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Pickleball has an ugly, open secret nobody is really talking about. Fake paddles are flooding the market. Call them dupes, clones, or counterfeits. By any name, they’re unregulated, spreading like wildfire, and costing consumers and brands dearly. Whether you know it or not.

We go inside the paddle black market to learn the true cost of counterfeits — and who’s going to step up and stop them.

In This Issue:
— Anna Leigh Waters does it again
— Three simple steps to faster feet
— The true cost of counterfeit paddles

Clone wars.

Fed Staksrud got emotional on camera after he and Hayden Patriquin toppled Ben Johns and Gabe Tardio to earn a spot in the Worlds final. “I’ve worked so hard for this,” he told announcer Dave Fleming. “I just love this game. I love this sport.”

Six Zero has been awfully quiet lately, but now we know why. Their first new paddle in a minute has arrived in the Black Opal, which features industrial-grade diamond dust incorporated into the surface texture. It launched last night and sold out in hours.

Believe it or not, Anna Leigh Waters is human. And she puts a ton of pressure on herself to maintain her insanely high level of play. "I don't take any match for granted, especially not on Sunday,” she said after beating Kate Fahey for singles gold. “I almost started crying because I was so happy… I’m really proud of myself.”

The largest pickleball event of the year is a wrap. We get into all the details below, but before all that, we want to hear from you first. So tell us:

Watch Hayden Patriquin play pickleball for longer than a few minutes and you’ll likely hear a commentator refer to his competitive edge as a “quick-twitch” style of athleticism.

It’s true, his lateral movement is cheetah-like. He is everywhere on the court, and hardly breaking a sweat, it seems, in the process. Oh, to be 20 again.

You can’t manufacture his genetic talent, but you can mimic the techniques that make him so effortlessly explosive.

✅ Start low, stay low. Hayden is like a cat out there, all sleek and slinky and dangerous-looking. That starts and ends with keeping a low center of gravity. The closer to the ground you are, the quicker and more explosive you can be.

✅ Take more steps. Rather than reaching with one long stride, Hayden takes a series of quick, choppy steps instead. This helps get him moving toward the ball in an instant and allows him to more easily change course if needed.

✅ Don’t skip leg day. Fast legs are strong legs. You don’t have to load up the squat rack, but you should incorporate some leg and hip exercises into your regimen. This isn’t just good for fancy feet; it’ll help improve your pickleball game as a whole.

Now get out there and start moving. It’s clearly working for Big H.

Consider this your wake-up call.

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The PPA Tour’s 100th event is in the books, and it’s marked for eternity with a milestone record: Anna Leigh Waters has officially taken over the top spot for career gold medals.

Her 38th career triple crown was enough to gain two golds on Ben Johns. That puts her at 168 gold medals to his 167, an astonishing accomplishment for an 18-year-old with many, many prime years ahead of her.

Other notable storylines from Worlds included:

The full list of Worlds winners:

- Men’s Singles: 🥇 Federico Staksrud def. 🥈 Chris Haworth
- Women’s Singles: 🥇 Anna Leigh Waters def. 🥈 Kate Fahey
- Mixed Doubles: 🥇 Ben Johns and Anna Leigh Waters def. 🥈 JW and Jorja Johnson
- Men’s Doubles: 🥇 Hayden Patriquin and Federico Staksrud def. 🥈 JW Johnson and CJ Klinger
- Women’s Doubles: 🥇 Anna Leigh Waters and Anna Bright def. 🥈 Catherine Parenteau and Parris Todd

For a closer look at what went down, check out our event recap.

Looking for a court to rent, a paddle upgrade, or maybe dinner after your rec night? With Groupon, these aren’t wishful thoughts, they’re deals waiting for you to claim.

Every day, Groupon rounds up the best local offers in your city, from restaurants and salons to fitness studios and pickleball experiences, all with savings up to 70%.

You can stack deals too: book a court, schedule a post-match massage, grab dinner with your doubles partner, and still keep your budget intact.

Your next “why didn’t we do this sooner” moment is one click away. Try more, spend less, and make the most of your city, on and off the court.

Counterfeit paddles are one of the sport's ugly, open secrets.

Within weeks of a major US launch, think CRBN TruFoam, JOOLA Pro IV or Selkirk Boomstik, lookalikes start popping up across online marketplaces like Alibaba, Temu, and Facebook, some for less than $20.

None of them are real. Not even close. But they sure look like it.

This is the pickleball paddle black market, where knockoffs flourish, intellectual property gets trampled, and innovation pays the price.

The scope of this problem goes far beyond the frustration of a handful of brands:

The pickleball paddle market's 10-year growth is projected in excess of $300 million. With almost no regulation standing in its way, the paddle black market is booming.

The companies pumping these paddles out are largely located overseas, operating in a penumbra of rules, regulations, and consequences.

The governing bodies at the amateur and pro levels (USA Pickleball and the UPA-A, respectively) tell us they’re actively taking measures to fight back. But to this point, the problem has gone largely unchecked.

And it’s costing some brands big.

“When we see copycats using our exact product names, descriptions, designs, and even marketing images, it’s disheartening," CRBN Co-Founder Kyle Goguen tells us. "They’re not just taking shortcuts—they’re riding on the coattails of real innovation without any of the effort."

➡️ Read our deep-dive on the pickleball paddle black market.

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