MLP Draft winners and losers

Drool-worthy home pickleball courts. Pro tips to be more aggressive.

March 03, 2025

While the eyes of the entertainment world were locked onto the Oscars last night, the pickleball world had other concerns …

Before any MLP action can take place this year, the 16 Premier Level teams need to solidify their rosters. Luckily, that’s what drafts are for — and yesterday, the league held one to do just that.

Over the span of three hours, 56 players were chosen during the free agency draft to fill out the starting four positions and two bench spots for each Major League Pickleball team.

There were some predictable picks (like Kate Fahey returning to the St. Louis Shock.) But there were some surprises, too. (Quang Duong to LA?)

We get into it below — including our grades for how each team did.

In This Issue:

🤩 7 home pickleball courts you won’t believe
🗑️ Did any MLP teams flunk yesterday’s draft?
🥇 Why your 2024 strategies won’t work in 2025

Let’s ride.

Our Picks ☝️

🏋 Fit Check: The strength routine for actual gains

The gym bros fitness experts over at Men’s Health put together a strength program for pickleball that focuses on rotational and lateral movements and explosiveness. Why? Because “most people don’t realize how much athleticism pickleball requires.” They said it, not us.

🚫 Show-Off: Don’t be a rec-play hero

You know “hitting for the cycle” in baseball — a single, double, triple and HR in the same game. But one Reddit user posed the pickleball equivalent: an ATP, Nasty Nelson, tweener and Erne … all in the same match. Maybe tone it down a bit.

♟️ Mind Games: MLP teams two steps ahead

Two MLP teams - the St. Louis Shock and the Dallas Flash - used their first-round draft picks to reacquire the players they had already dropped. All part of the plan — or did they leave some money on the table?

Be Aggressive, Be- Be- Aggressive

You might want to sit down for this: The strategies that won you pickleball games even a few months ago might not be as effective today.

We all know the game is speeding up. But what does that mean in practice? In so many words: Adapt or die.

You need to evolve to stay ahead. A good place to start is this quick explainer from pro player and prolific content creator, Tanner Tomassi. These won’t guarantee that W, but they’ll get you going in the right direction.

  1. A hard serve means an easier third. (Pro tip: It’s all in the hips.)

  2. The third-shot drop is dead. (Pro tip: Hybrid drop-drives are so in.)

  3. Dink like you mean it. (Pro tip: More twoey-topspin, less slice.)

  4. Minimize mid-court resets. (Pro-tip: Grip it and rip it.)

Don’t read this and think we’re trying to convert the masses to mindless bangers. We most certainly are not. But to come out on top in 2025, you do need to be strategically more aggressive in all facets of your game.

Winning is a mindset. Go forth and conquer.

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There’s No Place Like Home

We’ve all done it, allowed our minds to wander a little bit and day-dream about what it would be like to have a pristine home pickleball court. No harm in that, right?

We’re not going to sit here and say building your perfect home pickleball court is a breeze. But the technology has come a long way, and is likely more accessible than you might think.

Take VersaCourt as the perfect example. Their Pickleball Performance Tiles go together like one big, glorious jigsaw puzzle, and are crafted from a special blend of high-impact materials that hold up to UV rays, extreme temperatures, and heavy use.

So whether you’re in the market for a serious upgrade, or you just want to fantasize with the rest of us, do yourself a favor and check out these 7 home pickleball courts you need to see to believe.

🤔 Newsletter getting clipped? Click ‘view entire message’ or click here to read online

MLP Premier Team Draft Grades

Major League Pickleball goes into full swing beginning next month, and we’ve got complete, six-player rosters for all 16 Premier Level teams thanks to yesterday’s free agency draft.

There are some notable takeaways:

  • Two teams are running back their starting lineups from last year: The St. Louis Shock (with the #1 pick of Kate Fahey) and defending champs Dallas Flash (who reclaimed Augie Ge with pick #2).

  • Speaking of Fahey, she went #1 for $130,000 draft points. In 2024, it wasn’t until the 33rd pick (Mari Humberg) that the price-tag dipped that low.

  • 14 of the first 24 players drafted weren’t drafted at all last year.

  • The Carolina Pickleball Club didn’t open its checkbook (again) to surround Ben Johns with any big-name talent.

In the end, some teams fared very well, many more not so much. We provide full draft analysis, plus a grade for each team, right here. (Spoiler: There are a few A’s, one F, and one … Incomplete?)

Bobbi’s Big Return

Look out ladies and gentlemen. After missing the last couple APP events, Bobbi Oshiro is back in a big way.

Collecting All the Hardware
Oshiro took some time off at the beginning of the year to get married. In her return to action, she cleaned up with two gold medals in Sacramento.

Oshiro teamed up with Susannah Barr to take down the favorites Jill Braverman/Megan Fudge. In mixed doubles, she and Will Howells took the crown over the all-Poland duo of Daria Walczak/Patrick Kawka.

California Gold Rush
Will Howells also collected double gold on his trip out West. Howells’ second medal came in men’s doubles with Jack Munro. They have the formula to beat silver medalists Erik Lange/Max Manthou and have done so in three straight tournaments.

Catch the full recap from Sacramento here and get your bags packed. The APP Tour’s next stop is in the Cayman Islands later this month.

APP Sacramento Open Results

Stop Wearing the Wrong Shoes

Let's face it, most "pickleball shoes" are just… shoes. Not exactly engineered for the insane demands of our game, right?

Good news: Our guy Zane Navratil teamed up with SQAIRZ to change that. Their XRZ™ shoe is built from the ground up for pickleball.

Think roomier toe box (apparently your toes need space to do their magic), special grip for side-to-side explosions, and stability features to keep you upright (and injury-free).

Bottom line: a shoe designed to actually up your pickleball game, not just tolerate it. And it’s got Zane’s stamp of approval (and six months of prototypes to get it right).

A Paddle Challenged, A Paddle Failed

New to the pro game in 2025 is a player’s ability to challenge a paddle that doesn’t seem legit. In any foreseeable scenario, we’re talking about one thing here: “Hot” paddles.

That’s exactly what played out a few weeks back at the PPA Mesa Cup.

In their 11-4, 11-6 loss to Liz Truluck and Eric Roddy, Travis Rettenmaier and Allyce Jones insisted that Truluck’s JOOLA paddle was playing too powerfully. After switching to a second paddle, Rettenmaier challenged that one as well, but Truluck chose to play the match with it.

That paddle became the subject of the year’s first official paddle challenge in the pro ranks. And a couple weeks later, the UPA-A revealed that Truluck’s second paddle - the one she played the rest of the match with - did indeed fail subsequent testing.

Truluck now faces a fine and won’t get credit for that tour win. But this scenario begs the question of what she could have done any differently and how the challenge rules might change to avoid this type of situation in the future.

We have the story, including one particularly pointed comment from Rettenmaier himself.

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