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Pickleball retail surges to $304 million

Pickleball retail surges to $304 million

Never forget the score again. An unlikely PB tale.

July 31, 2023

Happy Monday. 2023 is the Year of Pickleball Firsts, and we have yet another to add to the list: the first pickleball video game on Nintendo Switch.

Pickleball: Smash debuts on the platform this November. Unlike last year’s VR game, Smash appears to be a modernized take on the classic Wii Sports format and features multi-player and single-player modes.

More details here.

Pickleball Job Opening: Bounce, the app for pickleball, is hiring a Tournaments Operations Lead to oversee tournament experiences, foster an engaging community atmosphere, and more. If this sounds exciting, learn more here.

In This Issue:

🧠 Keys to keep track of points
💰 PB driving equipment sales
🎾 An unlikely pickleball tale

Let’s get to it.

PPA Seattle Open Results

The Human Scoreboard

So here’s the thing. Even the most experienced pickleballers forget the score. I think we’ve all experienced a fun game turn contentious:

“No no, you’re on the 2".
“We got one. It’s 6-4, not 6-3”

It happens to all of us, so here are a couple of tips to prevent you from seeming like a newbie on the court:

First server. When starting a game, keep track of the first server. Even at the pro level, the first server wears an indicator wristband to help the refs track the score.

The first server will always be on the right when the score is even.

It's the easiest way to remember if you have 8 instead of 9…or 3 (we all know that person who screws up the score royally).

It's also the best way to get your bearings after that last crazy rally when Debbie dove for a ball, Jerry backed into the fence, and Janet dropped her paddle midpoint.
Side-out score. Make a mental note of the score when a side-out occurs. Treat these like video game checkpoints where you can retrace your steps to the correct score.

Example: You get the ball back at 4-7-1. A few rallies later, the score is tied 7-7. You lose a wild point like the one above. The other team calls for the ball, claiming it's a side-out.

Your head is in the clouds after that rally and can't remember if you were server one or two. But you do remember the score at the side-out (4-7-1).

You can explain to them: “I was the first server of the match, we had 4 when we got the ball back, so I am server number one in the side out. The correct score is 7-7-2.”

These tricks will help you track the score and keep the peace on your community courts. Use them wisely.

Control the Court

Get ready to elevate your game and withstand the heat with the new Obsidian paddles from GAMMA Pickleball.

The GAMMA Obsidian pickleball paddles are available in both 13mm and 16mm core thickness and feature a raw carbon hitting surface for massive spin.

Increase your swing speed and power today by purchasing one on www.gammasports.com.

Pickleball Driving Racquet Sport Sales

The racquet sports equipment market is now 6x the size it was only three years ago, according to a Circana research report.

Hmm. We wonder why that could be?

Just three years ago, pickleball captured $50.8 million in retail sales. Now, it’s grown to $304.2 million. Could that be it?

Recent research seems to confirm that pickleball helps raise the water level for sales across racquet sports.

Tennis clothing: In a post-pandemic world, people are trading their sweats for something more stylish without sacrificing comfort, especially as they discover pickleball; sales for tennis apparel increased by 15% in the 12 months ending in June.
Tennis shoes: Grown from a practical companion to a fashion statement, with sales of tennis-inspired sneakers increasing by 9% this year.

Though tennis itself has received a boost in popularity recently, its isolated sales growth still doesn’t match that of the pickleball figures we shared above.

Still, the overall racquet sport equipment category has increased by 27% – to $684 million – in the last 12 months.

It seems almost unbelievable that nearly half of US-based racquet sports sales attribute to pickleball.

But Circana’s receipt-based tracking service — which recently expanded to include data for the U.S. outdoor and sports equipment markets — found that the growth in racquet sports equipment sales is primarily being led by 20% more buyers in the market compared to a year ago.

We know that pickleball has maintained its position as the fastest-growing sport in recent years. But now, we know pickleball has the power to raise the collective water level for each racquet sport.

Seattle Shocker

The Johns brothers have had an unreal year. They top the podium with the same consistency as the sunrise. But on Saturday, the brothers suffered their second shocking loss of ‘23.

The perpetrators of the upset were Pat Smith and DJ Young. The unlikely duo is made of two streaky players that can beat the best when they have things clicking.

On Saturday, they did just that. The 9 seed beat the Johns bros before losing to Federico Staksrud/Pablo Tellez in the semis, and finished the weekend with bronze.

The men's doubles gold went to JW Johnson and Dylan Frazier, who benefitted from the Johns loss and the Wright/Newman breakup. Late in the 4th game, Tellez tossed his paddle in frustration…and it took out a chunk of the PPA’s $300,000 video board. Yikes. Who’s paying for that?

The women's game is still firmly in the grasp of 16-year-old Anna Leigh Waters. She racked up her sixth consecutive triple crown this weekend, tying a PPA record.

She can cement herself into GOAT status with a record-breaking seventh straight at this week's Takeya Showcase.

Other notable performances include:

Vivienne David who collected back-to-back silvers in women's doubles, this time with Jackie Kawamoto.
A double bronze from Yana Newell, who climbed the podium in women's singles and doubles.
Lea Jansen, who played in her last singles match. Jansen announced her retirement from singles and added one final silver to the medal count.

The tour is packing its bags and flying south for a quick turnaround trip to Fountain Valley, CA. The Takeya Showcase kicks off Thursday.

Make Money off Your Home Court

As if you need another reason to add a homecourt to your backyard, now you can share your court with local players when you aren’t using it.

Swimply allows court owners the chance to rent out homecourts and players the opportunity to reserve a private court for their game.

Tales from the Court, Part 5

This unusual pickleball experience comes to us from Matt C. Send in your own interesting pickleball stories here.

I was sprinting towards the back corner to get to a lob, made an attempt at a return, and lost my balance.

I made the big mistake of putting my arm out to break my fall and ended up landing on my wrist. EMS was called, and it turns out I need surgery. Had a plate and some screws put into my left wrist - and I'm a lefty! Now I am looking at roughly 3-6 months recovery.

My wife and I went to the movies the day before my surgery. On the way out, I saw a woman with her foot in a boot and using a crutch. I kind of nodded at her and showed her my arm in the sling, like "me too."

She just looks at me and says: "pickleball?"

Shoutout to Funky Pickle for having the Dink team members Kim and Alina this weekend! Great match with Darius Christian to raise money for a great cause.