In honor of the 89th annual NFL Draft – which kicks off Thursday – we thought it would be fun to put together a list of current and former NFL players who have shown a commitment to the sport we love so much: pickleball. Many NFL players seem to love pickleball – even NFL Films Presents did a piece on it. Without further ado, here are our top 10 picks for the first-ever ultimate NFL pickleball team. Pick No. 1 - Drew Brees No current or former NFL player is more involved in pickleball than future Hall of Fame quarterback Drew Brees. He was recently announced as the ambassador for Picklr, he’s ..read more

The APP, alongside the sport’s National Governing Body USA Pickleball, have unveiled the first three opportunities to earn a "Golden Ticket" to the 2025 Biofreeze USA Pickleball National Championships. This fall, pickleball players at the 2024 APP Tour events in Dallas (Oct. 9-13), Newport Beach (Oct. 23-27), and Boca Raton (Nov. 6-10) all have the chance to secure their spot for USAP’s premier event in 2025. "The APP is proud to offer pickleball fans across the nation the very first opportunities on the 'Path to Nationals' in 2025 with three this fall," said Ken Herrmann, APP founder. "We’re ..read more

When this headline came across Tuesday, I did a double-take so quickly that I think I permanently damaged my neck. It read: "Tyson McGuffin Signs Deal with Apple." "WOW!" I thought, "Pickleball has done it. We've hit the big time." Then, I actually read the headline, and what it says is, "The Perfect Match: Cosmic Crisp® Apples and Pickleball Pro Tyson McGuffin Unite." He didn't sign with Apple – the tech company. He signed with apples – the fruit. Scratch that. He didn't sign with apples at all. He signed with one apple. One variety of apples. The Cosmic Crisp® apple. (Hold pause to let that ..read more

Go to a busy park in the morning, noon, or evening, and you'll likely see a stack of paddles lined up across a chain-link fence and people waiting patiently for their turn to hop onto a pickleball court. This is open play pickleball. While it holds a special place in most of our hearts, we also have a strong love/hate relationship with it. We'll discusses some problems with open and recreational play and offer a handful of suggestions for fixing them. What is open play? Before we get too far, let's quickly define open play in pickleball. Some might call it rec play, and others paddle stack. B ..read more

The Dink Minor Leagues has announced seven thrilling tournaments for 2024. With 12-16 teams per division, each Regional Showdown promises to be epic. The first-place team of each division takes home a "Dream Ticket," automatically qualifying them for the 2024 National Championship. The Regional Showdowns span the nation, offering aspiring players from all corners of the country an equal opportunity to showcase their skills and play for a chance to secure a spot at the National Championship.  Learn how you can earn points at Regional Showdowns to climb the National Leaderboard.  ..read more

The fourth of four straight PPA Tour tournaments in April takes place this weekend in St. George, Utah. The PPA Red Rock Open kicks off Wednesday at the Little Valley Sports Complex.  Due to the quick turnaround times of the tournaments in April, there are quite a few players not attending this tour stop. Some of the players missing are: Anna Leigh Waters Catherine Parenteau Riley Newman Thomas Wilson Matt Wright Rachel Rohrabacher Lucy Kovalova Brooke Buckner Parris Todd How To Watch the PPA Red Rock Open All times are EST Thursday, April 25th - Singles 1-9pm - Championship Court ..read more

Move over tennis, pickleball has a new public enemy number one. Kubb. If you just said, "Huh?" Don't worry — you're not the only one. In fact, we had to research how to pronounce it correctly. Apparently, it's not cub or cube as it appears; it's koob. To be fair, it's a Scandinavian lawn game, so a seemingly weird annunciation is probably to be expected. What is this kubb, and how is it quickly becoming an enemy of pickleball? Let's find out together. What is Kubb? As mentioned, Kubb is a Scandinavian lawn game described as a "blend of bowling and horseshoes." It's also called "Viking chess ..read more

One of the fun things about the US Open Pickleball Championships is that it's, well, open to everyone. During last week's US Open, players from around the world showed up to showcase their pickleball skills. Reportedly, 31 countries from around the world were represented among the 3,250 players who competed at the Open. View this post on Instagram A post shared by The Dink Pickleball (@thedinkpickleball) One of those countries was India – and, boy, did they represent well. Indian athletes score double-digit medals According to Social News XYZ, Indian pickleball athletes won 10 medals – th ..read more

As much as the game has changed over the last several years, one constant remains the same: the dink. No, not The Dink. Though, we are your constant source for everything pickleball. The actual dink shot you use (or at least should use) in your pickleball game. In a recent YouTube instructional video, pickleball pro and PicklePod co-host Zane Navratil shares what he's learned from hitting a million dinks throughout his career. Hitting 1 MILLION DINKS Taught Me THIS As a seasoned pickleball player with over a decade of experience, Zane Navratil seen the sport evolve in many ways. Amidst thes ..read more

PicklePod co-hosts Zane Navratil and Thomas Shields (click here to subscribe) tackle a few different angles in this week's episode, including a new twist on the Minor Leagues and what should or shouldn't be legal with pickleball paddle manufacturing. They're joined by a paddle technology expert, Dan Martinson from PIKKL. They discuss the latest technologies and the paddle industry as a whole, among other topics. The Dink Minor Leagues are coming to a town near you Host Thomas Shields couldn't say too much (yet), but if the idea of participating in Minor League Pickleball excites you, then you ..read more