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- 🔮 Top 4 pickleball predictions for 2024
🔮 Top 4 pickleball predictions for 2024
Plus, blink and you'll miss this epic point, Roddick accuses Agassi of cheating and more
Brandon Mackie
December 28, 2023
Hey there reader 👋
The world of pickleball doesn’t stop for the holidays, so welcome back to this week’s edition of The Pickleheads Newsletter!
In this issue:
😜 Blink and you’ll miss this trick shot
🤾 Struggling to return deep? Give this a go!
🔮 Our top 4 pickleball predictions for 2024
🙀 Roddick accuses Agassi of ‘cheating’
Blink and you’ll miss it!
Blink while watching this week’s epic point and you might miss one of the most incredible trick shots I’ve ever seen.
If this was a normal reset into the kitchen it would be impressive. But hit behind the back it’s just 😱🤯… Enjoy!
To check out this week’s epic point, click the image ▶️
Have a filthy point caught on cam? 📸
Reply to this email or submit yours to [email protected]. The most epic one will feature in next week’s newsletter!
AND if we pick your submission, we'll send you a free Pickleheads t-shirt 🙌
Struggling to return deep? Give this a go.
Rahul, Pickleheads community manager and APP Top 150 player is back once again with this week’s top tip…
If you’d like to see a 60-second video of Rahul walking you through this week’s tip, click the video below 👇
If not, read on…
Return errors (not returning your opponent’s serve) are a common mistake in pickleball.
They give away free points and can dig your team in a deep hole.
So ready to eliminate these errors and hit deep returns?
Use the pace of the ball from the serve.
When hitting returns, don’t take a large back swing.
In fact, the paddle doesn’t have to go past your waist.
By shortening your movement and using the pace of the ball to hit your returns, you will be able to hit effective, deep returns without making errors.
Try this tip out over the next week and let us know how it works for you by replying to this email.
🙀 Agassi responds to Roddick’s accusations of ‘cheating’
Andy Roddick accused Agassi of cheating on him in the run-up to Pickleball Slam II. Find out with who – here.
🧐 Assessing pickleball’s momentum after a bumpy 2023
Here, Sportico discusses the five biggest storylines from the pickleball scene in 2023.
Read on to see just how much bigger the sport can get in 2024 and beyond.
🏓 What makes pickleball the perfect sport for everybody to enjoy
Now, we all know the benefits of playing pickleball are endless. In this article USA Today takes a deeper dive.
Our Top 4 Pickleball Predictions for 2024!
Wow! 2023 was a big year. Pickleball is still America’s fastest-growing sport.
But, it hasn’t been all sunshine and rainbows, with rising pickleball injuries, noise complaints, and, sadly, court closures.
2023 will soon be the year that was… So, what’s in store for 2024?!
Here are our top 4 big predictions:
#1: Players will be spoiled with options with the explosion of pickleball clubs
With the crazy growth pickleball has seen, we’re going to see more and more facilities open in 2024.
Operators like ACE Pickleball Club, the Pickleball Kingdom, the Picklr and Dill Dinkers are all rushing to award franchises and build clubs all over the nation.
We’ll also see more traditional operators like Lifetime and Invited Clubs going all in on pickleball and adding it to their offering.
These clubs will offer lots of court space and enhanced programming like lessons, round robins and even tournaments.
Our prediction:
You’ll start seeing empty courts in cities like Phoenix because of all the options to play in 2024. With some players even preferring to pay-to-play for an upgraded experience…
#2: Pickleball will become the fastest-growing sport in countries outside the U.S.
2024 will be the year pickleball finally breaks out on the world stage!
We’ll see an explosion of pickleball trips and vacations enticing Americans traveling to Mexico, Europe, and the Caribbean. Maybe even Japan.
All this travel will seed pickleball in local markets.
Locals will embrace this opportunity to build courts and infrastructure.
There are already great businesses offering pickleball vacations, like this one!
Our Prediction:
Move over padel, pickleball is going global next year!
#3 There will be less noise complaints in 2024
Noise complaints were all over the news in 2023 with courts getting shut down across Colorado and angry neighbors speaking out in cities all over the US.
But 2023 was also a big year for innovation!
USA Pickleball announced their quiet program and we saw OWL become the first licensed quiet paddle, endorsed by celebrities like John McEnroe and Drew Brees.
Our Prediction:
We’ll see a lot more quiet paddles launched. But the jury is still out…
Will optimizing for noise compromise performance? We’ll find out in 2024.
#4: There still won’t be one rating system for pickleball.
DUPR will grow. UTR will come on the scene. UTPR will still be required for tournaments.
But unfortunately, there still won’t be one rating system. The existing solutions work great for tournaments and leagues, but no one has figured out how to capture score data for the average rec game.
Our Prediction:
Beginners and intermediates make up the bulk of rec players. Most will continue to play regularly without a formal skill rating.
And there you have it! Our top 4 predictions for pickleball in 2024.
Oh, yeah! We want you to have your say! What are your predictions?
Email and let us know - we’ll include the best ones in next week’s issue.
New: Find games when you travel with vacation mode
Traveling this holiday season? The NEW Pickleheads App now has vacation mode to help you find games wherever you go.
Our team has scoured the internet to find 4,400 open play schedules across the US and CA. With vacation mode, you can find nearby games wherever your travels take you.
Just flip it on and start browsing nearby games.
This feature is available for free in the new Pickleheads app for iOS and Android!
Download now for free: pickleheads.com/app
La Quinta Resort & Club, CA
Located just hours outside of Los Angeles, this dreamscape resort is widely considered the original and quintessential Palm Springs resort.
Boasting 8 pickleball courts, this is the place you need to hang around at if you wanna rub shoulders with celebs.
Apparently, it’s been a tranquil retreat for Hollywood’s royalty since the 1920’s.
I reckon they throw an awesome New Years soiree too! What do you think? 🍸🎇
PCKL Pro Series
I’ve played with over 34 raw carbon, thermoformed paddles this year so far. They’re all the rage.
So when PCKL came out with their own line, the PCKL Pro 13 & 16, I was skeptical it would be just another copy of everything already out there 🤔
But I admit - I was wrong. The Pro 16 had a bit of everything - I could hit hard mid-court drives, land 3rd shot drops (finally!), and play with big spin.
This paddle is like a well-made cocktail 🍸, it’s just balanced. You get all the ingredients – power, control, and spin – but nothing is overwhelming.
After my testing period was over, I kept playing with the PCKL 16 every week and started recommending it to anyone looking for a step-up paddle.
This is the paddle you buy when you’re tired of playing with a cheap one and ready to play with a real paddle.
I like the price too – at $139.99, it’s one of the best values out there. And the PCKL team has given Pickleheads subscribers an extra 15% off – which means you can get this paddle for $118.99.
You don’t need to drop $250+ on a JOOLA or Selkirk to play with a great paddle.
If you’re thinking of upgrading, or you dropped the ball on your Xmas shopping… give this one a look 👇
***PICKLEHEADS 15% code auto-applied with the link above***
Erne: The Ultimate Drilling Partner
Anyone get an Erne for Christmas?! Um jealous…
Well if you weren’t one of those lucky few, then give the Erne a look.
I think this is one of the best gifts you can give yourself in 2024.
New Year’s Resolutions are all about bettering yourself. Your health, your relationships - well don’t forget about your pickleball game!
The Erne is what you buy when you’re ready to go up a level and perfect the shots you need to beat advanced players.
Even with all the Black Friday deals over, I’m stoked the Erne team has kept our PH100 ($100 off) code active.
Though the Erne is still on backorder, I recommend ordering before you get bumped to the next production run.
Cheers to improving our games in 2024!
***Use code PH100 to save $100 on the Erne***
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