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What Is Pickleball? I Took a Lesson to Find Out!

March 1, 2026March 6, 2022 by Drew Pierce

Pickleball is a fast-paced paddle sport where most points are won at the net (the ‘Kitchen’). For beginners, success comes from keeping the ball low, loosening your grip for better spin, and wearing proper court shoes to handle the quick lateral movements. While similar to tennis, it requires less running but faster reaction times.

I took my first one-on-one pickleball lesson this week to answer America’s favorite recent question, “What is pickleball?” I thoroughly enjoyed learning more about the fastest-growing sport in America. It is clear that I have a ton to learn, but the 60-minute session left me confident that my tennis skills will translate well on the pickleball court. However, there were a few surprises for this brand new player. If you’re considering picking up a pickleball paddle, here are a few things that my instructor shared with me, as well as a few things that caught me off guard.

Elongated vs Widebody vs Hybrid Pickleball Paddles: Which Shape Fits Your Game

October 27, 2026 by Drew Pierce

Widebody paddles (about 16″ x 8″) have the biggest sweet spot and the quickest hands at the kitchen. Elongated paddles (about 16.5″ x 7.5″) give up some of that forgiveness for reach, leverage and spin. Hybrids land in the middle. If you’re not sure which you need, start with a hybrid or a widebody. Most players are better off there than with a long paddle, and that includes us tennis converts.

Quick Answers

Widebody: largest and most forgiving sweet spot, quickest at the net, least reach. Good for beginners and doubles players who live at the kitchen.
Elongated: most reach and leverage on drives, serves and spin, but the least room for off-center hits. Good for singles, big drivers and players with clean contact.
Hybrid: a bit more reach than a widebody, a bit more forgiveness than an elongated. The safe pick if you mostly play doubles and can’t decide.
The rule behind all of it: USA Pickleball caps paddle length at 17 inches and length plus width at 24 inches. A longer paddle is always a narrower paddle.

Picklr Bankruptcy: How to Protect Your Pickleball Membership Money

October 22, 2026October 20, 2026 by Drew Pierce

To protect your money at a pickleball club, pay monthly instead of a year upfront. Use a credit card, not debit, cash or Zelle. Get the cancellation terms in writing, and skip big presales for clubs that aren’t open. The Picklr’s October 2026 Chapter 11 filing is a reminder that prepaid dues are a promise, not a guarantee.

“Founding member” sounds like you’re getting in on the ground floor. Legally, it usually just means you paid before anyone else did.

I’m not anti-club. But this month’s news is a good excuse to talk about the boring stuff: contracts, cards, cancellations and coaches.

UPDATE Oct. 21: The court approved interim financing of up to $4.365 million to keep the company running, with a final hearing set for Nov. 10.

Is My Pickleball Paddle Dead? How to Check for Core Crush and Delamination (2026)

October 19, 2026 by Drew Pierce

To tell if your pickleball paddle is dead, tap the face in a grid and listen for dull spots, press the center for crunching or give, and drop a ball on different spots to compare the bounce. Then look for cracks or a face lifting off the core. No home test is conclusive. And “dead” doesn’t always mean weaker. A broken-down core often makes a paddle hotter.

In 2023, I had a dreadful night on the court and did what any reasonable adult would do. I blamed my paddle.

Then I wrote a whole post about paddle lifespan and admitted the uncomfortable part: short of an X-ray machine, “there is no true way to test a paddle.”

I still don’t own an X-ray machine. At home, that line mostly holds up. What’s changed is that the people who build paddles, run them through lab machines, and police them at tournaments now say a lot more about how paddles fail. So I went through what they’ve published. Everything below comes from manufacturers, testing labs, and the rulebook, not from me knocking on paddles in my garage. I’ll tell you which source is which, because they don’t always agree.

Pickleball and Lower Back Pain: A Tennis Convert’s Guide to Protecting Your Back

October 14, 2026 by Drew Pierce

Yes, pickleball can cause lower back pain. In a 2025 survey of 1,758 U.S. players, about 1 in 5 reported a back complaint in the past year. Repeated low bending, twisting, long sessions and falls are the usual culprits. Bend your knees, not your waist, warm up and add court time gradually. Leg numbness, weakness or bladder changes mean see a doctor.

I left tennis for pickleball because of my lower back. It’s right there on my About page: my body, “specifically my lower back (SI JOINT!),” was starting to protest.

Pickleball looked like the fix. Smaller court. Underhand serve. Way less running. Easy mode.

It wasn’t. By early 2023 I was admitting it in my injury roundup: pickleball is easier on my body overall, but “it’s not any better for my lower back–in fact, it might be worse!”

So this isn’t a “pickleball is gentle, come on in” post. It’s what the research actually shows, which habits medical sources back, and where I’m just telling you what I do.

How to Get a DUPR Rating in 2026: A Beginner’s Guide (and Do You Need DUPR+?)

October 12, 2026 by Drew Pierce

Player checking their DUPR pickleball rating on a smartphone app at the court

Make a free DUPR account, then get one valid match onto it. That can be a club, league or tournament result, or a self-reported game your opponents confirm. You’ll land somewhere on DUPR’s 2.000–8.000 scale. A DUPR Coach or an AI video assessment can also give you a starting number. DUPR+ ($19.99 a year) is optional, and most beginners don’t need it yet.

Sooner or later, someone at open play is going to turn to you between games and ask, “What’s your DUPR?”

If you came from tennis like I did, you know this move. It’s “What’s your UTR?” with a paddle in your hand.

Good news first. You don’t need a DUPR to show up and play. But the moment you want a league, a skill-capped round robin, or your first tournament, that number is how you get in the door. And DUPR has changed a lot in the last 18 months. New algorithm. A paid reset. A paid tier. A deal with USA Pickleball.

So here’s how it works right now, as of October 2026. Just what I’d want to know if I were starting over.

Is My Pickleball Paddle Legal? How to Check the USAP List (2026)

October 9, 2026 by Drew Pierce

Short answer: For rec play, your paddle is almost certainly fine. Nobody at open play checks a list, and USA Pickleball says decertified paddles can still be used recreationally. For a USA Pickleball-sanctioned tournament, your exact brand and model has to show “Pass” on the USA Pickleball Approved Paddle List. Search it by brand before you register.

There is no paddle police.

I know that’s not what the guy on the next court told you. He saw a headline about the new spin cap, looked at your paddle and made a face. Now you’re wondering if the $180 you just spent bought you a contraband item.

It didn’t.

But “is my paddle legal?” has two answers depending on where you play, and most people only hear one. Here are both.

2027 Pickleball Rule Changes: Proposed Rules, Updates & What Could Change

October 5, 2026 by Drew Pierce

The 2027 USA Pickleball rules have not been finalized yet. Members submitted 112 proposals for the 2027 rule book, and as of October 4, 2026, not one of them shows a Board of Directors vote in USA Pickleball’s public database. Below are the proposals most likely to matter to everyday players.

Every December, the same thing happens at my courts.

Somebody shows up to open play with a headline on their phone and a worried look. “They changed the serve.”

Nobody knows who “they” are. Nobody knows what changed. Half the group switches to a drop serve just to be safe.

This year I’m getting ahead of it.

The submission window for the 2027 rule-book closed on June 1, and public comments closed on June 15. What’s left is a database of 112 proposals and a Board Vote column that is completely empty. The Rules Committee has been chewing on them since June.

So this isn’t a “new rules” article yet. It’s a scouting report.

I went through all 112 so you don’t have to. Most of them are tournament and referee housekeeping: medical timeout length, blood on the court, players wearing microphones, who gets to overrule a line judge. If you play Tuesday night open play, you will never think about any of that.

A handful could change how you serve or how you call the score. Those are the ones I care about, and they’re the ones below.

JOOLA POWER FX: Price, Specs & Why the New 2,100 RPM Spin Cap Matters Before You Buy

September 24, 2026 by Drew Pierce

For a long time, I thought paddle shopping was a personality test.

Are you a power guy? A spin gal? A control person who pretends they don’t want either?

The paddle industry is always trying to please everybody.

For a few years, the easiest way to sell a $300 paddle was to promise more. More pop. More exit speed. More of that hollow thwack that makes you feel athletic even when all you did was block a ball.

Then foam cores showed up, and the marketing got even louder.

Selkirk Labs put the Boomstik out at $333, and people talked about it like it was a lifestyle. Tesla put gold geometry on a paddle and sold the vibe. I wrote about the Tesla Aurum when it dropped. Owning a paddle that matches your Cybercab is a choice.

It is not a third-shot drop.

Eventually, the governing bodies did what governing bodies do when the equipment starts winning points on its own.

Pickleball and Tennis Can Coexist: What the US Open Reminds Me Every Year

September 14, 2026 by Drew Pierce

Every year when the US Open rolls around, I get a little nostalgic for tennis.

I can play pickleball several times a week and spend far too much time thinking about paddles, strategy and whatever part of my game happens to be failing me that month. Pickleball has become my sport.

Then I watch the US Open.

And I remember.

Tennis is a beautiful game.

Something about the movement of a great tennis player that pickleball simply cannot replicate. The court is bigger. Points can develop slowly and then explode. Covering that much ground for hours at a time takes a physical commitment.

Tennis still has a little elegance.

I don’t mean that as an insult to pickleball. I love pickleball.

But nobody has ever called Tuesday night pickleball open play elegant.

And that’s OK.

In fact, I think one of the biggest mistakes we can make as pickleball grows is believing tennis somehow needs to lose for pickleball to win.

It doesn’t.

New Jersey Just Won the MLP Championship—And It Only Took Breaking the Curse

August 31, 2026 by Ace Rivera

Central Park, NYC — August 30, 2026

I’m sitting here at City Pickle at Wollman Rink in Central Park watching the New Jersey Fives celebrate their first-ever MLP championship, and I have to say: this was the most inevitable outcome that took the longest to happen.

Two years of runner-up finishes. Two years of winning the regular season and getting to the finals. Two years of looking like the best team in the league while somehow being the second-best team when it counted. And now, finally, they’re holding the trophy.

Here’s the thing though—it wasn’t pretty. It wasn’t dominant. It was messy, it went to a Dreambreaker in the first match against St. Louis, and it required Anna Leigh Waters to hit the final points when everything was on the line. That’s championship pickleball. That’s what separates the teams that finish with the best record from the teams that actually win titles.