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A big change is coming to pro pickleball: Rather than holding overlapping PPA and MLP events throughout the year, two distinct tour seasons will emerge beginning in 2026. It’s all in an effort to bring new fans to the sport and keep them coming back for more.

Speaking of the pros, do you know the one thing their game’s got that yours doesn’t? Lightning-fast hands. Zane Navratil has a fix for that. It’s called “The Coil Method.” He unleashes some knowledge, below.

In This Issue:
— An update on ‘Paddlegate’
— How to win more hands battles
— A Kentucky pickleball controversy

It’s all in the hips.

Para-pickleball players Taylor Nichols and Zack Sikora hit the court with Ben Johns and Anna Bright in Cincinnati as part of the “Pickleball for All” exhibition. The points were fun and fast and, honestly, a bit intense. “It was an amazing experience,” said Bright.

One 72-year-old is playing so much — every day, sometimes even twice — his wife is lamenting their lost time together. No more evening walks. No more spontaneous plans. It has her wondering: “Is this the norm for pickleball players or is he extreme?”

The Omni Hotel is seeking to add indoor and outdoor courts to a historic site in Louisville, KY, as part of a larger rec and entertainment facility. The $1.2M proposal would raze a 19th century building and has been met with considerable pushback from residents, city planners, and The Louisville Historical League.

The Dink Minor League Pickleball is booming across the globe, with events held in amazing locations from Arkansas to Australia. Or this absolute banger in Puerto Rico. If you want in on the fun, there’s still time before Dallas Nationals in December.

Zane Navratil wants you to loosen up. Or maybe tighten up? Allow us to explain.

When it comes to fast hands at the kitchen line, he’s a big proponent of “The Coil Method.”

By rotating your upper body as one unit, rather than standing stiff and just frantically swinging your paddle arm, you give yourself valuable extra range of motion to reload and counter-attack.

Here’s how he breaks it down:

✅ Think back to middle school science. Coils store and return energy at an efficient rate, right? Right. Your upper body is the same way. Rotate at the hips and your arms become loaded weapons.

✅ Rather than letting your non-dominant arm hang uselessly at your side, get that hand up near your paddle hand and move the two as one unit. By doing so, you’re engaging your legs, hips, and torso with every shot.

✅ On a forehand, imagine you’re pushing your paddle into position with your offhand. For a backhand, you’re pulling. After contact, snap your hips back toward the net and reload for the next one.

Once you get to a certain level, it’s the small tweaks that make the biggest difference. Now get our there and dominate some hands battles.

➡️ Watch the full video.

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Youngsters signing pro contracts is not new to sports, of course. Just look at the NHL, soccer, or even Formula 1, and myriad examples come to mind.

But pro pickleball is at an inflection point. While some of the top players haven’t hit 20 yet — Anna Leigh Waters, Jorja Johnson, Hayden Patriquin, and Gabe Tardio, to name a few — the age range to be competitive seems to be getting lower all the time.

Cailyn Campbell is just 15. And John Lucian Goins was going for his third consecutive PPA gold medal in men’s singles… and he’s only 17.

And then there’s this: Most of the sport’s current greats transitioned from other sports. Hayden played baseball. ALW considered playing Division 1 soccer. Many still came from tennis.

But this new crop of young talent, like recently signed 14-year-old Tama Shimabukuro, have had their sights set on one thing and one thing only: Being the next Ben Johns or Anna Leigh Waters.

There are a few being signed very soon who are even younger — and who might just have a shot.

Whether you’re dealing with grief, want to improve your coping strategies, or just feeling down, therapy is for you.

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As we told you already, the UPA-A’s new paddle regulations have been causing quite the commotion so far at PPA Cincinnati.

There’s also been speculation online that Selkirk’s much-hyped and popular new paddle, the Boomstik, has failed testing and is now banned.

Allow us to be the voice of truth for a second and clear a few things up.

The long and short of this is that USAP categorizes the MOI system as external weights like lead or tungsten tape, a “preset perimeter weighting solution” in Selkirk’s parlance, while the UPA-A does not.

Could the MOI system return to pro play at some point? Selkirk sure hopes so. Might they sell a version of the Boomstik without the MOI system to the general consumer? No word yet, but the people seem to want it.

The PPA Tour announced this week a shakeup to its schedule that will create two distinct seasons between the PPA Tour and Major League Pickleball.

The PPA Finals will be held May 4-10, 2026, at Life Time Rancho San Clemente. Soon thereafter, MLP will kick into action and run through August.

It’s a move, says PPA Founder and CEO Connor Pardoe, that should help distinguish the two products and grow the sport as a whole in the process.

“This slight restructure of the tour calendar will allow long-standing and brand new fans to better follow both the PPA Tour and Major League Pickleball,” said Pardoe.

➡️ Our pro writer, Erik Tice, breaks it all down.

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