STAFF PICK
Elsie Is Fearless at 13
Hendershot’s Climb from Junior Standout to MLP Player
Inside professional pickleball, players and coaches keep using the same word for Elsie Hendershot: fearless. Here’s what they mean.
Most-Read Features of 2026
The most widely read stories, highlighting the topics and voices driving interest across pickleball.
Great stories leave a lasting impression. Explore the feature articles our readers have shared, discussed, and revisited most, celebrating the people, places, and defining moments that continue to inspire the worldwide pickleball community.
Feature
Don’t Lose the Formula
How croquet lost its lawn, Coca-Cola lost its formula, and what both can teach pickleball facility owners about the players who keep coming back for more
Oct 7, 2026 · 8 min read
Spotlight
Play, Stay, Repeat
Paddle + Par combines hospitality with two popular sports, all in an innovative indoor complex
Oct 7, 2026 · 7 min read
Feature
Turning Waste Into Opportunity
Dillon Rosenthal is giving broken pickleballs a second life …
Oct 7, 2026 · 12 min read
Feature
MLP Heads Down Under
Major League Pickleball Australia returns with eight franchises, four events and a season packed…
Sept 23, 2026 · 8 min read
Feature
College Teams Get Serious
For college across the country, the beginning of fall means new classes, crowded campuses and the…
Sept 23, 2026 · 10 min read
Feature
The Material Behind the Game
Toray’s carbon fiber helps make many paddles, and its partnership with MLP is bringing one of…
Sept 16, 2026 · 13 min read
Feature
When the Ball Disappears
Better pickleball court lighting for players depends on thoughtful layout, sightlines and glare…
Sept 16, 2026 · 12 min read
Feature
Chasing a Different Dream
At age 14, Judah Gonzalez is building his life around pickleball as he trains, competes and…
Sept 16, 2026 · 8 min read
Feature
The Ball That Changed My Life
My pickleball story began 17 years ago, before I ever picked up a paddle. I had founded Shape…
Sept 9, 2026 · 9 min read
Feature
The Business Around the Cup
How AAC and Heineken are using the World Cup to demonstrate the growing potential of global…
Sept 9, 2026 · 5 min read
Feature
PPA Tour Drops into Cary
The Veolia Pickleball National Championships in Cary delivered dominant performances…
Sept 9, 2026 · 14 min read
Feature
The Convention Returns
The World Pickleball Convention & Conference returns to West Palm Beach with championship play…
Sept 9, 2026 · 9 min read
Feature
Building from the Ground Up
Dr. Rommie Maxey has helped shape the sport as a player, coach, club owner, entrepreneur and…
Sept 2, 2026 · 9 min read
Feature
Superfan to Mascot Designer
Jake Gelvar never worked in sports branding or graphic design. He simply loved the Brooklyn…
Sept 2, 2026 · 7 min read
Feature
Inside the Shenzhen Open
The PPA Tour Asia landed in Shenzhen, China for the Skechers Shenzhen Open, and it did…
Sept 2, 2026 · 10 min read
Feature
Beyond the Paddle Brands
“Winning is foundation.” Ryan Harwood said those words one day before the New Jersey Fives…
Sept 2, 2026 · 16 min read
Feature
Kyle Yates Returns
After coaching Team USA to gold at the 2025 World Cup, Kyle Yates returns to lead the Pro Team…
Aug 26, 2026 · 9 min read
Feature
The Global Scorecard
DUPR returns to the World Cup for a third consecutive year with a bigger challenge: creating a…
Aug 26, 2026 · 11 min read
Feature
Riding to Team USA
A rogue wave nearly took racquet sports away from Steve Rose. Instead, it eventually gave…
Aug 26 2026 · 16 min read
Feature
Three Countries. One Jersey.
Jhonnatan Medina Alvarez’s unlikely road from Venezuela to the U.S. to Team Spain leads to…
Aug 26, 2026 · 17 min read
Feature
The Home-Court Advantage
When the Pickleball World Cup arrives in Da Nang, Vietnam will not simply be welcoming the world…
Aug 19, 2026 · 11 min read
Feature
St. Pete Was Built Backwards
Most clubs open their doors and hope big things follow. St Pete Athletic was built in reverse…
Aug 19, 2026 · 5 min read
Feature
Rating Your Friends
I have been thinking about something lately, and the more pickleball I play, the more I…
Aug 19, 2026 · 10 min read
Feature
The Future of Pickleball
A vision for pickleball’s future built on community, accessibility, connected technology…
Aug 12, 2026 · 6 min read
Feature
India Answers the Call
The invitation arrived in April. On behalf of the organizing committee of the 2026 Pickleball World…
Aug 12, 2026 · 8 min read
Feature
A New Ranking System
For a sport that increasingly calls itself global, professional pickleball has faced a surprisingly basic…
Aug 12, 2026 · 9 min read
Feature
Conquering Community
In a city where space is one of the most valuable commodities, finding a place to play pickleball can…
Aug 5, 2026 · 12 min read
Feature
Living the American Dream
It started with a light bulb moment of truth in a grocery store checkout lane 33 years ago. “The…
Aug 5, 2026 · 6 min read
Feature
Spain’s Golden Opportunity
One phone call can change everything. For months, perhaps years, players compete as…
Aug 5, 2026 · 10 min read
Feature
France’s Championships
In early July, The Pickleball Weekly looked at a French market still finding its place. A few…
Aug 5, 2026 · 6 min read
Feature
Putting India on the Map
Every sport has a pioneer. Not necessarily the first person to play the game, but the first to…
July 22, 2026 · 8 min read
Feature
Pickleball Countries to Watch
The sport that began on Bainbridge Island, Washington, has become something much larger than…
July 22, 2026 · 9 min read
Feature
Worth Waiting For
For years, pickleball players have joked that Hollywood would eventually discover the…
July 22, 2026 · 7 min read
Feature
Excellence Off the Court
As pickleball continues its meteoric rise from local park favorite to a global commercial force, the…
July 22, 2026 · 15 min read
Feature
Queen of the Spanish Circuit
Spain has emerged as one of Europe’s fastest-growing pickleball nations. Every month, new…
July 15, 2026 · 9 min read
Feature
The Dill Dinkers’ Playbook
A husband-and-wife team has developed a winning culture built around community in every…
July 15, 2026 · 8 min read
Feature
Pigs in Space Pickleball Drill
One of the biggest challenges in teaching young children pickleball isn’t introducing the paddle…
July 15, 2026 · 7 min read
Feature
Paradise Meets Pickleball
For most travelers, a trip to Hawaii begins with thoughts of turquoise water, volcanic landscapes…
July 15, 2026 · 12 min read
Feature
The Improbable 2nd Act
At MLP events, the grandstand announcer’s chair usually belongs to a familiar figure: a broadcaster…
July 8, 2026 · 17 min read
Feature
The Container Court Boom
Somewhere in the last few years, two unrelated obsessions collided. The first is pickleball, which…
July 8, 2026 · 14 min read
Feature
The Architect of Opportunity
As soon as I started playing back in 2019 and witnessed the pickleball craze firsthand, I knew that…
July 8, 2026 · 8 min read
Feature
Relief for Your Game
As pickleball has grown, so has the importance of recovery. Stretching, hydration, strength training…
July 8, 2026 · 3 min read
Feature
India Hears the Smash
There are defining moments in the growth of every emerging sport. Sometimes they arrive…
July 1, 2026 · 22 min read
Feature
Marketing Pickleball
This week’s conversation in our Inside World Pickleball column focuses on my longtime…
July 1, 2026 · 15 min read
Feature
France Is Building Pickleball
While much of the pickleball world is watching the speed of the American boom, a quieter…
July 1, 2026 · 5 min read
Feature
Building Communities
Prats brings more than 40 years of business leadership and franchise experience in the hospitality…
June 24, 2026 · 10 min read
Feature
Beyond the Core Four
The MLP event in St. Pete, Florida showcased more than elite competition and passionate…
June 24, 2026 · 8 min read
Feature
Built a Global Magazine
In less than a year, Falco has transformed what began as a passion project into one of pickleball’s…
June 17, 2026 · 13 min read
Feature
A New Era for Pickleball
As pickleball races across continents and pursues greater international legitimacy, the sport’s…
June 17, 2026 · 7 min read
Feature
The Road to the Superstar Cup
While much of the pickleball world remains focused on professional tours, celebrity investors…
June 17, 2026 · 8 min read
Feature
From Waste to Opportunity
Walk onto almost any pickleball court in America and you’ll see a familiar scene. Players…
June 17, 2026 · 6 min read
Feature
Among the Most Influential
When TIME unveiled its inaugural list of the 100 Most Influential People in Sports for 2026…
June 10, 2026 · 7 min read
Feature
The 5 New Ps of Pickleball
Ditch the old playbook. It’s time to rewrite the five Ps of pickleball. Flip through standard coaching…
June 10, 2026 · 8 min read
Feature
A Simple Dream in Cuba
For one Saturday in Los Angeles, the worlds of Hollywood, music, philanthropy, and pickleball…
June 10, 2026 · 6 min read
Feature
Quantum Pickleball
Carl Foster sits down with Dr. Joy to for a Q&A on how she is training the next gen of players…
June 10, 2026 · 7 min read
Feature
If Pickleball Was Monopoly
Imagine sitting down to play a game called Pickle-Opoly. At first glance, the board looks familiar…
June 3, 2026 · 7 min read
Feature
Fearless at 13
Inside professional pickleball, players and coaches keep using the same word when talking…
May 20, 2026 · 9 min read
Feature
A Simple Dream
Have you ever started with a small idea only to watch it grow into something far bigger…
May 13, 2026 · 6 min read
Feature
The New Happy Hour
Friday use to follow a familiar script. You left work, texted a few friends, and landed at a bar that looked…
May 6, 2026 · 7 min read
Feature
with-anna-leigh-waters/”>In the Kitchen with Waters
In pickleball, “the kitchen” is where the game speeds up; a place of intense focus and…
May 6, 2026 · 7 min read
Feature
A Record-Breaking Start
The Cervezas Victoria Pickle Pro Tour opened it’s 2026 season in Gran Canaria with…
Apr 22, 2026 · 5 min read
Feature
Player Pipeline in Asia
Across the countries in the Philippines, Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, and beyond…
Apr 22, 2026 · 8 min read
Feature
The Warrior Princess
In pickleball, people are drawn in by the rally. The rhythm of the ball, the quick exchanges at the net…
Apr 22, 2026 · 6 min read
Feature
The Power of Pickleball
Pickleball has been defined by its growth. The fastest-growing sport in America. Millions of…
Apr 15, 2026 · 9 min read
Feature
Trailblazer Neem Shamsuddin
Sharneem Shamsuddin did not arrive at the top of Malaysian pickleball through a…
Apr 8, 2026 · 7 min read
Feature
Malaysia’s Prince of Pickleball
In a country rapidly establishing itself as one of Asia’s most dynamic pickleball markets, Jimmy…
Apr 8, 2026 · 7 min read
Feature
Defining UK Pickleball
On courts cross the UK, pickleball is growing quickly, moving from curiosity to picking…
Apr 1, 2026 · 9 min read
Feature
Moorlow on Fun & Health
In pickleball apparel has often lagged behind the game’s explosive growth. Courts are full…
Apr 1, 2026 · 8 min read
Feature
A Defining Moment With Nike
When Waters stepped onto the court at the Carvana Masters earlier this year, the shift…
Apr 1, 2026 · 6 min read
Feature
Solase Steps In
In a sport that demands quick lateral movement, balance, and constant direction changes, the…
Apr 1, 2026 · 10 min read
Feature
Two Women, One Mission
In pickleball, people are drawn in by the rally. The rhythm of the ball, the quick exchanges at the net…
Mar 25, 2026 · 13 min read
Feature
Format Changes the Game
Something quietly historic took place inside Courtside Pickleball Club in Stourbridge…
Mar 25 · 5 min read
Feature
Built for Movement
In pickleball, movement is everything. Positioning, recovery, balance, and endurance…
Mar 25 · 4 min read
Feature
Pickleball Princess
On many pickleball courts across the country, players are discovering that the future of the sport…
Mar 18, 2026 · 7 min read
Feature
Elevating Where to Play
In Florida, the next wave of pickleball clubs is moving well beyond the standard…
Mar 11, 2026 · 7 min read
Feature
Hamlin House Luxury
Pickleball’s rapid rise has produced courts in parks, recreation centers, and converted warehouses…
Mar 11 · 5 min read
Feature
Xiao Yi Wang-Beckvall Joins
Pickleball’s rapid rise has produced courts in parks, recreation centers, and converted warehouses…
Feb 25 · 6 min read
Feature
Kelly Goodnow Signs
Pro pickleball has entered an era defined by youth, athleticism, and accelerated development…
Feb 25 · 5 min read
Feature
Black Desert Stakes Its Claim
Southern Utah is preparing to take a decisive step into pickleball’s next chapter. In 2026, Black…
Feb 18 · 5 min read
