Everyone knows him as Sharky. Fewer know him as Jacob. Even fewer know he can solve a Rubik's Cube in 12 seconds flat.

Sharky is the guy behind Sharky PB, a video series built on a simple idea: get players of wildly different skill levels on the same court. He noticed the divide early. High-rated players stuck with high-rated players. Low-rated players stuck with low-rated players. Nobody crossed over. So he built a series that forces the crossover, and turned himself into the bridge.

It's personal for him, too. Homeschooled for most of his life, then hit with COVID for half of college, Sharky knows what it feels like to lose a social outlet. Pickleball gave him one back. Now he spends his time meeting players he never thought would know his name, let alone ask to be in one of his videos.

"That really makes my day," he says. It shows.

The Cube Before the Paddle

Sharky's first Rubik's Cube sighting was at a party in fifth grade, sitting on a shelf in his uncle's room. He solved it in an hour and never looked back. By his sophomore year of high school, he was averaging 45 seconds, no tutorials, no community, just trial and error in a niche that barely existed online yet.

Confident, he entered his first tournament. It did not go well. His first official solve ended in a DNF because he started the timer wrong. The rest of his attempts weren't much better. He walked in thinking he was hot sauce and walked out with a reality check: the average competitor was 13 to 16 years old, and most of them were three times faster than him.

He was hooked instantly. Today he's ranked in the top 100 in the state of Texas, averaging 12 seconds a solve, and he helps organize every cubing competition in Houston.

What Speedcubing Actually Teaches You

Cubing won't improve your footwork. But the habits it builds carry over more than you'd think.

Cubers talk about something called "lookahead": scanning two or three moves ahead while your hands are still executing the current one. Top cubers can see 8 to 13 moves out. Sharky says he can manage one step ahead, roughly 3 to 5 moves.

Sound familiar? In pickleball, it's called building the point. Reading the sequence before it happens. Sharky says he's starting to see those patterns on the court. Knowing what to do with them is the next level.

Should Pros Be Cubing?

Sharky thinks pros shouldn't put all their eggs in one basket. He points to boxers who train by juggling, a discipline that demands hand-eye coordination, timing, and patience that has nothing to do with throwing a punch. He sees speedcubing the same way: less a skill transfer, more a mental reset. A way for pros to slow down and find their center between points.

Fast Fingers, Fast Hands?

So does speedcubing actually move the needle on his DUPR rating? Sharky's honest: there's no data proving fast fingers equal fast hands. He's more of a recreational player and doesn't chase tournaments often.

But he's having fun in both worlds, and he's made lifelong friends along the way that he can't imagine his life without. As he puts it, there's nothing more important than that.

Ready to see where you land? Download the DUPR app and follow @dupr on Instagram to keep up with players like Sharky bridging the pickleball community, one match at a time.