AI and Pickleball

Tips and Tricks 💸

• Why are people putting tape on their paddles? (PCKL)
• Pros (and amateurs who think they’re pros) put lead tape on the rim of their paddles. It increases the weight of the paddle, which can help you increase power and stability. In this read, we break down the three core ways you can tape your paddle. 
• How to make friends while traveling (NYT)
• Forget Googling “best places to eat near me” when traveling. Just find a local court and you’ll make friends quicker than the rich kid with a lake house. Your new friends can then share rallies and recs. Get ready, TSA, you’re about to be seeing a lot more paddles 🧳
• What’s the difference between indoor and outdoor pickleballs? (PCKL)
• Did you know an outdoor pickleball typically has 40 holes and an indoor pickleball has 26? We’re here to help you understand more differences between indoor and outdoor pickleballs. Because as your awareness grows, so does your gameplay. 

AI and Pickleball 🤖

• AI grows the legend of Tyson McGuffin 👨🏻 (Reddit)
• What happens when you ask AI to write a story about the most electric man in pickleball? You get a tale about mullets, mustaches, and a villain named The Shadow. 
• Check out the coolest court concepts we’ve ever seen 🤯 (Medium)
• Brands are rushing to pickleball like Gen Z rushes to any clout opportunity. Art Director, Adrian Curiel, used AI to show how courts would look if brands like Disney and Ferrari built them. Let’s just say, we’d totally wait in a 2-hour-long line in Mickey ears to dink here. 

Health and Fitness 🏃‍♀️

• Pickleball may help with depression (On Focus)
• A Western State Colorado University study found that playing pickleball three times a week for one hour resulted in improved blood pressure and cardiorespiratory fitness after just six weeks of play. Basically, science confirmed what we already knew: exercise + friends + fun = good for your health. 

A Hot Take 🔥

• One of the most successful sports agents encourages tennis players to pickle (TMZ)
• Rich Paul, founder of Klutch Sports Group and partner of Adele, said some tennis players could have a more lucrative career with pickleball. Paul recently invested in Major League Pickleball with his friend LeBron James — ever heard of him? 

In The News 🗞️

• You could get a pickleball license plate in Washington 🚗 (King 5 News)

• Pickleball is the official state sport in Washington. And now, the founding state of the sport is trying to let residents purchase a pickleball license plate. Seattle Metro Pickleball Association would use the proceeds from sales to build and maintain pickleball courts.

• Celebrities compete for a $1 million pickle prize (CNN)
• A few months ago, tennis legend John McEnroe said pickleball sucks. Now he’s agreed to play in a pickle event with other tennis stars. Life comes at you fast. He’ll compete with Andre Agassi, Andy Roddick, and Michael Chang. Our prediction? McEnroe will cause a racquet 😉

Professional Updates 👔

• Parris Todd wins a triple crown at APP opener 👑👑👑 (Forbes)
• The APP kicked off its season in Punta Gorda, Florida, where Parris Todd said, “new year, same me.” In 2022, she won over 20 medals on the APP and PPA tours. It’s impressive, but Anna Leigh Waters took the crown of crowns in 2022 with 38 total golds.  

• Ben Johns vs. Zane Navratil at PPA opener (YouTube)
• With the merging of more pickleball leagues, we’re primed to see pickle duels that rival a John Wayne western. For example, we finally got to see the spin wizard Zane Navratil face Ben Johns. The result? Welp, there’s a reason they call Ben Johns the GOAT 🐐

Thanks for reading PCKL 11. If you enjoyed it, would you forward it to a friend? Good teammates overcommunicate. 

— The PCKL Team