^{Advertise | The Dink Home | Shop Gear | Subscribe}

Selkirk just raised $30 million from a New York private equity firm, the company’s first outside capital investment. It’s now valued around $200 million and setting its sights on global expansion, beginning in Asia. Not bad for an Idaho-based family business that used to produce just 25 paddles per day.

In This Issue:
— It’s really, really cold in Minnesota
— Blaine Hovenier gets hyped on the PicklePod
— Voting extended: The 120/Life Dink Awards

Bundle up.

We’re approaching record-setting voting numbers for The 120/Life Dink Awards. To help make this the biggest fan-choice pickleball awards ever, we’re extending the voting period through this Sunday, 1/25. You’re welcome. Now get to it.

On this week’s PicklePod, the guys get into the age-old debate of on-court body-bagging etiquette. If you intentionally hit someone, should you still apologize? Zane sums it up perfectly: “I don’t think you apologize for things you’re doing intentionally. If you’re sorry, don’t do it.” Amen.

News flash: Minnesota winters are cold. This we know. But the PPA Tour is descending upon Lakeville in the middle of an “Extreme Cold Watch,” with possible weekend wind chills dipping as low as -45 degrees. Hopefully, everyone can embrace Anna Bright’s attitude: “the cold is honestly a fun challenge that adds color to it.”

When everyone has to wear white, it’s hard to stand out, right? Wrong. We saw some incredible fits at last week’s PPA Masters, from newcomers Ella Yeh and Grayson Goldin to the always fresh Johnson twins and Tyra Black. We rounded them all up in one place, for your viewing pleasure.

Here’s the stone-cold truth about advanced pickleball in 2026: you can survive using the same bag of shots you’ve relied on for years. But to thrive, to dictate points and win high-level games, you need to improve your skills and add new shots. All the time.

Take this one, for example: The aggressive third-shot roll drop.

Yes, that’s a mouthful. But it’s about to become your new favorite weapon. This isn’t an all-out drive. It’s not a loopy roll. And it’s definitely not a slice or push drop.

This is a different beast entirely, a hybrid shot with attitude, hit with moderate pace, a low trajectory, and heavy topspin. The key technical differentiator comes down to one word: linear.

Here’s how to hit it, according to APP pro Richard Livornese:

Critically, instead of brushing up on the ball, you’re hitting through it, toward the net, not the ceiling.

Your paddle face and swing path will propel it forward with heavy topspin, whether you’re hitting forehand or backhand. And since you’re taking a lot of pace off, the ball will naturally dip over the net.

Now here’s the kicker: the best time to bust this shot out, says Livornese, is when the opposing team is transitioning up to the net. And the best placement is toward the sidelines, rather than the middle. This massively handcuffs your opponents’ counter-attacking options.

Hit your pace and your spot, and you guarantee a weak, defensive shot in return. And you know exactly what to do with that.

➡️ See the hybrid roll drop in action.

Last week, we accidentally made a lot of you hungry with that breakfast sandwich.

This week? We may have outdone ourselves.

What you’re looking at here is a summer sausage hash made with Maui Nui Venison’s Red Sea Salt & Pink Peppercorn summer sausage. Crispy edges, rich flavor, and a soft egg on top. And yes, that sausage is doing a lot of the heavy lifting.

Maui Nui’s summer sausage packs 120g of protein per stick and is seasoned with Hawaiian Red Sea Salt and bright, floral Pink Peppercorn. No fillers, no junk, just dense, clean protein you can slice into basically anything. Breakfast, lunch, dinner… apparently all fair game.

If you want to see how this one came together (or just want to grab the sausage itself), you can find everything at mauinuivenison.com/THEDINK.

It’s a quick and chilly turnaround for the pros this week, as many will head straight from PPA Masters, held in balmy Rancho Mirage, California, to the frozen tundra of Lakeville, Minnesota, for the PPA Indoor National Championships.

Action is already underway. Thankfully, as the name suggests, this one is fully indoors, so weather will not be a factor (because duh: it’s January in Minnesota).

Here are the storylines you need to know:

The level of play at Masters was off the charts. We’re expecting the same for the second event of the season.

As always, The Dink’s prolific pro reporter Erik Tice offers his full predictions:

🔮 Men’s Singles: Chris Haworth def. Roscoe Bellamy
🔮 Women’s Singles: Parris Todd def. Lea Jansen
🔮 Mixed Doubles: Anna Bright and Hayden Patriquin def. Parris Todd and Andrei Daescu
🔮 Men’s Doubles: Christian Alshon and Hayden Patriquin def. Gabe Tardio and Andrei Daescu
🔮 Women’s Doubles: Anna Leigh Waters and Anna Bright def. Parris Todd and Tyra Black

One final note: with a showing of bronze or better in this tournament, Gabe should pass Ben to become the new No. 1 PPA Tour men’s doubles player. Not bad for a 20-year-old with a big new paddle deal.

➡️ Read our full event preview.

Pro pickleball’s ultimate hype man, Blaine Hovenier, brings some serious energy to this week’s PicklePod, joining co-hosts Zane Navratil (his men’s doubles partner at PPA Masters) and Nico the Lefty for a raucous romp through all the latest pickleball news.

From firm butt-slaps to ordering a burrito in Mandarin, it’s full of magical moments:

🗒️ Everyone loves the new MLP rules
💥 What pro is most likely to wreck a rental car in Minnesota?
♟️ How Blaine and Zane prepared to face Ben and Gabe (spoiler: it didn’t work)
🚫 Should you apologize after an intentional bodybag?
🤬 Zane’s heated mid-match moment

Oh, and we learn that Zane refuses to drive anyone to the airport. Even his wife.

➡️ Watch the new episode.

Let’s be real. We all knew this was coming.

Anna Leigh Waters signing with Franklin and getting her own signature paddle felt inevitable. And now, it’s officially here: the Signature C45° Aurelius™ Carbon Fiber Paddle Series, available now for preorder.

The lineup comes in three thickness options (12.7mm, 14mm, and 16mm), built around Franklin’s PowerFlex™ polymer core with a double thermoformed unibody construction. It keeps a traditional 5.1-inch handle and a 3.9-inch grip circumference, so it feels familiar the moment you pick it up.

Preorders are live now, with paddles shipping March 1. If you’ve been waiting to see what ALW’s signature paddle actually looks like in the wild, this is your chance to get ahead of it.

Selkirk Sport, the pickleball company headquartered in humble Idaho and founded by three brothers and their dad, just put the pickleball world on notice.

The company announced yesterday a $30 million growth equity investment from New York-based Bluestone Equity Partners, marking its first outside capital raise and valuing the business at about $200 million.

Selkirk has grown from making 25 paddles a day to a fully vertically integrated brand that manufactures paddles, balls, nets, shoes, and apparel both overseas and in the U.S. In May of last year, they debuted a high-tech, million-dollar U.S.-based research and development lab.

Since 2019, Selkirk’s revenue has reportedly increased by 1,900 percent. They’re expected to generate at least $100 million in revenue this year and have expanded to more than 200 employees.

Bluestone, led by founder Bobby Sharma and founded in 2023, invested in Selkirk through its $300 million debut fund, Bluestone Capital I. Selkirk is their first pickleball portfolio company, but it’s likely not going to be their last, reports Forbes.

The Bluestone partnership is designed to help Selkirk expand internationally (especially in Asia) and continue investing in technology and product development while keeping it tightly focused on pickleball rather than diversifying into other sports.

Pickleball has “crossed from trend into an enduring, mass participation sport," said Sharma.

➡️ Read more on the blockbuster deal.

A review from the Dink Fam...

Share the best newsletter in pickleball with your friends and you’ll get free stuff. What’s not to like?

{{rp_personalized_text}}

Copy & Paste this link: {{rp_refer_url_no_params}}

If your company is interested in reaching an audience of active pickleballers, you may want to give us a shout.