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BANNED: New Apple Watches get the boot, pickleball monitoring fans out in the cold

BANNED: New Apple Watches get the boot, pickleball monitoring fans out in the cold

PLUS: Pickleball rules, UPDATED + Elon Musk's pickleball courts for $1/hour

Welcome back, picklers.

Read time: ~5 min

Ho, Ho, Ho!

In this week’s newsletter, we cover the latest in pickleball tech (Apple…you are in trouble) and reveal Elon Musk's new pickleball dream turned into reality.

Also, there’s been an update in the pickleball rule book, so keep reading to get all the deets.

Let’s go. 👇🏾

TODAY’S MENU

Daily Scoop: New Apple Watches banned, pickleball monitoring fans out in the cold
News Stash: Superbowl MVP wins pickleball GOLD. Elon Musk’s pickleball courts for $1/hour. Pickleball rules, UPDATED.
Kitchen Talk: Lifting vs Hitting a dink in pickleball…what’s the difference?

DAILY SCOOP

New Apple Watches banned, pickleball monitoring fans out in the cold

Apple dropped a last-minute bomb on holiday shoppers this week: You won't be able to grab the snazzy new Apple Watch Ultra 2 or Apple Watch Series 9 from Apple.com, Apple Stores, or anywhere else in the U.S., effective immediately.

Why, you ask? The tech giant says they got slapped with a court order stemming from a decade-old patent dispute with medical device maker Masimo over the Watch's blood oxygen monitoring feature.

What's it mean for you?

If you had your heart set on gifting one of the latest Apple Watches this season to the pickleballer in your life, you have until 3 pm EST December 21 to make the purchase on Apple.com and until December 24 to purchase in stores.

If you act fast, the ITC ruling for the ban only applies to Apple itself. Retailers like Target and Amazon can continue selling them until they run out of inventory.

So if you or your pickleball pals just want basic tracking and don't care about having the shiniest Apple on your wrist, older models still have you covered.

As for Apple…it's back to the drawing board. They say they'll "take all measures" to get the Watch Ultra 2 and Series 9 back on shelves stateside ASAP. Something tells us their lawyers have had this sequel on their bingo cards for awhile...

It’s now up to President Biden to decide whether or not he will use his vetoing power to overturn the ruling.

NEWS STASH

Superbowl MVP turned pickleball GOLD medalist

Happenings: Former Super Bowl MVP quarterback Nick Foles has added more hardware to his trophy case by dominating pickleball competitions.

Here’s how it went down: Foles partnered with his wife Tori and friend Jim Davenport to win gold medals in both mixed doubles and men's doubles at the 3.0 level of the PPA Finals last weekend.

No ego here. The 34-year-old says his NFL experience with moving on from mistakes translates well to pickleball. Coming from the GOAT’s mouth, Foles comments on the fact that both sports require a short memory if you make an error.

We will be watching, Nick. Keep it up.

Elon Musk’s pickleball court fantasy comes true

Happenings: 6 months ago, Elon Musk tweeted, “Pickleball will crush tennis. Way more convenient.“

Well, in case you thought he forgot about us, the Tesla-founder and business tycoon is stickin’ with his obsession for the sport, as he has recently opened a bodega with… you guessed it… a pickleball court.

It doesn’t stop there. The newly opened Hyperloop Plaza bodega will ALSO include warehouse filled with soda, coffee, snacks, wine, and beer for those of us who catch the post-pickleball munchies.

CONFIRMED via Twitter: The court rental fee is only $1/hour.

SIGN. ME. UP.

UPDATE: The pickleball rules changed

Happenings: Another year, another rule change.

According to the pickleball rule book, here’s the update:

2.E.2. Surface. The paddle’s hitting surface shall not contain delamination, holes, cracks, rough textures, or indentations that break the paddle skin or surface, or any objects or features that allow a player to impart excessive spin on the ball.

Note: The notable change is the addition of "any objects or features that allow a player to impart excessive spin on the ball.”

…meaning tapes and/or decals should not be present on the surface.

The new rule has been met with some hesitation as paddles such as the Selkirk Vanguard Power Air and others have so-called “holes” incorporated in the design.

We will keep up with the update as clarifications are made in the near future.