Is it better to play with stronger players or with players at your level?

I enjoy both, and think you need both to have balanced improvement and different sorts of stimuli.

Both.  When you play with players on your own level it gives you leeway to experiment and try new things.  When you play against stronger players you have to be more guarded and focused. Helps you learn more defensive tactics. 

Honestly, whenever I play too much with players below my level, I feel like I get worse too. You end up syncing with the level around you. It’s contagious.

It's always better to play with stronger players unless you're unable to keep up after numerous sessions and don't see any progress. This means you either need coaching or if you don't want to go there maybe it's time to go down a notch. 

The guy who runs our pickleball club sent out some email about playing up/down and he suggested 25% slightly above your level 25% slightly below and 50% around your level as the best ratio. I think he has a vested interest in getting different levels to play together to keep a club running smoothly especially one built on a mostly open play model so take that with a grain of salt but I think that ratio makes the most sense to me. I prefer to play with and against stronger players it helps me see the holes in my game and try to work to improve on those when I’m drilling. If you aren’t drilling or trying to improve outside of rec play I would say play mostly at your own level. You will have the most fun and the least amount of people upset about playing with you.

I enjoy the latter more. I also learn more from it tbh. When playing with better players I can't really try anything but play a controller game

I think you do a mix. Playing against stronger players helps you up your defense (dealing with flatter and harder shots off the glass). It's not good mentally though playing games that are hard all the time on the basis that you'll likely lose more than you win.

Por que no los dos?

When i search matches, I try to be the second or third best player in the match. That's where it's most interesting If you're consistently last or first, you need to adjust your level

1/ Your team - same level. No fridge, game is balanced and interesting. 2/ Opponents. 50 same / 25 higher / 25 lower. When it is a difference, it is small.

I play regularly Mexicano, and with some friends that are better than me, and I feel I get closer and closer to that level. However when I some times find my self in the position where I feel like I'm the strongest of the 4 on the court, I have a really hard time dominating the match.. So I like to trying to both play up and play down since I feel like I can work on my game, in both cases.

You'll probably learn the fastest with players slightly above your level, it's what i personally enjoy the most. Most fun for everyone of course is of everyone is of the same level. If you're slightly above the rest you really learn much less I feel, you don't get pushed to go as deep, won't have the same pressure and you can learn bad habits like playing certain shots (bad smashes, fast shots) which work well because you're better but will get punished by better players.

I regularly sign up for lower matches (just by a bit) to test things and work on touch. it gives my opponents a fair chance and allows me to try things.

Variety is good, in general. Play mostly with people around our level, because a competitive match is where your shots are really tested. Play some weaker players too, just so you have the chance to practice some strokes with little pressure. Beyond that, it depends a bit on your weaknesses. My problem is being too passive, so playing with stronger players too much of the time is not great, because it reinforces my tendencies to just play solidly, both because I can rely on a strong partner to finish points, and because my smashes have to be too good to be worth going for that often. On the other hand, it's always nice to play with a strong partner because you just get more balls, which is ultimately the most important thing for practicing.

Playing with players your level is more fun for sure but recently i had a 3 hour sesh with some more experienced crew and I feel like i learned so much and my normal group will feel much easier in comparison. Playing against better players is for sure beneficial for improving. But it has to be people who are just a bit better, so that you can still keep up. If you can barely return balls and they just destroy you you wont learn anything for sure. Being the best on the court can be good for polishing your technique but it can also teach you wrong habits because stuff that wouldnt normally work will work will, just because of the skill gap. + once youre already winning your're not pushed to improve further, you can just keep doing what you're doing. You're comfortable with all their moves, they're not putting you in unfamiliar situations.

coool question brother, makes me think more about my process the last 6 months and the patterns i fall into when i pick up a new sport/hobby. for context i’m still pretty new (about 6 months in, playtomic \~3). i’ve noticed i get the most joy (and progress) from the ‘chess' games, so i try to play mostly with people slightly better than me. i still mix in some same-level games for confidence lol. and weekly training has been huge. it gives me a routine/flow so i don’t get lost in my game, and bringing 1–2 training focuses into matches is honestly insane for improvement. 10 lessons package only though. to answer your question, if i had to pick one of your scenario's then i would say number 2 for sure. but that's my opinion lol. if i'd had a big ego i would consider 1 lol pretty sure.

the best way to learn is through pain and you will feel the most pain through playing better players. Worse players will not punish you for weak balls and that is what will make you learn fastest.

25 % worse 50 % equal 25 % better Basically the formula for any sport

Both for me. Learn from playing with better players. Put it into practice against players at your own level. You'll be far quicker advancing that way than just playing at your current level.

Playing with players better than you forces you to improve the fastest but the gap in skills and athleticism can't be too big. It will open your eyes what you lack. But I'd also say that sometimes you want to play a same level game, which is when you want to practice a certain shot or element of the game, preferably after a training session or some kind of research.

Better players but not super strong, just a bit better