn't getting enough touches. He's not the type of player who can just stand there and wait for his moment. He needs to be moving, attacking, creating chaos.
When Federico was on the left side, Hayden was essentially boxed in on the right, unable to do what makes him dangerous. Teams figured it out, too. They'd dead dink to Federico, knowing he was less of a threat than Hayden, and suddenly Hayden would get antsy, start pulling whatever he could reach, and the rhythm would fall apart.
"He needs to be moving," Federico explained to Zane Navratil on the PicklePod podcast.
"When things don't go your way, you want to move more. You want to be doing things."
The Leap of Faith
By mid-summer, after tournaments in Virginia Beach, Bristol, and Vegas, it became clear that something needed to change.
Federico didn't just suggest a switch. He committed to it. He decided he'd move to the right side and let Hayden play the left, where he could be the aggressor, the playmaker, the guy who makes opponents uncomfortable.
Fed hadn't played the right side consistently since 2022, when he was drafted with Dekel Bar in Major League Pickleball. He'd dabbled here and there, some matches with James Ignatowich, some with Dekel, a Championship Sunday run with Chuck Taylor on the APP Tour. But for years, he'd been exclusively left-side. Even when he was practicing with Pablo Tellez, he'd spend maybe 30 minutes a day working on right-side dinks, but that was it.
The fear was real. "The biggest thing was me not being up to the task on the right," Federico said. "Like, the fear was, 'Okay, I can play the right, but am I going to do it good? Like I might get screwed.'"
But he also knew something else: he just wanted to win. And Hayden wanted to win too. If this was the path to victory, then it was worth the risk.
According to CBS Sports, pro players are increasingly making calculated tactical sacrifices to stay competitive — and Fed's willingness to reinvent his role is a textbook example of that mindset in action.
Erik Tice
Learning the Game Again
What's remarkable about Federico's approach is that he didn't overthink it. He got on the court. A lot.
Like, constantly. He drilled. He played. He competed. That's it. No secret sauce, no revolutionary training method. Just time and repetition and the kind of obsessive commitment that separates pros from everyone else.
"I'm on the court a lot, honestly," he said.
"That's the biggest thing. That's not a secret. And that's how I can get used to something a little better. Just being on the court drilling and playing. That's the only way to do it."
By Vegas, something clicked. Fed and Hayden had game points against Ben and Gabe. They didn't win that match, but they were close. They were putting pressure on the best team in pickleball. And then, almost out of nowhere, they won a PPA tournament. Federico on the right. Hayden on the left. Championship Sunday. Tears. Emotion. The whole thing.
For anyone who wants to understand how elite advanced pickleball doubles strategy actually evolves at the pro level, this story is the clearest case study you'll find.
What This Actually Means
Professional pickleball is still figuring itself out. The sport is young enough that players can completely reinvent their roles and succeed. Fed's switch wasn't just about moving to a different side of the court.
It was about recognizing that sometimes the best version of a partnership requires sacrifice and flexibility from both players.
Hayden Patriquin is one of the most dangerous players on the planet. Everyone knows this. But he was being neutralized by a system that didn't let him be himself. Fed saw that and was willing to step back, learn a new position, and essentially become a supporting player so his partner could thrive.
As Sports Illustrated noted in their coverage of pickleball's rapid rise, the sport's top players are increasingly defined not just by raw skill, but by how quickly they can adapt their game under competitive pressure — which is exactly what Federico proved.
"It's kind of like I'm trying to learn the game again," he said.
"I want to go out there and get better. It's an extra motivation now."
Federico's climb to becoming the world's number one men's doubles player didn't happen by protecting what worked. It happened by blowing it up and rebuilding.
In a sport where egos can be as big as the serves, that's actually pretty rare.
And if you want to understand how getting on the right side of your doubles partner can transform your game at any level, Fed and Hayden just gave you the blueprint.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why did Federico Staksrud switch to the right side?
Federico moved to the right side full-time in the summer of 2025 because the existing partnership dynamic wasn't working. With Fed on the left and Hayden on the right, opponents were able to dead dink to Federico and neutralize Hayden's aggression. By flipping sides, Fed gave Hayden the freedom to attack from the left — which is where he's most dangerous.
Was it risky for Federico to switch sides mid-season?
Absolutely — and Federico openly admitted the fear of not being up to the task. He hadn't played the right side consistently since 2022, and learning an entirely new position at the highest level of pro pickleball is no small thing. The risk paid off, but it required intense drilling and full commitment to make the change work in competition.
How does pickleball doubles strategy change depending on which side you play?
The left side and right side in doubles require very different skill sets. The left-side player handles most forehand exchanges down the middle and is often the more aggressive shot-maker. The right-side player tends to focus on stability, positioning, and setting up their partner. A team's overall pickleball doubles strategy often hinges on which player is best suited — temperamentally and technically — to each role.
How did Fed and Hayden ultimately win the PPA World Championship?
After the side switch took hold, the partnership found a new rhythm. Fed's willingness to become a supporting player unlocked Hayden's attacking game, and the team began putting pressure on top seeds — including Ben Johns and Gabe Tardio. They eventually broke through to win the PPA World Championship men's doubles title at Brookhaven Country Club in Farmers Branch, Texas, in November 2025.
What can amateur players learn from Fed's approach to improving on a new side?
Fed's method was simple: get on the court and repeat. No complicated systems, just drilling and playing constantly until the new position felt natural. For amateur players, the lesson is that positional flexibility is a real competitive edge, and that the willingness to be uncomfortable — and to grind through that discomfort — is often what separates players who plateau from those who keep improving.
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