Ben Johns shocks PPA Worlds with a secret lefty forehand

Ben Johns, the greatest male pickleball player in history, reached deep into his bag of tricks at the PPA World Championships this week.

He unleashed a series of devastating left-handed forehands against Brandon French in a singles match.

For a player who has always been right-handed, this was a shock to fans and commentators alike.

Johns typically hits a forehand and a two-handed backhand, just like most right-handed players.

But in this match, he switched to his left hand for several forehand winners.

The move was so unexpected that broadcasters and fans immediately began asking questions.

In a post-match interview, Johns explained that the shot is not new at all.

It is an old habit from his tennis days, when he actually preferred using two forehands.

He brought that technique into pickleball in 2016 and 2017, when he first started playing singles.

"Back in the day when people played singles, it was pretty much all drives," Johns said.

"Then, I started dropping and coming in — the cat and mouse style as we know it today — and that required me to just hit backhand slices, basically backhand drops."

"So I stopped using my left hand and I stopped really hitting a bunch of passing shots, as I would just drop and come in."

"That's kind of the style I just continued to play for singles after that."

For years, the left-handed forehand disappeared from his game entirely.

But the sport of pickleball has changed dramatically over the past decade.

Equipment has evolved significantly, with new balls like the LT Pro 48 used on the PPA Tour.

Paddles have also become more powerful, altering the demands of singles play.

Johns believes the traditional drop-and-approach strategy is no longer as effective as it once was.

"You can't really drop and come in super well with this ball," he noted.

"You can hit accurate drops, but the ball bounces pretty high and people have a lot of spin on their paddles, so they can just take a drop and do a lot with it."

"Cat and mouse doesn't really work very well."

He added that while drops remain useful to stay in rallies, they are no longer a reliable way to build his game.

Since he does not generate much power with his backhand, the left-handed forehand offers a powerful alternative.

Johns began his campaign with an 11-7, 1-11, 11-5 victory over Brandon French on Tuesday.

He exited the singles competition in the Round of 32 after losing 8-11, 8-11 to ninth seed Noe Khlif on Wednesday.

Despite the early exit, Johns made one thing clear about his future in singles.

"When I do play singles, you can expect to see it," Johns said.

The left-handed forehand is here to stay whenever he takes the court.

This is not the only news Johns has made at the tournament this week.

He also made headlines for a fashion mishap during mixed doubles with Anna Leigh Waters.

During the round of 64, the pair's outfits did not match.

Waters wore a teal skirt and black shirt from Nike.

Johns wore bright blue shorts and a white shirt.

Broadcasters Sarah Ansboury and Michelle McMahon noticed and asked about it during a post-match interview.

"Ben, I don't think you did your job today with matching Anna Leigh's outfit, so what's going on here?" asked Ansboury.

Johns, Waters, and McMahon all laughed at the question.

"It's entirely my fault," Johns said.

"She told me what to wear in the morning and I think I packed in the dark."

"I packed the blue instead of the teal, and somehow, I didn't have a black shirt."

"It was a catastrophe this morning, I take full responsibility."

He added: "Blame being color blind and dressing in the dark."

Waters immediately interrupted to correct him.

"I'm sorry you can't blame your partial color blindness," Waters clarified.

"He's not actually color blind."