Four teams did not have to play a single match this weekend in Dallas in the Major League Pickleball (MLP) playoffs. New Jersey 5s, St. Louis Shock, Los Angeles Mad Drops, and Columbus Sliders finished the regular season as the top four sides, earning them a bye and a spot each directly in the quarterfinals in Newport Beach next week.
On the surface, a bye sounds like a pure advantage. These four teams get an extra week to rest banged-up players, review film, and prepare for whoever survives the Dallas bracket. In a long season full of travel and back-to-back matches, that kind of break can matter.
But byes are not always an advantage. Teams that go straight into a first playoff match, even a difficult one, get to play their way into game shape. The four teams competing in Dallas this weekend will have real in-game action under playoff pressure heading into Newport Beach. The bye teams will not.
There is also the question of momentum. Some of the teams playing in Dallas, like Dallas Flash, are riding hot streaks. Sitting idle for two weeks could mean a bye team walks into Newport Beach cold, facing an opponent that is playing its best pickleball of the year.
History in other sports offers mixed lessons here. Byes help teams nursing injuries but can also lead to slow starts against sharper, battle-tested opponents. format is still new enough that there is no long track record to lean on.
This weekend gives an early hint. Whichever teams emerge from Dallas playing clean, confident pickleball will arrive in Newport Beach with real momentum. Whether that beats a week of rest is one of the more interesting questions hanging over the back half of these