Referees Saw Paddle in Half to Check Legality Mid-Match

It's fair to say we have never seen something like this in the history of pickleball.

During Thomas Shields' match vs. Anna Bright at the Courted Series event in Miami earlier this month, he noted that Bright was hitting with unnatural levels of power and velocity.

So he called her on it.

"I feel like she's hitting that ball pretty hard. I'm calling a paddle check."

The referees didn't hesitate. Bright handed over her paddle for an official check, but then things took an interesting turn.

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After an extremely careful and thorough analysis, the referees astonishingly determined the paddle to be within regulation.

"That's a clean core," they declared before handing the paddle back to Bright to resume play.

Bright continued to play multiple more points with the sawed paddle.

Did the gamble come back around to bite her in the end?

Watch the full video now.