Browsing: Pickleball News

As we reported some time ago, Microsoft’s billionaire CEO, Bill Gates, was an early adopter of pickleball. He posted a video on social media explaining the rules of the game and wrote, “50 years ago, I started playing this little-known sport with a funny name. Now it’s all the rage.” Further evidence of Gate’s love of the sport emerged last week when he was chatting to Trevor Noah this week on the South African comedian’s “What Now?” podcast. Letting Off Steam The co-founder and ex-chief shareholder of Microsoft told Trevor about how he plays a “mix of tennis and pickleball”…

Three Milford, Connecticut, couples who have been pals for about five years now made one special commitment before embarking on their business venture: “No matter how it goes, we will always be friends.” Fast forward from that January promise to the recent opening of Shoreline Pickleball on November 11; these six individuals have kept to that promise and are still friends. Delicate Balance The delicate balance between mixing personal relationships and business hasn’t been without its challenges. Yet, the surging interest in pickleball is one of the key factors underpinning their successful partnership, as co-owner Brian Malia told Nick Sambides…

Mule Creek State Prison (MCSP) in California first initiated its pickleball program earlier this year, in March 2023. It was such a triumph that it recently hosted its inaugural tournament over Labor Day Weekend. It proved immensely popular, and the prison aimed to establish a league on the back of its success. However, it encountered an obstacle due to a shortage of equipment. They were down to just four wooden paddles and three wiffle balls at one point. Redemption Serve In a timely move, Redemption Serve, an organization dedicated to fostering connections between outside communities and incarcerated individuals through pickleball,…

Komodo Pickleball, one of the market leaders in the manufacture of precision-engineered pickleball equipment, has announced the addition of all-around tennis icon Andre Agassi to its ownership group. Agassi’s renowned expertise and influence in sports elevate and will help to consolidate Komodo’s standing within the pickleball industry. Stellar Tennis Career Acknowledged worldwide for his stellar tennis career, Agassi’s accolades, victories, Grand Slam titles, Golden Slam, and Olympic Gold Medal make him one of the true greats in not just tennis but sports history as a whole. His recent transition to and enthusiasm for pickleball reflect a new chapter in his…

The recent announcement from the APP regarding its revamping of the amateur tournament format, i.e., transitioning to a round-robin format with pool play and playoffs, has been widely welcomed by the pickleball community. It’s seen as another example of the APP’s leadership in setting the standard for tournament play, not just in the USA but globally. The Finest Tournament Experience This update for the 2024 schedule coincides with the APP Tour moving indoors for the first time in 2023 at the State Farm 2023 APP U.S. Indoor Championships from November 29th to December 3rd.  This event presents another opportunity for…

Pickleball’s rise in popularity across the nation is generally attributed to its straightforwardness, inclusiveness, social appeal, and health advantages. This is never truer than on Staten Island, where the sport has united players within a pickleball club and the cause of a young Islander battling cancer. A Challenging Journey On November 11, over 50 enthusiasts from the Staten Island Pickleball Players Club gathered at Fairview Park in Charleston for a charity tournament. Their aim was to aid Charlotte White, a 6-year-old from West Brighton who had been diagnosed with Wilms tumor, a form of childhood kidney cancer. Charlotte, daughter of…

Thanksgiving is here, meaning we’ll see lots of posts about people running or walking in turkey trot charity races. Whether you’re walking a 5k or running a full 8k, turkey trots have quickly become a popular Thanksgiving tradition. I mean, if we’re all eating 10,000 calories in a day, we might as well try to work them off too! It turns out that burning off those extra Thanksgiving calories with a walk or run might also be valuable for your pickleball game. Even if you aren’t the biggest fan of running, getting in a light jog here and there is…

PodPlay, the first tech platform to integrate hardware-enabled features like replays, scoreboards, and door access with core venue management software for fast-growing racket sports like pickleball, padel, and ping pong, has publicly launched its offering to racket sports venues. Game-Changing Functionality More than 30 venues have already signed up to use the platform, including CityPickle, the indoor-pickleball facility with locations in New York City. PodPlay is a new technology company that aims to deliver game-changing functionality supporting tech-forward operators in the ever-growing racket sports space. “Our long-term vision is to become the platform for autonomous experiences. Our experience and knowledge…

As a health and happiness coach, I’ve been a big proponent of pickleball for over a decade now. Part of my goal has been to get more and more people to play pickleball, and now that pickleball has gone mainstream, that goal has gotten a bit easy. People don’t look at me quite as weird as they used to when I say, “You should try pickleball.” These days, pickleball is in commercial after commercial, and it’s even been referenced on the Simpsons. Homer called it “tennis where you don’t have to move…” Where Homer’s trendy new friend corrected, “You do…

Since mid-2020, when writer and social media phenom Sydney Steinaker first dipped her toe into pickleball, she has immersed herself completely in her quest to transition from novice to professional. And all this despite lacking a tennis or racquet sports background.  The Rich Tapestry Her particular journey meant she had to get to grips with the sport’s fundamentals from scratch. However, by early 2021, she felt confident enough to embark on extensive travels across the United States and participate in pickleball tournaments, clinics, and events.  This journey exposed her to the rich tapestry of amateur and professional pickleball culture that…