CH.CRT · METHOD · READ THIS FIRST

How a take gets made, and how a link gets paid.

One page, linked from every disclosure box. It says who reviewers are to the paddles they write about, what has to be true before a take publishes, which affiliate programs exist on paper, and the one rule that never bends: commission never changes the order a paddle shows in, and never changes what a take says.

THE HOUR FLOOR

A take does not publish before the reviewer has 10 hours on real courts with the paddle, and a take claiming more than 2,000 hours is rejected as a typo. There are three verdicts, and no fourth, softer option:

Stays in the bag
Depends on your game
Pass

A pass publishes exactly like a keeper — same length, same place in the list, same disclosure box. Nothing is suppressed for reading badly, and no reward of any kind, cash, credit, or otherwise, is tied to what a take ends up saying.

HOW PADDLES ARE SOURCED

Every take discloses one of four relationships to the paddle it covers, right beside the reviewer's handle:

owner
Financial tie to the maker, ambassadors included
sample
Sent free or discounted
insider
In Mike's own bag, bought at retail
bought
Bought with own money, at retail

When more than one fits, the first in that list wins. How a paddle was obtained outranks who holds it: any financial tie to the maker reads owner, and a paddle sent free or discounted reads sample, even once it lives in Mike's bag. insider only ever means a paddle Mike paid retail for.

Hours played are as the reviewer reports them; the register does not independently verify a court session.

RANKING

Commission never changes what we rank or recommend. Order on the court lane is release date, full stop; order on the takes desk is the record and the publish date. No program's rate, no approval, and no size of a paddle maker moves either list.

THE PROGRAMS ON FILE

None of the 7 programs below has approved PointCast, so none of them can pay a link. A program starts paying only after its maker approves PointCast and its switch is turned on in PointCast's program config, which is what this table reads.

BrandNetworkApprovedStatus
Selkirk AvantLink No Not applied.
Engage Skimlinks or FlexOffers No Not applied.
CRBN unknown No Not applied.
6/0 Six Zero UpPromote No Not applied.
11SIX24 Ambassador program No Not applied.
Amazon Amazon Associates No Not applied.
JOOLA unknown No Not accepting applications.

DISCLOSURE

The exact string "Paid link. PointCast earns a commission if you buy." sits directly beside every paid link, on the paddle review page and in the court lane, every time — never a lone word like "affiliate," and never tucked into a page footer where it is easy to miss. Until a program is approved, the same spot instead says "No link, no commission." If PointCast or Mike ever holds a financial tie to a paddle maker, that tie is disclosed as owner on the take itself, ambassador programs included. The Federal Trade Commission's endorsement guides set the bar this policy is built to clear: ftc.gov ↗.

WHAT'S IN A TAKE

Reviewer
The handle filing the take, and how they got the paddle. The first that fits wins: owner, then sample, then insider, then bought.
Thesis
The one idea the take is making, in 20–280 characters.
What would change my mind
The specific thing — a crack, a re-string, a different opponent — that would move the verdict.
Hours played
At least 10 hours on real courts before a take publishes.
Tested
The date range the reviewer actually played it, on or before the day it published.
Verdict
Stays in the bag, depends on your game, or pass — never a star count.
Record
What happened along the way, each entry sourced to the reviewer or a link.

THE REGISTER STAYS SEPARATE

The Paddle Register carries no affiliate links and no discount codes — that promise does not change here. A paid link, once one exists, appears only through this page's rules: on a paddle's review page, and in the shop's court lane. It never appears on a register page.

every take · the court lane · the register · paddles.json · CC0